Target of the anonymous Letters of Junius (1769–1770)
Pseudonymous newspaper letters that attacked him with notorious venom
Prime Ministers · 18th century
Duke of Grafton
1735–1811 · English
Whig
In office: 1768–1770
Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, a descendant of Charles II, led the government during Chatham's incapacity and was formally Prime Minister from 1768 to 1770. His ministry struggled with American protests and the Middlesex election affair involving John Wilkes, and he was savaged by the anonymous Letters of Junius, while his open affair with the courtesan Nancy Parsons scandalised society.
How to spot them
- ▸Descendant of Charles II and Barbara Villiers
- ▸Target of the Letters of Junius
- ▸Middlesex election and the expulsion of John Wilkes
- ▸Nancy Parsons scandal; later a Unitarian
In office
Middlesex election affair: Wilkes expelled and Henry Luttrell seated (1768–1769)
Wilkes repeatedly won the seat but the Commons installed his defeated opponent
Cabinet vote to keep the tea duty while repealing the other Townshend duties (1769)
The PM was outvoted 5–4 in favour of retaining the tax on tea
France acquires Corsica without British intervention (1768)
Genoa ceded the island to France; Britain did nothing, to the dismay of Corsican sympathisers
Quick-fire facts
- •Great-great-grandson of Charles II through the king's son by Barbara Villiers, the 1st Duke of Grafton
- •Appeared openly at the opera with his mistress Nancy Parsons
- •Divorced his first wife in 1769 by Act of Parliament
- •Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1768
- •Became a Unitarian in later life
Drill it — 5 cards
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Sources
- GOV.UK — Past Prime Ministers: Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
- Oxford University Press — Oxford Dictionary of National Biography