Although born in Liverpool in 1809, Gladstone was always quick to point to his two Scottish parents and that "not a drop of blood in my veins is not Scottish."

He entered Parliament in 1832 and he served a record 61 years in the House of Commons, becoming Prime Minister on no less than four occasions - the last at the age of 82. And as Chancellor of the Exchequer he was noted for simplifying the tax system.

He had a gift for public speaking and in a famous election campaign in Midlothian in 1879 an estimated 20,000 people heard him speak. His great political rival for many years was Benjamin Disraeli. Gladstone died in 1898 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.