page_title: Cobhamites
section_title: Emergence
hierarchical_section_title: Cobhamites / Emergence
caption_attribution_description: The Palladian Bridge, Prior Park.
context_page_description: The Cobhamite faction were an 18th-century British political faction built around Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham and his supporters. Among its members, the group included the future Prime Ministers William Pitt and George Grenville. They had a general Whig philosophy and were at first supporters of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole but later became opponents of his administration.
context_section_description: In 1730s he had begun to grow gradually disenchanted with Walpole, coming to a head when he opposed a proposed Excise Bill in 1733 forcing Walpole to withdraw the Bill. Walpole punished him by removing Cobham's command of his regiment. This prompted Cobham to break entirely from his support of Walpole, and he now crossed to join the Opposition. He began to gather a group of supporters around him, often holding their meetings at Cobham's famous estate at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire. They were a mixture of MPs, Peers as well as some prospective politicians. The writer Alexander Pope was associated with the group.
  Although almost exclusively made up of Whigs, the group worked closely with the Tories who made up the baulk of the Opposition, and shared Cobham's sharp dislike of the Walpole government. Cobham's supporters and the other Whigs refused to become Tories, and were soon styling themselves as the 'Patriot Party' or 'Patriot Whigs'. The group was at times associated with Frederick, Prince of Wales a noted opponent of Walpole and his father, the King. The Cobham members would often pay court to Frederick at Leicester House.
  Walpole outraged them further by dismissing all those who held army commissions and had spoken out against him - which they considered an abuse of his powers. The group now set about attacking Walpole in an attempt to force him from office.
caption: The members often met at Stowe House, Cobham's country estate.
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