Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-11-03
GLADsTONE,s WIDOW.
She IL mo- Longer Mistress Of Hawarden
Castle,

Good old Mrs. Gladstone is no LON
ger mistress Of Hawarden Castle, and
the latter from henceforth is no lon
ger her home. That is an intima ton
which will come i'm the nature Of
something OF shock to all Of the
many admirers of England's Grand
Old Man" ON both sides of the ATTAIN
tic. There has been considerable
amount of friction and unpleasant
ness in the Gladstone family since the
old statesman's death, mainly in con-
nection with the disposition Of his es-
tates, and in the control of his prop
erty, bad feeling being engendered in
the minds of the sons and daughters
Of Mr.. Gladstone by the altered posi-
ton in which the widow of his eldest
son, namely, the Hon. Mrs. William
Henry Gladstone, has been placed by
his death.
As long as the famous commoner
was alive he was regarded as master
Of Hawarden Castle, although he had
merely a life interest in the estate,
the true owner having been his ED
est son, the late William Henry Glad
stone, who had inherited it from his
uncle, old Mrs. Gladstone's brother,
Sir Stephen Glymne. And on Mr..
William Henry GEadstone's death it
was his boy, the now 1S-year-old
William Glynne Gladstone, who be-
came the real owner Of the place.
Yet in spite of this the lads mother
was never permitted to make her
home at Hawarden. When she came
there it was merely as a visitor. She
did not get on well with the dead hus-
bands brothers and sisters, and 1t
will be noted that her portrait is in
cluded in none of the innumerable
family groups of the Gladstone house.
hold at Hawarden, which have ever
been issued to the public. Nor did she
have any say in the management of
what was virtually her sons estates,
of which her sisters-in-law, that is
to say, old Mrs. Gladstone's daughters,
had far more control than herself.
The Hon. Mrs. Gladstone, who is a
daughter of old Lord Blantyre, SUBJ
mitted, to all this I'm silence as long
as her distinguished father-in-law,
for whom she entertained the most
profound veneration, was alive. But
there was no reason for continuing
70 permit herself to be thus ignored
in connection with Hawarden after
his death, all the more as old Mrs.
Gladstone has fallen into a state of
complete dotage, and does not seem
to even realize or to appreciate that
she has become a widow.
I There has been, as l said above, no
little unpleasantness about the whole
matter, which has eliminated in the
public announcement that the Hon.
Mrs. William Henry Gladstone has
now taken up her residence at Hawar-
den Castle as Its mistress, where she
will keep house on behalf Of her son,
the owner of the estate, until he at
tains his majority. That Is to say,
Hawarden Castle becomes from
henceforth the home Of the Hon. Mrs
William Henry Gladstone, of her son,
and of her two daughters, while IT
ceases to be the home Of old Mrs.
Gladstone, of her unmarried daugh-
ter, Miss Helen Gladstone, Of the
Right Hon. Herbert Gladstone, and
Of the Rev. and Mrs. Harry Drew
with their little daughter, Dorothy
Drew, the favorite grandchild of the
Grand Old Man. The Rev. Stephen
Gladstone, being rector of the parish
of Hawarden, will, of course, remain
in the estate. But ] doubt whether
there will be as much cordiality and
intercourse between the castle and
The rectorate as in the days of yore
II 10 probable that from hencefortl
and for the remainder of her days
old Mrs. Gladstone will make her
home in London, with her son Her
bert, and be cared for and nursed by