Nineteenth Century Premiers

Introduction William Pitt, the Younger – Reformer turned Reactionary? Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth – better than his reputation? William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville – not quite 'All the Talents' William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland – Whig into Tory Spencer Perceval – struck down in his prime Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool – keeping the show on the road George Canning – in the footsteps of Pitt Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich, 1st Earl of Ripon – inadequate stopgap Arthur Wesley (Wellesley), 1st Duke of Wellington – military hero, political misfit? Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey – In the footsteps of Fox William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne – mentor to a young monarch Sir Robert Peel – arch pragmatist or Tory traitor? Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell – from Whig to Liberal Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby – 'The brilliant chief, irregularly great' George Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen - failure or scapegoat? Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston – master diplomat or playground bully? Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield – climbing 'the greasy pole' William Ewart Gladstone – from 'stern unbending Tory' to 'the people's William' Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury – the ultimate High Tory Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery – dying fall?