Andrew C. Thompson is an Official Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Queens' College, Cambridge, and a co-editor of History & Policy's No. 10 guest historians' series on the GOV.UK website. He is interested in politics, international relations, and religion in Britain and Europe in the long eighteenth century. His most recent book is George II: King and Elector (Yale University Press, 2011).
...the death of his father in 1741 and his paternal uncle in 1747 made him heir to his grandfather, the second Duke, Lord Chamberlain to George II. His grandfather was...
William Pitt the Elder, first Earl of Chatham, was an important war leader who found it harder to govern in peace time. Born in November 1708, Pitt’s grandfather and father were both MPs and his grandfather, Thomas, had been governor …
Charles Watson-Wentworth, second Marquess of Rockingham, emerged as one of the leading opposition figures during George III’s reign but also managed to head two short administrations himself. Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd...
...being Treasurer of the Navy. New reign, new opportunities Grenville had grown close to the future king, George III, during the 1750s and George’s accession, combined with his frustrations with...
...George was a close one – he was a father-like figure for the young prince. Following George II’s death in October 1760, the new King promoted Bute quickly. He became...
...reached between Newcastle, Pitt and George II. By April 1757, George had grown tired of waiting for Newcastle to come back into the fold. He sacked Pitt, provoking a protracted...
...the Whig cause and the Hanoverian succession was rewarded by George I with a series of noble titles, including the Dukedom of Newcastle, previously held by his uncle. During the...
...1746. When George II was unable to form an alternative administration without them, the Old Corps were returned to power and Carteret’s influence diminished. Pelham, along with Newcastle and Philip...
...when a dispute with Lord Cornwallis, patron of the Eye seat, prevented him from standing there again. Following the Hanoverian succession that brought George I to the British throne in...
“My Lord Bath, you and I are now as insignificant men as any in England.” Today often viewed as the first British Prime Minister, Walpole was described by contemporary opponents as the ‘Screen-Master General’, adept at pulling all the political …