The Lord Auckland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 5 February 1806 – 31 March 1807 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | The Lord Grenville |
| Preceded by | The Duke of Montrose |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Bathurst |
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | |
| In office 1780–1782 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | Lord North |
| Preceded by | Richard Heron |
| Succeeded by | Richard FitzPatrick |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1745-04-03)3 April 1745 |
| Died | 28 May 1814(1814-05-28) (aged 69) |
| Political party | Tory (Pittite) Whig (Grenvillite) |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | George Osborne, 8th Duke of Leeds (grandson) |
| Children | Eleanor Eden Catharine Isabella Eden Elizabeth Charlotte Eden Caroline Eden William Eden (MP) George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland Henry Eden Mary Louisa Eden Mary Dulcibella Eden Emily Eden Robert Eden, 3rd Baron Auckland Frances Eden |
| Education | Durham School Eton College |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland,PC (Ire),FRS (3 April 1745 – 28 May 1814) was a British diplomat and politician who sat in theHouse of Commons from 1774 to 1793.[1]
A member of the influentialEden family, Auckland was a younger son of Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet, ofWindlestone Hall,County Durham, and Mary, daughter of William Davison. His brothers includedSir John Eden, 4th Baronet, also an MP;Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland, the last royalGovernor of Maryland; andMorton Eden, 1st Baron Henley, diplomat.
He was educated atDurham School,Eton andChrist Church, Oxford,[2] and was called to the bar,Middle Temple, in 1768.
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In 1771, Auckland publishedPrinciples of Penal Law, and soon became a recognized authority on commercial and economic questions. In 1772 he took up an appointment as Under-Secretary of State for the North, a post he held until 1778. He wasMember of Parliament forWoodstock from 1774 to 1784 and served as aLord of Trade from 1776 to 1782.
In 1778, he carried an Act for the improvement of the treatment of prisoners, and accompanied theEarl of Carlisle as a commissioner toNorth America on an unsuccessfulmission to bring an end to theAmerican War of Independence.
During the War, he was head of the British spies in Europe, his budget reaching £200,000 by 1778. He probably oversaw a small group of intelligence collectors for Lord Suffolk. On his return in 1779 he published his widely-readFour Letters to the Earl of Carlisle.
In 1780, Auckland becameChief Secretary for Ireland, which he remained until 1782, and was admitted to theIrish Privy Council in 1780. He representedDungannon in theIrish House of Commons between 1781 and 1783 and was JointVice-Treasurer of Ireland between 1783 and 1784. While in Ireland he established the National Bank.[3]
Between 1784 and 1793, Auckland was Member of Parliament forHeytesbury. He was sworn of theBritish Privy Council in 1784 and served as Envoy to France from 1785 to 1787 (on a mission dealing with commerce); he wasAmbassador to Spain between 1787 and 1789 andAmbassador to the Netherlands between 1789 and 1793.
In 1789, he was raised to thePeerage of Ireland asBaron Auckland and in 1793 he retired from public service, receiving a pension of £2300, and was further honoured when he was madeBaron Auckland, ofWest Auckland in the County of Durham, in the Peerage of Great Britain.
During his retirement in the country atBeckenham, he continued his friendship withWilliam Pitt the Younger, his nearest neighbour atHolwood House, who at one time had thoughts of marrying his daughter (see below). With Pitt's sanction he published hisRemarks on the Apparent Circumstances of the War in 1795, to prepare public opinion for a peace.[3]
He was later included in Pitt's government as JointPostmaster General in 1798. He severely criticized Pitt's resignation in 1801, from which he had endeavoured to dissuade him, and retained office underHenry Addington. This terminated his friendship with Pitt, who excluded him from his administration in 1804 though he increased his pension. Auckland later served underLord Grenville asPresident of the Board of Trade in theMinistry of All the Talents between 1806 and 1807.[3]
HisJournal and Correspondence, published in 1861–1862, throws much light on the political history of the time.[3] ThesubantarcticAuckland Islands group to the south ofNew Zealand, discovered in 1806, were named after him, as wasEden Quay inDublin.[4]
In 1776, Lord Auckland married Eleanor Elliot, daughter ofSir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet and Agnes Dalrymple-Murray-Kynynmound (daughter and heiress ofHugh Dalrymple-Murray-Kynynmound). Eleanor was a sister ofGilbert Eliott, 1st Earl of Minto. They had six sons and eight daughters, including:[5]
Lord Auckland died in May 1814 and was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son,George, who was createdEarl of Auckland in 1839. Lady Auckland died in May 1818.[11]
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Eden was educated at Durham School (1755–8) and Eton College (1758–62) before going up to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1762.(Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Auckland, William Eden".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 893–894.| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWoodstock 1774–1784 With:John Skynner 1774–1777 Viscount Parker 1777–1784 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHeytesbury 1784–1793 With:William à Court 1784–1790 Michael Angelo Taylor 1790–1791 The Earl of Barrymore 1791–1793 Charles Ellis 1793 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDungannon 1781–1783 With:Charles O'Hara | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chief Secretary for Ireland 1780–1782 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Postmaster General 1798–1804 With:The Earl of Leicester 1798–1799 The Baron Gower 1799–1801 Lord Charles Spencer 1801–1804 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Trade 1806–1807 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | British Ambassador to Spain 1787–1789 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | British Ambassador to the Netherlands 1789–1790 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| New creation | Baron Auckland 1789–1814 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Baron Auckland 1793–1814 | Succeeded by |
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