Henry Fox was a prominent English politician during the late
18th century, although he never became Prime Minister (or First Lord
of the Treasury, to give the function its proper title at the time).
Born in 1705, he was educated at Eton and Oxford. He
followed a typical course for wealthy young men of that age, gambling heavily,
taking the grand tour to Europe, and entering Parliament in 1735. He was a
supporter of the Whig administration led by Sir Robert Walpole and was rewarded
with the appointment of Surveyor-General, followed by that of a Lord of the
Treasury in 1743. He was appointed Secretary of War by Henry Pelham in 1746,
although the role did not really match his abilities.
On the personal side, in 1744 he married Lady Catherine
Lennox after an elopement. The marriage was something of a scandal at the time,
but it brought Henry Fox considerable happiness, aided by the considerable
fortune that he had inherited. Their son, Charles James, would eventually
become an even more celebrated politician than his father.
After the death of Henry Pelham in 1754, Fox sided temporarily
with his rival and opposite, William Pitt. Pelham’s brother, the Duke of
Newcastle, became Prime Minister in his place, but needed a strong counterpart
in the House of Commons. This role was offered to Henry Fox, who also became
Secretary of State in 1755, but foreign policy was not to his taste and he
resigned the post only a year later.
When Pitt took over the leadership role in the Commons in
1757, Fox was happy to become Paymaster, especially as this office was one from
which it was possible for a minister to enrich himself in no uncertain manner.
Fox held this post for eight years, which increased his fortune at the expense
of his personal reputation, and he became widely detested for his cynical
conduct.
He did manage one notable achievement in Parliament, which
was to ease the passage of the 1763 Peace of Paris that ended the Seven Years
War, after which he was elevated to the peerage as Lord Holland. He held no
more political offices after 1765, although he did exercise some influence over
the political conduct of King George III, who had inherited the throne in 1760
at the age of 22.
Henry Fox was a man of real ability but limited ambition. An
interesting footnote to his life was the fact that shortly before his death in
1774 he was forced to settle his son’s gambling debts, which amounted to the
almost unbelievable sum of £140,000.
No comments:
Post a Comment