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1781 21-year-old William Pitt the Younger was elected for as MP for Appleby. He had previously tried for while still underage but came bottom of the poll.
Three years later he was
https://t.co/uQuwdfEGeU

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2020-01-08

1705 Bishop Nicolson recorded being overtaken in Fleet Street by the 'duke of Marlborough & his splendid attendance of 70 officers in about 40 coaches going to dine with the lord mayor & aldermen' for an day feast
'The Huzzars were not very great'

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2020-01-06

1755 John Spencer (later Earl Spencer) married Margaret Georgiana Poyntz.
Their 1st child, Georgiana, would go on to become one of the most important political characters of the period as duchess of Devonshire
https://t.co/cZ5wIWtH1V

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2019-12-20

North had every reason to resent the success of the younger Pitt. In summer 1781 H Walpole had noted:
"The young William Pitt has again displayed paternal oratory. The other day... he answered Lord North & tore him limb from limb"

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2019-12-19

1783 Pitt the Younger became North's first opposition speech was clearly bitter:
"we carried on our advances regularly & above ground... not by mining in the dark & blowing up the fort before the garrison knew there was an intention to attack it"

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2019-12-19

1783 time was running out for the Fox North coalition. Viscount Maitland argued in the Commons against royal influence asking: ‘whether this country was henceforth to be governed by a public & responsible administration, or by a secret cabal’

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2019-12-17

Died 1748 Charles Seymour "Proud" duke of
Both he & his duchess were major figures at the court of Queen Anne
https://t.co/mubCTscfP4

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2019-12-02

"the shining light or rather the blazing star of this country" - Richard Grosvenor (later Earl Grosvenor) on William Pitt the Elder 1758 when seconding the Address in in support of the Pitt-Newcastle "the glory of this country"

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2019-11-23

1717 William Shippen was sent to for dubbing the King’s speech at the opening of
‘rather calculated for the meridian of Germany than that of Gt Britain’ & George ‘a stranger to our language & constitution’
https://t.co/37vIAKlH3D

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2019-11-21

Died 1723 "drowned in drink" Lord Carr Hervey, older brother of 'Lord Hervey' & MP for Bury St Edmunds
https://t.co/bL9vkaF4o9

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2019-11-14

"when the does meet, I doubt, nay hope, it will make less sensation than usual"
Horace Walpole to the earl of Strafford, 1783

3 9
2019-11-02

Making the final touches to entry on Bishop Trelawny & struck by MG Smith's conclusion in 'Fighting Joshua':
"Like the his [Trelawny's] theology was uncomplicated, unadaptable & very vulnerable"

3 8
2019-10-22

Before elevation to the Lords Devonshire (who died 1764) had a 10-year career in the Commons, where he was a vigorous supporter of Walpole. He campaigned to keep Sir Robert in power decrying the ‘parcel of such shabby fellows who will not attend’ to help the cause

3 1
2019-10-03

A new reporting period & a new list of Georgian Lords to start drafting.
First out of the gate is Charles Fitzroy, duke of Southampton & Cleveland, son of Charles II & Barbara Villiers.
Even his mother thought him 'a very kockish idle boy'

1 8
2019-10-01

The end of another reporting period, so totting up the new articles produced for the Georgian Lords: they include 'the Bug' duke of Kent; Viscount Cobham, creator of Stowe; Sir William Dawes, archbishop of York & the last of his line: Meinhard 3rd, duke of Schomberg

3 8
2019-09-30

In honour of the anniversary of the death of Charles James Fox, 1806, another chance to read 's blog on the 1788 election:
https://t.co/q6EYOJBT8k

7 6
2019-09-13

With talk of a current (in spite of the last 2 votes in another opportunity to read one of our earlier blogs on 'how to get elected' in the
https://t.co/yvVlLxWmM4

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2019-09-12

Born 1676 Robert Walpole, ?first of Great Britain. Over the years he acquired various epithets among them 'Leviathan' & 'Colossus'. On his fall from power he was made earl of Orford
https://t.co/pqoeFVVVJ0

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2019-08-26

Gillray, who was born 1756, caricatured the great & the good as well as depicting social scenes & more surreal subjects. He is particularly valuable for students of for his depictions of MPs mid-flow in the old House of Commons
https://t.co/ujT9ygCEKc

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2019-08-13

Kneller very helpfully painted the latest character on the anvil: William Talbot, who was successively bishop of and Notoriously ambitious, Talbot made the most of his final appointment as a 'Prince Bishop' having missed out on

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2019-08-08