Frederick, Lord North
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Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his
courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...
Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th
Prime Minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pri ...
from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. He also held a number of other cabinet posts, including Home Secretary and
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
. North's reputation among historians has swung back and forth. It reached its lowest point in the late nineteenth century, when he was depicted as a creature of the king and an incompetent who lost the American colonies. In the early twentieth century, a revised view emerged emphasising his strengths in administering the Treasury, handling the House of Commons, and in defending the Church of England. Historian
Herbert Butterfield Sir Herbert Butterfield (7 October 1900 – 20 July 1979) was an English historian and philosopher of history, who was Regius Professor of Modern History and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is remembered chiefly for a shor ...
, however, argued that his indolence was a barrier to efficient crisis management; he neglected his role in supervising the entire war effort.


Early life (1732–1754)

North was born in London on 13 April 1732 at the family house at Albemarle Street, just off
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. He spent much of his youth at Wroxton Abbey in
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
. North's strong resemblance to King George III suggested to contemporaries that George III's father, Frederick, Prince of Wales, might have been North's real father, making North the king's half-brother, a theory compatible with the prince's reputation but supported by little else other than the circumstantial evidence. King George IV remarked that "either his royal grandmother or North's mother must have played her husband false", North's father, Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford, was from 1730 to 1751 Lord of the Bedchamber to Frederick, Prince of Wales, who stood as godfather to the infant, christened Frederick, possibly in memory of his real father. North was descended from Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, paternal uncle of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich and was related to
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
and the 3rd Earl of Bute. He at times had a slightly turbulent relationship with his father Francis North, yet they were very close. In his early years, the family was not wealthy, though their situation improved in 1735 when his father inherited property from his cousin. Frederick's mother, Lady Lucy Montagu, a daughter of George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax and his first wife, Ricarda Posthuma Staltonstall, died in 1734. His father remarried, but his stepmother, Elizabeth Kaye, widow of George Legge, Viscount Lewisham, eldest son of
William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth (14 October 1672 – 15 December 1750), was Lord Privy Seal from 1713 to 1714. He was a Hanoverian Tory, supporting the Hanoverian succession following the death of Queen Anne. Life The only son of George Le ...
and his wife, Lady Anne Finch, third daughter of
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford, PC, KC (22 July 1719) was an English lawyer and statesman. Early life Finch was second son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham and the former Elizabeth Hervey (eldest daughter of Daniel Hervey). H ...
, died in 1745, when Frederick was thirteen. One of his stepbrothers was William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, who remained a close friend for life. He was educated at Eton College between 1742 and 1748 and at Trinity College, Oxford, where in 1750 he was awarded an MA. After leaving Oxford, he travelled in Europe on a Grand Tour with Lord Dartmouth. They stayed in Leipzig for nearly nine months, studying under the constitutional scholar Johann Jacob Mascov. They continued through Austria and Italy, staying in Rome from December 1752 to Easter 1753, then through Switzerland to Paris, returning to England in early 1754.


Early political career (1754–1770)

On 15 April 1754, North, then twenty-two, was elected unopposed as the member of parliament for the constituency of Banbury. He served as an MP from 1754 to 1790 and joined the government as a junior Lord of the Treasury on 2 June 1759 during the Pitt–Newcastle ministry (an alliance between the Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle and
William Pitt the Elder 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 ...
). He soon developed a reputation as a good administrator and parliamentarian and was generally liked by his colleagues. Although he initially considered himself a Whig, he did not closely align with any of the Whig factions in Parliament, and it became obvious to many contemporaries that his sympathies were largely Tory. In November 1763, he was chosen to speak for the government concerning radical MP John Wilkes. Wilkes had made a savage attack on both the Prime Minister and the king in his newspaper '' The North Briton'', which many thought libellous. North's motion that Wilkes be expelled from the House of Commons passed by 273 votes to 111. Wilkes' expulsion took place in his absence, as he had already fled to France following a duel. When a government headed by the Whig magnate Charles Watson-Wentworth, Lord Rockingham came to power in 1765, North left his post and served for a time as a backbench MP. He turned down an offer by Rockingham to rejoin the government, not wanting to be associated with the Whig
grandee Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neith ...
s that dominated the Ministry. He returned to office when Pitt returned to head a second government in 1766. North was appointed Joint Paymaster of the Forces in Pitt's ministry and became a Privy Counsellor. As Pitt was constantly ill, the government was effectively run by the Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, with North as one of its most senior members.


Chancellor of the Exchequer

In December 1767, he succeeded
Charles Townshend Charles Townshend (28 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was a British politician who held various titles in the Parliament of Great Britain. His establishment of the controversial Townshend Acts is considered one of the key causes of the Ame ...
as
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
. With the resignation of the secretary of state Henry Seymour Conway in early 1768, North became Leader of the Commons as well. He continued to serve when Pitt was succeeded by Grafton in October.


Prime Minister (1770–1782)


Appointment

When the Duke of Grafton resigned as Prime Minister, North formed a government on 28 January 1770. His ministers and supporters tended to be known as Tories, though they were not a formal grouping and many had previously been Whigs. He took over with Great Britain in a triumphant state following the Seven Years' War, which had seen the
First British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
expand to a peak by taking in vast new territories on several continents. Circumstances forced him to keep many members of the previous cabinet in their jobs, despite their lack of agreement with him.Rodger p. 329 In contrast to many of his predecessors, North enjoyed a good relationship with George III, partly based on their shared
patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...
and desire for decency in their private lives.


Falklands Crisis

North's ministry had an early success during the Falklands Crisis in 1770, in which Great Britain faced down a Spanish attempt to seize the Falkland Islands, nearly provoking a war. Both France and Spain had been left unhappy by Great Britain's perceived dominance following the British victory in the Seven Years War. Spanish forces seized the British settlement on the Falklands and expelled the small British garrison. When Britain opposed the seizure, Spain sought backing from her ally France. King Louis XV of France did not believe his country was ready for war, however, and in the face of a strong mobilisation of the British fleet, the French compelled the Spanish to back down. Louis also dismissed the
Duc de Choiseul {{Unreferenced, date=April 2019 Choiseul is an illustrious noble family from Champagne, France, descendants of the comtes of Langres. The family's head was Renaud III de Choiseul, comte de Langres and sire de Choiseul, who in 1182 married Alix ...
, the hawkish Chief Minister of France, who had advocated war and a large invasion of Great Britain by the French. The British government's prestige and popularity were enormously boosted by the incident. It had successfully managed to drive a wedge between France and Spain and demonstrated the power of the Royal Navy, although it was suggested by critics that this gave Lord North a degree of complacency and an incorrect belief that the European powers would not interfere in British colonial affairs. This was contrasted with the previous administration's failure to prevent France from annexing the
Republic of Corsica In November 1755, Pasquale Paoli proclaimed Corsica a sovereign nation, the Corsican Republic ( it, Repubblica Corsa), independent from the Republic of Genoa. He created the Corsican Constitution, which was the first constitution written in Ita ...
, a British ally, during the Corsican Crisis two years earlier. Using his newly found popularity, North took a chance and appointed
Lord Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu ...
to the cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty.


American War of Independence

Most of North's government was focused first on the growing problems with the American colonies. Later on, it was preoccupied with conducting the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
that broke out in 1775 with the Battle of Lexington. Following the Boston Tea Party in 1773, Lord North proposed a number of legislative measures that were supposed to punish the Bostonians. These measures were known as the Coercive Acts in Great Britain, while dubbed the Intolerable Acts in the colonies. By shutting down the Boston government and cutting off trade, he hoped they would keep the peace and dispirit the rebellious colonists. Instead, the acts further inflamed Massachusetts and the other colonies, eventually resulting in open war during the Boston campaign of 1775–76. North deferred the overall strategy of the war to his key subordinates
Lord George Germain George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785), styled The Honourable George Sackville until 1720, Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770 and Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782, was a British soldier and p ...
and the Earl of Sandwich. Despite a series of victories and the capture of New York and Philadelphia, the British were unable to secure a decisive victory. In 1778, the French allied themselves with the American rebels, and Spain joined the war in 1779 as an ally of France, followed by the Dutch Republic in 1780. The British found themselves fighting a global war on four continents without a single ally. After 1778, the British switched the focus of their efforts to the defence of the West Indies, as their sugar wealth made them much more valuable to Great Britain than the Thirteen Colonies. In 1779, Great Britain was faced with the prospect of a major Franco-Spanish invasion, but the
Armada of 1779 The Armada of 1779 was a combined Franco-Spanish naval enterprise intended to divert British military assets, primarily of the Royal Navy, from other war theatres by invading the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. ...
was ultimately a failure. Several peace initiatives fell through, and an attempt by
Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland may refer to: * Richard Cumberland (philosopher) (1631–1718), bishop, philosopher * Richard Cumberland (dramatist) (1732–1811), civil servant, dramatist * Richard Cumberland (priest) (1710–1737), Archdeacon of Northa ...
to negotiate a separate peace with Spain ended in frustration. The country's problems were augmented by the First League of Armed Neutrality, which was formed to counter the British blockade strategy, and threatened British naval supplies from the
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. With severe manpower shortages, North's government passed an act abandoning previous statutes placing restrictions on Catholics serving in the military. This provoked an upsurge of anti-Catholic feelings and the formation of the
Protestant Association The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...
that led to the
Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...
in London in June 1780. For around a week, the city was in the control of the mob until the military was called out and martial law imposed. Public opinion, especially in middle-class and elite circles, repudiated anti-Catholicism and violence, and rallied behind the North government. Demands were made for a London police force. Britain's fortunes in the war in America had temporarily improved following the failure of a Franco-American attack on Newport and the prosecution of a Southern strategy that saw the capture of Charleston, South Carolina and its garrison. During 1780 and 1781, the North government gained strength in the House of Commons. In October 1781, British forces under Lord Cornwallis surrendered at the conclusion of the Siege of Yorktown, dealing a crushing blow to British morale. When the news reached North, he took it "as he would have taken a ball in his breast", and exclaimed repeatedly "Oh God! It is all over!"


Resignation

North was the second British Prime Minister to be forced out of office by a motion of no confidence; the first was 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 ...
in 1742. Lord North resigned on 20 March 1782 on account of the British defeat at Yorktown the year before. In an attempt to end the war, he proposed the Conciliation Plan, in which he promised that Great Britain would eliminate all disagreeable acts if the colonies ended the war. The colonies rejected the plan, as their goal had become full independence. In April 1782, it was suggested in cabinet by
Lord Shelburne William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, (2 May 17377 May 1805; known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history), was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first ...
that North should be brought to public trial for his conduct of the American War, but the prospect was soon abandoned. Ironically, the war began to turn in Great Britain's favour again in 1782 through naval victories, owing largely to policies adopted by Lord North and the Earl of Sandwich. The British naval victory at the Battle of the Saintes took place after the government's fall. Despite predictions that
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
's fall was imminent, that fortress managed to hold out and was relieved. Great Britain was able to make a much more favourable peace in 1783 than had appeared likely at the time when North had been ousted. In spite of this, North was critical of the terms agreed by the Shelburne government which he felt undervalued the strength of the British negotiating position.


Fox–North coalition (1783)

In April 1783, North returned to power as Home Secretary in an unlikely coalition with the radical Whig leader Charles James Fox known as the Fox–North Coalition under the nominal leadership of the Duke of Portland. King George III, who detested the radical and republican Fox, never forgave this supposed betrayal, and North never again served in government after the ministry fell in December 1783. One of the major achievements of the coalition was the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. The new Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, was not expected to last long, and North, a vocal critic, still entertained hopes of regaining high office. In this, he was to be frustrated, as Pitt dominated the British political scene for the next twenty years, leaving both North and Fox in the political wilderness.


Later life (1783–1792)

North was an active speaker until he began to go blind in 1786. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Guilford on 4 August 1790 and entered the House of Lords, by which time he had entirely lost his sight. Lord Guilford died in
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
, England (now part of London), and was buried at All Saints' Church, Wroxton (Oxfordshire), near his family home of Wroxton Abbey. His memorial was sculpted by
John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...
RA. His son George North, Lord North, took over the constituency of Banbury, and in 1792 acceded to his father's title. Wroxton Abbey is now owned by Fairleigh Dickinson University, ironically an American college, and the modernised abbey serves as a location for American students to study abroad in England.


Legacy

Lord North is today predominantly remembered as the Prime Minister "who lost America". Both Lord North Street and
Guilford Street Guilford Street is a road in Bloomsbury in central London, England, designated the B502. From Russell Square it extends east-northeast to Gray's Inn Road. Note that it is not spelt the same way as Guildford in Surrey. It is, in fact, named after ...
in London are named after him.


Marriage and progeny

On 20 May 1756 Lord North married Anne Speke (before 17411797), daughter of George Speke MP, of Whitelackington in Somerset. She was the sole heiress of the Devonshire estates of the Drake family of
Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
, which subsequently were sold piecemeal by Lord North. Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, p. 331, footnote 2 By Anne he had seven children: *
George Augustus North, 3rd Earl of Guilford George Augustus North, 3rd Earl of Guilford, FRS (11 September 1757 – 20 April 1802), known as The Honourable George North until 1790 and as Lord North from 1790 to 1792, was a British politician. Early life Guilford was the eldest son of ...
(11 September 175720 April 1802), who married, firstly, Maria Frances Mary Hobart-Hampden (died 23 April 1794), daughter of the 3rd
Earl of Buckinghamshire Earl of Buckinghamshire is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for John Hobart, 1st Baron Hobart. History The Hobart family descends from Henry Hobart, who served as Attorney General and Lord Chief Justice of ...
, on 30 September 1785 and had issue. He married, secondly, Susan Coutts (died 24 September 1837), on 28 February 1796. * Catherine Anne North (1760–1817), who married
Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie, PC, KC, FRS, FRSE, FSA (24 May 1743 – 2 May 1823) was a British lawyer, politician and diarist. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1793 and 1794. Background, education and legal career He ...
, and had no children. * Francis North, 4th Earl of Guilford (1761–1817) * Lady Charlotte North (died 25 October 1849), who married Lt. Col. The Hon. John Lindsay (15 March 17626 March 1826), son of the 5th
Earl of Balcarres Earl of Balcarres is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1651 for Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Lord Balcarres. Since 1848, the title has been held jointly with the Earldom of Crawford, and the holder is also the hereditary clan chief of Clan ...
, on 2 April 1800. * Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford (1766–1827) * Lady Anne North (before 178318 January 1832), who married the 1st Earl of Sheffield on 20 January 1798 and had two children


Titles, styles and arms

*''The Honourable'' Frederick North (1732–1752) *Lord North (1752–1790) *The Earl of Guilford (1790–1792)


References


Citations


Sources

* Aston, Nigel. "North, Frederick, 2nd Earl of Guilford" in David Loads, ed., ''Readers Guide to British History''(2003) pp 960–62; Historiography * Butterfield, Herbert. ''George III, Lord North, and the People, 1779–80'' (1949) * Cannon, John. ''Lord North: The Noble Lord in the Blue Ribbon'' (1970), Short survey * Hibbert, Christopher. ''King Mob: The Story of Lord George Gordon and the Riots of 1780'' London, 1958. * Rodger, N.A.M. ''Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649–1815,'' (2007) * O'Shaughnessy, Andrew Jackson. ''The Men who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire'' (Yale UP, 2014) pp 47-80
online
* Smith, Charles Daniel. ''The Early Career of Lord North, the Prime Minister,'' (1979) * Valentine, Alan. ''Lord North'' (1967, 2 vol.), the standard biography * Whiteley, Peter.
Lord North: The Prime Minister who lost America,'
(1996)


Primary sources

* Lord North, ''The Correspondence of King George the Third with Lord North from 1768 to 1783'',
William Bodham Donne William Bodham Donne (1807–1882) was an English journalist, known also as a librarian and theatrical censor. Early life and career Donne was born 29 July 1807; his grandfather was an eminent surgeon in Norwich. His father Edward Charles Donne ...
, ed. (1867
online edition
*


External links


More about Lord North
on the Downing Street website. {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Frederick North, Lord 1732 births 1792 deaths 18th-century heads of government 18th-century English nobility Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Blind people from England British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British officials in the American Revolution British Secretaries of State Chancellors of the Exchequer of Great Britain Chancellors of the University of Oxford Guildford, Frederick North, 1st Earl of Knights of the Garter Leaders of the House of Commons of Great Britain Lord-Lieutenants of Somerset Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People educated at Eton College Paymasters of the Forces Prime Ministers of Great Britain Frederick Barons Guilford Barons North