William Petty-Fitzmaurice, 1st marquess of Lansdowne, also called 2nd Earl of Shelburne, British statesman and prime minister (July 1782 to April 1783) during the reign of George III.
Background
William Petty-Fitzmaurice was born William Petty Fitzmaurice in Dublin, Ireland, on May 20, 1737. He was the son of John Fitzmaurice and took the additional name of Petty on succeeding to the Irish estates of his uncle who was created earl of Shelburne (1753).
Education
In 1757, after having studied at Christ Church, Oxford, he left to join the army.
Career
He attained the rank of colonel by 1760 but resigned in 1761 when he inherited the peerage on the death of his father. Shelburne entered the House of Lords in 1761 and in April 1763 became president of the Board of Trade, a post he resigned the following September. He supported the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766 and became secretary of state in Pitt's cabinet, but his quarrels with his colleagues over the treatment of the American colonies, which he believed might still be won over by conciliation, prompted him to resign in October 1768. Shelburne opposed the government on almost every important issue until he finally returned to the cabinet in 1782 as home secretary under Rockingham. He succeeded Rockingham as prime minister later that year and during his ministry helped to negotiate the peace treaty with the United States. Bitter quarrels within the Whig Party, and especially between Shelburne and Fox, caused the collapse of the ministry in February 1783. Shelburne supported the younger Pitt for a time but later attacked his antiliberal and anti-French measures and opposed the war against France in 1794. Despite the fact that Shelburne was an able man with progressive ideas in advance of his day, his radical independence and unpleasant personality made him one of the most unpopular statesmen of his time. He was created the marquis of Lansdowne in 1784. He died in London on May 7, 1805.
Achievements
Membership
He was a member of parliament. Fitzmaurice had been returned to the British House of Commons as member for Wycombe. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1803.
Interests
He was also well known as a collector of antiquities and works of art.
Connections
Lord Lansdowne was twice married: first to Sophia Petty, Countess of Shelburne, they had two children, secondly, to Louisa Petty, Marchioness of Lansdowne, they also had two children.