On 18 October 1865, Lord Palmerston (aka ‘Pam’, ‘The Mongoose’ and ‘Lord Cupid’), Prime Minister of the UK from 1855-1858 and 1859-1865, passed way – he was 80 years old.

As you can imagine, The Archive contains 1,000s of stories about Lord Palmerston.

But our eye was caught by this quirky story about a visitor to Westminster who was mortified by once having (accidentally) bumped into Palmertson in the Commons Lobby, and nearly knocking the great man to the ground. Palmerston’s reaction to the collision was exemplary.

Note the thick, black borders that surround the story – these were the decorative marks of mourning that Victorian newspapers carried when a major death had occurred in the UK.

The Western Daily Press – Thursday 19 October 1865

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/18651019/011/0003