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Portrait of Earl of Shelburne

Prime Ministers · 18th century

Earl of Shelburne

1737–1805 · Irish-born British

Whig

In office: 1782–1783

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, later 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, was Prime Minister from July 1782 to 1783. His government negotiated the preliminary peace recognising the independence of the United States, but he was defeated in the Commons over its terms and resigned. A reformer and patron of intellectuals such as Joseph Priestley and Jeremy Bentham, he was distrusted by contemporaries as 'the Jesuit of Berkeley Square'.

How to spot them

  • ▸Born in Dublin; became Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784
  • ▸Peace preliminaries recognising American independence (1782–83)
  • ▸Nicknamed 'Malagrida' and 'the Jesuit of Berkeley Square'
  • ▸Bowood House, where Priestley isolated oxygen; patron of Bentham

In office

Preliminary articles of peace recognising American independence (1782–1783)

His government's peace terms were defeated in the Commons in February 1783, forcing his resignation

Joseph Priestley isolates oxygen at Bowood House (1774)

Priestley was his librarian and literary companion at his Wiltshire seat

Made the 23-year-old William Pitt Chancellor of the Exchequer (1782)

Pitt's first cabinet office

Wounded in a duel with William Fullarton (1780)

The Scottish MP challenged him after a slighting remark in a Lords debate

Quick-fire facts

  • •Born in Dublin; created 1st Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784
  • •Contemporaries nicknamed him 'Malagrida', after a Portuguese Jesuit, for his supposed duplicity
  • •Served as a soldier in the Seven Years' War, including at the Battle of Minden (1759)
  • •His London house, Lansdowne House, stood on Berkeley Square
  • •Jeremy Bentham was a frequent guest at Bowood

Drill it — 5 cards

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Sources