Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne
The Most Honourable The Marquess of Lansdowne KG PC FRS | |
---|---|
Leader of the House of Lords | |
In office 6 July 1846 – 27 February 1852 | |
Monarch | Queen Victoria |
Prime Minister | Lord John Russell |
Preceded by | The Duke of Wellington |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Derby |
Lord President of the Council | |
In office 6 July 1846 – 27 February 1852 | |
Monarch | Queen Victoria |
Prime Minister | Lord John Russell |
Preceded by | The Duke of Buccleuch |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Lonsdale |
In office 23 April 1835 – 3 September 1841 | |
Monarch | William IV Queen Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
Preceded by | The Earl of Rosslyn |
Succeeded by | The Lord Wharncliffe |
In office 22 November 1830 – 14 November 1834 | |
Monarch | William IV |
Prime Minister | The Earl Grey The Viscount Melbourne |
Preceded by | The Earl Bathurst |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Rosslyn |
Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
In office 16 July 1827 – 22 January 1828 | |
Monarch | George IV |
Prime Minister | The Viscount Goderich |
Preceded by | William Sturges Bourne |
Succeeded by | Robert Peel |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
In office 5 February 1806 – 26 March 1807 | |
Monarch | George III |
Prime Minister | The Lord Grenville |
Preceded by | William Pitt the Younger |
Succeeded by | Spencer Perceval |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
In office 16 November 1809 – 31 January 1863 Hereditary Peerage | |
Preceded by | The 2nd Marquess of Lansdowne |
Succeeded by | The 4th Marquess of Lansdowne |
Member of Parliament for Cambridge University | |
In office 15 December 1806 – 27 April 1807 | |
Preceded by | William Pitt the Younger |
Succeeded by | Vicary Gibbs |
Member of Parliament for Calne | |
In office 31 August 1802 – 24 October 1806 | |
Preceded by | Sir Francis Baring, Bt |
Succeeded by | Osborne Markham |
Personal details | |
Born | Lansdowne House, Mayfair, Middlesex, England | 2 July 1780
Died | 31 January 1863 Bowood House, Derry Hill, Wiltshire, England | (aged 82)
Political party | Whig |
Spouse(s) | Lady Louisa Fox-Strangways (1785–1851) |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh Trinity College, Cambridge |
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC, FRS (2 July 1780 – 31 January 1863), known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809, was a British statesman. In a ministerial career spanning nearly half a century, he notably served as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer and was three times Lord President of the Council.
Background and education[]
Lansdowne was the son of Prime Minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (better known as the Earl of Shelburne) by his second marriage to Lady Louisa, daughter of John FitzPatrick, 1st Earl of Upper Ossory. He was educated at Westminster School, the University of Edinburgh, and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Political career[]
He entered the House of Commons in 1802 as member for the family borough of Calne and quickly showed his mettle as a politician. In February 1806 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Grenville's Ministry of All the Talents, being at this time member for the University of Cambridge, but he lost both his seat and his office in 1807. In 1809 he became Marquess of Lansdowne, and in the House of Lords and in society he continued to play an active part as one of the Whig leaders. His chief interest was perhaps in the question of Roman Catholic emancipation, a cause which he consistently championed, but he sympathised also with the advocates of the abolition of the slave-trade and with the cause of popular education. Lansdowne, who had succeeded his cousin, Francis Thomas Fitzmaurice, as 4th Earl of Kerry in 1818, took office with Canning in May 1827 and was Secretary of State for the Home Department from July of that year until January 1828.[1]
He was Lord President of the Council under Earl Grey and then under Lord Melbourne from November 1830 to August 1841, with the exception of the few months in 1835 when Sir Robert Peel was prime minister. He held the same office during the whole of Lord John Russell's ministry (1846–1852), and, having declined to become prime minister, sat in the cabinets of Lord Aberdeen and of Lord Palmerston, but without office. In 1857 he refused the offer of a dukedom, and he died on 31 January 1863. Lansdowne's social influence and political moderation made him one of the most powerful Whig statesmen of the time; he was frequently consulted by Queen Victoria on matters of moment, and his long official experience made his counsel invaluable to his party.[1]
Other public appointments[]
Lansdowne chaired the inaugural meeting of the London Statistical Society, and was its first president (1834–1836). He later served a second term (1842–1844). (See The Times 15 and 17 March 1834, and John Bibby (1987) HOTS: History of Teaching Statistics.)
Family[]
Lord Lansdowne married Lady Louisa Fox-Strangways, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester, in 1808. They had three sons, and one daughter:
- Lady Louisa (d. 12 June 1906) married Hon. James Kenneth Howard, son of Thomas Howard, 16th Earl of Suffolk. They had a son Kenneth (married Lady Emily Bury, daughter of the ) and daughter Winifrede.
- William Thomas Petty-FitzMaurice, Earl of Kerry (30 Mar 1811 - 21 Aug 1836)
- Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne (7 Jan 1816 - 5 July 1866)
- Hon. Bentinck Yelverton (1855 - 1892), died unmarried.
Louisa died in April 1851, aged 65, and Lord Lansdowne in January 1863, aged 82. His eldest son, the Earl of Kerry, had predeceased him and he was succeeded in the marquessate by his eldest surviving son, Henry. The latter was the father of Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, who also became a distinguished statesman.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lansdowne, William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of s.v. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice". Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 184. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ "Fitzmaurice, Lord Henry Petty (FTSY798HP)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
External links[]
- "Archival material relating to Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne". UK National Archives.
- Obituary in Illustrated London News, 14 February 1863.
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Lansdowne
- 1780 births
- 1863 deaths
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- British Secretaries of State
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- Marquesses of Lansdowne
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