Eighteenth-Century British Premiers: Walpole to the Younger Pitt

Front Matter....Pages i-vii
Introduction — The Road to the Prime Ministership....Pages 1-6
Robert Walpole, First Earl of Orford — ‘All These Men Have Their Price’....Pages 7-30
Spencer Compton, First Earl of Wilmington — ‘George II’s Favourite Nonentity’....Pages 31-39
Henry Pelham — Pragmatic Heir to Walpole....Pages 40-53
Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle — Mighty Panjandrum, Feeble Premier....Pages 54-70
William Cavendish, Fourth Duke of Devonshire — ‘I Have No Motive but the King’s Service’....Pages 71-78
John Stuart, Third Earl of Bute — the King’s ‘Dearest Friend’....Pages 79-91
George Grenville — Able Premier, Undermined by His Own Prolixity....Pages 92-110
Charles Watson-Wentworth, Second Marquess of Rockingham — the Conscience of the Whigs....Pages 111-128
William Pitt, the Elder, First Earl of Chatham — ‘I am Sure That I Can Save This Country, and That Nobody Else Can’....Pages 129-153
Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Third Duke of Grafton — Well-Intentioned Dilettante....Pages 154-165
Frederick North, Styled Lord North — Outstanding Parliamentarian, Pity about the Colonies. …....Pages 166-187
William Petty, Second Earl of Shelburne — Too Clever by Half....Pages 188-204
William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Third Duke of Portland —Twice a Figurehead Premier....Pages 205-218
William Pitt, the Younger — Peacetime Prodigy, Less Successful in War....Pages 219-243
Epilogue....Pages 244-245
Back Matter....Pages 246-256