Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Mulgrave
GCB, PC
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
11 January 1805 – 7 February 1806
Monarch George III
Prime Minister Rt. Hon. William Pitt the Younger
Preceded by The Lord Harrowby
Succeeded by Rt. Hon. Charles James Fox
Personal details
Born 14 February 1755 (2012-02-16T19:19:58)
Died 7 April 1831 (2012-02-16T19:19:59)
Nationality British
Political party Tory
Spouse(s) Martha Sophia Maling
(d. 1849)

Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave GCB, PC (14 February 1755–7 April 1831), styled The Honourable Henry Phipps until 1792 and known as The Lord Mulgrave from 1792 to 1812, was a British soldier and politician. He notably served as Foreign Secretary under William Pitt the Younger from 1805 to 1806.

Contents

Background and education

Lord Mulgrave was a younger son of Constantine Phipps, 1st Baron Mulgrave, by his wife the Hon. Lepell, daughter of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, and was educated at Eton and the Middle Temple.

Military career

Lord Mulgrave entered the army in 1775, and eventually rose to the rank of General. He saw service in the Caribbean during the American Revolutionary War. In 1793, due to the fact that he was on a mission to the King of Sardinia in Turin, he was near at hand when British forces captured the French port of Toulon, and he briefly took command of the British land forces there, before withdrawing upon the arrival of more senior officers. In 1799 he was sent out on another special military mission, this time to the headquarters of the Austrian commander, Archduke Charles, to attempt to persuade him to retain his troops in Switzerland rather than removing them to the Middle Rhine, but he was unsuccessful.

Political career

In 1784 Lord Mulgrave was elected to the House of Commons for Totnes. He supported the government of Pitt, to whom he eventually became close. In 1790, he was elected for Scarborough in Yorkshire. He succeeded his brother Constantine Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave as Baron Mulgrave in the Peerage of Ireland in 1792, but did not succeed to his brother's British title. In 1794 he was granted a British peerage as Baron Mulgrave, entering the House of Lords. Mulgrave supported Pitt when he resigned in 1801, and in return for his loyalty was rewarded with the office of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1804–1805) in Pitt's second government. Following an accident suffered by Lord Harrowby, Mulgrave took his place as Foreign Secretary, in which position he helped Pitt to form the Third Coalition against Napoleon.

With the death of Pitt and the formation of the Ministry of All the Talents in 1806, Mulgrave, along with the other Pittites, went into opposition, but when the Pittites returned to power in 1807, Mulgrave served in various major offices, first as First Lord of the Admiralty (1807–1810), then as Master-General of the Ordnance (1810–1819), and finally as Minister without Portfolio (1819–1820). As First Lord he was heavily involved in planning both the successful expedition against Copenhagen in 1807, and the disastrous one to Walcheren in 1809. After moving to the ordnance board, Mulgrave became less active politically. He was created Viscount Normanby and Earl of Mulgrave in 1812.

Family

The Earl of Mulgrave's grandfather William Phipps had married Lady Catherine Annesley, who was the daughter and heiress of James Annesley, 3rd Earl of Anglesey and his wife Lady Catherine Darnley (an illegitimate daughter of King James II by his mistress Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester). Lady Catherine Darnley had later married John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, and hence Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave was the step-great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby.

Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave married Martha Sophia, daughter of Christopher Thomson Maling, in 1795. He died in April 1831, aged 76, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Constantine, who was later created Marquess of Normanby. His second son was the Hon. Sir Charles Beaumont Phipps. The Countess of Mulgrave died in March 1849.

See also

References

External links

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Sir Philip Jennings-Clerke, Bt
Launcelot Brown
Member of Parliament for Totnes
with Sir Philip Jennings-Clerke, Bt 1784–1788
Viscount Barnard 1788–1790

1784–1790
Succeeded by
William Powlett Powlett
Francis Buller-Yarde
Preceded by
The Earl of Tyrconnel
George Osbaldeston
Member of Parliament for Scarborough
with The Earl of Tyrconnel

1790–1794
Succeeded by
The Earl of Tyrconnel
Edmund Phipps
Political offices
Preceded by
Lord Pelham
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1804–1805
Succeeded by
The Earl of Buckinghamshire
Preceded by
The Lord Harrowby
Foreign Secretary
1805–1806
Succeeded by
Charles James Fox
Preceded by
Thomas Grenville
First Lord of the Admiralty
1807–1810
Succeeded by
Charles Philip Yorke
Preceded by
The Earl of Chatham
Master-General of the Ordnance
1810–1819
Succeeded by
The Duke of Wellington
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Carlisle
Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire
1807–1824
Succeeded by
Viscount Morpeth
Vacant
Title last held by
The Duke of Leeds
Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire
1809–1831
Vacant
Title next held by
The Lord Londesborough
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Earl of Mulgrave
1812–1831
Succeeded by
Constantine Henry Phipps
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Mulgrave
1794-1831
Succeeded by
Constantine Henry Phipps
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
Constantine John Phipps
Baron Mulgrave
1792–1831
Succeeded by
Constantine Henry Phipps