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Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Charles Watson-Wentworth 2nd marquess of Rockingham
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(born May 13, 1730 — died July 1, 1782, London, Eng.) British politician. From 1751 to 1762 he served as gentleman of the bedchamber for George II and then George III, who appointed him prime minister in 1765. He obtained repeal of the unpopular Stamp Act but agreed to the passage of the Declaratory Act. His ministry collapsed through internal dissension in 1766. He and Edmund Burke led the parliamentary opposition to the ministries in power and spoke in favour of independence for the American colonies. In his brief second ministry (1782), he began peace negotiations with the U.S. and obtained legislative independence for the Irish parliament.

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Biography: Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d Marquess of Rockingham
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The English statesman Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730-1782), as prime minister and leader of the Whig opposition, advocated leniency toward the American colonies.

Charles Watson-Wentworth was born on May 13, 1730. He was educated at Westminster School and at Cambridge. In 1745, at the age of 15, he ran away without parental permission to join the Duke of Cumberland's army, which was fighting against Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender. Between 1748 and 1750, Watson-Wentworth completed the grand tour of Europe.

On the death of his father in 1750, Rockingham succeeded to the family estates in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, and Ireland, and in 1752 he augmented his inheritance by marrying Mary Bright, a Yorkshire heiress. In 1751 Rockingham also succeeded to his father's offices of lord lieutenant of the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire, was appointed a lord of the bedchamber, and took his seat in the House of Lords. For the next 15 years Rockingham divided his time between the Lords and his consuming passion for horse racing. In general he entered little into political issues, but in 1762, in protest against the signing of the Peace of Paris, he resigned his place in the bedchamber. In consequence, he was dismissed from his lieutenancies.

During the regency crisis of 1765 Rockingham and the elder William Pitt were approached by the Duke of Cumberland with a view to forming a coalition; and on Pitt's refusal to serve, Rockingham became prime minister. Rockingham was among those ministers inclined to act leniently on the American question. Nevertheless, it was not until the spring of 1766 that the government proposed and carried the repeal of the Stamp Act. The repeal was facilitated by a concurrent statutory declaration of the absolute supremacy of Parliament over the Colonies. George III, chagrined by the repeal of the Stamp Act, was further mortified by the coalition's refusal to grant an allowance to his brothers and by the passage of resolutions condemning general warrants. In July 1766 he dismissed Rockingham, and Pitt returned to power.

Disappointed, Rockingham, took little part in public affairs until the conclusion of the Franco-American alliance. Then he bitterly attacked Lord North's American policy, and in March 1778 he declared for the immediate recognition of the independence of the Colonies. On the fall of North's administration in February 1782, Rockingham again became prime minister in a coalition government. This ministry conceded legislative independence to Ireland, and it considerably curtailed the political power of the Crown, chiefly by reducing the King's household. Rockingham's death on July 1, 1782, dissolved this short-lived administration. He was buried in York Minster.

Further Reading

Rockingham's relative unimportance in 18th-century politics is reflected by the absence of works devoted to his career. The only biographical study is short and deals with his life up to 1765: G. H. Guttridge, The Early Career of Lord Rockingham, 1730-1765 (1952). A later study by Guttridge, English Whiggism and the American Revolution (1963), is important for the political philosophy of Rockingham and his associates. Recommended for general historical background is J. Steven Watson, The Reign of George III, 1760-1815 (1960).

British History: Charles Watson-Wentworth Rockingham
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Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd marquis of (1730-82). An often underrated politician, Rockingham contributed significantly to the emergence of a distinct Whig ideology. Although his two brief periods as prime minister (1765-6 and 1782) were unhappy, Rockingham achieved much as a party leader. Having held a court appointment from 1751, Rockingham resigned in November 1762 and joined the opposition to Lord Bute. He was appointed 1st lord of the Treasury in 1765 and successfully orchestrated the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. Rockingham, nevertheless, believed in the subservience of the colonies and repeal was accompanied by a Declaratory Act, asserting British legislative supremacy. Dismissed in March 1766 because of his continuing suspicions of Bute's influence, he remained in opposition for the next sixteen years. Rockingham and his followers constantly reiterated that they were the only true Whigs and, by force of repetition, a diffuse term was reclaimed: the Rockinghamites gradually developed a near monopoly of the title ‘Whig Party’. Much was made of the supposedly increased power of the crown and it was argued that the political advantages derived from granting places and contracts ought to be reduced. Economical reform was favoured rather than parliamentary reform. Rockingham's return to power, in the wake of Lord North's fall, was irresistible, since his party was the largest in opposition. Rockingham insisted on becoming 1st lord of the Treasury, but his premiership was undermined by the king's insistence on cabinet office for Shelburne, whom Rockingham rightly mistrusted. Ministers were soon at loggerheads and Rockingham's unexpected death in July 1782 may have simply hastened a looming political crisis.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of Rockingham
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Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of (rŏk'ĭng-əm), 1730-82, British statesman. In the early years of the reign of George III he became a leading opponent of the "king's friends," held several offices, and formed a coalition government in 1765. During his ministry the Stamp Act was repealed and conciliation with the American colonies attempted, but the administration fell in 1766. Rockingham continued to oppose the coercive colonial policy of the government. In 1782, at the fall of Lord North, he again formed a ministry. The war in America was already lost, and Rockingham died before the peace settlement could be reached. Rockingham's second ministry was marked by the repeal of Poynings's Law (see under Poynings, Sir Edward) and by measures to reduce corrupt practices in parliamentary elections.

Bibliography

See study by R. J. S. Hoffman (1973).

Wikipedia: Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
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The Most Honourable
 The Marquess of Rockingham
 KG PC

In office
27 March 1782 – 1 July 1782
Monarch George III
Preceded by Lord North
Succeeded by The Earl of Shelburne
In office
13 July 1765 – 30 July 1766
Monarch George III
Preceded by George Grenville
Succeeded by The Earl of Chatham
Born 13 May 1730(1730-05-13)
South Yorkshire
Died 1 July 1782 (aged 52)
Wimbledon, London
Political party Whig
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, KG, PC (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782), styled The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1733, Viscount Higham between 1733 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750 and The Earl Malton in 1750, was a British Whig statesman, most notable for his two terms as Prime Minister of Great Britain. He became the patron of many Whigs and served as a leading Whig grandee. He served in only two high offices during his lifetime (Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Lords), but was nonetheless very influential during his one and a half years of service.

Contents

Early life

A descendant of the 1st Earl of Strafford, Lord Rockingham was brought up at the family home of Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham in South Yorkshire. He was educated at the Westminster School.[1] During the Jacobite rising of 1745 Rockingham's father made him a colonel and organised volunteers to defend the country against the "Young Pretender".[2] Rockingham's sister Mary wrote to him from London, saying the King "did not doubt but that you was as good a colonel as he has in his army" and his other sister Charlotte wrote that "you have gained immortal honour and I have every day the satisfaction of hearing twenty handsome things said of the Blues and their Collonel".[3] The march of the Jacobite army into northern England caused the Wentworth household to flee to Doncaster and Rockingham rode from Wentworth to Carlisle to join the Duke of Cumberland in pursuit of the "Young Pretender". Rockingham did this without parental consent and Cumberland wrote to Rockingham's father, saying that his "zeal on this occasion shows the same principles fix't that you yourself have given such strong proofs of".[4] Rockingham wrote to his father that Cumberland "blamed me for my disobedience, yet as I came with a design of saving my King and country...it greatly palliated my offence".[5] Rockingham's mother wrote to his father: "Though I hope you won't tell it him, never any thing met with such general applause, in short he is the hero of these times, and his Majesty talks of this young Subject, in such terms, as must please you to hear...in the Drawing Room no two people talk together, but he makes part of the discourse".[6]

In April 1746 Rockingham's father was made a marquis (remaining the only marquis in the British peerage for quite some time) and Rockingham himself was elevated to Earl of Malton. These honours came about due to the patronage of Henry Pelham.[7] At this time Rockingham was travelling across Europe under the tutorship of George Quarme, as his father had decided against sending him to Cambridge.[8] During his stay in Rome Rockingham noted that amongst Englishmen Whigs outnumbered Jacobites four-to-one and there were "no Persons of rank about the Pretender" and that "the vile spirit of Jacobitism" was greatly declining.[9] When in Herrenhausen, Hanover Rockingham met George II and made an impression: the King told Rockingham's uncle Henry Finch that he had never seen a finer or a more promising youth.[10]

Early political career

A young Rockingham.

On 13 May 1751 (his twenty-first birthday) Rockingham inherited his father's estates. The rents from the land in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire and Ireland gave him an annual income of £20,000. He also controlled both of the borough parliamentary seats of Malton and one seat for the single-member borough of Higham Ferrers (Northants), along with twenty-three livings and five chaplaincies in the church.[11] In July he was appointed Lord Lieutenant and custos rotulorum of the West Riding in Yorkshire, Lord Lieutenant of York city, and custos rotulorum of York city and county. In 1751-2 Rockingham joined White's, the Jockey Club and the Royal Society.[12]

Rockingham's maiden speech was on 17 March 1752 in support of the Bill which disposed of Scottish lands confiscated in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. He wanted the lands cultivated by people "employed in husbandry & handicrafts" who repudiated "plunder, rapine & rebellion". He said "the highlanders have remained in their ancient state, prolific, bold, idle, & consequently hives of rebellion". He compared his favoured policy with the policy which his ancestor Lord Strafford had used in Ireland. Rockingham's speech was not well received, with Horace Walpole criticising him for venturing into "a debate so much above his force".[13] Rockingham's uncle William Murray, the Solicitor-General, believed him to be poorly educated so he employed Quarme as Rockingham's tutor again. Rockingham was for four months to study Demosthenes for oratory, to learn the histories of the Assyrian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires along with modern history. Murray wanted Rockingham to take after Sir Walter Raleigh.[14]

In 1752 Rockingham was appointed Lord of the Bedchamber to George II and married Mary Bright. In 1753 the Rockingham Club was formed, containing the first Rockingham Whigs. Rockingham hired James Stuart to paint portraits of William III and George II for the club rooms. The club held monthly meetings and a list wrote in June 1754 showed it had 133 members.[15] In 1755 the King appointed him to the honorary office of Vice Admiral of the North.[16] During a French invasion scare in 1756 Rockingham raised a volunteer militia out of his own expense and when rioting broke out against Army enlistments Rockingham restored order without the use of military force in Sheffield. The War Secretary Lord Barrington wrote to him: "You are the only instance of a Lord lieutenant's exerting the civil authority upon these occasions".[17] Rockingham asked in 1760 to be made a knight of the Order of the Garter and the King consented.

In 1760 George II died and his grandson ascended the throne as George III. Rockingham was allied to the Duke of Newcastle and his supporters, whilst the new King had a favourite in Lord Bute. Rockingham believed that Bute and his supporters wanted to take "the whole Administration & Government of this country into their hands" and wanted to Newcastle to resign now before he would be inevitably be disposed of. Rockingham believed that the revolution in British politics since George III's accession was harmful to the country, since it removed the Whigs from their ascendancy which had settled the constitution and secured the House of Hanover on the British throne. Rockingham wrote to Newcastle:

...without flattery to your Grace, I must look and ever shall upon you and your connections as the solid foundations on which every good which has happened to this country since the [Glorious] Revolution, have been erected. ... What a medley of government is probably soon to take place & when it does what an alarm will ensue![18]

Rockingham resigned as Lord of the Bedchamber on 3 November 1762 in protest at the King's policies and other Whigs associated with the Duke of Newcastle did the same.[19] The next month the King removed Rockingham from the office of Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding, Lord Lieutenant of the city and county of York, as custos rotulorum of the North and West Riding, as custos rotulorum of the city and county of York and as Vice Admiral of York city and county.[20]

Over the next several years, Rockingham gradually became the leader of those of Newcastle's supporters who were unwilling to reconcile themselves to the premierships of Bute and his successor, George Grenville.

Prime Minister (First Time)

The king's dislike of Grenville, as well as his general lack of parliamentary support, led to his dismissal in 1765, and, following negotiations conducted through the medium of the king's uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Rockingham was appointed Prime Minister. Rockingham recovered the honours deprived from him in 1762. Rockingham appointed his allies Henry Seymour Conway and the Duke of Grafton as secretaries of state. Also at this time, Edmund Burke, the Irish statesman and philosopher, became his private secretary and would remain a life-long friend, political ally and advisor until Rockingham's premature death in 1782.

Rockingham's administration was dominated by the American issue. Rockingham wished for repeal of the Stamp Act 1765 and won a Commons vote on the repeal resolution by 275 to 167 in 1766.[21] However Rockingham also passed the Declaratory Act, which asserted that the British Parliament had the right to legislate for the American colonies in all cases whatsoever.

However, internal dissent within the cabinet led to his resignation and the appointment of Lord Chatham as Prime Minister (the Duke of Grafton was appointed First Lord of the Treasury, one of the few cases in which those two offices were separate).

Opposition

Rockingham spent the next sixteen years in opposition. He was a keen supporter of constitutional rights for colonists, and backed the claim for American independence.

Prime Minister (Second Time)

In 1782 he was appointed Prime Minister for a second time (with Charles James Fox and Lord Shelburne as secretaries of state) and, upon taking office, acknowledged the independence of the United States, initiating an end to British involvement in the Revolutionary War. However, this term was short-lived, for Lord Rockingham died 14 weeks later.

Legacy

Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, North Carolina, and Rockingham County, Virginia in the United States are named in his honour, as is the town of Rockingham, Vermont. Additionally, the city of Rockingham, North Carolina, which is not in Rockingham County but is rather the seat of Richmond County, was named in his honour.

Rockingham's First Government, July 1765 – July 1766

Main article: First Rockingham Ministry

Changes

  • October 1765 - The Duke of Cumberland dies.
  • May 1766 - The Duke of Grafton resigns from the cabinet. Henry Seymour Conway succeeds him as Northern Secretary, and the Duke of Richmond succeeds Conway as Southern Secretary.

Rockingham's Second Government, March – July 1782

Main article: Second Rockingham Ministry

Titles

  • The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth (1730-1733)
  • Viscount Higham (1733-1746)
  • Earl of Malton (1746-1750)
  • The Rt. Hon. The Earl Malton (1750-1750)
  • The Most Hon. The Marquess of Rockingham (1750-1761)
  • The Most Hon. The Marquess of Rockingham, KG (1761-1765)
  • The Most Hon. The Marquess of Rockingham, KG, PC (1765-1782)

Notes

  1. ^ J. M. Rigg, 'Watson-Wentworth, Charles, second Marquis of Rockingham (1730–1782)', Dictionary of National Biography, 1899, has him attending St John's College, Cambridge. However, there is no mention of him in Alumni Cantabrigienses, and the DNB is not followed in this detail by the Oxford DNB.
  2. ^ Ross J. S. Hoffman, The Marquis. A Study of Lord Rockingham, 1730-1782 (New York: Fordham University Press, 1973), p. 3.
  3. ^ Hoffman, p. 3.
  4. ^ Hoffman, p. 3.
  5. ^ Hoffman, p. 3.
  6. ^ Hoffman, p. 4.
  7. ^ Hoffman, p. 4.
  8. ^ Hoffman, pp. 5-9.
  9. ^ Hoffman, p. 8.
  10. ^ Hoffman, p. 9.
  11. ^ Hoffman, p. 10.
  12. ^ Hoffman, p. 10.
  13. ^ Hoffman, p. 11.
  14. ^ Hoffman, p. 11.
  15. ^ Hoffman, p. 20.
  16. ^ Hoffman, p. 21.
  17. ^ Hoffman, p. 21.
  18. ^ Hoffman, p. 37.
  19. ^ Hoffman, pp. 43-44.
  20. ^ Hoffman, p. 45.
  21. ^ Hoffman, p. 113.

References

External links

Court offices
Preceded by
New government		 Lord of the Bedchamber
1760 – 1762		 Succeeded by
The Duke of Manchester
Political offices
Preceded by
George Grenville		 Prime Minister of Great Britain
13 July 1765 – 30 July 1766		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Chatham
Preceded by
Unknown		 Leader of the House of Lords
1765 – 1766		 Succeeded by
The Duke of Grafton
Preceded by
Lord North		 Prime Minister of Great Britain
27 March 1782 – 1 July 1782		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Shelburne
Preceded by
Unknown		 Leader of the House of Lords
1782
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Marquess of Rockingham		 Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire
1751 – 1762		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Holderness
Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire
1751 – 1763		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Huntingdon
Preceded by
Sir Conyers Darcy
as Vice-Admiral of the North Riding		 Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire
1755 – 1763		 Succeeded by
The Earl of Holderness
Preceded by
The Viscount of Irvine
as Vice-Admiral of the East Riding
Preceded by
The Earl of Huntingdon		 Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire
1765 – 1782		 Succeeded by
Earl of Surrey
Preceded by
The Earl of Holderness		 Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire
1765 – 1782		 Succeeded by
The Earl Fauconberg
Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire
1776 – 1782		 Vacant
Title next held by
The Duke of Leeds
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Thomas Watson-Wentworth		 Marquess of Rockingham
1750 – 1782		 Extinct
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Earl Malton
1750 – 1782		 Extinct
v • d • e
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
Kingdom of Great Britain

Walpole · Wilmington · Pelham · Newcastle · Devonshire · Newcastle · Bute · G Grenville · Rockingham · Chatham (Pitt the Elder) · Grafton · North · Rockingham · Shelburne · Portland · Pitt the Younger
Her Majesty's Government Coat of Arms.svg
United Kingdom



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