PRIME MINISTERS - The Earl of Shelburne

PRIME MINISTERS

- The Earl of Shelburne to The Duke of Portland

By Alijan Kirk

In all honesty, when I saw the term lengths of the Prime Ministers covered last time, I was worried that the article wouldn’t be long enough. Imagine my surprise when it became my longest. I can only expect that each forthcoming article will get progressively longer too. Especially when we get to the twentieth century and I shift away from pure history and interject more politics. But that isn’t a concern for now. We’re still in the 1780s. The Marquess of Rockingham has died and he needs a successor.

THE EARL OF SHELBURNE

With Rockingham dead, the King decided to invite the Home Secretary, William Petty, The Earl of Shelburne to form a government. Shelburne’s appointment wasn’t well received by everyone however. The Foreign Secretary, Charles James Fox and his supporters all decided to resign their posts in protest. Their resignations did allow Shelburne to appoint some younger blood to the government, including a young 23 year old called William Pitt as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Of course that name should be very familiar by now, and the age clarifies that this is not the same William Pitt who became Earl of Chatham, but instead his son. Shelburne and Chatham had been close political allies while they were in Opposition to the North government.

Shelburne’s main priority on taking office was to end the American War for Independence and recognise American independence. In fact, Shelburne was so in favour of American independence that he would only join the Rockingham government on the condition that the King recognised the United States. The government got to work by negotiating

the Peace of Paris treaties, with Richard Oswald as chief negotiator. The conclusions of these negotiations led to Shelburne agreeing to generous borders in the Illinois Country but rejected Benjamin Franklin’s demands for the cession of Canada and other territories. The concession of the Appalachian areas was to allow growth of the American population and create lucrative markets for British merchants, while remaining cost free for Britain. This would allow the United States to become a major trading partner with Britain, as well as fitting with Shelburne’s vision of close economic ties between the two nations, explaining his generosity to the Americans.

Shelburne’s time in office wasn’t to last though. Charles James Fox, who had resigned the previous year, had formed a coalition with former Prime Minister Lord North, and this allowed the Opposition to force Shelburne’s resignation. Shelburne would not return to government again, although a year after his resignation, he was created Marquess of Lansdowne. It also couldn’t be bad for him that his lasting legacy was securing peace with America.

THE DUKE OF PORTLAND

Having secured the resignation of Shelburne, Fox and North chose as the titular head of their government William Cavendish-Bentinck, His Grace the Duke of Portland. Although Portland was the head, Fox and North were really in charge. King George III despised the government, especially Fox and tried to get William Pitt the Younger to form a government, but no government could. Therefore the coalition of Fox and North were able to form their government but had to look elsewhere for patronage as the King refused to provide it.

The Treaty of Paris was signed in September of 1783, formally ending the American War for Independence, although this can’t be credited to the government as it was all organised by Shelburne’s government. Like Shelburne’s government, the Portland government was brought down in less than a year and by Fox and North if you could believe it! The East India Company was in trouble and to remedy this, Fox proposed nationalisation, which passed in the Commons. The King however, was deeply opposed and informed the House of Lords that any peer who voted for the bill would be regarded as his enemy. The King’s intervention led to the bill being defeated, giving the King a reason to immediately dismiss the government, sending Fox and North back into opposition. It’s not really possible to assess the Duke of Portland from this government, as he was merely a figurehead and held no actual power. Maybe Portland could get a chance to return to government…

WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER

After the dismissal of the previous government, William Pitt the Younger finally accepted the King’s offer to form a government of his own. Pitt was the youngest person ever to become Prime Minister, he was only 24 years old. Many saw Pitt as too young and inexperienced and therefore predicted that the new government would not outlast the Christmas season. It survived for seventeen years, the longest government since Robert Walpole’s.

One of Pitt’s first moves was to reduce the power of the Opposition. He offered Charles James Fox and his allies posts in the Cabinet, but his efforts were unsuccessful as a result of Pitt’s refusal to include Lord North. Pitt’s government then faced a motion of no confidence, which they lost. In an unprecedented move, Pitt refused to resign, retaining the support of the King and the House of Lords. In addition to this support, Pitt was also granted the Freedom to the City of London. On the return journey from

the ceremony, men from the City pulled Pitts’ coach home themselves, as a sign of respect. As the coach passed a Whig club, a group of men tried to assault Pitt. When the news spread, it was assumed that Fox and his allies were trying to bring Pitt down by any means, weakening their reputation.

In March 1784, a general election took place with a massive victory for Pitt and his supporters. Furthermore, Pitt had changed his constituency from Appleby to his long coveted constituency, Cambridge University, which he would represent for the rest of his life. Now his position was secured, Pitt got to work and passed the India Act of 1784, which created a new Board of Control to oversee the affairs of the East India Company. In contrast to Fox’s failed India bill, the India Act specified that the board would be appointed by the King. This centralised British rule by reducing the powers of the governors of Bombay and Madras and increasing the powers of Governor-General Charles Cornwallis.

Another issue was the issue of transporting convicts. Previously, convicts were sent to what is now the United States, but the now independent country refused to accept further convicts. The government therefore took the decision to settle what is now Australia and send convicts there.

In regards to foreign policy, Pitt sought European allies to restrict the influence of France, forming the Triple Alliance with Prussia and Holland in 1788. This was beneficial for Britain during the Nootka Sound Controversy two years later, as Pitt was able to use the alliance to force Spain to give up its claim to exclusive control of the west coast of North and South America. Aside from this, the alliance didn’t bring any other important benefits for Britain.

Also in 1788, the King fell victim to a mysterious illness. Famously, this illness, now believed to be porphyria, severely mentally incapacitated him. This created a constitutional crisis, as if the sovereign was incapable of fulfilling his duties, Parliament would have to appoint a regent to rule in his place. Everyone agreed that the only suitable candidate was the King’s eldest son, George, Prince of Wales. However, the Prince was a supporter of Charles James Fox and if he were to come to power, Pitt would almost certainly have been dismissed. Fortunately for Pitt, just as a Regency Bill had been passed, the King made a recovery, eliminating the need for a regent.

In 1792 the French Revolution began. Republican revolutionaries had enough of the divide between France’s royal elite and the rest of the people and overthrew the monarchy, as well as executing King Louis XVI. Most of the European countries allied together to fight the French Republicans, mainly for the purposes of trying to take French land for themselves. This became known as the War of the First Coalition, fought by an alliance of countries including Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, Portugal, Prussia and Spain. The war was extremely expensive, having a tremendous impact on Britain’s finances. Furthermore, the British Army was very small at this point and thus could only contribute to the war effort through Naval support and by supplying funds to the other coalition members facing France.

While this was going on, Pitt faced yet another problem when the longsimmering unrest in Ireland exploded into outright rebellion when the Society of United Irishmen launched a revolt to win independence for Ireland. Pitt had a strong reaction to this, having 1500 United Irishmen executed. Pitt sought an Act of the Union that would make Ireland an official part of the United Kingdom, which he regarded as a national security matter especially when the French made two expeditions to support the United Irishmen, which Pitt worried could provide France an Irish base to attack Britain. The Irish parliament did not want to disband however, so Pitt used what’s known as “pork barrel politics” to essentially bribe Irish MPs to vote for the Act of the Union, which passed in 1800, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, coming into effect in 1801.

As the 1800s began, Pitt faced several failures. The French continued to defeat the First Coalition which collapsed in 1798. In response to this, Great Britain, Austria, Russia and the Ottoman Empire formed the Second Coalition, which also failed to overcome the French, collapsing in 1800. The collapse of the Second Coalition, as well as further defeats for Austria left Great Britain facing France alone.

Following the Acts of the Union, Pitt sought to integrate the new United Kingdom by granting concessions to Roman Catholics, who formed the majority of the Irish population. However, the King was strongly opposed to Catholic Emancipation, believing it would violate his coronation oath, where he had promised to protect the Church of England. As Pitt could not change the King’s views on the matter, he resigned on February 16, 1801. However as the King was suffering from a renewed bout of his mental illness, Pitt remained in office for another month until the King recovered.

HENRY ADDINGTON

Both the King and Pitt agreed that Pitt’s replacement should be Henry Addington, the MP for Devizes. Addington himself had objected and tried to reconcile the King and Pitt to no success, so Addington formed a government, of which foreign policy was the centrepiece.

By now, the Napoleonic Wars had already commenced and by 1802, Addington had already managed to secure the Treaty of Amiens, which temporarily ended hostilities between

Britain and France. The treaty’s terms were the bare minimum the British could accept but Napoleon Bonaparte would not have agreed to any terms that were more favourable to the British and the British economy was doing so poorly that the government could not afford to fight for any longer.

Within a year, Britain had recovered their finances sufficiently enough that Addington was able to declare war on France again, when it became clear that the French would not settle in regards to the defences of Malta. Addington also worked to gain allies, as Britain’s lack thereof limited Britain to a defensive stance, for which Addington received a great deal of criticism for. Addington was successful in making better relations with Russia, Austria and Prussia, which would later form the Third Coalition.

In 1804, Addington was hit with criticisms from three major factions, all supporters of William Grenville, Charles James Fox and William Pitt, who decided that they would do a better job running the country. Addington simply did not have the support he needed and his parliamentary majority was shrinking fast. He had no choice but to resign.

After leaving office, Addington remained politically important, reconciling with William Pitt and joining his Cabinet in 1805. In addition to this, Addington was also given a peerage, elevating him to the House of Lords as the Viscount Sidmouth. He remained active in politics for a long time after this, serving as Home Secretary for ten years and participating in the House of Lords until his death in 1844.

William Pitt the Younger (Part Two!)

With Addington gone, William Pitt the Younger returned to the premiership. His initial plan was to form a broad coalition government, but the King objected to the inclusion of Fox. Furthermore, many of Pitt’s former supporters, including Addington’s allies, joined the Opposition, leaving Pitt’s second administration weaker than his first.

Napoleon Bonaparte remained a problem and Pitt was fast to place pressure on him. Pitt got Britain into the Third Coalition which had a considerable success that is still remembered today. In October 1805, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson won a crushing victory in the Battle of Trafalgar, ensuring British naval supremacy for the rest of the war and for more or less the considerable future. Despite this amazing victory, the rest of the alliance’s efforts were not successful, facing significant defeats in the Battle of Ulm and the Battle of Austerlitz, resulting in the collapse of the Coalition.

These setbacks had its effects on Pitt’s health, since he had always suffered from poor health since childhood and his fondness for port wine did not help. It was likely expected that this 46 year old man would recover. Therefore it must have been quite sudden for the government when Pitt died in office.

THE LORD GRENVILLE

Upon Pitt’s death, his cousin William Grenville, the Lord Grenville was chosen to succeed him. Not only was Grenville related to William Pitt, but as his surname suggests, he was also the son of former Prime Minister George Grenville. Grenville’s government became known as the “Ministry of All the Talents”, as the government was a coalition between Grenville’s supporters, Charles James Fox’s supporters and Viscount Sidmouth’s supporters. This was a result of Grenville’s aim to form the strongest possible government since the country remained at war. The inclusion of Fox was a surprise to some as the King had been very hostile to him in the past, but the King was willing to put their differences aside for the sake of national unity, which encouraged many others to join or support the government.

The government had one major success in 1807 when the Slave Trade Act was passed, prohibiting the slave trade in the entire British Empire. Aside from this, Grenville’s government did not achieve anything else. They failed in bringing that sought after peace with France and when the question of Catholic emancipation proved to be something the government couldn’t sort out either, they were dismissed after only one year in office. Grenville never returned to government and died in 1834.

THE DUKE OF PORTLAND (PART TWO!)

After twenty four years out of office, the longest gap between terms for any Prime Minister, the Duke of Portland was back! After the collapse of Grenville’s government, Pitt’s supporters returned to power and the fractious group that included George Canning, Spencer Perceval, Lord Castlereagh and Lord Hawkesbury could all agree on Portland being the head of government. As the new government started out Britain was completely isolated within Europe although this wasn’t to last as they allied with Spain and Portugal when the Peninsular War broke out, a result of Napoleon’s France attempting to invade the Spanish Peninsula. By 1809, Britain’s government had not taken an active role in the war and Portland’s health was poor. To make matters worse, the government’s reputation took a hit following a scandalous duel between George Canning and Lord Castlereagh. With that, Portland resigned on October 4, 1809 and died at the end of that same month. 