Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville

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Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (born April 28, 1742 in Dalkeith ( Midlothian ), † May 28, 1811 in Edinburgh ) was a Scottish statesman and lawyer.

Henry Dundas was a British lawyer and politician of Scottish descent with a longstanding influence on British, especially Scottish, history, so that he was sometimes referred to as the "uncrowned King" of Scotland or "Henry IX."

Life

Dundas was the fourth son of Robert Dundas, 3rd Lord Aniston, and was well educated and educated at the Royal High School and the University of Edinburgh .

After initially being very influential as a lawyer and crown attorney in Edinburgh, he aspired to a political career. In 1774 he was elected to the House of Commons for Midlothian and later for Edinburgh . He soon came to influence and held offices, so he was from 1775 "Lord Advocate" of Scotland (the highest legal office in Scotland), from 1782 Treasurer of the Royal Navy , which would later bring him into great trouble.

He acquired the personal friendship of William Pitt the Younger , who in 1791 took him to his cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. 1794 to the resignation of Pitt in 1801 he was " War Secretary ", that war minister , a post which was occupied with him for the first time. In 1802 he was given a peer rating for his services and was appointed Viscount Melville and Baron Dunira .

From 1804 he carried out a series of reforms as First Lord of the Admiralty in the second Pitt administration . During his period of service, the decisive victory against Napoleonic France in the naval battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, was decisive for the continued existence of British naval superiority .

After he was suspected of wasting public money after his tenure as Treasurer of the Navy, a commission of inquiry was set up in 1802, which presented its report in 1805. His political opponents, led by Samuel Whitbread , strained then in 1806 in the House of Lords an impeachment procedure against him. Although the trial ended with his rehabilitation, he no longer held any public office. William Pitt's death in 1806 certainly contributed to this.

In 1783 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

In 1809 he refused to be named Earl and died on May 28, 1811 while visiting Edinburgh.

Henry Dundas was married twice; from his first marriage he had three daughters and one son. His son Robert Dundas , later the 2nd Viscount Melville, who had long worked for him as secretary, followed in his footsteps and became First Lord of the Admiralty for a long time himself.

Dundas Island on the Canadian Pacific coast and Lake Melville in Labrador are named after him.

literature

Web links

Commons : Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed October 23, 2019 .
predecessor Office successor
New title created Viscount Melville
1802-1811 		Robert Dundas
John Jervis First Lord of the Admiralty
1804–1805 		Charles Middleton
personal data
SURNAME Dundas, Henry, 1st Viscount Melville
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Melville, Henry Dundas 1st Viscount
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish statesman and lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1742
PLACE OF BIRTH Dalkeith
DATE OF DEATH May 28, 1811
Place of death Edinburgh