In the preface to this three-volume work of 1886, Edwin Hodder (1837 1904) writes that the seventh earl of Shaftesbury 'resisted every appeal that was made to him to allow his biography to be written'. In the end, he succumbed to the inevitable, and co-operated with Hodder, a professional author, sharing with him both his archives and his memories. Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1801 85) was an evangelical Christian with a profound sense of the duty owed by the aristocracy to their country and to the less fortunate. He first came to prominence as the leader of the parliamentary campaign for shorter...

In the preface to this three-volume work of 1886, Edwin Hodder (1837 1904) writes that the seventh earl of Shaftesbury 'resisted every appeal that was made to him to allow his biography to be written'. In the end, he succumbed to the inevitable, and shared with Hodder, a professional author, both his archives and his memories. Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1801 85) was an evangelical Christian with a profound sense of the duty owed by the aristocracy to their country and to the less fortunate. He first came to prominence as the leader of the parliamentary campaign for shorter working hours, which...