Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (2 July 1780 – 31 January 1863), known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809, was a British statesman. In a ministerial career spanning nearly half a century, he notably served as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer and was three times Lord President of the Council.

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Lansdowne KG PC FRS
Portrait by Henry Walton, c. 1805
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 6 July 1846 – 27 February 1852
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Lord John Russell
Preceded by	The Duke of Wellington
Succeeded by	The Earl of Derby
Lord President of the Council
In office 6 July 1846 – 27 February 1852
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Lord John Russell
Preceded by	The Duke of Buccleuch
Succeeded by	The Earl of Lonsdale
In office 23 April 1835 – 3 September 1841
Monarchs	William IV Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	The Earl of Rosslyn
Succeeded by	The Lord Wharncliffe
In office 22 November 1830 – 14 November 1834
Monarch	William IV
Prime Minister	The Earl Grey The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	The Earl Bathurst
Succeeded by	The Earl of Rosslyn
Secretary of State for the Home Department
In office 16 July 1827 – 22 January 1828
Monarch	George IV
Prime Minister	The Viscount Goderich
Preceded by	William Sturges Bourne
Succeeded by	Robert Peel
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 5 February 1806 – 26 March 1807
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Lord Grenville
Preceded by	William Pitt the Younger
Succeeded by	Spencer Perceval
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 16 November 1809 – 31 January 1863 Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by	The 2nd Marquess of Lansdowne
Succeeded by	The 4th Marquess of Lansdowne
Member of Parliament for Cambridge University
In office 15 December 1806 – 27 April 1807
Preceded by	William Pitt the Younger
Succeeded by	Vicary Gibbs
Member of Parliament for Calne
In office 31 August 1802 – 24 October 1806
Preceded by	Sir Francis Baring, Bt
Succeeded by	Osborne Markham
Personal details
Born	(1780-07-02)2 July 1780 Lansdowne House, Mayfair, Middlesex, England
Died	31 January 1863(1863-01-31) (aged 82) Bowood House, Derry Hill, Wiltshire, England
Political party	Whig
Spouse(s)	Lady Louisa Fox-Strangways (1785–1851)
Children	William Louisa Henry
Parents	William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne Lady Louisa FitzPatrick
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh Trinity College, Cambridge

Background and education

Lansdowne was the son of Prime Minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (better known as the Earl of Shelburne), by his second marriage to Lady Louisa, daughter of John FitzPatrick, 1st Earl of Upper Ossory. He was educated at Westminster School, the University of Edinburgh, and Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1][2]

Political career

He entered the House of Commons in 1802 as member for the family borough of Calne and quickly showed his mettle as a politician. In February 1806 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Grenville's Ministry of All the Talents, being at this time member for the University of Cambridge, but he lost both his seat and his office in 1807.

In 1809 he became the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, succeeding his politically disaffected elder half-brother, John Petty, in the title. The 2nd Marquess, had been obliged to leave Ireland, where the family had estates, after intelligence reports had implicated him in the United-Irish conspiracy of Robert Emmet.^[3] On the death of their father, the 1st Marquess had married his mistress by whom he had had no children.^[4]

In the House of Lords and in society the third marquess continued to play an active part as one of the Whig leaders. His chief interest was perhaps in the question of Roman Catholic emancipation, a cause which he consistently championed, but he sympathised also with the advocates of the abolition of the slave trade and with the cause of popular education. Lansdowne, who had succeeded his cousin, Francis Thomas Fitzmaurice, as 4th Earl of Kerry in 1818, took office with George Canning in May 1827 and was Secretary of State for the Home Department from July of that year until January 1828.^[1]

He was Lord President of the Council under Earl Grey and then under Lord Melbourne from November 1830 to August 1841, with the exception of the few months in 1835 when Sir Robert Peel was prime minister. He held the same office during the whole of Lord John Russell's ministry (1846–1852), and, having declined to become prime minister, sat in the cabinets of Lord Aberdeen and of Lord Palmerston, but without office. In 1857 he refused the offer of a dukedom.^[1] Punch (October 1857 p.144) approved of his refusal, writing: “Lord Lansdowne won’t be Duke of Kerry. Lord Lansdowne is a wise man, very. Punch drinks his health in port and sherry”.^[5]

In his later years Lansdowne was known as "the Nestor of the Whigs" (after the wise old king of Greek mythology).^[6] His social influence and political moderation made him one of the most powerful Whig statesmen of the time; he was frequently consulted by Queen Victoria on matters of moment, and his long official experience made his counsel invaluable to his party.^[1] He died on 31 January 1863.^[1]

In Kenmare, he donated the site of the Holy Cross Church to the town. In 1864, Father John O'Sullivan (1806–1874) built the church on that site.

Other public appointments

Lansdowne chaired the inaugural meeting of the London Statistical Society, and was its first president (1834–1836). He later served a second term (1842–1844). (See The Times 15 and 17 March 1834, and John Bibby (1987) HOTS: History of Teaching Statistics.)

Family

Photograph of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, c. 1857

Lord Lansdowne married Lady Louisa Fox-Strangways, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester, in 1808. They had two sons and one daughter:

• William Thomas Petty-FitzMaurice, Earl of Kerry (30 March 1811 – 21 August 1836)
• Lady Louisa (1813 – 12 June 1906) married Hon. James Kenneth Howard, son of Thomas Howard, 16th Earl of Suffolk. They had a son Kenneth (married Lady Emily Bury, daughter of the Earl of Charleville) and daughter Winifrede.
• Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne (7 January 1816 – 5 July 1866).

Louisa died in April 1851, aged 65, and Lord Lansdowne in January 1863, aged 82. His eldest son, the Earl of Kerry, had predeceased him and he was succeeded in the marquessate by his only surviving son, Henry. The latter was the father of Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, who also became a distinguished statesman. The elderly 3rd Marquess had a close relationship with his grandson, the future 5th Marquess.^[7]