HARDINGE GIFFORD

(1st Earl of Halsbury)


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Hardinge Gifford

I say that this is a dirty, filthy book, and the test of it is that no human being would allow that book on his table, no decently educated English husband would allow even his wife to have it…the object of it is to enable a person to have sexual intercourse, and not to have that which in the order of Providence is the natural result of that sexual intercourse. That is the only purpose of the book and all the instruction in the other parts of the book leads up to that proposition.
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Citation

In 1877 Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh attempted to publish The Fruits of Philosophy in Britain. It was a book on Birth Control. The two were immediately arrested and charged with publishing an ‘obscene’ book. Gifford was the Public Prosecutor. The authors were convicted and sentenced to 6 months in prison. However, they appealed and were exonerated in the appeal. The case was good for Gifford who went on to become Lord Chancellor of Britain. The trial was a strong motivator for Annie Besant to have a very activist career thereafter.

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  • Born:
  • Nationality: British
  • Profession: Pollitician, Attorney
Biography

Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury, PC (3 September 1823 – 11 December 1921) was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He served three times as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, for a total of seventeen years, a record not equaled by anyone except Lords Hardwicke and Eldon.[1]