| The Right Honourable The Earl of Ripon PC |
|
|---|---|
| Lord Ripon by Sir Thomas Lawrence. | |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 31 August 1827 – 21 January 1828 |
|
| Monarch | George IV |
| Preceded by | George Canning |
| Succeeded by | The Duke of Wellington |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| In office 31 January 1823 – 20 April 1827 |
|
| Monarch | George IV |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Liverpool |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Vansittart |
| Succeeded by | George Canning |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 24 January 1818 – 21 February 1823 |
|
| Monarch | George III George IV |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Liverpool |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Clancarty |
| Succeeded by | William Huskisson |
| In office 3 September 1841 – 15 May 1843 |
|
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel |
| Preceded by | Henry Labouchere |
| Succeeded by | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 November 1782 London |
| Died | 28 January 1859 (aged 76) Putney Heath, London |
| Political party | Tory Whig Conservative |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon PC (1 November 1782 – 28 January 1859), styled The Honourable F. J. Robinson until 1827 and known as The Viscount Goderich between 1827 and 1833, the name by which he is best known to history, was a British statesman. He was briefly Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between August 1827 and January 1828.
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Robinson was born in London, the second son of Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham, and his wife, Lady Mary, daughter of Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke. Fellow politician Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey was his elder brother. He was educated at Harrow[1] and St John's College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Robinson entered Parliament for the Irish borough of Carlow in 1806, a seat he exchanged for that of Ripon the following year. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1812[3] and served under Lord Liverpool as Vice-President of the Board of Trade between 1812 and 1818 and as joint-Paymaster of the Forces between 1813 and 1817, from which position he sponsored the Corn Laws of 1815. He entered the Cabinet in 1818 as President of the Board of Trade and Treasurer of the Navy. In 1823 he succeeded Nicholas Vansittart as Chancellor of the Exchequer. While he held this position he was called "Prosperity Robinson" by the sarcastic journalist William Cobbett. Cobbett also gave him the name "Goody Goderich" during an economic crisis in 1825.
In 1827 Robinson was raised to the peerage as Viscount Goderich, of Nocton in the County of Lincoln,[4] a revival of the Goderich title held by his maternal ancestors. He served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Leader of the House of Lords in George Canning's short-lived government. On Canning's death Goderich succeeded him as leader of a tenuous coalition of moderate Tories - also known as the Canningites - and Whigs, but it only lasted a few months and did not even meet Parliament. Goderich had been an able minister but when it came to leading he was unsure and the government couldn't be run effectively as a number of Tory MPs stepped in to become the unofficial Prime Minister in an effort to help Goderich run the country. It is reported that when Goderich resigned to King George IV he burst into tears and the King had to lend Goderich a handkerchief as he didn't have one. Goderich was succeeded by the Duke of Wellington.
In 1830 Goderich moved over to the Whigs and joined Lord Grey's cabinet, again as Colonial Secretary. In 1833 he was created Earl of Ripon, in the County of York,[5] and became Lord Privy Seal under Grey. However, the next year he broke with the Whigs over Irish church reform. He later served in Sir Robert Peel's second administration as President of the Board of Trade from 1841 to 1843 and then as President of the Board of Control from 1843 to 1846.
Apart from his political career Lord Ripon also served as President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1830 to 1833, and President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1834 to 1845.[6]
Lord Ripon married Lady Sarah Albinia Louisa, daughter of Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire, in 1814. He died in Putney Heath, London, in January 1859, aged 76, and was succeeded by his only son, George, Viscount Goderich. He became a noted Liberal statesman and cabinet minister and was created Marquess of Ripon in 1871. The Countess of Ripon died in April 1867, aged 74.[1]