William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
| The Most Honourable The Marquess of Lansdowne KG PC |
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| In office 4 July 1782 – 2 April 1783 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham |
| Succeeded by | William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland |
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Home Secretary
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| In office 27 March 1782 – 10 July 1782 |
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| Preceded by | New Position |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney |
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| Born | 2 May 1737 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 7 May 1805 (aged 68) Berkeley Square, London |
| Political party | Whig |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Religion | Dissenter |
William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC (2 May 1737 – 7 May 1805), known as The Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first Home Secretary in 1782 and then Prime Minister 1782 – 1783 during the final months of the American War of Independence.
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Early life
He was born William FitzMaurice in Dublin in Ireland, the first son of John FitzMaurice, who was the second surviving son of the 1st Earl of Kerry. Lord Kerry had married Anne Petty, the daughter of Sir William Petty, Surveyor-General of Ireland, whose elder son had been created Baron Shelburne in 1688 and (on the elder son's death) whose younger son had been created Baron Shelburne in 1699 and Earl of Shelburne in 1719. On the younger son's death the Petty estates passed to the aforementioned John FitzMaurice, who changed his branch of the family's surname to "Petty" in place of "FitzMaurice", and was created Viscount FitzMaurice later in 1751 and Earl of Shelburne in 1753 (after which his elder son was styled Viscount FitzMaurice).
FitzMaurice spent his childhood "in the remotest parts of the south of Ireland,"[1] and, according to his own account, when he entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1755, he had "both everything to learn and everything to unlearn". From a tutor whom he describes as "narrow-minded" he received advantageous guidance in his studies, but he attributes his improvement in manners and in knowledge of the world chiefly to the fact that, as was his "fate through life", he fell in "with clever but unpopular connexions".
Military and political career
Shortly after leaving the university he served in Wolfe's regiment (20th Foot) during the Seven Years' War, and so distinguished himself at Minden and Kloster-Kampen that he was raised to the rank of Colonel. Following the accession of George III in 1760 Shelburne was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the King. This brought protests from several members of the cabinet as it meant he was promoted ahead of much more senior officers.[2] Being thus brought into near communication with Lord Bute, he was in 1761 employed by that nobleman to negotiate for the support of Lord Holland.
Between 1761 and 1762, he represented Kerry in the Irish House of Commons. In 1760, he was also returned to the British House of Commons as member for Wycombe, but in 1761 he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Shelburne in the Peerage of Ireland and 2nd Baron Wycombe in the Peerage of Great Britain. Though he declined to take office under Bute he undertook negotiations to induce Henry Fox to gain the consent of the Commons to the peace of 1763. Fox affirmed that he had been duped, and, although Shelburne always asserted that he had acted in thorough good faith, Bute spoke of the affair as a "pious fraud".
Shelburne joined the Grenville ministry in 1763 as First Lord of Trade, but, failing in his efforts to include Pitt in the Cabinet, he in a few months resigned office. Having moreover on account of his support of Pitt on the question of Wilkes's expulsion from the House of Commons incurred the displeasure of the King, he retired for a time to his estate. After Pitt's return to power in 1766 he became Southern Secretary, but during Pitt's illness his conciliatory policy towards America was completely thwarted by his colleagues and the King, and in 1768 he was dismissed from office.
In June 1768 the General Court incorporated the district of Shelburne, Massachusetts from the area formerly known as "Deerfield Northeast" and in 1786 the district became a town. The town was named in honour of Lord Shelburne, who, in return sent a church bell, which never reached the town.
In 1782 he consented to take office under Lord Rockingham on condition that the King would recognise the United States. On the death of Lord Rockingham in the same year he became Prime Minister; but the secession of Fox and his supporters led to the famous coalition of Fox with Lord North, which caused his resignation in the following April, his fall being perhaps hastened by his plans for the reform of the public service. He had also in contemplation a Bill to promote free commercial intercourse between Britain and the United States. When Pitt acceded to office in 1784, Shelburne, instead of receiving a place in the Cabinet, was created Marquess of Lansdowne. Though giving a general support to the policy of Pitt, he from this time ceased to take an active part in public affairs.
During his lifetime Lord Lansdowne was blamed for insincerity and duplicity, and he incurred the deepest unpopularity, but the accusations came chiefly from those who were dissatisfied with his preference of principles to party, and if he had had a more unscrupulous regard to his personal ambition, his career as a statesman would have had more outward success. He was cynical in his estimates of character, but no statesman of his time possessed more enlightened political views, while his friendship with those of his contemporaries eminent in science and literature must be allowed considerable weight in qualifying our estimate of the moral defects with which he has been credited.
Family
Lord Lansdowne was twice married:
First to Lady Sophia Carteret (26 August 1745-5 January 1771), daughter of the 1st Earl Granville, through whom he obtained the Lansdowne estates near Bath. They had at least one child:
- John Henry Petty, 2nd Marquess of Lansdowne (6 December 1765–15 November 1809), who sat in the House of Commons for twenty years as member for Chipping Wycombe before inheriting his father's marquessate. He married Mary Arabella Maddox (died 24 April 1833), the daughter of Rev. Hinton Maddox and the widow of Duke Gifford, on 27 May 1805; they had no sons.
Secondly to Lady Louisa FitzPatrick (1755–7 August 1789), daughter of the 1st Earl of Upper Ossory. They had at least two children:
- Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780- 1863), who succeeded his half-brother in the title.
- Lady Louisa FitzMaurice (born bef. 1789)
Lord Shelburne's Government, July 1782 – April 1783
- Lord Shelburne - First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Lords
- Lord Thurlow - Lord Chancellor
- Lord Camden - Lord President of the Council
- The Duke of Grafton - Lord Privy Seal
- Thomas Townshend - Secretary of State for the Home Department and Leader of the House of Commons
- Lord Grantham - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- Lord Keppel - First Lord of the Admiralty
- Henry Seymour Conway - Commander in Chief of the Forces
- The Duke of Richmond - Master-General of the Ordnance
- William Pitt - Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Lord Ashburton - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Changes
- January 1783 - Lord Howe succeeds Lord Keppel at the Admiralty.
Titles from birth to death
- Mr. William FitzMaurice (1737-1751)
- Mr. William Petty (1751)
- The Hon. William Petty (1751-1753)
- Viscount FitzMaurice (1753-1760)
- Viscount FitzMaurice, MP (1760-1761)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Shelburne (1761-1763)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Shelburne, PC (1763-1782)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Shelburne, KG, PC (1782-1784)
- The Most Hon. The Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC (1784-1805)
See also
- Lansdowne portrait
Bibliography
- Middleton, Charles. The Bells of Victory: The Pitt-North Ministry and the Conduct of the Seven Years' War, 1757-1762. Cambridge University Press, 1985.
References
- ↑ Childhood in the remotest parts of the south of Ireland probably refers to the family estates in County Kerry. The Pettys owned the Lansdowne Estates in the Kenmare area in South Kerry and the Fitzmaurice estates were in the Lixnaw area in North Kerry.
- ↑ Middleton p.175
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links
- More about William Petty, Earl of Shelburne on the Downing Street website.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Earl of Shelburne Edmund Waller |
Member of Parliament for Wycombe 1760 – 1761 With: Edmund Waller 1760–1761 Robert Waller 1761 |
Succeeded by Robert Waller Isaac Barré |
| Parliament of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by John Blennerhassett Lancelot Crosbie |
Member of Parliament for Kerry 1761 – 1762 With: John Blennerhassett |
Succeeded by John Blennerhassett John Blennerhassett |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Charles Townshend |
First Lord of Trade 1763 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Hillsborough |
| Preceded by The Duke of Richmond |
Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1766 – 1768 |
Succeeded by The Viscount Weymouth |
| Preceded by The Earl of Hillsborough as Secretary of State for the Southern Department |
Home Secretary 1782 |
Succeeded by Thomas Townshend |
| Preceded by The Marquess of Rockingham |
Prime Minister of Great Britain 4 July 1782 – 2 April 1783 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Portland |
| Leader of the House of Lords 1782 – 1783 |
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| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Marquess of Lansdowne 1784 – 1805 |
Succeeded by John Petty |
| Preceded by John Petty |
Earl of Shelburne 1761 – 1805 |
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