Sir Michael Foster (8th March 1836 - 29th January 1907)
Michael Foster was a latecomer to Parliament, having been elected as MP for the University of London in 1900 when he was 64 years old. He stood again for election in 1906 but was defeated by the very narrow margin of 24 votes.
More importantly, Foster is renowned for his contributions to medical science. He was at University College School from 1849 to 1852 and he went to the adjacent University of London medical school from which he gained his M.D.in 1859. He returned to his home town of Huntingdon and worked in general practice with his father. In 1867 he returned to London and taught at University College London and, later, accepted an assistant professorship there.
In 1869 he was appointed as Fullerian Professor at the Royal Institution in Albemarle Street.
A year later, in 1870, he was appointed to the Praelectorship in Physiology by Trinity College, Cambridge and in 1883 he became Professor of Physiology at Cambridge University and established a commanding reputation for the excellence of the University’s medical school. One of his students was Charles Sherrington who became Fullerian professor at the Royal Institution in 1915 and, later, was awarded the Nobel prize jointly with E.D.Adrian. Foster was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1872, and he succeeded Huxley, who had become President, as one of the Secretaries of that body.
He not only excelled as a teacher but his Textbook of Physiology became the preferred reference work. He was joint editor of The Scientific Memoirs of Thomas Henry Huxley
Michael Foster was knighted in 1899.
Viscount Morley (24th December 1838 - 23rd September 1923)
John Morley attended UCS from 1853 to 1854. He was awarded a scholarship to Lincoln College, Oxford and whilst there he was put under pressure from his father to take holy orders, which he refused. After taking his degree he moved to London and started a journalistic career, including a period as a newspaper editor and, later, as editor of the Pall Mall Gazette.
Morley first stood for Parliament at Blackburn in 1869 but was unsuccessful, and again he failed to secure a seat for the Westminster constituency in 1880. However he was successful in gaining a seat as MP for Newcastle upon Tyne in 1883. He gave much of his attention to problems in Ireland, favouring the adoption of home rule. In 1886 he became a member of the Privy Council and was made Chief Secretary for Ireland. Gladstone’s party was defeated in the 1886 general election and Morley turned his attention to writing until Gladstone returned to power in 1892.
Morley’s writing included the much-praised On Compromise which appeared in 1874 and in 1903 his Life of Gladstone was published.
Late in 1905 he accepted the appointment as Secretary of State for India, and he favoured firm measures to deal with the disorder and unrest occurring in India. When H.H.Asquith became Prime Minister in 1908 Morley retained his post in the cabinet, but was relieved of the necessity to seek re-election when he was created a peer with the title of Viscount Morley of Blackburn. He never visited India and he resigned his post in the cabinet in 1914 at the outbreak of WWI.
He met Mrs Rose Ayling and they lived together before marrying, awaiting the death of her first husband. Viscount Morley had three siblings, Edward Sword Morley, William Wheelhouse Morley and Grace Hannah Morley.
Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence (2nd February 1837 – 21st April 1914)
Edwin’s father was a carpenter in Cornwall before he established himself in business in London. Three of his sons were to become politically active as well as being engaged in business. Edwin Lawrence, the youngest son, married Miss Edith Jane Durning-Smith in 1874 and added the name Durning to his surname when he received his baronetcy in 1898.
Edwin attended UCS from 1847 to 1852 before studying at UC London for his B.A. attained in 1861. He qualified as a barrister at Middle Temple before contesting Parliamentary elections in Berkshire, Haggerston, Burnley and finally Truro where he was elected as their M.P. which seat he held from 1895 to 1906.
He was not noted as a significant parliamentary figure except for his stoutly-held view that Francis Bacon wrote all the ‘Shakespeare’ works. According to Sir Edwin’s obituary in The Times he is reputed to have called Shakespeare ‘the sordid moneylender of Stratford’ and an ‘ignorant and absolutely unlettered rustic’; but The Times adds that Sir Edwin was also noted for wearing ‘the most expensive silk hats of any man in the House’.
He was a great benefactor of the School giving most generously to the appeal in 1907 for Endowment and equipment and again in 1911 and in 1913. These considerable gifts were marked by the naming of the School hall as the Durning-Lawrence Hall.
Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain (8th July 1836 – 2nd July 1914)
Caroline and Joseph Chamberlain (Senior) had ‘lived over their shop’ in the City of London where shoe manufacturing was done but they moved to Camberwell when Joe, their first child, was due. After attending small schools in Camberwell and Islington, Joe was sent to UCS in 1850 where he distinguished himself in both languages and mathematics.
Entering the world of work he learnt bookkeeping and in 1854 was given the task of overseeing the capital investment that his father had made in the firm of Nettlefold in Birmingham, whose principal business was making wood screws. Joe took charge of marketing the firm’s products but also showed great perspicacity in fostering good employee relations by reducing working hours, introducing profit sharing with managers and seeking ways of increasing cooperative ventures.
Chamberlain then turned his attention to civic and political matters and was mayor of Birmingham three times. He was returned as M.P. for Birmingham in 1876. He became a cabinet minister in charge of the Board of Trade and, later, Secretary of State for the Colonies. He signed and ratified the peace treaty which brought to an end the Transvaal and Orange Free State as Boer republics. He was elected Chancellor of Birmingham University in 1901.
Winston Churchill wrote that 'Mr Chamberlain was incomparably the most live, sparkling, insurgent, compulsive figure in British affairs.'