Category: George Grenville

History of Parliament Trust, 18th Century history, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Factions, George Grenville, George II, George III, Georgian, Georgian Lords, Parliamentary Life, Social history

From Jockeys to Ministers: How Horse Racing Shaped Rockingham’s First Ministry

In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, we welcome Ioannes Chountis de Fabbri from the University of Aberdeen, who considers the importance of horse racing in the formation of the Rockingham administration of 1765. The structure of mid-eighteenth-century politics was often defined as much by social custom as by constitutional form. What Leslie Mitchell has called the ‘circle of acquaintances’ of the ruling, largely … Continue reading From Jockeys to Ministers: How Horse Racing Shaped Rockingham’s First Ministry

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Georgian, 18th Century history, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Diplomacy and International Relations, Frederick North, 2nd earl of Guilford, George Grenville, Georgian Lords, Military history, William Pitt the Elder

Background to the American Revolution

As part of a new infrequent series on the American Revolution and its connection to Parliament, Dr Robin Eagles explores the immediate background to the Revolution, and early Parliamentary debates surrounding it in February 1775. At the beginning of 1775, pretty much every British politician agreed that something needed to be done about America, with many eager to find a way to reconcile both parties … Continue reading Background to the American Revolution

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Georgian Lords, 18th Century history, Economic history, George Grenville, Georgian, Social history, William Pitt the Elder

‘Very grievous and unconstitutional’? The repeal of the (American) Stamp Act (1766)

250 years ago this month Parliament was debating the fate of the Stamp Act – the law which proved dangerously unpopular in Britain’s American colonies. In the first of two blogs on the issue, Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow in the House of Lords 1660-1832 section, discusses the Act’s history and the debates over its repeal… January 1766 ought in many ways to have … Continue reading ‘Very grievous and unconstitutional’? The repeal of the (American) Stamp Act (1766)

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Georgian, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, Frederick North, 2nd earl of Guilford, George Grenville, Robert Walpole, William Pitt the Younger

‘The Story of Parliament’: The office of Prime Minister in the 18th Century

Earlier this year the History published ‘The Story of Parliament: Celebrating 750 years of parliament in Britain’ to mark the anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s parliament in 1265. The book is a brief introduction to the full 750 years of parliamentary history, aimed at the general reader, and available to purchase from the Houses of Parliament bookshop. On this blog we are publishing some tasters … Continue reading ‘The Story of Parliament’: The office of Prime Minister in the 18th Century

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