PRIME MINISTERS - George Grenville to The Marquess of Rockingham

- George Grenville to The Marquess of Rockingham

By Alijan Kirk

I can only assume by now you all are used to the drill. I’ll go on about old Prime Ministers and hopefully you read them! This one is going to be a task since four of this month’s five did not actually serve in office for a particularly long duration, but we can only see what each one brings!

GEORGE GRENVILLE

Back to the House of Commons now, as George Grenville gets the top job, being the chosen successor of the Earl of Bute, although the King held a personal dislike of him. The Whig MP for Buckingham, Grenville rose to prominence as a close ally of William Pitt, being Treasurer of the Navy and then Northern Secretary. The two would eventually conflict in 1761 when Pitt resigned from the Government, while Grenville remained.

With the Seven Years’ War now over, Grenville’s most immediate task was to rebuild Britain’s economy, since a great deal was spent to cover the costs of the war. Grenville’s solution for this was to pass the Stamp Act of 1765, which imposed an exclusive tax on the colonies in America and required documents and newspapers to be printed on stamped paper from London. It was met with general outrage and rioting throughout the colonies, the first symptoms of alienation between the American colonies and Great Britain.

Another early act of the ministry was to prosecute the MP for Middlesex, John Wilkes (not to be confused with John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln a century later), for publishing an article critical of a speech made by the King. Wilkes would flee to France and although re-elected by his constituency several times, he would be continually denied permission into parliament.

In terms of foreign policy, Grenville’s government was useless. Britain failed to secure alliances with other major European powers, internationally isolating them, which would become a problem for future governments.

Meanwhile, the King’s dislike of Grenville had resulted in him asking William Pitt to form a ministry on several occasions, being denied each time. He then turned his attention to The Marquess of Rockingham, who agreed to form a government. With that, the King fired Grenville in July 1765. He never again held public office, although he remained in Parliament until his death in November 1770, aged 58. 

Upon entering office, Charles Watson-Wentworth, the Marquess of Rockingham was determined to ease the tensions in America. He was able to repeal the Stamp Act but this did not ease the tensions because he then passed the Declaratory Act, which asserted that Britain had the right to legislate for the American colonies in all cases whatsoever.

The American issue aside, the Rockingham administration did not achieve anything of note and due to internal dissent within the Cabinet, Rockingham resigned after being in office for only a year.

THE EARL OF CHATHAM

Our old friend William Pitt is back! And this time he finally has the top job. He was not First Lord of the Treasury, the job held by the other early Prime Ministers, that position was held by the Duke of Grafton. Pitt instead chose himself for the office of Lord Privy Seal, which required an elevation to the House of Lords, so on August 4th, 1766, five days after taking office, Pitt was made Earl of Chatham.

For many years, Pitt has been known as “The Great Commoner” for his strong refusal to accept a peerage, however he likely accepted on this occasion because of a desire for a less demanding role, something he felt he needed with his health on the decline.

On entering office, problems Chatham’s government had to face included the status of the East India Company and of course, the tensions with the American colonies. One of the first things they did was to put an embargo on corn. Their reasoning was that it was done to prevent negative consequences of the bad harvest in 1766. Of course, the embargo was met with strong opposition, however Chatham delivered his first speech in the House of Lords to express support of it. In fact, it ended up proving to be almost the only act introduced by his government in which he actually had a personal interest.

In terms of America, Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, enacted taxes in the American colonies on tea, paper and other goods. They proved to be offensive to the American colonists, and Chatham was not consulted about their creation, possibly being against his wishes. Chatham himself had diverted his attention to India, seeming to mediate a comprehensive scheme to transfer much of the power possessed by the East India Company to the crown. However he was not able to see this through.

For most of his time in office, Chatham’s physical and mental health were on a rapid decline. He isolated himself from all of his colleagues and even declined to meet with the King. His lack of leadership therefore resulted in an inconsistent government with incohesive policies. In October 1768, bordering on insanity, Chatham dismissed several cabinet members before resigning himself, on the grounds of poor health. Chatham did not return to the House of Lords until 1770, remaining active until his death in 1778.

THE DUKE OF GRAFTON

With Chatham gone, the First Lord of the Treasury and the effective head of Chatham’s government towards the end, Augustus FitzRoy, His Grace the Duke of Grafton assumed the office of Prime Minister. Grafton was in office for little over a year, and his government accomplished very little. The Whig Party had been struggling in Parliament and to maintain a majority, formed a coalition with several members of the Tory Party, appointing Lord Gower as Lord President of the Council and Lord North as Chancellor of the Exchequer, among others.

Grafton’s government focused on foreign affairs, which they were a disaster in. The French had decided to invade the Republic of Corsica and the government chose not to intervene, simply allowing it to fall to the French. Furthermore, the government was repeatedly targeted by a series of public letters written anonymously, while using the alias Junius. Junius was heavily critical of Grafton and his government, whom he believed to be corrupt. These letters were successful in destroying Grafton’s credibility and reputation and thus, he resigned in January 1770, with his government having achieved nothing. Grafton did not remain politically active following his resignation even though he was only 34 years old. He died 41 years later, in 1811, having the longest postpremiership of any Prime Minister in history. 

Grafton’s successor was his Chancellor of the Exchequer,Lord Frederick North. Despite what the name suggests, Lord North was not entitled to sit in the House of Lords. Lord North was a courtesy title which he could use as the heir of a hereditary peerage, his father was the Earl of Guilford. Since he wasn’t in the House of Lords, North was able to sit in the House of Commons, as the MP for Banbury. Furthermore, unlike many of his predecessors, North had a good relationship with King George III, partly based on their shared patriotism and desire for decency in their private lives. North also had a strong resemblance to the King, to the extent that rumours circulated that the two were half-brothers. There isn’t any credible evidence for this.

North’s government were quick to success when Britain was able to prevent a Spanish invasion of the Falkland Islands (I’m sure I won’t have to mention the Falklands ever again…), and this boosted the government’s popularity greatly, as well as demonstrating the power of the Royal Navy and driving a wedge between France and Spain. Compared to the Duke of Grafton’s failure in the fall of Corsica, North showed a great contrast. With his newfound popularity, North decided to take a chance and appoint the Earl of Sandwich as First Lord of the Admiralty.

The biggest issue facing Lord North’s government was the ever growing issue with the American colonies. In 1773, a number of protesters known as the Sons of Liberty, incensed with the Townshend Acts, destroyed an entire shipment of tea which had been sent to Boston by the East India Company. North decided on harsh punishment. The government passed the Coercive Acts (known as Intolerable Acts in America), which cut off trade with Boston and shut down their government. He had hoped that the acts would keep the peace and dispirit the protesters. Unfortunately for North, the colonies got even more enraged and the tensions had now gotten to the point that it collapsed into all out war, beginning the American War of Independence in 1775.

Not being a military man, North deferred overall strategy to Lord George Germain and the Earl of Sandwich, who were militarily experienced. Despite securing several successes, including the capture of both New York and Philadelphia, a decisive victory couldn’t be achieved. Britain’s successes began to diminish in 1778 when France allied themselves with the Americans and sent assistance. Furthermore, France’s ally Spain joined the war in 1779 followed by the Dutch Republic the next year. Britain had no allies, a consequence of the isolation established by North’s predecessors. To make things even worse, France and Spain’s alliance threatened the possibility of a major invasion of Britain, however the planned armada resulted in failure. Speaking of failures, Britain tried on several occasions to negotiate peace initiatives, each one failing.

With the obvious military domination possessed by the Americans a major issue, North’s government passed an act which abandoned previous restrictions on Catholics serving in the military. While the aim was simply to beef up manpower, anti-Catholic sentiment was still rife in Britain, and culminated in rioting in June of 1780, which was so bad that the government lost control of the city for a week before martial law was imposed. Despite this, public opinion showed support of the North government as many, especially the upper and middle classes, were against anti-Catholicism.

An improvement of fortunes in the war followed, as the France-America coalition suffered a defeat in Rhode Island, which was doubled down by the British capture of Charleston, South Carolina. The upswing of success gave strength to the government in parliament, but it was not to last.

In October of 1781, a decisive victory was achieved. The Americans gained the upper hand over British troops led by Lord Cornwallis, and there was no choice but to surrender. When North heard the news, he knew the government could not recover from this. He was right.

Lord North was forced out of office after losing a motion of no confidence, resigning on March 20, 1782. Some politicians suggested that North should face trial over his conduct during the war, although that prospect was quickly abandoned. Despite no longer being Prime Minister, North’s career was not over and his policies actually came of benefit as the war began to turn in Britain’s favour again, and he was to return to government not too long later although never as Prime Minister.

In 1790, North’s father died and North succeeded to the peerage and sat in the House of Lords as the 2nd Earl of Guilford. His time in the House of Lords did not last long, as he died himself aged 60 in 1792. To this day, Lord North is regarded as being “the Prime Minister who lost America”.

THE MARQUESS OF ROCKINGHAM (Part Two!)

Following Lord North’s removal, former Prime Minister The Marquess of Rockingham returned to office. Rockingham immediately pushed for acknowledgment of the independence of the United States, initiating the end of British involvement in the War of Independence.

The war aside, Britain was faced with rising unemployment and thus passed the Relief of the Poor Act 1782, which created unions of civil parishes to provide outdoor relief and set up workhouses. The act was the work of Thomas Gilbert, who had been met with opposition from Rockingham for 17 years beforehand.

Rockingham’s second administration was not long lived. Fourteen weeks after returning to office, the 52 year old Marquess of Rockingham died as a result of an influenza epidemic.  www.lancmag.com

Inspired by the United Nations, local woman Gulnaz Brennan plans to make us all become ‘orange’.

Taking on the mantle of the United Nations Secretary General may seem ambitious to some. But after the spectacular success of SheInspires Awards over the past seven years, Gulnaz Brennan is unsurprisingly ambitious for the Foundation she set up just over two years ago.

The Secretary General’s annual 16 days of activism is to make the world ‘go orange’ to end gender-based violence. For Gulnaz, and She Inspires Foundation, nothing less than being orange ‘EVERY DAY’ is their mantra. And all the evidence suggests that she will succeed.

Taking the pledge to be ‘orange every day’.

She Inspires Foundation is supporting victims of domestic abuse by helping with the one glaring need in their lives, becoming independent through finding employment. The Foundation will work with domestic abuse charities to help victims find jobs by recruiting the employers for them.

With backing already from the Greater Manchester Chamber Of Commerce, the Foundation is asking employers to declare that they are ‘Orange’.

Taking the ‘Orange’ pledge, means that an employer has robust policies and support in the workplace for survivors, and where applicable, will guarantee to invite for interview any referrals sent to them for a matching job through the Foundation’s scheme. They do not commit to a job offer, only a chance of one.

Employers everywhere are invited to apply to use the ‘We Are Orange’ logo, so everyone knows that they are involved in the programme. For many, this may become an important part of their Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. For the Foundation, using the Secretary General’s colour theme makes the whole programme stand out. People will ask what the colour reference means and will quickly become engrossed when told it’s about victims escaping their abuser and finding independence through employment. That’s what being orange is all about. Where there was anguish, now there is hope. Discovering champions from SheInspires Awards Finalists

She Inspire Awards has a longstanding reputation for celebrating the absolute power of inspirational women. Despite the pandemic, SheInspires Awards attracted over 2000 entries across 18 categories including finalists from around the world for the very first time in 2021. That’s a remarkable feat, considering Gulnaz started the awards eight years ago from a community centre in Bolton. “I’m still overwhelmed by how much She Inspires Awards have grown each year” admits Gulnaz. “Though it gives me real confidence that our ambitious plans to dramatically increase the impact of the United Nations’ idea will gain traction.”

The 2021 awards announced 4 carefully chosen ‘champions’, in addition to winners. Ray Hanks, co-founder of SheInspires Foundation, awarded each champion a cheque of £250 as ‘seed’ money to develop ‘We Are Orange’ as they liked. Each ‘Champion’ was chosen by Gulnaz for their qualities of ingenuity and resourcefulness.