Frederick North Facts & Worksheets

• North’s mother died when he was only two years old. His father then married Elizabeth Kaye, but she also died when Frederick was 13. One of his stepbrothers, William Legge, later became the 2nd Earl of Dartmouth and remained a close friend throughout North’s life. The family was not very wealthy at first, but things improved in 1735 when his father inherited more property.
• North attended Eton College from 1742 to 1748, where he studied classical subjects. After Eton, he continued at Trinity College, Oxford, and in 1750 he earned his Master of Arts degree. After completing his studies, he went on the Grand Tour, a long educational trip around Europe. His journey included the following places:
  • Leipzig — Spent about nine months studying with Johann Jacob Mascov
  • Austria — Travelled through major cultural centres
  • Italy — Continued his tour further south
  • Rome — Lived there from December 1752 to Easter 1753
  • Switzerland — Passed through on his way north
  • Paris — Final stop before returning home
  • Early 1754 — Returned to England with more knowledge of Europe and politics
• On 20 May 1756, North married Anne Speke, daughter of George Speke MP of Whitelackington in Somerset. Anne was the sole heiress of the Devonshire estates of the Drake family of Ash, which North later sold off in pieces. The marriage brought him both social connections and substantial property, though much of the estate was liquidated under his ownership.
• The couple had seven children:
  • George Augustus North (1757–1802)
  • Catherine Anne North (1760–1817)
  • Francis North (1761–1817)
  • Lady Anne North (1764–1832)
  • Frederick North (1766–1827)
  • Lady Charlotte North (1770–1849)
  • Dudley North (1777–1779)

EARLY POLITICAL CAREER

• North entered politics at a young age. On 15 April 1754, when he was just 22, he was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament for Banbury. He would continue to serve as an MP for more than thirty years, until 1790. Although he first viewed himself as a Whig, he did not attach himself to any strong Whig groups. Many of his colleagues soon noticed that his ideas and loyalties seemed far more Tory in nature.
• In 1759, North was brought into government as a junior Lord of the Treasury during the Pitt–Newcastle ministry. That same year, he also became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st Somerset Militia, serving in the West Country. However, by November 1761, he gave up his militia post so that he could focus fully on government and political life.
• North first made a strong impact in national debate in November 1763, when he spoke for the government in the case of John Wilkes, a radical MP who had made offensive remarks about the king and the prime minister in his newspaper The North Briton. North’s motion to expel Wilkes from the House of Commons was passed by a large majority. Wilkes was not present to face the result, as he had already escaped to France after a duel.
• When the Whig government under Lord Rockingham took power in 1765, North chose to leave his post and spend some time on the backbenches. He even rejected an offer to return to office because he did not want to be tied to the powerful Whig noble families leading the ministry. He re-entered office in 1766, once William Pitt the Elder returned to form a new government. He was appointed Joint Paymaster of the Forces and became a Privy Counsellor. With Pitt often unwell, the government was effectively led by the Duke of Grafton, with North acting as one of its most important ministers.
• North’s influence grew further in December 1767, when he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, the minister in charge of the country’s finances. Shortly afterwards, with the resignation of Henry Seymour Conway, he also became Leader of the House of Commons. He continued in both of these roles when Grafton replaced Pitt as prime minister in October 1768.

PREMIERSHIP OF FREDERICK NORTH

• North became prime minister on 28 January 1770, after the Duke of Grafton resigned. His government was mainly made up of Tories, although many of them had once been Whigs. He could not fully choose his own ministers and had to keep some from the previous government, even if they disagreed with him.
• Early in his premiership, North gained popularity from the Falklands Crisis of 1770. Spain had seized a British base in the Falkland Islands. Britain prepared its navy for war, and Spain backed down after failing to gain firm support from France.