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From the Book of Eminent Burgesses of Dundee 1513 to 1885.
Archibald, Earl of Rosebery - 7th August 1883
THE RIGHT HON. ARCHIBALD PHILIP PRIMROSE, EARL OF ROSEBERY; THE RIGHT HON. ROBERT ADAM PHILIPS DUNCAN HALDANE, EARL OF CAMPERDOWN; AND THE RIGHT HON. JOHN WILLIAM RAMSAY, EARL OF DALHOUSIE, K.T., WERE ALL ADMITTED BURGESSES OF DUNDEE, IN RESPECT OF THEIR HIGH CHARACTER, EMINENT POSITIONS, AND PUBLIC SERVICES.
The occasion upon which the names of these three noblemen were inscribed on the Burgess Roll was the opening of University College, Dundee, with the erection and constitution of which the EARL OF CAMPERDOWN and the EARL OF DALHOUSIE had been closely associated. Both these noble Earls were present at the opening ceremony, and acknowledged the honour which had thus been conferred upon them. LORD ROSEBERY was then absent on a tour through the Australian colonies, but at a later date (15th April, 1884) he appeared in Dundee, and delivered an address on the occasion of receiving his Burgess Ticket.
ARCHIBALD PHILIP PRIMROSE, fifth EARL OF ROSEBERY, is the son of the late LORD DALMENY (ob. 1851), and of LADY WILHELMINE STANHOPE, sister of EARL STANHOPE, the historian, afterwards DUCHESS OF CLEVELAND. The names of several of his ancestors and kinsmen may be found inscribed on the Burgess Roll of Dundee in the seventeenth century, notably DAVID PRIMROSE of Whitehouse and ROBERT BRUCE, LORD BROOMHALL, who were admitted on 17th May, 1627; and GILBERT PRIMROSE, who was made a freeman of the Burgh on 17th September, 1633 (vide pp. 136, 137, and 150). LORD ROSEBERY was born on 7th May, 1847, and succeeded to the title on the death of his grandfather on 4th March, 1868. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, and took his seat in the House of Lords on his accession to the Earldom. His first appearance as a public speaker was made in 1871, when he seconded the Address in reply to the Queen's Speech, and at once commanded attention as an orator of no mean ability. In Parliament LORD ROSEBERY has consistently advocated Liberalism of an advanced type. During the acrimonious debates upon the religious questions raised by the introduction of the Education Acts he supported the proposal for the exclusion of compulsory teaching of Catechisms, maintaining that this would prevent the revival of one of the worst forms of religious tests. He was one of the Commissioners upon Scottish Endowments, and in 1873 he became Chairman of his own Committee of Inquiry as to the Supply of Horses, through whose recommendation the inconvenient tax upon horses was latterly remitted. When the Social Science Congress met in Glasgow, on 1st October, 1874, LORD ROSEBERY was chosen President, an office which had formerly been held by the PRINCE CONSORT and LORD BROUGHAM, and had never been entrusted to so youthful a nobleman before. The address which he delivered on that occasion fully justified the choice which had been made, and showed that he possessed full knowledge of the great social questions of the day, and could discuss them with wisdom and discretion. In 1878 he was elected Lord Rector of Aberdeen University , and before his term of office was completed he was chosen in November, 1880, to fill the same honourable post in the University of Edinburgh. On both occasions he delivered Rectorial addresses, admirable alike for their subject matter, the originality displayed in their treatment, and the eloquence with which they were delivered.
LORD ROSEBERY was appointed Under Secretary of State for the Home Department in August, 1881, and continued in office till June, 1883, when he resigned the place. Before this time he had strongly advocated the revival of the office of Secretary for Scotland, which had not been administered since 1746, and shortly afterwards the proposal was carried out. His political influence in Midlothian enabled him to render valuable service to Mr GLADSTONE when that veteran statesman successfully contested the shire in 1880. He is a Member of the Committee of the Privy Council on Education, is an LL.D. of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and StAndrews, and is Lord Lieutenant of Mid and West Lothian. In 1885 he was Privy Seal and First Commissioner of Works, and in 1886 Secretary for Foreign Affairs. LORD ROSEBERY was married in 1878 to HANNAH, daughter of the late BARON MAYER DE ROTHSCHILD, and has two sons and two daughters.