Spencer Perceval, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Spencer Perceval

assassinated Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Date of Birth: 01-Nov-1762

Place of Birth: Mayfair, England, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 11-May-1812

Profession: lawyer, politician

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio


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About Spencer Perceval

  • Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812.
  • Perceval is the only British prime minister to have been murdered.
  • He was also the only Solicitor General or Attorney General to become Prime Minister. The younger son of an Anglo-Irish earl, Perceval was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
  • He studied Law at Lincoln's Inn, practised as a barrister on the Midland circuit, and in 1796 became a King's Counsel.
  • He entered politics at age 33 as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton.
  • A follower of William Pitt the Younger, Perceval always described himself as a "friend of Mr Pitt", rather than a Tory.
  • Perceval was opposed to Catholic emancipation and reform of Parliament; he supported the war against Napoleon and the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.
  • He was opposed to hunting, gambling and adultery; did not drink as much as most MPs at the time, gave generously to charity, and enjoyed spending time with his thirteen children. After a late entry into politics, his rise to power was rapid; he was appointed as Solicitor General and Attorney General, respectively, in the Addington ministry; Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons in the Portland ministry; and became Prime Minister in 1809.
  • At the head of a weak ministry, Perceval faced a number of crises during his term in office, including an inquiry into the Walcheren expedition, the madness of King George III, economic depression, and Luddite riots.
  • He overcame these crises, successfully pursued the Peninsular War in the face of opposition defeatism, and won the support of the Prince Regent.
  • His position was looking stronger by early 1812, when, in the lobby of the House of Commons, he was assassinated by a merchant with a grievance against his government. Although Perceval was a seventh son and had four older brothers who survived to adulthood, the Earldom of Egmont reverted to one of his great-grandsons in the early–twentieth century.
  • It remained in the hands of his descendants until its extinction in 2011.

Read more at Wikipedia

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