Regency Era Prime Ministers-Spencer Perceval

Regency History

Often in my research I keep needing to find who was leading the government and do this through every book. I thought that having the list handy would be good, and then turning it into a research webpage even better. Here is the list. After I post a few more Timeline years and write some more, I will work on the web page with notes about each PM.

The next PM I am doing is Spencer Perceval and I am hosting a page devoted to him and then all our period PMs at Regency Assembly Press. That page is here.

Prime Ministers of England

William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland	04/02/1783	12/19/1783	Whig
William Pitt the Younger	12/19/1783	03/14/1801	Tory
Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth, “The Doctor”	03/14/1801	05/10/1804	Tory
William Pitt the Younger	05/10/1804	01/23/1806	Tory
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville	02/11/1806	03/31/1807	Whig
William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland	03/31/1807	10/04/1809	Tory*
Spencer Perceval	10/04/1809	05/11/1812	Tory
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool	06/08/1812	04/09/1827	Tory
George Canning	04/10/1827	08/08/1827	Tory
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich	08/31/1827	01/21/1828	Tory
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington	01/22/1828	11/16/1830	Tory
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey	11/22/1830	07/16/1834
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne	07/16/1834	11/14/1834
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington	11/14/1834	12/10/1834	Tory
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet	12/10/1834	04/18/1835
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne	04/18/1835	08/30/1841
Tory* (Tory government, PM a Whig)

Spencer Perceval, Little P

Born 11/01/1762 Audley Square, London

Died 05/11/1812 Parliament, London

Major Acts:

Regency Bill 1810 – Enabled the appointment of Prince George as Regent

Spencer Perceval is best remembered as the only British prime minister to be assassinated. A professional lawyer, he made his mark as by holding down the senior posts of Solicitor-General and Attorney-General. An admirer of William Pitt the Younger, he was politically conservative and an active Anglican, opposing Catholic emancipation.

In later life he became an expert on Biblical prophecy and wrote pamphlets relating to prophecies that he had discovered.

When the Duke of Portland put together a coalition of Tories in 1807, Perceval served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons.

With Portland old and unwell, Perceval was effectively the chief minister, and even lived at 10 Downing Street.

In 1809, Perceval formally succeeded the Duke of Portland as Prime Minister.

It was a difficult time due to the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, and the final descent of George III into madness. His government also suffered from the absence of most of the senior statesmen of the period. He had to serve as his own Chancellor after obtaining six refusals of office.

Assassination

After two years his government had survived much longer than predicted amidst a severe economic depression. Indeed, it began to seem that the situation of his government looked as if it was set to improve.

But Perceval’s administration ended dramatically on 11 May 1812, when he was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons on his way to attend an inquiry into the recent Luddite riots. His last words were, appropriately, ‘Oh, I have been murdered’.

The assassin was John Bellingham, a merchant who had incurred business debts in Russia.

He had tried to recover compensation from the government for his losses, but was refused. He therefore sought revenge on a representative of that government and carried out his dark wish.

Perceval’s body rested in 10 Downing Street for five days, mourned by his wife and twelve children. Bellingham was later tried and hung for Perceval’s murder.

Family

Perceval left a widow and 12 children. He had only a little more than 100 pounds in the bank. Parliament voted 50 thousand pounds to his children and an annuity to his eldest son Spencer of 1000 a year.

Ministry

10/04/1809                                05/11/1812

Spencer Perceval – First Lord of the Treasury, Leader of the House of Commons, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Lord Eldon – Lord Chancellor

Lord Camden – Lord President of the Council

Lord Westmorland – Lord Privy Seal

Richard Ryder – Secretary of State for the Home Department

Lord Bathurst – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and President of the Board of Trade

Lord Liverpool – Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Leader of the House of Lords

Lord Mulgrave – First Lord of the Admiralty

Lord Chatham – Master-General of the Ordnance

Lord Harrowby – Minister without Portfolio

Changes

• December, 1809 – Lord Wellesley succeeds Lord Bathurst as Foreign Secretary. Bathurst continues at the Board of Trade.
• May, 1810 – Lord Mulgrave succeeds Lord Chatham as Master-General of the Ordnance. Charles Philip Yorke succeeds Mulgrave as First Lord of the Admiralty.
• March, 1812 – Lord Castlereagh succeeds Lord Wellesley as Foreign Secretary.
• April, 1812 – Lord Sidmouth succeeds Lord Camden as Lord President. Camden remains in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio.

“I have nothing to say to the nothing that has been said.”