Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (born May 30, 1757 in Holborn , London , † February 15, 1844 in Richmond upon Thames , Surrey ) was a British statesman and Prime Minister from 1801 to 1804 . He was one of the Tories .

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth

Life

Henry Addington was a son of Anthony Addington, physician William Pitt the Elder . Because of his father's position, Addington was a childhood friend of William Pitt the Younger . Addington studied at Winchester College and Brasenose College , Oxford, and then studied law at Lincoln's Inn . In 1784 he was elected to the House of Commons and in 1789 its spokesman. When Pitt had to resign in March 1801 because of the emancipation of the Catholics , Addington was selected as his successor.

Caricature from 1804. Pitt steps out of Britannia's sickroom for Addington

Addington's government is most notable for the negotiations on the Treaty of Amiens of 1802, which resulted in an unfavorable peace treaty with France. The peace did not last long, and Addington's poor warfare resulted in Pitt's return to office a year later. However, Addington remained an important political figure. He was promoted to Viscount Sidmouth and joined Pitt's cabinet as Lord President of the Council . He later held the office of Lord Privy Seal and again that of Lord President in the " Government of All Talents " .

When Pitt's supporters came back to power in 1807, Addington went back into the opposition. In March 1812, however, he rejoined the government in the influential position as Lord President of the Council. In June he became Minister of the Interior. In this role he brutally suppressed the opposition; he was responsible for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in 1817 and for the enactment of the repressive "Six Laws" in 1819. In 1822 he resigned from the office of Minister of the Interior. His successor was the much more competent Robert Peel . However, Addington remained a cabinet minister for the next two years without portfolio, fighting unsuccessfully against recognition of the South American republics. He continued to serve in the House of Lords even after he left government . He gave his last speech here in 1829 against the emancipation of Catholics. Addington had lived at White Lodge in Richmond Park since 1801 , where he died in 1844.

literature

• Sidmouth, Henry Addington, 1st Viscount . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 25 : Shuválov - Subliminal Self . London 1911, p. 40 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Viscount Sidmouth 1805-1844	William Addington