Past Prime Ministers
Nickname“Malagrida” and “The Jesuit in Berkerly Square”
Born 2 May 1737, Dublin, Ireland
Died 7 May 1805, London
Dates in office 4 July 1782 - 26 March 1783
Political party Whig
Interesting facts
In power at the time of the treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolutionary War/American War of Independence.
William Petty 2nd Earl of Shelburne
1782 - 1783
“The sun of Great Britain will set whenever she acknowledges the independence of America – the independence of America would end in the ruin of England.”
An intellectual figure the Earl of Shelburne is credited with establishing some early reformist ideas. He was less appreciated in his own time, being considered devious and untrustworthy.
In the 1760s he spent two years as Pitt’s Secretary of State, and in the late 1770s led the Whigs in Opposition. On Rockingham’s death in 1782, he formed a government as PM, with the 23-year-old Pitt the Younger as his Chancellor.
During his short term he succeeded in securing peace with America, France and Spain, presided over the beginning of Britain’s trade recovery, and put forward a programme of public service reform.