In a message of condolence from King Edward VII to Lady Harcourt the king described Harcourt as 'an old and valued friend.' He was buried in the old church within the grounds of Nuneham on 6 Oct. The funeral was attended only by the tenants and the immediate relatives. A memorial service was held at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on the same day.
Harcourt was twice married: first, on 5 Nov. 1859, to Maria Theresa, daughter of Thomas Henry Lister [q. v.] of Armitage Park, Yorkshire, and of Lady Theresa Lister, sister of Lord Clarendon. She died on 31 Jan. 1863, leaving two sons, of whom one died in infancy, and the other, Lewis, born on 31 Jan. 1863, after acting as private secretary to his father from 1882 to 1904, became first commissioner of works in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's government in 1905 and colonial secretary in Mr. Asquith's administration in 1910. On 2 Dec. 1876 Harcourt married secondly Elizabeth, widow of Mr. J. P. Ives and a daughter of John Lothrop Motley, historian and sometime United States minister in London. Lady Harcourt survives with one son, Robert Vernon (b. 7 May 1878), liberal M.P. for Montrose burghs since 1908.
The figure of Justinian, in the fresco 'The School of Legislation' at Lincoln's Inn Hall, is a portrait of Harcourt at the age of thirty-three. It was painted from a sketch, now at Nuneham, which was taken by the artist, G. F. Watts, R.A., in 1860. The best portrait of Harcourt was painted by Mr. A. S. Cope, R.A., and was just finished at his death. It was intended as a gift to Harcourt himself; after his death it was presented to his son, Mr. Lewis Harcourt (in Feb. 1905), by a subscription of the liberal party, and it now hangs at Nuneham Park; a copy was at the same time subscribed for by the National Liberal Club. A bust by Mr. Waldo Story was modelled in Rome in 1899; the original plaster cast was presented by the sculptor to the National Portrait Gallery in 1907. A life-size statue of Harcourt, wearing the robes of a chancellor of the exchequer, stands in the members' lobby of the House of Commons. It is also by Mr. Waldo Story and was subscribed for by the members of the House of Commons; it was unveiled on 14 Jan. 1906 by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. There were portraits in 'Vanity Fair' in 1870, 1892 (by 'Spy'), 1897, and 1899.
In his youth remarkably handsome, Harcourt assumed, later in life, robust proportions which were eminently suited to his vigorous and aggressive temperament. He sprang from a stock essentially conservative and inherited an immense respect for tradition; as soon, however, as he was convinced of the necessity for change, no man was more courageous or more earnest in his advocacy of radical measures of reform. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the passing of his death duties budget in 1894, a measure which almost revolutionised the existing system of taxation. Essentially a House of Commons man, he was a zealous guardian of its traditions, and he preserved to the twentieth century the grand manner of the whig orators of the eighteenth century. He was one of the last and one of the greatest of the old school of Parliamentarians.
Harcourt ranks with the few men who could talk as brilliantly as they could write. He was an indefatigable worker, and his speeches, which were monuments of closely reasoned arguments, teeming with facts and illuminated by witty epigrams, were generally most diligently prepared and delivered by the aid of copious notes. He was at his best, however, when suddenly called upon to debate, and was never so happy as when he was fighting a hopeless battle against overwhelming odds. Imbued with the spirit of the gladiator, he possessed the gift of the advocate and could quickly concentrate his powers of picturesque invective, sarcasm and paradox. Instinctively an aristocrat and living in an aristocratic atmosphere, he never hesitated to express his contempt for every form of meanness or pretension. Unable to suffer fools gladly, and impatient of mediocrity, he earned the reputation of irascibility and haughtiness. But beneath his aggressive manner he possessed a large-hearted tenderness which endeared him to those who knew him well, and he was one of the few who preserved his friendships intact through the home rule split in the liberal party. Valuing old associations, he delighted to treasure up souvenirs of his friends and colleagues. His wit and good-nature made him a favourite in society. Nothing delighted him more than to gather round him a few kindred spirits, irrespective of party or creed. In his home in the New Forest he was the happiest and merriest of men. There he pursued his favourite hobbies of gardening and dairy farming. A devoted husband and father, he found in the affection of his family a haven of rest amid a life of strenuous fighting.
