by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 02nd March 2023

In mid-August 2022, I travelled from Northern Ireland to Hawarden to stay at Gladstone’s Library. The purpose of my week-long visit was to conduct primary research for my forthcoming dissertation on the intellectual origins of William Ewart Gladstone’s support for Irish Home Rule. Yet, as an undergraduate Politics student (or rather, as an untrained historian), I felt somewhat daunted by the task that lay before me of searching through one restricted-access file after another for snippets of insight into Gladstone’s political thought. I hope that by sharing my experience at Gladstone’s Library I can reassure others who may feel similarly about the prospect of archival research that it is actually quite straightforward and rewarding.

by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 02nd March 2023

'William Ewart Gladstone, not known for a conspicuous interest in geology, nonetheless starred in one of the period’s last prominent squabbles over the scientific accuracy of the Book of Genesis'.

A blog post by archives researcher Dr Richard Fallon (Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow, University of Birmingham) 

by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 26th May 2022

Gladstone’s Library holds a valuable collection of letters written to Lady Glynne after 1800 that I had the privilege of viewing whilst researching a society that met in Chester in this period [1]. The picture that emerged, brief highlights of which are set out here, made it more than worth the while.  

by Rhian Waller | Monday, 01st April 2019

Many of our patrons will know that in January 2018, the Library embarked on a three-year project externally funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York under the title of Digital Gladstone. The project aims to fully digitise and catalogue 15,000 nineteenth-century manuscript letters and 5,390 annotated printed books.

by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 26th April 2018

Gladstone’s Library is proud to have loaned items from its collections to the North East Wales Heritage Forum to contribute to their exhibition at Wrexham Museum. From the Mold cape to the Gop cairn, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Welsh bible translations, castles, collieries and six of the ‘Seven Wonders of Wales’, North East Wales has an incredibly rich history which deserves to be celebrated, conserved and promoted.

by Rhian Waller | Friday, 30th March 2018

Here at Gladstone’s Library is where, alongside other collections, the personal collection of William Gladstone himself can be found. A collection that the public can come to peruse and enjoy at their own leisure in such a wonderful setting.

by Rhian Waller | Friday, 16th March 2018

William Ewart Gladstone, a lifelong student and scholar, is well known as a voracious reader and collector of books: Gladstone built up a remarkable personal library, reflecting the wide range of interests of a true Victorian polymath.

However, Gladstone is perhaps less well known for collecting paintings, sculpture, fine porcelain and ivories.

by Rhian Waller | Wednesday, 07th February 2018

Gladstone’s Library is delighted to introduce a new blog series entitled ‘From the Archives…’; a regular spotlight on some of the remarkable items we hold within our collections. The series will showcase a selection of our most weird, wonderful, and always fascinating holdings, so be sure to check back regularly for updates!

by Rhian Waller | Monday, 05th February 2018

To celebrate International Women’s Day today, our archivist Dawn Ridding draws our attention to her favourite, and less well-known member of the Gladstone family, Catherine Gladstone, wife of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone for 59 years, until his death in 1898.

by Rhian Waller | Wednesday, 18th November 2015

14th – 22nd November is national Explore Your Archive week, an initiative conceived by The National Archives and The Archives and Records Association aiming to showcase archives and tell amazing stories. To tie in with this, we‘ve decided to delve into our own archival collections and do some exploring of our own…

by Rhian Waller | Tuesday, 05th November 2013

Library Intern, Jamie Stokes, takes us through a new task at the Library and sheds light upon one of the lesser known trinkets of the Library: 'The Paraphrase of Erasmus', translated by Queen Mary