Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth

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Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC (30 May 1757–15 February 1844) was a British statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804. Henry Addington was the son of Anthony Addington, Pitt's physician, and Mary Addington, the daughter of the Rev. Haviland John Hiley, headmaster of Reading School. As a consequence of his father's position, Addington was a childhood friend of William Pitt the Younger. Addington studied at Winchester and Brasenose College, Oxford, and then studied law at Lincoln's Inn. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1784, and became Speaker of the House of Commons in 1789. In March, 1801, Pitt resigned from office after his failure to achieve Catholic emancipation, and Addington was chosen to succeed him.

Addington's ministry was most notable for the negotiation of the Treaty of Amiens, in 1802 in which an unfavourable peace was agreed to with France. It quickly broke down, and Addington's poor management of the war led to Pitt's return to power the next year. Addington remained an important political figure, however. Created Viscount Sidmouth, he joined Pitt's Cabinet as Lord President of the Council, and later served in the Ministry of All the Talents as Lord Privy Seal and Lord President.

When the Pittites returned to power in 1807, Sidmouth returned to opposition, but returned to government as Lord President of the Council in March, 1812, and, in June of the same year, became Home Secretary. As Home Secretary, Sidmouth brutally crushed radical opposition, being responsible for the suspension of habeas corpus in 1817, and the passage of the repressive Six Acts in 1819. Sidmouth left office in 1822, succeeded as Home Secretary by the much more competent Robert Peel, but remained in the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio for the next two years, fruitlessly opposing British recognition of the South American republics. He remained active in the House of Lords for the next few years, making his final speech in opposition to Catholic Emancipation in 1829 and casting his final vote against the Reform Act 1832.

Addington maintained a home at Bulmershe Court, in what is now the Reading suburb of Woodley, but moved to the White Lodge in Richmond Park when he became Prime Minister. However he maintained links with Woodley and the Reading area, as commander of the Woodley Yeomanry Cavalry and High Steward of Reading. He also donated to the town of Reading the four acres (16,000 m²) of land that is today the Royal Berkshire Hospital, and his name is commemorated in the town's Sidmouth Street and Addington Road.

Henry Addington's Government, March 1801 - May 1804

Arms of Henry Addington

Changes

May, 1801 - Lord Lewisham (who becomes Lord Dartmouth in July), the President of the Board of Control, enters the Cabinet
July, 1801 - The Duke of Portland succeeds Lord Chatham as Lord President (Chatham remains Master of the Ordnance). Lord Pelham succeeds Portland as Home Secretary.
July, 1802 - Lord Castlereagh succeeds Lord Dartmouth at the Board of Control.
August, 1803 - Charles Philip Yorke succeeds Lord Pelham as Home Secretary.

Sources

Leaflet Great People of Reading published by Reading Borough Libraries, undated but probably produced in late 2004 and available through Reading Central Library.
Web page http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/haddington.html, retrieved 21:45 16th January 2005 GMT
Web page http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/woodley_lodge.html, retrieved 21:45 16th January 2005 GMT

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William Pitt the Younger |- |-

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