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Eighteenth Century British Prime Minister No.6

Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle
Prime Minister: 1757-1762 (Second time in office)
Political faction: Whig
Predecessor: Duke of Devonshire
[Life: 21 July, 1693 – 17 November March, 1768]

Click to read Overview of ‘PMs on the Pan‘

‘PM on the Pan’ Take Aways

• Pitt-Newcastle Ministry: On 29 June, 1757, the Duke of Newcastle was back! Back in the hot seat once again – Prime Minister (as First Lord of the Treasury, to be exact) – but he was there alongside the old strategist William Pitt the Elder. This was George II’s only chance to make a Whig government that would work with him in the way he wanted. He didn’t like either of them, but together they were the best there was. And so it proved.
• 1759 – The Year Britain Became Master of the World: That’s the name of a book by Frank McLynn in which he says the year 1759 may be the most significant date since 1066. This was the second year of the Pitt-Newcastle Ministry – just four years into the Seven Years War (a global war, really) – and McLynn says: “…the British defeated the French in arduous campaigns in India and the West Indies, in Germany and Canada, and also achieved absolute mastery of the seas. In the two greatest battles of 1759 – Quebec and Quiberon – Britain effectively beat France for global supremacy.”
• What was happening at home: During their time working together Newcastle and Pitt’s domestic activities were mostly centred around raising money for the war effort and reassuring the money markets of the certainty of outcome in their strategy. It worked.
• Round Two: Newcastle is the first of three Eighteenth century British Prime Ministers to have had a second, non-consecutive term in office
  • Duke of Newcastle: (I) 1754-1756, (II) 1757-1762
  • Marquess of Rockingham: (I) 1765-1766, (II) 1782
  • William Pitt the Younger: (I) 1783-1801, (II) 1804-1806
  • There have been 13 other PMs to have had non-consecutive terms in office, incl. WE Gladstone, who had 4 separate, non-consecutive terms in office!
• How did it end? Pitt leaves the coalition first, but then George II and Newcastle fall out over their alliance with Prussia. Newcastle resigns.

Check out my PMs on the Pan series of posts
1. First PM Sir Robert Walpole
2. Second PM Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington
3. Third PM Henry Pelham
4. Fourth PM Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
5. Fifth PM William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire
6. Sixth PM Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
7. Seventh PM John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
8. Eighth PM George Grenville
9. Ninth PM Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
10. Tenth PM William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham
11. Eleventh PM Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
12. Twelfth PM Lord North
13. Thirteenth PM Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
14. Fourteenth PM Earl of Shelburne
15. Fifteenth PM Duke of Portland
16. Sixteenth PM William Pitt the Younger

Notes
The Prime Ministers, Iain Dale (2020) (article by Jeremy Black)
Newcastle episode of Iain Dale’s Presidents, Prime Ministers, Monarchs and Dictators podcast
1759 – The Year Britain Became Master of the World:, Frank McLynn (2004)