A Protegee Of the late Mr. Gladstone, the wife of the Premier was reared in an atmosphere of Liberal politics. Her father, the late Sir Charles Tennant, was an enthusiastic Radical, and in 1894, when his daughter Margaret married, as his second wife, Mr. Asquith, then holding the office of Home Secretary, many leaders of the Party, including Mr. Gladstone, attended the ceremony. A brilliant and clever woman, Mrs. Asquith as Miss Margaret Tennant played a conspicuous role in the formation of that society of well-known people with intellectual and artistic inclinations, known as " The Souls," the queen of whom was the present Duchess of Rutland. In those days, too, Mrs. Asquith was accustomed to do the honours when her father entertained at his town mansion in Grosvenor Square, and it may be said that she has entertained all the most noted men and women:of the day. As a political hostess, she has proved of immense service to the party generally and her husband in particular, in addition to which she has become almost as well-known in the East End of London as in the West End, on account of her interest in poor children and factory girls. She and her sister, Lady Ribblesdale, started a creche for babies in the poor district of Wapping, and had a district in Aldersgate where a large number of factory girls were their devoted friends.

Mrs. Asquith J. Russell

Mrs. Asquith J. Russell