Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS, DCL
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 5 February 1806 – 26 March 1807
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	Hon. William Pitt the Younger
Succeeded by	Hon. Spencer Perceval
Home Secretary
In office 16 July 1827 – 22 January 1828
Monarch	George IV
Preceded by	William Sturges Bourne
Succeeded by	Robert Peel
Lord President of the Council
In office 22 November 1830 – 14 November 1834
Monarch	William IV
Prime Minister	The Earl Grey The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	The Earl Bathurst
Succeeded by	The Earl of Rosslyn
In office 23 April 1835 – 3 September 1841
Monarch	William IV Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	The Earl of Rosslyn
Succeeded by	The Lord Wharncliffe
In office 6 July 1846 – 27 February 1852
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Lord John Russell
Preceded by	The Duke of Buccleuch
Succeeded by	The Earl of Lonsdale
Personal details
Born	(1780-07-02)2 July 1780 Lansdowne House, London, England
Died	31 January 1863(1863-01-31) (aged 82) Bowood House, England
Political party	British Whig Party
Spouse(s)	Lady Louisa Fox-Strangway (1785-1851)
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh Trinity College, Cambridge

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS (2 July 1780 – 31 January 1863), known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809, was a British statesman. In a ministerial career spanning nearly half a century he notably served as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer and was three times Lord President of the Council.

Background and education

Lansdowne was the son of Prime Minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (better known as the Earl of Shelburne) by his second marriage to Lady Louisa, daughter of John FitzPatrick, 1st Earl of Upper Ossory. He was educated at Westminster School, the University of Edinburgh and at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Political career

He entered the House of Commons in 1802 as member for the family borough of Calne and quickly showed his mettle as a politician. In February 1806 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Grenville's Ministry of All the Talents, being at this time member for the University of Cambridge; but he lost both his seat and his office in 1807. In 1809 he became Marquess of Lansdowne; and in the House of Lords and in society he continued to play an active part as one of the Whig leaders. His chief interest was perhaps in the question of Roman Catholic emancipation, a cause which he consistently championed, but he sympathized also with the advocates of the abolition of the slave-trade and with the cause of popular education. Lansdowne, who had succeeded his cousin, Francis Thomas Fitzmaurice, as 4th Earl of Kerry in 1818, took office with Canning in May 1827 and was Secretary of State for the Home Department from July of that year until January 1828.

He was Lord President of the Council under Earl Grey and then under Lord Melbourne from November 1830 to August 1841, with the exception of the few months in 1835 when Sir Robert Peel was prime minister. He held the same office during the whole of Lord John Russell's ministry (1846–1852), and, having declined to become prime minister, sat in the cabinets of Lord Aberdeen and of Lord Palmerston, but without office. In 1857 he refused the offer of a dukedom, and he died on 31 January 1863. Lansdowne's social influence and political moderation made him one of the most powerful Whig statesmen of the time; he was frequently consulted by Queen Victoria on matters of moment, and his long official experience made his counsel invaluable to his party.

Other public appointments

Lansdowne chaired the inaugural meeting of the London Statistical Society, and was its first president (1834–1836). He later served a second term (1842–1844). (See The Times 15 and 17 March 1834, and John Bibby (1987) HOTS: History of Teaching Statistics.)

Family

Lord Lansdowne married Lady Louisa, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester, in 1808. She died in April 1851, aged 65. Lord Lansdowne died in January 1863, aged 82. His eldest son, the Earl of Kerry, had predeceased him and he was succeeded in the marquessate by his eldest surviving son Henry. The latter was the father of Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, who also became a distinguished statesman.

External links

In A Great Stream from a Petty-Fountain (1806), James Gillray caricatured the budget of Petty, then the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, as a stream from which his fellow Whigs fed. Petty is the fountainhead at the upper right.

• Archival material relating to Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne listed at the UK National Archives
• Obituary in Illustrated London News, 14 February 1863.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Lansdowne

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Joseph Jekyll Sir Francis Baring, Bt	Member of Parliament for Calne 1802 – 1806 With: Joseph Jekyll	Succeeded by Joseph Jekyll Osborne Markham
Preceded by William Pitt the Younger Earl of Euston	Member of Parliament for Cambridge University 1806 – 1807 With: Earl of Euston	Succeeded by Earl of Euston Sir Vicary Gibbs
Preceded by Robert Adair Viscount Maitland	Member of Parliament for Camelford 1807 – 1809 With: Robert Adair	Succeeded by Robert Adair Henry Brougham
Political offices
Preceded by William Pitt the Younger	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1806 – 1807	Succeeded by Spencer Perceval
Preceded by William Sturges-Bourne	Home Secretary 1827 – 1828	Succeeded by Sir Robert Peel, Bt
Preceded by The Earl Bathurst	Lord President of the Council 1830 – 1834	Succeeded by The Earl of Rosslyn
Preceded by The Earl of Rosslyn	Lord President of the Council 1835 – 1841	Succeeded by The Lord Wharncliffe
Preceded by The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry	Lord President of the Council 1846 – 1852	Succeeded by The Earl of Lonsdale
Preceded by The Duke of Wellington	Leader of the House of Lords 1846 – 1852	Succeeded by The Earl of Derby
Party political offices
Preceded by The Viscount Melbourne	Leader of the Whigs in the House of Lords 1842 – 1855	Succeeded by The Earl Granville
Preceded by The Viscount Melbourne	Leader of the British Whig Party 1842 – 1846 - with Lord John Russell	Succeeded by Lord John Russell
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by John Petty	Marquess of Lansdowne 1809–1863	Succeeded by Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice
	Earl Wycombe 1809–1863
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Francis Fitzmaurice	Earl of Kerry 1818–1863	Succeeded by Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice
Academic offices
Preceded by Thomas Campbell	Rector of the University of Glasgow 1829 – 1831	Succeeded by Henry Thomas Cockburn
Preceded by New Creation	President of the Royal Statistical Society 1834–1836	Succeeded by Charles Lemon
Preceded by Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby	President of the Royal Statistical Society 1842–1843	Succeeded by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Pembroke	Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire 1827 – 1863	Succeeded by The Marquess of Ailesbury