Macaulay, Thomas Babington Baron Macaulay

Born Oct. 25, 1800, in Rothley Temple, Leicestershire; died Dec. 28, 1859, in London. English historian, publicist, and Whig politician.

Macaulay served in India as a member of the supreme council under the viceroy from 1833 to 1838, introducing educational reforms whose purpose was the forcible imposition of English culture and language. He was secretary for war between 1839 and 1841. Macaulay implacably opposed the Chartist movement and universal suffrage. In such works as his multivolume History of England (vols. 1-5, 1849-61), covering the period 1685-1702, he depicted English history as unbroken progress under Whig leadership, a thesis contributing to the popularity of his works among the English bourgeoisie. He considered the coup of 1688-89—the Glorious Revolution—to be the greatest event in world history, in contrast to the English Revolution of the 17th century. The success of Macaulay’s writings owed much to his brilliant literary style.