Augustine Birrell (January 19, 1850 - November 20, 1933), was an English author and politician. January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

He was the son of a Nonconformist minister, was born near Liverpool. He was educated at Amersham Hall school and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He went to the bar, and gradually obtained a good practice; in 1893 he became a K.C., and he was professor of law at University College from 1896 to 1899. A nonconformist is an English or Welsh Protestant of any non-Anglican denomination, chiefly advocating religious liberty. ... Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Northwest England. ... Amersham Hall was a school for the sons of dignified gentlemen. From from 1829 to 1861 it was located in Elmodesham House in Amersham, relocating in 1861 to Berkshire. ... Full name College of Scholars of the Holy Trinity of Norwich Motto - Named after The Holy Trinity Previous names - Established 1350 Sister College University College All Souls College Master Prof. ... The term university college is used in a number of countries to denote institutions that provide tertiary education but do not have full or independent university status. ...

It was as a witty, stylish literary critic that he first became known, with his volume of essays entitled Obiter Dicta (1884). In 1889 he was returned to parliament for West Fife as a Liberal. In the House of Commons his light but pointed humour gradually led to the coining of a new word, birrelling. His characteristic style carries over to his books on copyright and on trusts. Look up Wit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wit is a form of intellectual humour, based on manipulation of concepts; a wit is someone who excels in witty remarks, typically in conversation and spontaneously, since wit carries the connotation of speed of thought. ... An essay is a short work that treats a topic from an authors personal point of view, often taking into account subjective experiences and personal reflections upon them. ... Fife (Fìobh in Gaelic) is a unitary council region of Scotland situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth. ... The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become known as... British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... For copyright issues in relation to Wikipedia itself, see Wikipedia:Copyrights. ... In general, trust refers to an aspect of a relationship between two parties, by which a given situation is mutually understood, and commitments are made toward actions in favor of a desired outcome. ...

A second series of Obiter Dicta appeared in 1887. Res Judicatae in 1892 and various other volumes followed, establishing his as a man of letters. Birrell was first married in 1878, but his wife died next year, and in 1888 he married Mrs Lionel Tennyson, daughter of the poet Frederick Locker (Locker-Lampson). An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, and speculate on a variety of different ideas. ... Frederick Locker-Lampson (1821-1895) was an English man of letters and poet. ...

At the general election of 1900 he preferred to contest the N.E. division of Manchester rather than retain his seat in Fife, but was defeated. He did service, however, to his party by presiding over the Liberal Publication Department, and at the general election of 1906 he was returned for a division of Bristol. He had been included in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet, and as minister for education he was responsible for the education bill which was the chief government measure in their first session. But the prolonged controversy over the bill, and its withdrawal in the autumn owing to the refusal of the government to accept modifications made by the House of Lords in the denominational interest, made his retention of that office impossible, and he was transferred (January 1907) to the post of Chief Secretary for Ireland, which he subsequently retained when Henry Asquith became prime minister in 1908. Manchester is a city in the North West of England. ... Bristol is an English city and county and one of the three administrative centres of South West England (the others being Plymouth and Exeter). ... The Right Honourable Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (7 September 1836 – 22 April 1908) was a British Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister from February 5, 1906 until resigning due to ill health on April 3, 1908. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... The Chief Secretary was the most important position for determining British policy in Ireland after the Lord Lieutenant, and was frequently a cabinet level position in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. ... Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (September 12, 1852 - February 15, 1928) served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. ...

In the session of 1907 he introduced an Irish Councils bill, a sort of half-way house to Home Rule; but it was unexpectedly repudiated by a Nationalist convention in Dublin and the bill was promptly withdrawn. His prestige as a minister, already injured by these two blows, suffered further during the autumn and winter from the cattledriving agitation in Ireland, which he at first feebly criticized and finally strongly denounced, but which his refusal to utilize the Crimes Act made him powerless to stop by the processes of the ordinary law; and the scandal arising out of the theft of the Dublin crown jewels in the autumn of 1907 was a further blot on the Irish administration. On the other hand his scheme for a reconstituted Irish Roman Catholic university was very favorably received, and its acceptance in 1908 did much to restore his reputation for statesmanship as well as the introduction of a compulsory tenant land purchase scheme, the Birrell (Irish) Land Act (1909). Devolution or Home rule is the pooling of powers from central government to government at regional or local level. ... Crown jewels are those that belong to the sovereign and pass to the next sovereign to symbolize the right to rule. ...

He continued in office for 9 years in all, resigning in 1916 after the Easter Uprising.

The majority of his literary work was published before 1906, but he returned to literature with a further volume of essays and book reviews, More Obiter Dicta (1920) and Etc Caetera. His autobiography, Things past redress was published posthumously.

The critic Francis Birrell (1889–1935) was his son.

Photograph of James Bryce The Right Honourable James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, OM , FRS , PC (1838-1922), was a British jurist, historian and politician. ... The Chief Secretary was the most important position for determining British policy in Ireland after the Lord Lieutenant, and was frequently a cabinet level position in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.

Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

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Augustine Birrell

• Works by Augustine Birrell at Project Gutenberg