The Rev. Jones was incensed, and sued the Roberts family for trespass. The case came before Porthmadoc County Court in May 1888, with Lloyd George acting for the defence. A jury of local people found in favour of the Roberts family, but in a breathtaking example of bias, the judge inaccurately recorded their verdict and ruled for the Church. Lloyd George refused to be beaten, and encouraged the family to appeal. The case came before the High Court in London in December 1888. Amid triumphant scenes that were reported widely in newspapers and celebrated throughout the length and breadth of Wales, the Lord Chief Justice overturned the previous judgement, awarded the family their costs and, for good measure, reprimanded the Porthmadoc judge for his conduct.
The commentators were virtually unanimous: Lloyd George had single-handedly challenged the persecutors of nonconformism and won justice for his people against the English-speaking establishment. The young lawyer from Criccieth was a hero.
Maggie was proud of her husband, who had proved to the world that he was principled, courageous and eloquent. Had she realised the full consequences of his notoriety, though, she might not have been so happy. The Liberal Party in Caernarvon Boroughs was selecting a candidate for the general election presumed to be forthcoming in 1892. Ten days or so after the Llanfrothen triumph they made their decision. Their candidate was Lloyd George, the hero of the hour.
Though he lived in a rural area of North Wales, the constituency which Lloyd George was to represent in Parliament for fifty-five years was comprised of the urban populations of six townships: Criccieth, Pwllheli, Nevin, Caernarvon, Bangor and Conway. It had around 4,000 registered voters out of a total population of nearly 29,000. The naturally Liberal populations of Criccieth, Pwllheli and Nevin were counterbalanced by the Church-dominated, largely Tory-voting citizens of the cathedral city of Bangor. The constituency could sometimes confound expectations, as had happened in the general election of 1886. The Liberals and the Liberal Unionists had swept the board in Wales, winning twenty-eight of the thirty-four parliamentary seats, but, presented with an unpopular Liberal candidate, Caernarvon Boroughs had elected the Tory Edmund Swetenham.
There is an element of luck in every successful political life, and it was Lloyd George’s good fortune that there was an opportunity for him to be selected as a candidate in his home constituency so early in his career. He had worked hard to be in a position to be a credible candidate, serving as Secretary of the local Anti-Tithe League and launching a Liberal newspaper, Udgorn Rhyddid (Freedom’s Trumpet) with some friends. Financially he was worse off after marrying than before, but perhaps his Llanfrothen victory had given him confidence that he could make a success of his law practice, or perhaps he simply could not bring himself to refuse an opportunity that might not come again for years. Having stood aside in 1886 he was not about to do so again, and after winning the nomination he prepared to wait—at least two years, he thought—for the next general election.
This was not at all to Maggie’s liking. As she prepared for the birth of her first child, she might have been able to ignore Lloyd George’s increasing preoccupation with politics, but when he accepted the candidacy for a seat that was winnable at the next election she could no longer do so. She tearfully tried to dissuade him from accepting, arguing that it was impractical for him to take on an unpaid job in London when they were expecting a baby and did not even have a house of their own. This was not unreasonable. A less ambitious man might have preferred to secure his family financially before launching himself into national politics. But Lloyd George had been raised to go as far as he could as early as he could. He took the view that his family would always provide for him, and he received encouragement from Morvin House. It was left to William George to worry about how the newly formed two-man legal practice could support two families with Lloyd George, at best, a part-time partner.
Lloyd George and Maggie’s first child, Richard (known as Dick), was born on 15 February 1889 in the room in which Maggie herself was born. His parents’ excitement was matched by his grandparents’ delight. Richard and Mary Owen loved children and would play a large part in their grandchildren’s lives, often taking care of them for weeks while their parents were in London. In happy anticipation of many more new arrivals, Richard Owen decided to retire from farming, and after realising his assets he built a pair of tall, semidetached stone houses in Criccieth overlooking the bay. He and Mary would live in one, and Maggie and her family would be close at hand, next door.
This new arrangement was much more to Lloyd George’s taste. Despite his improved relationship with his in-laws, there were signs that he was missing his personal freedom, and he was finding reasons for spending evenings away from Mynydd Ednyfed. This was, to an extent, justifiable, since as he was the Liberal candidate he needed to make himself known, and he was also working hard to build up his legal practice. He did not see the two as separate activities: to place himself in the best possible position at the time of the next general election, he had to develop his reputation as a public speaker, and following the Llanfrothen case, his court addresses were often reported in the press. During 1889 his law and political careers progressed in harmony, his success in court adding to his reputation as a rising political star. As an advocate he displayed the eloquence, the debating skill and the remarkable independence of mind that were to characterise the mature politician. He was at his best championing the rights of the people he had grown up with against the landowners, and he became famous for his audacious and aggressive challenges to any display of prejudice from the bench.
The impact of Lloyd George’s behaviour was all the greater because the local JPs and judges would have expected a local solicitor to show due deference not only to their legal authority over him, but also because the landowners had grown accustomed to getting their own way where nonconformists were concerned. It might have been wise for Lloyd George to be a little less antagonistic towards the bench, but he had already left behind the thought of a career in law, and was playing to a wider audience than that in the courtroom. His clashes with the magistrates attracted valuable publicity, and his reputation as defender of the working man’s rights helped his political career. He had nothing to lose in attacking the pompous, class-prejudiced magistrates who presided in court. They in turn did not know how to deal with the fearless young attorney who simply would not let them ride roughshod over the rights of the Welsh people.
Maggie was delighted by Lloyd George’s growing fame as a lawyer, speaker and people’s champion, but he was also becoming more established in the Liberal Party in Caernarvonshire, which was less to her liking. She did not join in any of his political activities, but she faithfully wrote to give him the political gossip during his business trips. Early in 1889 she wrote: ‘I am sorry to inform you that the most zealous person on the side of Cebol at Mynydd Ednyfed has turned round to canvass for Mr Graves. She is going to see these persons instead of Father. Old Cebol is very ill, poor fellow. Father thinks that if he gets in, he will jump out of bed like a shot, and should he lose will die poor fellow.’6
Maggie was referring to the local elections of January 1889, when, following the 1888 Local Government Reform Act, county councils were formed for the first time. The elections were the cause of much celebration in Wales, representing as they did the first wholesale transfer of local power from squires and magistrates to elected politicians. The voters of Caernarvonshire were not slow to take advantage of their opportunity. The Liberals were determined to maximise their representation on the new council, and took control with a handsome majority. Indeed, the Liberals took every county in Wales, with the exception of Brecon in the south. Naturally Lloyd George had been seen as a potential candidate, but his eyes were on the greater prize of Westminster. Nevertheless, he campaigned energetically