Past Prime Ministers

Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth

Tory 1801 to 1804

“In youth, the absence of pleasure is pain, in old age the absence of pain is pleasure.”


Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth

Born

30 May 1757, Holborn, London

Died

15 February 1844, London, buried Mortlake, Surrey

Dates in office

1801 to 1804

Political party

Tory

Major acts

Treaty of Amiens 1802: temporarily ended hostilities between UK and France.

Interesting facts

Son of The Elder Pitt’s Physician Anthony Addington.

Biography

Henry Addington’s historical reputation owes less to his brief spell as Prime Minister than to his later career as a famously reactionary Home Secretary after becoming Viscount Sidmouth.

However, his achievement as premier during a difficult period of international conflict has been underestimated. He rose to the premiership from a family background in the lesser gentry and professions, and he can claim to have delivered the first budget speech. His time in office marked significant developments in the evolution of British government and the British governing class.

Read more about Henry Addington on the History of government blog.