Baron Henry Brougham Brougham and Vaux

Born in Edinburgh in 1778, Henry Brougham built a reputation as a gifted advocate, writer, and public speaker before rising to national prominence in British politics. He trained in law, became known through his work with the Edinburgh Review, and developed a public career marked by sharp intelligence, huge energy, and a taste for argument.

Brougham served as Lord Chancellor and played an important part in the passage of the Reform Act of 1832. He is also closely linked with the movement that led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, and he spent much of his life promoting legal change, public instruction, and what he saw as useful knowledge for ordinary readers.

He wrote widely as well as governed, producing works on politics, history, rhetoric, and the British constitution. Later in life he was associated with Cannes, where he helped draw attention to the town as a destination, and he died in 1868 after a career that left a strong mark on 19th-century public life.