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George Canning

The Rt Hon. George Canning
Image:canning.jpg
Period in Office: April - August, 1827
PM Predecessor: The Earl of Liverpool
PM Successor: The Viscount Goderich
Date of Birth: 11 April 1770
Place of Birth: London
Political Party: Tory


George Canning (11 April 1770-8 August 1827) was a politician and, briefly, British Prime Minister.

He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, at the expense of his banker uncle, Canning's own father having died when he was a baby. He became an MP in 1794, and was a supporter of William Pitt the Younger. In 1807 he was appointed foreign secretary in the Duke of Portland's government, at a time which was crucial to the country's fortunes because of the ongoing Napoleonic Wars. He was known as an abolitionist, a supporter of Catholic emancipation, and a great public speaker. In 1809, Canning got into a duel with the Colonial Secretary, Lord Castlereagh, and both were forced to leave the Cabinet. Although he was offered his old position of Foreign Secretary in 1812, he demanded to also be Leader of the Commons, which was refused him.

In 1816 Canning finally returned to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Control, but in 1820 Canning resigned from government again in support of Queen Caroline, with whom he had almost certainly had a short affair some years before. However, his fortunes turned once more and he returned to office as foreign secretary following Castlereagh's suicide, and he succeeded Lord Liverpool as prime minister in 1827, to the disgust of the more conservative Tories, led by the Duke of Wellington, who refused to join his cabinet, which thus had to include various Whigs. Canning's success was short-lived; he himself died a few months later. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

George Canning's Government, April - September 1827

Changes


Preceded by:
Dudley Ryder and
Thomas Steele
Paymaster of the Forces
1800–1801, jointly with Thomas Steele
Followed by:
Thomas Steele and
The Lord Glenbervie
Preceded by:
Viscount Howick
Foreign Secretary
1807–1809
Followed by:
The Earl Bathurst
Preceded by:
The Earl of Buckinghamshire
President of the Board of Control
1816–1821
Followed by:
Charles Bathurst
Preceded by:
The Marquess of Londonderry
Leader of the House of Commons
1822–1827
Followed by:
William Huskisson
Foreign Secretary
1822–1827
Followed by:
The Viscount Dudley and Ward
Preceded by:
Frederick John Robinson
Chancellor of the Exchequer
1827
Followed by:
John Charles Herries
Preceded by:
The Earl of Liverpool
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1827
Followed by:
The Viscount Goderich




Last updated: 11-07-2004 17:27:37