Cirrus@Austlit

Robert Lowe entered University College, Oxford in 1829 and gained a first in classics and a second in mathematics. He was elected a Fellow of Magdalen College in 1835. In 1840 he moved to London to train as a barrister and was called to the bar in January 1842.

Following a sudden decline in health, Lowe left England for New South Wales, where he practiced law, and served as a Member of the Legislative Council at intervals in the period 1843-1849. During his time in Sydney, Lowe also contributed to the Atlas newspaper, which he helped establish and appears to have briefly edited.

On his return to England, Lowe was leader writer for the Times and entered parliament two years later. He occupied posts in successive governments in the 1850s, distinguished himself as a speaker in the Reform debates of 1866-1867, and attained cabinet rank as Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1868-1873, and Home Secretary, 1873-1874, in Gladstone's first administration. Lowe was raised to the House of Lords as Viscount Sherbrooke in 1880.