William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898)

I drive past this statue every day on the way to the office. It stands outside St Deiniol's Library in Hawarden.

In 1895, William Gladstone bequeathed over £40,000 (£4.13 million in today's money). He also gave his entire library (over 32,000 books) to St Deiniol's, the library is open to the public to this day. He was considered one of the country's finest prime ministers, having held the position on four separate occasions (more here).

We have a somewhat tenuous family connection to the great man. In the late 1800's my great-grandfather brought his young family from Cullen in Moray (Scotland) to Chester. He took up the position of head gardener for the Gladstone Estate. My grandfather was just a small boy at the time but this is how my family came to live in this part of the world. It might also go some way to explain my love of Scotland ;-)