Lord Shaftesbury was heir to the great estates of his father and could have had a successful career in Government. In nearly sixty years of public life he chose instead to devote himself to the needs of the poor and the underprivileged. Lord Shaftesbury:
• Guided bills through Parliament to reduce hours of work and to bring women and children up from the mines and the ‘climbing boys’ down from the chimneys.
• Supported orphanages and the campaign against child prostitution. • Campaigned for homes to have clean water and proper sanitation.
• Joined with others to make sure workers had a half-day holiday on Saturday so that Sunday was free for rest and to attend church.
• Introduced laws to provide proper care for those in mental hospitals.
• Became Vice-President of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was a founder member of a society working against experiments on animals.
He claimed that his views on everything were governed by his total commitment to Jesus Christ and the Bible. As his memorial service in Westminster Abbey in 1885 the streets of London were lined with thousands of the poor whom he had done so much to help. One group of Ragged School boys followed the coffin. They carried a banner on which were the words of Jesus found in the Bible: ‘I was a stranger, and you took me in’. | 
