Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham by Jean Baptiste van Loo

The Cobhamite faction (often known as Cobham's Cubs) were an 18th-century

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

political faction built around

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham (24 October 1675 – 14 September 1749) was a British soldier and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer under William III during the Williamite War in Ireland and during the Nine Years' War, he ...

and his supporters. Among its members, the group included the future Prime Ministers William Pitt and

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

. They had a general Whig philosophy and were at first supporters of Prime Minister

Sir Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

but later became opponents of his administration.

Background

The group emerged during the breakdown of the two-party system in Britain when the dominant Whig party had split into several factions - many of whom were in opposition to their fellow Whigs who were in government. Lord Cobham had originally been a supporter of

when he became Prime Minister in 1721, voting with the government in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Emergence

In 1730s he had begun to grow gradually disenchanted with Walpole, coming to a head when he opposed a proposed

Excise Bill The Excise Bill of 1733 was a proposal by the British government of Robert Walpole to impose an excise tax on a variety of products. This would have allowed Customs officers to search private dwellings to look for contraband untaxed goods. The per ...

in 1733 forcing Walpole to withdraw the Bill. Walpole punished him by removing Cobham's command of his regiment. This prompted Cobham to break entirely from his support of Walpole, and he now crossed to join the Opposition. He began to gather a group of supporters around him, often holding their meetings at Cobham's famous estate at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire. They were a mixture of MPs, Peers as well as some prospective politicians. The writer

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

was associated with the group. Although almost exclusively made up of Whigs, the group worked closely with the Tories who made up the bulk of the Opposition, and shared Cobham's sharp dislike of the Walpole government. Cobham's supporters and the other Whigs refused to become Tories, and were soon styling themselves as the 'Patriot Party' or '

Patriot Whigs The Patriot Whigs, later the Patriot Party, were a group within the Whig Party in Great Britain from 1725 to 1803. The group was formed in opposition to the government of Robert Walpole in the House of Commons in 1725, when William Pulteney (l ...

'. The group was at times associated with

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

a noted opponent of Walpole and his father, the King. The Cobham members would often pay court to Frederick at Leicester House. Walpole outraged them further by dismissing all those who held army commissions and had spoken out against him - which they considered an abuse of his powers. The group now set about attacking Walpole in an attempt to force him from office.

Membership

The first of the younger generation to gain notoriety was William Pitt who was elected to Parliament in 1735. His elder brother

Thomas Pitt Thomas Pitt (5 July 1653 – 28 April 1726) of Blandford St Mary in Dorset, later of Stratford in Wiltshire and of Boconnoc in Cornwall, known during life commonly as ''Governor Pitt'', as ''Captain Pitt'', or posthumously, as ''"Diamond" ...

for a while also sat with the group, but later broke with them. Other prominent members included

Richard Grenville Sir Richard Grenville (15 June 1542 – 10 September 1591), also spelt Greynvile, Greeneville, and Greenfield, was an English privateer and explorer. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Cornwall and Bideford, Devon. He subsequently ...

, Robert Nedham and George Lyttelton- many of whom were related to each other either by blood or by marriage. Because of their youth they were popularly known as Cobham's Cubs.

Opposition

Pitt made a series of attacks on Walpole in Parliament, which slowly helped to erode the Prime Minister's authority. Most distressing to the group was the Prime Ministers poor handling of the

War of Jenkins' Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear, or , was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and the Spanish Empire. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It is con ...

which had broken out in 1739. Walpole was distinctly anti-war and had only reluctantly prosecuted the war - a fact that outraged the pro-war Patriot faction who pushed for his dismissal. Walpole was finally forced into resignation in the wake of the disastrous Siege of Cartagena and only winning a narrow majority in the 1741 General election. Having helped to bring Walpole down in 1742 with their fierce attacks on his mishandling of the war with Spain, the group were equally opposed to the government that followed it, headed officially by

Lord Wilmington Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, (2 July 1743) was a British Whig statesman who served continuously in government from 1715 until his death. He sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1698 and 1728, and was then raise ...

but in fact led by

Lord Carteret John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, 7th Seigneur of Sark, (; 22 April 16902 January 1763), commonly known by his earlier title Lord Carteret, was a British statesman and Lord President of the Council from 1751 to 1763; he worked extremely clos ...

. They attacked him, also for his strategic control of the war which they felt placed too much emphasis on fighting in Germany and not enough in waging war with Spain in the Americas. In 1744 they played a part in the end of Carteret's government, to be replaced one led by

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as 3rd Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who ...

and his brother the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

Entry into Government

{{further, Pelham Ministry A large number of Cobham's supporters then went to join the new government. Despite having orchestrated the deal, Pitt didn't take a post in the administration almost because King

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

disliked him due to repeated criticisms Pitt had made of Hanover. Pitt and the remaining Cobhamites continued to give the government their support for the next few years, and Pitt was finally rewarded by being given the job of

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration (1660), Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II, and was responsible for part of the financing of t ...

which did not require regular contact with the King. By the 1750s the group became distinctly displeased with the policies pursued by the Pelhams, and in 1755 they opposed and attacked a government measure regarding a Treaty with Russia, leading to Grenville and Pitt being dismissed and returning to opposition where they continued to attack the Newcastle government.Brown p.117-18 In 1749 Cobham had died, and the cohesiveness of the group was threatened by the fact that some of his followers were still in government while others were in opposition. Pitt and George Grenville emerged as the effective leaders of the party - which continued to meet at Stowe. In 1756 Pitt led the group into government once more where they were known as the 'Ministry of Cousins' because so many were related. The group then participated in the

Pitt–Newcastle ministry Between 1757 and 1762, at the height of the Seven Years' War, the Pitt–Newcastle ministry governed the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was headed by Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, serving in his second stint as prime minister. The ...

which guided Britain to victory in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

Later Split

In October 1761 annoyed at the growing influence of

Lord Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...

in the cabinet, and frustrated by his colleagues' refusal to launch a pre-emptive attack on Spain, Pitt resigned. While some of the group followed him, George Grenville remained in cabinet with the rest of the old Cobhamite party - this led to a degree of bad-feeling and the break-up of what had been a cohesive group for nearly thirty years. Even after the war was concluded with the Peace of Paris in 1763 the split continued with some joining the

Grenvillite The Grenville Whigs (or Grenvillites) were a name given to several British political factions of the 18th and the early 19th centuries, all of which were associated with the important Grenville family of Buckinghamshire. Background The Grenv ...

party that held office in 1763 with George Grenville as Prime Minister, while others joined Pitt in opposition. This switched over in 1766 when Pitt became First Minister, and Grenville led his own followers into opposition. The two groups held strikingly opposing views on the issue of America, with Grenville and his supporters holding hawkish views while Pitt preferred conciliation. Pitt and Grenville were eventually able to agree to reconciliation before the latter's death in 1770. The sons of Pitt and Grenville and many of their supporters were to form a

Pittite The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed ...

party in the 1780s which dominated British politics for a generation.

Prominent members

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, (26 September 171112 September 1779) was a British politician. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law William Pitt who he served with in government during Britain's participatio ...

Thomas Grenville Thomas Grenville (31 December 1755 – 17 December 1846) was a British politician and bibliophile. Background and education Grenville was the second son of Prime Minister George Grenville and Elizabeth Wyndham, daughter of Sir William Wynd ...

* George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton

References

Bibliography

* Black, Jeremy. ''Pitt the Elder''. Cambridge University Press, 1992. * Brown, Peter Douglas. ''William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner''. Allen & Unwin, 1978.