Street, during the brief tenure of the office of prime minister by his father, George began life with every advantage that high position and political opportunity could offer. His parents anxiously devoted themselves to his care and education, and they preferred private tuition under their direct supervision to public school or university. From 1883 until he succeeded to his father's earldom in 1859 the boy was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Goderich. His father combined conservative instincts with growing liberal aspirations, and his son was to repeat many of his official experiences. As a boy Goderich discussed with his father the stirring political controversies of the day touching religious disabilities, freedom of speech and of meeting, protection, colonial relations, financial strictness, and franchise reform. Many years later, in Feb. 1886, he asserted 'I have always been in favour of the most
advanced thing in the liberal programme' (Dasent's Life of John Delane).
In 1849 Goderich began a public career as attache to the special mission — which proved brief and abortive — of Sir Henry Ellis (1777-185.5) [q. v.] to Brussels to open negotiations for peace between Austria and Piedmont. For the next two years Goderich devoted himself to social and county work. As a young man he was greatly influenced by the Christian socialist movement which F. D. Maurice, Charles Kingsley, and Thomas Hughes initiated in 1849, and with Tom Hughes he formed a lifelong friendship. When the Christian socialists encouraged the strike of engineers in Lancashire and London early in 1852, Goderich showed his sympathy by sending the strikers 500l. In November of the same year the Christian socialists first gave effect to their endeavour to provide working men with opportunities of advanced education at the Hall of Association, in Castle Street East, Oxford Street. Goderich lectured on entomology (Working Men's College, ed. Llewelyn Davies, 1904, p. 16). During 1852, also, he wrote a plea for democracy entitled 'The Duty of the Age' which he submitted to Hughes, Charles Kingsley, and J. M. Ludlow, members of the Christian Socialist Publication Committee, and they passed the manuscript for press. When, however, Frederick Denison Maurice, chairman of the committee, read the tract after an edition was printed off, he condemned its extreme radical tendency and gave orders, which were carried out, for the suppression of the pamphlet (Maurice, Life of F. D. Maurice, ii. 125-30). At a later period Groderich took an active part in inaugurating the volunteer movement, becoming in 1860 honorary colonel of the first volunteer battalion Prince of Wales's own (West Yorkshire regiment) and subsequently receiving the volunteer decoration. Groderich first engaged in active politics in July 1852, when he was returned with James Clay as liberal member for Hidl. Both were however unseated on petition on grounds of treating. In the following April, at a bye-election at Huddersfield, Goderich successfully contested the seat against another liberal. He represented the constituency for four years, till the end of the parliament. On 29 Jan. 1855 he voted for John Arthur Roebuck's motion for an inquiry into the condition of the army and the conduct of the war in the Crimea, and on the fall of Lord Aberdeen's ministry of all the talents and Lord John Russell's failure to form a ministry, he gave his support to Palmerston until the dissolution of 1857 which followed Cobden's defeat of the ministers on Chinese affairs. On 30 March 1857 he was returned without opposition, but with a conservative colleague, Edmund B. Denison, for the West Riding of Yorkshire. His seat had just been vacated by Cobden. During the session he urged an extension of open competition by means of examination for posts in the civil service. His father's death in Jan. 1859 soon removed him to the upper house as Earl of Ripon, and in the following November his uncle's death made him also Earl de Grey.
From this time Earl de Grey and Ripon, whom Earl Granville in a letter (15 Aug. 1884) to Gladstone described depreciatively as 'a very persistent man with wealth,' rapidly advanced in public life (cf. Fitzmaurice, Lord Granville, ii. 364). He received his first recognition from his party by his appointment as under-secretary for war in June 1859, in Pahnerston's second administration. For six months in 1861 (Jan. to July) he filled a similar position at the India office, but he returned to the war office and remained under-secretary until on the death of his chief. Sir George Cornewall Lewis, on 13 April 1863, he succeeded to the headship of the war office, with a seat in the cabinet. He was admitted at the same time to the privy council. On 16 Feb. 1866, shortly after Palmerston's death had made Lord Russell prime minister, Ripon succeeded Sir Charles Wood (afterwards Viscount Halifax) at the India office.
