The Stamp Act (1765)
Taxed legal documents, newspapers and playing cards in the American colonies; 'no taxation without representation'
Prime Ministers · 18th century
George Grenville
1712–1770 · English
Whig
In office: 1763–1765
George Grenville was First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1763 to 1765. Determined to cut the huge debt left by the Seven Years' War, he taxed the American colonies through the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act, provoking the protests that led towards the American Revolution; his government also prosecuted John Wilkes over The North Briton No. 45.
How to spot them
- ▸Stamp Act 1765 and Sugar Act 1764
- ▸Prosecution of John Wilkes and North Briton No. 45; general warrants
- ▸Nickname 'the Gentle Shepherd'
- ▸Brother-in-law of Pitt the Elder; father of Lord Grenville (PM 1806–07)
In office
The Sugar Act (American Revenue Act) (1764)
Revised duties on molasses and sugar and tightened enforcement against smuggling
Prosecution of John Wilkes over The North Briton No. 45 (1763)
Arrests under a general warrant turned Wilkes into a champion of liberty
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 (1763)
Barred colonial settlement west of the Appalachians
Mocked as 'the Gentle Shepherd' after asking where new taxes could be found (1763)
Pitt the Elder hummed the popular song 'Gentle Shepherd, tell me where' at him in the Commons
Quick-fire facts
- •Held the offices of First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer together
- •His sister Hester married William Pitt the Elder, making the Younger Pitt his nephew
- •His son William Wyndham Grenville, Lord Grenville, was Prime Minister in 1806–07
- •George III grew to detest his lengthy lectures and dismissed him in 1765 after a row over the Regency Bill
- •The Grenville Act of 1770 transferred the trial of disputed elections to a Commons committee
Drill it — 6 cards
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Sources
- GOV.UK — Past Prime Ministers: George Grenville
- Oxford University Press — Oxford Dictionary of National Biography