Global political history

Global political history from 3000 BC to the 21st century – political leaders, elections, and more.

Universities of the United Kingdom

University of Aberdeen

Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen
Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Gordon

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 27 1818; d. September 27 1903.

1861 – 1903


Rector of the University of Aberdeen
Edward Francis Maitland, Lord Barcaple

Date of birth/date of death: b. 1803; d. 1870.

1860 – 1863

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 18 1792; d. May 28 1878

Titles of nobility: Earl Russell in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1861 – 1878)

1863 – 1866

Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 21 1829; d. January 12 1906.

1866 – 1872

William Edward Forster

Date of birth/date of death: b. July 11 1818; d. April 5 1886.

1875 – 1878

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 7 1847; d. May 21 1929

Noble titles: Earl of Rosebery in the Peerage of Scotland (1868 – 1929); Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1929); Earl of Midlothian in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1911 – 1929)

1878 – 1881

Alexander Bain

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 11 1818; d. September 18 1903.

1881 – ?

Charles Thomson Ritchie

Date of birth/date of death: b. November 19 1838; d. January 9 1906.

1902 – 1905

Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood

Date of birth/date of death: b. September 14 1864; d. November 24 1958.

1924 – 1927


University of Birmingham

Chancellor of the University of Birmingham
Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood

Date of birth/date of death: b. September 14 1864; d. November 24 1958.

1918 – 1944


University of Cambridge

Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne

Date of birth/date of death: b. July 21 1693; d. November 17 1768.

1748 – 1768

Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton

Date of birth/date of death: b. September 28 1735; d. March 14 1811.

1768 – 1811

Field Marshal Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

Date of birth/date of death: b. January 15 1776; d. November 30 1834.

1811 – 1834

John Jeffreys Pratt, 1st Marquess Camden

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 11 1759; d. October 8 1840.

1834 – 1840

Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 20 1785; d. February 11 1847.

1840 – 1847

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 26 1819; d. December 14 1861

1847 – 1861

William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 27 1808; d. December 21 1891

Titles of nobility: Earl of Burlington in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1834 – 1891); Duke of Devonshire in the Peerage of England (1858 – 1891)

1861 – 1891

Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire

Date of birth/date of death: b. July 23 1833; d. March 24 1908

Noble titles: Duke of Devonshire in the Peerage of England (1891 – 1908)

1892 – 1908

John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh

Date of birth/date of death: b. November 12 1842; d. June 30 1919.

1908 – 1919

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

Date of birth/date of death: b. July 25 1848; d. March 19 1930

Titles of nobility: Earl of Balfour in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1922 – 1930)

1919 – 1930

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 3 1867; d. December 14 1947

Titles of nobility: Earl Baldwin of Bewdley in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1937 – 1947); Viscount Corvedale in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1937 – 1947).

1930 – 1947

Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 24 1870; d. September 11 1950

1948 – 1950

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder

Date of birth/date of death: b. November 11 1885; d. December 21 1945

Titles of nobility: Baron Tedder in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1946 – 1967).

Military ranks: Promoted to air vice marshal, 1937. Promoted to air chief marshal, 1943. Promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force, 1945.

1950 – 1967

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 10 1921; d. April 9 2021

Titles of nobility: Duke of Edinburgh in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1947 – 2021).

1976 – 2011

Masters of Magdalene College, Cambridge

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Arthur Christopher Benson

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 24 1862; d. June 17 1925

1915 – 1925


Master of Trinity College, University of Cambridge
George Macaulay Trevelyan

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 16 1876; d. July 21 1962.

1940 – 1951


Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge
George Macaulay Trevelyan

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 16 1876; d. July 21 1962.

1927 – 1943




Durham University

Chancellor of Durham University
George Macaulay Trevelyan

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 16 1876; d. July 21 1962.

1950 – 1957




University of Edinburgh

Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh
Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux

Date of birth/date of death: b. September 19 1778; d. May 7 1868.

1859 – 1868

John Inglis, Lord Glencorse

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 21 1810; d. August 20 1891.

1868 – 1891

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 9 1860; d. June 19 1937.

1930 – 1937


Rector of the University of Edinburgh
William Ewart Gladstone

Date of birth/date of death: b. December 29 1809; d. May 19 1898

1859 – 1865

Thomas Carlyle

Date of birth/date of death: b. December 4 1795; d. February 5 1881.

1865 – 1868

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 7 1847; d. May 21 1929

Noble titles: Earl of Rosebery in the Peerage of Scotland (1868 – 1929); Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1929); Earl of Midlothian in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1911 – 1929)

1880 – 1883

Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 27 1818; d. January 12 1887.

1883 – 1887

Schomberg Henry Kerr, 9th Marquess of Lothian

Date of birth/date of death: b. December 2 1833; d. January 17 1900.

1887 – 1890

George Joachim Goschen

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 10 1831; d. February 7 1907.

1890 – 1893

George Wyndham

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 29 1863; d. June 8 1913.

1908 – 1911




Eton College

Provost of Eton College
Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 14 1869; d. December 10 1956.

1936 – 1944




University of Glasgow

Chancellor of the University of Glasgow
Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, 7th Duke of Queensberry

Date of birth/date of death: b. January 12 1800; d. June 27 1870

1878 – 1884

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 26 1824; d. December 17 1907.

1904 – 1907

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 7 1847; d. May 21 1929

Noble titles: Earl of Rosebery in the Peerage of Scotland (1868 – 1929); Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1929); Earl of Midlothian in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1911 – 1929)

1908 – 1929

Sir Donald MacAlister, 1st Baronet of Tarbet

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 17 1854; d. January 15 1934.

1929 – 1934


Rector of the University of Glasgow
Lieutenant-General Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 19 1748; d. December 18 1843.

1813 – 1815

Henry Peter Brougham

Date of birth/date of death: b. September 19 1778; d. May 7 1868.

1824 – 1826

Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 26 1779; d. April 26 1854.

1831 – 1834

Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, Lord Stanley

Date of birth/date of death: b. March 29 1799; d. October 23 1869

Titles of nobility: Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1844 – 1869); Earl of Derby in the Peerage of England (1851 – 1869)

1834 – 1836

Sir James Robert George Graham, 2nd Baronet

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 1 1792; d. October 25 1861.

1838 – 1840

Fox Maule

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 22 1801; d. July 6 1874.

1842 – 1844

Andrew Rutherfurd, Lord Rutherfurd

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 21 1791; d. December 13 1854.

1845 – 1846

Lord John Russell

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 18 1792; d. May 28 1878

Titles of nobility: Earl Russell in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1861 – 1878)

1846 – 1847

William Mure

Date of birth/date of death: b. July 10 1799; d. April 1 1860.

1847 – 1848

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, 12th Earl of Kincardine

Date of birth/date of death: b. July 20 1811; d. November 20 1863.

1859 – 1862

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 20 1784; d. October 18 1865.

1862 – 1865

John Inglis, Lord Glencorse

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 21 1810; d. August 20 1891.

1865 – 1868

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield

Date of birth/date of death: b. December 21 1804; d. April 19 1881.

1871 – 1877

William Ewart Gladstone

Date of birth/date of death: b. December 29 1809; d. May 19 1898

1877 – 1880

John Bright

Date of birth/date of death: b. November 16 1811; d. March 27 1889.

1880 – 1883

Sir John Eldon Gorst

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 24 1835; d. April 4 1916.

1893 – 1896

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 7 1847; d. May 21 1929

Noble titles: Earl of Rosebery in the Peerage of Scotland (1868 – 1929); Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1929); Earl of Midlothian in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1911 – 1929)

1899 – 1902

George Wyndham

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 29 1863; d. June 8 1913.

1902 – 1905

George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Curzon of Kedleston

Date of birth/date of death: b. January 11 1859; d. March 20 1925.

1908 – 1911

Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 20 1860; d. October 15 1934.

1914 – 1919

Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 16 1863; d. March 16 1937.

1925 – 1928




University of London

Chancellor of the University of London
Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 11 1815; d. March 31 1891.

1856 – 1891

John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley

Date of birth/date of death: b. January 7 1826; d. April 8 1902.

Noble titles: Earl of Clarendon in the Peerage of Great Britain (1838 – 1870)

1899 – 1902

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 7 1847; d. May 21 1929

Noble titles: Earl of Rosebery in the Peerage of Scotland (1868 – 1929); Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1929); Earl of Midlothian in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1911 – 1929)

1902 – 1929

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 20 1872; d. November 14 1938.

1929 – 1931




University of Oxford

Chancellor of the University of Oxford
George Henry Lee II, 3rd Earl of Lichfield

Date of birth/date of death: b. 1718; d. 1772.

1762 – 1772

Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 13 1732; d. August 5 1792.

1772 – 1792

William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 14 1738; d. October 30 1809.

1792 – 1809

William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 25 1759; d. January 12 1834.

1809 – 1834

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 1 1769; d. September 14 1852

Noble titles: Viscount Wellington in the peerage of the United Kingdom (1809 – 1852); Count of Vimeiro in the nobility of Portugal (1811 – 1852); Earl of Wellington in the peerage of the United Kingdom (1812 – 1852); Marquess of Wellington in the peerage of the United Kingdom (1812 – 1852); Duke of Vitória in the nobility of Portugal (1812 – 1852); Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo in the nobility of Spain (1812 – 1852); Duke of Wellington in the peerage of the United Kingdom (1814 – 1852); Prince of Waterloo in the nobility of the Netherlands (1815 – 1852)

Military ranks: Major-General (1802 – 1808); Lieutenant-General (1808 – 1811); General (1811 – 1813); Field Marshal (1813 – 1852)

1834 – 1852

Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby

Date of birth/date of death: b. March 29 1799; d. October 23 1869

Titles of nobility: Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1844 – 1869); Earl of Derby in the Peerage of England (1851 – 1869)

1852 – 1869

Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 3 1830; d. August 22 1903

Titles of nobility: Marquess of Salisbury in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1903)

1869 – 1903

Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 3 1830; d. August 22 1903

Titles of nobility: Marquess of Salisbury in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1903)

1869 – 1903

George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen

Date of birth/date of death: b. August 10 1831; d. February 7 1907.

1903 – 1907

George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

Date of birth/date of death: b. January 11 1859; d. March 20 1925.

1907 – 1925

Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl Halifax

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 16 1881; d. December 23 1959

Titles of nobility: Baron Irwin in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1925 – 1959); Viscount Halifax in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1934 – 1959); Earl of Halifax in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1944 – 1959).

1933 – 1959

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton

Date of birth/date of death: b. February 10 1894; d. December 29 1986

Titles of nobility: Earl of Stockton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1984 – 1986); Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1984 – 1986)

1960 – 1986

Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead

Date of birth/date of death: b. November 11 1920; d. January 5 2003.

1987 – 2003

William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond

Date of birth/date of death: b. March 26 1961.

2025 – present


Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
Francis Atterbury

Date of birth/date of death: b. March 6 1663; d. February 22 1732.

1711 – 1713


Principal of Hertford College, Oxford
Richard Newton

Date of birth/date of death: b. November 8 1676; d. April 21 1753.

1740 – 1753

William Nicolas “Will” Hutton

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 21 1950.

2011 – 2020


Master of Pembroke College, Oxford
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister

Date of birth/date of death: b. March 23 1929; d. March 3 2018.

1985 – 1993


Master of University College, Oxford
Kingman Brewster, Jr.

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 17 1919; d. November 8 1988.

1986 – 1988

Sir Ivor Martin Crewe

Date of birth/date of death: b. December 15 1945.

2008 – 2020

Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos

Date of birth/date of death: b. March 13 1954.

2020 – present


Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford
Charles Lloyd, Bishop of Oxford

Date of birth/date of death: b. September 26 1784; d. May 31 1829.

1822 – 1829




University of Reading

Chancellor of the University of Reading
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain

Date of birth/date of death: b. October 16 1863; d. March 16 1937.

1935 – 1937


University of Sheffield

Chancellor of the University of Sheffield
Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe

Date of birth/date of death: b. January 12 1858; d. June 20 1945.

1917 – 1944


University of St. Andrews

Chancellor of the University of St. Andrews
General Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 15 1721; d. October 31 1765.

1746 – 1765

Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull

Date of birth/date of death: b. July 4 1710; d. December 27 1787.

1765 – 1787

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 28 1742; d. May 28 1811.

1788 – 1811

Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville

Date of birth/date of death: b. March 14 1771; d. June 10 1851.

1814 – 1851

Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 19 1861; d. January 29 1928.

1922 – 1928

Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 22 1941.

2006 – present


Rector of the University of St. Andrews
John Stuart Mill

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 20 1806; d. May 7 1873.

1865 – 1868

John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury

Date of birth/date of death: b. April 30 1834; d. May 28 1913.

1907 – 1910

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 7 1847; d. May 21 1929

Noble titles: Earl of Rosebery in the Peerage of Scotland (1868 – 1929); Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1868 – 1929); Earl of Midlothian in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1911 – 1929)

1910 – 1913

Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig

Date of birth/date of death: b. June 19 1861; d. January 29 1928.

1916 – 1919

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet

Date of birth/date of death: b. May 9 1860; d. June 19 1937.

1919 – 1922