Lord Aberdare

Henry Austin Bruce, first Baron Aberdare (1815-1895) was born in Dyffryn, Aberdare, Glamorganshire. He entered the House of Commons in 1852 and ten years later became the Under-Secretary of State in Lord Palmerston's government. His political career continued many years after Palmerston's death, and he carried out extensive work on mining conditions and education of the poor in England and Wales. His title as President of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, closely followed the end of his position as Home Secretary under William Ewart Gladstone. He died in London in 1895, and was buried in Mountain Ash, South Wales. A commemorative sculpture stands in Aberystwyth's Old College, and another in the School of Art.