Prime Ministers · 18th century

Henry Pelham

c. 1694–1754 · English

Whig

In office: 1743–1754

Henry Pelham was First Lord of the Treasury from 1743 until his death in 1754, heading the 'Broad-Bottom' administration with his elder brother the Duke of Newcastle. A careful financial manager, he saw Britain through the War of the Austrian Succession and the Jacobite Rising of 1745, consolidated the national debt, and presided over the switch to the Gregorian calendar.

How to spot them

▸Younger brother of the Duke of Newcastle, who succeeded him
▸The 'Broad-Bottom' ministry; the Jacobite Rising of 1745
▸Consols (1751); calendar reform; the Jewish Naturalisation Act 1753

In office

The 'Broad-Bottom' administration (1744)

A broad coalition of Whig factions and some Tories formed after Lord Carteret was ousted

Government during the Jacobite Rising of 1745 (1745–1746)

Bonnie Prince Charlie's rising, crushed at Culloden in April 1746

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ending the War of the Austrian Succession (1748)

Peace that largely restored pre-war conquests

Creation of 'Consols' (consolidated 3 per cent annuities) (1751)

Consolidated and reduced the interest on the national debt

Calendar (New Style) Act: Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar (1750–1752)

1 January became New Year's Day and 11 days were dropped in September 1752

Jewish Naturalisation Act ('Jew Bill') (1753)

Allowed Jews to be naturalised by Act of Parliament; popular outcry forced its repeal in 1754

Quick-fire facts

•His brother Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle, succeeded him as First Lord of the Treasury
•Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act 1753, regulating marriage ceremonies in England, was passed under his government
•He died in office in March 1754
•His country house was Esher Place in Surrey

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Sources

GOV.UK — Past Prime Ministers: Henry Pelham
Oxford University Press — Oxford Dictionary of National Biography