Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC (30 May 1757–15 February 1844) was a British statesman. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804.
His father was a physician specialising in the treatment of mental illness. His father was one of George III's doctors and this resulted in Addington being known (in no friendly spirit) as "The Doctor". Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Speaker of the House of Commons.
He tried but failed to negotiate a lasting peace with Napoleon's France.
He was not well regarded as Prime Minister and his capabilities were summed up in the rhyme: "Pitt is to Addington as London is to Paddington". As Viscount Sidmouth, he was a very reactionary Home Secretary in the Government of the Earl of Liverpool but he was eventually persuaded to retire in favour of Sir Robert Peel.
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC (28 September 1735–14 March 1811) was a British Whig statesman. He was one of a handful of dukes who were Prime Minister of Great Britain.
He studied at Westminster School and then got a degree from Peterhouse College in Cambridge.
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville PC (25 October 1759–12 January 1834), was a British Whig statesman and Prime Minister. Grenville was the son of Prime Minister George Grenville.
He was educated at Eton College, Christ Church, Oxford and Lincoln's Inn.
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770–4 December 1828) was an English politician and the longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Robert Walpole held office for longer, but only as Prime Minister of Great Britain) During his time as Prime Minister from 1812 to 1827, Liverpool became known for the harsh rules he put in place to restore order, but he also led the country through the bad period that followed the Napoleonic Wars. Important events during his time as Prime Minister included the Congress of Vienna, the Corn Laws, Catholic emancipation and the Peterloo Massacre.
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon PC (1 November 1782–28 January 1859) was a British statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (when he was known as Lord Goderich).
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (1 May 1769–14 September 1852) was a soldier and statesman. He was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain. His defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 put him in the top rank of Britain's military heroes. In 2002 he was number 15 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
Wellesley was born in Dublin into a wealthy Anglo-Irish aristocratic protestant family. Starting as an ensign in the British Army, he served well in British India and in the Napoleonic Wars, mostly in the Peninsular War, where he reached the rank of Field Marshal. He became a Duke when Napoleon was exiled to Elba.
Wellington is often compared to the 1st Duke of Marlborough. They had many things in common, including being in politics after a highly successful military career.
Wellington was twice Tory Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement in 1846. He remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death.
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC (13 March 1764 – 17 July 1845) was a British Whig statesman and Prime Minister. Earl Grey tea, a type of tea with a bergamot orange flavour is named after him.
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878) was an English Whig and Liberal politician. He served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century.
Russell was known as "Lord John Russell", which is called a courtesy title. As the third son of the then Duke of Bedford, he was entitled to use one of the family's lower titles. Before becoming Prime Minister, he served in other important posts, such as Home Secretary, Colonial Secretary and Foreign Secretary.
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. He began his parliamentary career as a Tory and ended it as a Liberal.
He is best remembered for his leading of British foreign policy in a period of time when the United Kingdom was at its strongest. He served as both Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister. Some of his actions, now sometimes called 'liberal interventionist', were disliked by the Queen and by many of his fellow politicians.
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, KG, KT, PC (28 January 1784–14 December 1860) was a Scottish Tory/Peelite politician. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC (29 March 1799–23 October 1869) was an English statesman. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times. To date, Derby was the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. Derby is one of only four British Prime Ministers to have been in office three or more times. However each time he was only in office for less than two years. Derby was Prime Minister for a total of just over four years, less than many other Prime Ministers.
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (7 May 184721 May 1929) was a British Liberal politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, also known as Archibald Primrose (1847–1851), Lord Dalmeny (1851–1868).
After an education at Eton and Oxford, Dalmeny succeeded to his grandfather's Scottish earldom in 1868.
Becoming involved in politics, he became a Liberal, and was involved in Gladstone's Midlothian campaign, which brought the Liberals back into power in 1880. In the Liberal administration that followed, Rosebery served in junior offices, including that of Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, before entering the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal in March 1885.
Rosebery became a leader of the Liberal Imperialist faction of the Liberal Party, and in Gladstone's third (1886) and fourth (1892–1894) administrations, Rosebery served as Foreign Secretary. When Gladstone retired in 1894, Rosebery became his successor as Prime Minister, much to the disgust of the more left-wing Liberals. Rosebery's government was largely unsuccessful—his designs in foreign policy, such as expansion of the fleet, were defeated by disagreements within the Liberal Party, while the Tory-dominated House of Lords stopped the whole of the Liberals' domestic legislation. In 1895, Rosebery resigned, and a Conservative government under Lord Salisbury took his place.
Rosebery resigned as leader of the Liberal Party in 1896, and gradually moved further and further from the mainstream of the party, supporting the Boer War and opposing Irish Home Rule, a position which prevented him from taking part in the Liberal government that returned to power in 1905. In his later years, Rosebery turned to writing, including biographies of Lord Chatham, Pitt the Younger, Napoleon, and Lord Randolph Churchill. He was also famous for his champion racehorses.
Roseberry was extremely wealthy, even by the standards of the aristocracy before the First World War. He owned 12 houses, all of them grand, and some of huge size.
By marriage, he acquired:
With his fortune, he bought:
As Earl of Rosebery, he was laird of:
He rented: