Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby,
PC,
FSA (22 December 176226 December 1847) was a prominent British politician of the
Pittite faction and the
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
party.
Background and education
Born in London, Ryder was the eldest son of
Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby
Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby (3 July 1735 – 20 June 1803) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1776 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Harrowby.
Ryder was the son of Sir Dudley Ryder, Lord Chief ...
, and his wife Elizabeth (née Terrick).
Sir Dudley Ryder was his grandfather and
Richard Ryder his younger brother. He was educated at
Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
and
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
.
Political career
Harrowby was elected to his father's old Parliament seat of
Tiverton in 1784. His administrative career began with an appointment to be Joint
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affai ...
in 1789. In 1791 he was appointed joint
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 ...
, having been made
Vice-President of the Board of Trade
The office of Vice-President of the Board of Trade is a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade. The office was created in 1786 but fell into abeyance in 1867. From 1848 onwards, the office was he ...
in 1790. He resigned the positions and also that of
Treasurer of the Navy
The Treasurer of the Navy, originally called Treasurer of Marine Causes or Paymaster of the Navy, was a civilian officer of the Royal Navy, one of the principal commissioners of the Navy Board responsible for naval finance from 1524 to 1832. T ...
when he succeeded to his father's barony in June 1803. In 1804 he was
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
.
After
James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
's first interview with him on 30 May 1804, "...Monroe reported to his Government that Lord Harrowby's manners were designedly unfriendly; his reception was rough, his comments on the Senate's habit of mutilating treaties were harsh, his conduct throughout the intervuew was calculated to wound and to irritate."
[Henry Adams, ''History of the United States of America during the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson'', Library of America, 1986, p. 587 ''et seq.'']
In 1805 he was
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...
under his intimate friend
William Pitt; in the latter year he was sent on a special and important mission to the emperors of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and the king of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
as part of the
Hanover Expedition
The Hanover Expedition, also known as the Weser Expedition, was a British invasion of the Electorate of Hanover during the Napoleonic Wars. Coordinated as part of an attack on France by the nations of the War of the Third Coalition, Third Coa ...
.
In 1809 he was honoured when he was made Viscount Sandon, of Sandon in the County of Stafford, and Earl of Harrowby, in the County of Lincoln. From November 1809 to June 1812 he served as
Minister without portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
in the cabinet of
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and barrister who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. Perceval is the only British prime minister to ...
.
From 1812 to 1827, he served as
Lord President of the Council
The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...
under
Lord Liverpool
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...
. After
George Canning
George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...
's death in 1827, Harrowby refused to serve
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
as prime minister and never held office again. Despite this he continued to take part in politics, being especially prominent during the deadlock which preceded the passing of the
Reform Bill
In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...
in 1832. Harrowby's long association with the
Tories
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
did not prevent him from assisting to remove the disabilities of Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters, or from supporting the movement for electoral reform; he was also in favour of the
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
of the slaves.
He was a member of the
Literary Association of the Friends of Poland.
Family
Lord Harrowby married Lady Susanna Leveson-Gower, daughter of
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC (4 August 172126 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family.
Background ...
, in 1795. They had three sons and five daughters. She died in May 1838. Lord Harrowby survived her by nine years and died in December 1847 at his
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
residence,
Sandon Hall, aged 85, being, as
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (2 April 1794 – 17 January 1865) was an English diarist and an amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1827. His father Charles Greville was a second cousin of the 1st Earl of Warwick, and ...
says, "the last of his generation and of the colleagues of Mr Pitt, the sole survivor of those stirring times and mighty contests."
He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
. His second son,
Granville Ryder, became a Member of Parliament.
Notes
References
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
*
*
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrowby, Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl Of
1762 births
1847 deaths
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
British MPs 1784–1790
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
British Secretaries of State
British Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs
Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster
Earls of Harrowby
Lord Presidents of the Council
Ryder, Dudley
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Ryder, Dudley
People educated at Harrow School
Paymasters of the Forces
Ryder, Dudley
Ryder, Dudley
Ryder, Dudley
Harrowby, E1
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
Presidents of the Board of Control