NATIONAL LIBERAL CLUB 



5652 



NATIONAL REGISTER 



state socialism and protection, and 

 their influence then began to de- 

 cline. In 1914 they had 47 seats 

 in the Reichstag, but only secured 

 22 in the National Assembly in 

 1919. See Germany ; Liberalism. 

 National Liberal Club. Lon- 

 don political club. It was formed, 

 Nov. 16, 1882, with W. E. Glad- 



National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, London. Interior 

 of the dining-room 



stone as president, to further the 

 interests of Liberalism, and to pro- 

 vide a central club in London for 

 Liberals throughout the kingdom. 

 Among its objects was " to found, 

 in connexion with the club, a 

 political and historical library, to 

 be called the Gladstone Library, as 

 a permanent memorial of the ser- 

 vices which the Right Hon. W. E. 

 Gladstone has rendered to his 

 country." The inaugural banquet, 

 at which 2,000 members were 

 present, was held on May 2, 1883. 

 The club-house is in Whitehall 

 Place, overlooking the Thames 

 embankment ; its foundation stone 

 was laid Nov. 4, 1884, the premises 

 were opened June 20, 1887, and 

 the fine Gladstone Library, May 

 2, 1888. 



In 1916-20, when the club was 

 taken over by the war office, mem- 

 bers were housed in the West- 

 minster Palace Hotel. There are 

 about 200 bedrooms for use of 

 members, several dining-rooms, a 

 large smoking-room, billiard-room, 

 conference-rooms, etc. The mem- 

 bership is about 5,000, and while 

 having no official status in the 

 Liberal party organization, it is 

 usually regarded as its unofficial 

 headquarters. See Liberal ; Liberal 

 Federation, National. 



National Party. British politi- 

 cal organization. It was formed in 

 Aug., 1917, by a group of Unionists 

 who severed their connexion with 

 the official Unionist party. Its 

 objects were to secure a national 

 as against a class, sectional, or sec- 

 tarian policy, to promote class 

 unity and confidence between em- 

 ployer and employed, and the 

 unity of the empire in council and 



defence. Its inaugural meeting 

 was held in London on Oct. 25 

 under the presidency of Lord 

 Beresford, and among its leading 

 supporters were Lord Montagu of 

 Beaulieu and Brigadier-Gen. Page 

 Croft, M.P. In April, 1921, the 

 name was changed to the National 

 Constitutional Association. 



National Phy- 

 sical Labora- 

 tory. Laboratory 

 for research work 

 founded in 1901 

 at Bushey House, 

 Teddington, Eng- 

 'and. It was 

 founded as a 

 public institution 

 for standardising 

 and verifying in- 

 struments, testing 

 materials, and de- 

 termining physi- 

 cal constants. 

 Under the control 

 of the Royal So- 

 ciety at its foun- 

 dation, its control was divided from 

 April, 1918, between the society and 

 the department of scientific and 

 industrial research. The laboratory 

 is divided into eight sections, deal- 

 ing with physics, electricity, engin- 

 eering, aerodynamics, metallurgy, 

 etc. There are two large wind 

 tunnel s for testing aeroplane models, 

 wings, etc., and also a large ex- 

 perimental tank for testing ship 

 models. The laboratory has become 

 in a few years, under the director- 

 ship first of Sir Richard Glazebrook, 

 F.R.S., and secondly of Sir J. E. 

 Petavel, F.R.S., one of the foremost 

 research laboratories in the world. 

 National Portrait Gallery. 

 Building in St. Martin's Place, 

 London, W.C. It contains about 

 2,000 paintings, sculptures, and 

 drawings of men and women who 

 have figured with distinction in the 

 history of the United Kingdom. 

 No portrait of any living person, 

 except of the reigning sovereign 

 and of his or her consort, is ad- 

 mitted, and no modern copy of an 



National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Place, London 



original portrait. The gallery was 

 founded by Act of Parliament, 

 June 6, 1856. Opened at 29, Great 

 George Street, Westminster, 1859, 

 the collection was housed at S. 

 Kensington, 1869-85; at Bethnal 

 Green Museum, 1885-95. 



The existing structure, built 

 1890-95 in Italian style from de- 

 signs by Ewan Christian, was 

 opened April 4, 1896, at a cost of 

 96,000, of which William Henry 

 Alexander, of Shipton, Andover, 

 Hants, contributed 80,000 and 

 the government 16,000 and the 

 site. The directors have included 

 Sir G. Scharf, Lionel Cust, C. J. 

 Holmes, and J. D. Milner. The 

 Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 

 Queen Street, Edinburgh, built in 

 14th century Gothic style from 

 designs by Dr. Rowand Anderson, 

 was opened in 1889. The building 

 cost over 60,000, and was the 

 gift to the nation of John R. 

 Findlay (1824-98), proprietor of 

 The Scotsman. 



NationalProvincial and Union 

 Bank of England. English bank- 

 ing company. It dates from 1918, 

 being an amalgamation of the 

 National Provincial Bank and the 

 Union Bank of London and Smith's, 

 each of which was in its turn an 

 amalgamation. In 1919 the union 

 took over the Sheffield Banking 

 Co., and between 1918-20 it ac- 

 quired four other English banks, 

 in addition to the business of 

 Coutts & Co. taken over in 1919. 

 It has a half -share in Lloyds and 

 the National Provincial Foreign 

 Bank. It has 960 branches in Eng- 

 land and Wales, its head office be- 

 ing at 15, Bishopsgate, London, 

 E.G., where in 1921 a memorial 

 was unveiled to 440 members of 

 the staff who fell in the Great War. 

 Its paid-up capital is 9,300,000. 



National Provincial Bank of 

 England. English banking com- 

 pany. It was established in 1833 

 and registered as a limited com- 

 pany in 1880. In 1918, having just 

 taken over the Bradford District 

 Bank, it united with the Union 

 Bank of London 

 and Smith's to 

 form the National 

 Provincial and 

 Union. Bank of 

 England. 



National Reg- 

 ister. Census of 

 Great Britain 

 taken during the 

 Great War. On 

 Aug. 15, 1915, a 

 register of all the 

 inhabitants of the 

 British islands be- 

 tween the ages of 

 15 and 65 was 

 taken. Its object, 



