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Shelburne, Lord

Full Name: William Petty Fitzmaurice, 2nd Earl of  Shelburne

Nickname/Alias: also known as the 1st Marquis of Lansdowne (1784-1805)

Achievements: Prime Minister of England

Born: May 13, 1737; Dublin, Ireland

Died: May 7, 1805; London, England (Aged 67)

Field & Discipline: Politics; Statesman

Language: English

Father: John Fitzmaurice (d. 1761) and

Mother: Mary Fitzmaurice

Siblings: John

Spouse: 1) Lady Sophia Cartaret (m. 1765, 1745-71); 2) Lady Louisa Fitzpatrick (m. 1779, 1755-89)

Children: by Cartaret: William (died young); John Henry, 2nd Marquis of

Lansdowne (1765-1809). By Fitzpatrick: Henry, 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne (1780-1863)

Education: Christ Church College, University of Oxford (1755-57)

Life & Times:

Shelburne was  the great-grandson of the political economist Sir William [great grandson of] Petty*.   Shortly after leaving university in 1757 with no degree, he joined the army under Colonel James Wolfe, served abroad in the Seven Years' War, and in 1760 was promoted colonel and appointed aide-de-camp to the new King George III.

In April 1763, Shelburne joined the government of George Greville as President of the Board of Trade but resigned a few months later, having incurred the King's displeasure by supporting [supported] Pitt's* objection to the expulsion of [opposed] Wilkes* from the House of Commons.

During this period Shelburne had developed a close attachment to Pitt, with whom he shared a distaste for party politics, and soon after his resignation he joined the opposition.  On Pitt's return to government in 1766 Shelburne was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department, the most important of his duties being the administration of the American colonies.

In this capacity he attempted to pursue a policy of conciliation with the colonists, and in 1766 he supported the repeal of the Stamp Act. However, by 1768, all the members of the cabinet except Shelburne and Pitt (who rarely attended meetings because of ill health) supported punitive measures against the colonies, and in October 1768 he was forced to resign.

Meanwhile Shelburne entertained a number of rational dissenters and radicals including [fellow-radical was] Joseph Priestley*, [fellow-radical was] Price*, [fellow-radical was] Franklin*, [fellow-radical was] Dr. Johnson*, [fellow-radical was] Sir William Jones*, and [fellow-radical was] Jeremy Bentham*.

By the late 1760s, Shelburne had become an advocate of many 'advanced' opinions, and during the 1770s, while out of office, he made many speeches in the House in favour of parliamentary reform and tolerance towards the Free churches. During these years, Shelburne opposed the government on almost every important issue, especially with  his opposition to complete American independence in favour of a federal alliance based on free trade, and his support for an increase in the royal prerogative.

In 1782 Shelburne was finally returned to the cabinet as Home Secretary in the government of Lord Rockingham and immediately attempted to introduce a programme of public finance involving a simplification of taxation and a revision of customs duty along the lines laid down by [influenced by] Adam Smith* (whom Shelburne had met at his father's house in the 1750s,  and had been very influenced by Smith's arguments for liberalism in trade, and in particular for expanding rather than limiting trade with the American colonies), but his plans were not accepted.

On the death of Rockingham in July 1782, Shelburne was appointed Prime Minister by the King and formed a cabinet consisting mainly of Pitt's supporters. With Lord North and his followers in opposition, the Shelburne administration was insecure, and he weakened his position through a lack of tact in the peace negotiations with America.  These resulted in the Preliminary Treaty of Paris signed between Britain and the United States in November 1782, ending the U.S. War of Independence and granting independence to the new United States of America.

During negotiations he was unable to explain properly his highly sophisticated ideas either to parliament to his colleagues in the cabinet.  He was heavily criticized,  resigned in February 1783, and never again held office.

After the French Revolution (which he supported) he gave his support to Fox. From this point, however, he no longer took an active part in politics, but retired to his Irish estates.

Assessment: The British Prime Minister who signed the peace treaty with the new United States.

Oneliner: Lord Shelburne, 18th-century British Prime Minister

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