WALDEGRAVE, JAMES, 2nD EARL WALDEGRAVE, eldest son of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave PC KG, Ambassador at Paris, and Mary, second dau. of Sir John Webb, Bart., Hatherop, Gloucs.; b. 14 Mar 1714/5; adm. Feb 1723/4; left 1725; went to Eton Coll.; styled Viscount Chewton 1729-41; succ. father as 2nd Earl Waldegrave 11 Apr 1741; a Lord of the Bedchamber 13 Dec 1743 – 18 Dec 1752; an intimate friend and adviser of George II; Lord Warden of the Stannaries 16 Apr 1751-6; Governor and Keeper of the Privy Purse to George, Prince of Wales, and to Prince Edward 18 Dec 1752 – Oct 1756; Privy Councillor 20 Dec 1752; a Teller of the Exchequer from 5 Feb 1757; employed by George II as an intermediary with his Ministers, and was finally compelled by him to accept the office of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, but his tenure was only for five days, 8-12 Jun 1757; LLD Cambridge 3 Jul 1749; FRS 14 Dec 1749; KG 30 Jun 1757 (invested); his Memoirs were published in 1821; m. 15 May 1759 Maria (subsequently wife of HRH William Henry, Duke of Gloucester), natural dau. of Hon. Sir Edward Walpole KB; d. 28 Apr 1763. DNB.
RUSSELL, JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL, third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (qv), and his first wife; b. 18 Aug 1792; adm. 23 Sep 1803 (G); fag to his brother Lord Tavistock; kept a diary while at the School, including a list of the School for Oct 1803; left Bartholomewtide 1804; Edinburgh Univ. 1809-12; MP Tavistock 4 May 1813 – Mar 1817, 1818-20, Huntingdonshire 1820-6, Bandon Bridge 19 Dec 1826-30, Tavistock 24 Nov 1830-1, Devon 1831-2, South Devon 1832 – Apr 1835, Stroud 29 May 1835-41, City of London 1841- 30 Jul 1861; made his first speech in favour of parliamentary reform 14 Dec 1819; successfully moved repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 26 Feb 1828; Privy Councillor 22 Nov 1830; Paymaster-Gen. of the Forces 13 Dec 1830 – Nov 1834, also member of Cabinet Jun 1831 – Nov 1834; moved first reading of Reform Bill 31 Mar 1831; introduced Reform Bill for second time 24 Jun 1831, and for third time 12 Dec 1831; advocated reform of the Irish Church 1833-4; leader of Whigs in House of Commons Apr 1835 onwards; Secretary of State for Home Affairs 18 Apr 1835 – Aug 1839; carried through the Municipal Corporations Bill, and diminished the number of offences liable to capital punishment; Secretary for War and the Colonies 30 Aug 1839 – Aug 1841; declared for total repeal of the Corn Laws in his Edinburgh Letter of 22 Nov 1845, and supported their repeal by Peel in 1846; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Jul 1846 – Feb 1852; carried the bill for removing Jewish disabilities through the House of Commons 1848, and responsible for the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill of 1851; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Aberdeen ministry Dec 1852 – Feb 1853, when he resigned but remained in Cabinet without office and continued to lead the House of Commons; Lord President of the Council 12 Jun 1854 – Jan 1855, resigning because of his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Crimean War; Plenipotentiary to Vienna Congress 11 Feb 1855; Secretary of State for the Colonies 1 May – 13 Jul 1855; opposed Disraeli’s Reform Bill of 1859; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 18 Jun 1859 – Nov 1865; the Reform Bill introduced by him on 1 Mar 1860 was subsequently dropped; created Earl Russell 30 Jul 1861; KG 21 May 1862; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Nov 1865 – 18 Jun 1866, resigning on defeat of his Government’s Reform Bill by the ‘Adullamites”; declined Cabinet office in Gladstone’s administration formed in Dec 1868; received freedom City of London 9 Jul 1831; LLD Edinburgh Univ. 8 Nov 1845; FRS 6 May 1847; Lord Rector, Aberdeen Univ., from 1863; GCMG 25 Mar 1869; Busby Trustee 2 Jun 1863; a sincere and able Whig with the courage of his opinions, and a store of constitutional and historical knowledge; although no orator, a skilful debater and creator of telling phrases; edited Letters of the Fourth Duke of Bedford, 1842-6; author, Essay on the English Constitution, and other works; m. 1st, 11 Apr 1835 Adelaide, widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale (qv), and half-sister of Thomas Henry Lister (qv); m. 2nd, 20 Jul 1841 Lady Frances Anna Maria Elliot, second dau. of Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto; d. 28 May 1878. DNB.
PELHAM-HOLLES, THOMAS, 1ST DUKE OF NEWCASTLE (cr. 1715 and 1756), elder son of Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham, and his second wife Lady Grace Holles, youngest dau. of Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare, and sister of John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle; b. 21 Jul 1693; at school under Knipe (Steward, Anniversary Dinner 1728/9, 1756); Clare Hall, Cambridge, adm.nob. 9 Mar 1709/10; LLD 25 Apr 1728; succeeded to estates of his uncle, John, Duke of Newcastle, in Jul 1711, and assumed additional surname of Holles; succ. father as 2nd Baron Pelham 23 Feb 1711/2; created Earl of Clare 19 Oct 1714; Lord Lieut., Middlesex 28 Oct 1714 – 2 Feb 1763, and of Nottinghamshire 28 Oct 1714 – 15 Jan 1763 and from 12 Sep 1765; with his brother Henry Pelham (qv) raised a troop for service against the Pretender in 1715; created Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 11 Aug 1715; Lord Chamberlain of the Household 4 Apr 1717 – May 1724; Privy Councillor 16 Apr 1717; KG 30 Apr 1718; Secretary of State for the Southern Dept. 2 Apr 1724 – Feb 1747/8; joint Secretary of State for Scotland 25 Aug 1725 – 15 May 1730; managed the negotiations which led to the formation of Lord Wilmington’s administration on Walpole’s downfall, while retaining his own post; opposed policy of Carteret and succeeded in obtaining his dismissal from the cabinet; forced George II to accept Pitt as a minister 1746; Secretary of State for the Northern Dept. Feb 1747/8 – Mar 1754; First Lord of the Treasury 6 Mar 1754 – 11 Nov 1756; created Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme 13 Nov 1756 (with special remainder to Earl of Lincoln); formed a coalition with Pitt and was again First Lord of the Treasury Jun 1757 – 26 May 1762; Lord Lieut., Sussex 4 Jul 1761 – 15 Jan 1763; created Baron Pelham of Stanmer 4 May 1762 (with special remainder to Thomas Pelham, afterwards 1st Earl of Chichester (qv)); on his leaving office in May 1762 he and his principal political followers were deprived of their remaining official positions; Lord Privy Seal 25 Aug 1765 – Jul 1766; High Steward, Cambridge University Jul 1737 – Dec 1748, Chancellor from 14 Dec 1748; FRS 26 Dec 1749; Busby Trustee 30 Mar 1732; gave £100 towards building of New Dormitory; m. 2 Apr 1717 Lady Henrietta Godolphin, eldest dau. of Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin; d. 17 Nov 1768. DNB.
CAVENDISH-BENTINCK, WILLIAM HENRY, 3RD DUKE OF PORTLAND, elder son of William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, and Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, only dau. of Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (qv); b. 14 Apr 1738; styled Marquis of Titchfield to 1762; adm. May 1747 (Watts'); left Dec 1754; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 4 Mar 1755; MA 1 Feb 1757; DCL 7 Oct 1792; LLD Tinity Coll. Dublin 18 May 1782; assumed additional surname of Cavendish 1755; MP Weobley 1761 - 1 May 1762; succ. father as 3rd Duke of Portland 1 May 1762; Lord Chamberlain 15 Jul 1765 - 26 Nov 1766; Privy Councillor 10 Jul 1765; Lord Lieut., Ireland, 10 Apr - 15 Sep 1782; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 21 Apr - 19 Dec 1783; although previously a committed Whig politician, he became alarmed by the French Revolution and joined William Pitt’s government in 1794; Secretary of State for Home Affairs, 11 Jul 1794 - 30 Jul 1801, Lord President of the Council 30 Jul 1801 - 14 Jan 1805; KG 16 Jul 1801; Prime Ministry and First Lord of the Treasury 31 Mar 1807 - 28 Sep 1809, when he resigned through ill-health; Chancellor of Oxford University from 27 Sep 1792; Lord Lieut., Nottinghamshire, from 19 Jun 1795; FRS 5 Jun 1766; a Busby Trustee from 14 Mar 1765; m. 8 Nov 1766 Lady Dorothy Cavendish, only dau. of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire PC KG; d. 30 Oct 1809. DNB.