William Gladstone, 'The Grand Old Man' of nineteenth-century politics, Prime Minister four times, was the greatest political figure in nineteenth-century Britain. Throughout his life, women, including Queen Victoria (with whom he had a somewhat strained relationship - she famously described him as a 'half-mad firebrand') were of great importance to him. He made it his mission to rescue fallen women, which he pursued with great vigour and at enormous expense over forty years, spending many thousands of pounds in the process. Few believed that his interest was wholly innocent, and it was said that he mainly wanted to save the younger, prettier ladies of the night.