George Canning (11 April 1770 – 8 August 1827) was
a British statesman and
politician who
served as
Foreign
Secretary and briefly
Prime Minister.
Early life
Canning
was born at his parents' home in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone
, London
.
His
father, George Canning, Sr., of Garvagh
, County Londonderry, was a gentleman of
limited means, a failed wine merchant and lawyer, who
renounced his right to inherit the family estate in exchange for
payment of his substantial debts. George Sr. eventually
abandoned the family and died in poverty on 11 April 1771, his
son's first birthday, in London. Canning's mother, Mary Anne
Costello, took work as a
stage actress, a profession not considered
respectable at the time.
Because Canning showed unusual intelligence and promise at an early
age, family friends persuaded his uncle, London
merchant Stratford Canning (father to the diplomat
Stratford
Canning), to become his nephew's guardian. George Canning grew
up with his cousins at the home of his uncle, who provided him with
an income and an education.
Stratford Canning's financial support allowed
the young Canning to study at Eton College
and Christ Church, Oxford
.
While at school, Canning gained renown for his skill in writing and
debate. He struck up friendships with the then-future
Lord Liverpool as
well as with
Granville
Leveson-Gower and
John Hookham
Frere. Canning began practising law after receiving his
BA from Oxford in the summer of
1791. Yet he wished to enter politics.
Entry into politics
Stratford Canning was a Whig and would introduce his nephew in the
1780s to prominent
Whigs such as
Charles James Fox,
Edmund Burke, and
Richard Brinsley Sheridan. George
Canning's friendship with Sheridan would last for the remainder of
Sheridan's life.
George Canning's impoverished background and limited financial
resources, however, made unlikely a bright political future in a
Whig party whose political ranks were led mostly by members of the
wealthy landed aristocracy in league with the newly rich
industrialist classes. Regardless, along with Whigs such as Burke,
Canning himself would become considerably more conservative in the
early 1790s after witnessing the excessive radicalism of the
French Revolution.
Henry Brooks Adams wrote, "The political
reaction which followed swept the young man to the opposite
extreme: and his vehemence for monarchy gave point to a Whig
sarcasm, - that men had often been known to turn their coats, but
this was the first time that a boy had turned his jacket."
Jefferson (Library of America) p. 968.
So when Canning decided to enter politics he sought and received
the patronage of the leader of the "Tory" group,
William Pitt the Younger.
In 1793,
thanks to the help of Pitt, Canning became a Member of Parliament for Newtown on the Isle of Wight
, a rotten
borough. In 1796, he changed seats to a different
rotten borough,
Wendover in
Buckinghamshire. He was elected to represent
several
constituencies during his
parliamentary career.
Political style
Canning rose quickly in British politics as an effective orator and
writer. His speeches in Parliament as well as his essays gave the
followers of Pitt a rhetorical power they had previously lacked.
Canning's skills saw him gain leverage within the Pittite faction
that allowed him influence over its policies along with repeated
promotions in the Cabinet. Over time, Canning became a prominent
public speaker as well, and was one of the first politicians to
campaign heavily in the country.
As a result of his charisma and promise, Canning early on drew to
himself a circle of supporters who would become known as the
Canningites. Conversely though, Canning
had a reputation as a divisive man who alienated many.
He was a dominant personality and often risked losing political
allies for personal reasons. He once reduced Lord Liverpool to
tears with a long satirical poem mocking Liverpool's attachment to
his time as a colonel in the militia. He then forced Liverpool to
apologise for being upset.
Elevation to office
[[Image:George Canning
statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue in Parliament Square
, London
Executed by Sir
Richard
Westmacott, and erected in 1832]]On 2 November 1795, Canning
received his first ministerial post:
Under Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs. In this post he proved a strong
supporter of Pitt, often taking his side in disputes with the
Foreign
Secretary,
Lord
Grenville. He resigned this post on 1 April 1799.
In 1799 Canning became a commissioner of the Board of Control,
followed by
Paymaster of the
Forces in 1800. When Pitt resigned in 1801, Canning loyally
followed him into opposition and again returned to office in 1804
with Pitt, becoming
Treasurer of
the Navy.
Canning left office with the death of Pitt but was appointed
Foreign Secretary in the new government of the
Duke of
Portland the following year.
Given key responsibilities for the
country's diplomacy in the Napoleonic
Wars, he was responsible for planning the attack on Copenhagen in
September 1807, much of which he undertook at his country estate,
South Hill
Park
at Easthampstead
in Berkshire. In
November 1807, Canning oversaw the
Portuguese royal
family's flight from Portugal to Brazil.
Duel with Castlereagh
In 1809 Canning entered into a series of disputes within the
government that were to become famous.
He argued with the
Secretary of
State for War and the Colonies, Lord Castlereagh, over
the deployment of troops that Canning had promised would be sent to
Portugal
but which Castlereagh sent to the Netherlands
. The government became increasingly
paralysed in disputes between the two men. Portland was in
deteriorating health and gave no lead, until Canning threatened
resignation unless Castlereagh were removed and replaced by
Lord
Wellesley. Portland secretly agreed to make this change when it
would be possible.
Castlereagh discovered the deal in September 1809 and challenged
Canning to a duel. Canning accepted the challenge and it was fought
on 21 September 1809. Canning, who had never before fired a pistol,
widely missed his mark. Castlereagh, who was regarded as one of the
best shots of his day, wounded his opponent in the thigh. There was
much outrage that two cabinet ministers had resorted to such a
method. Shortly afterwards the ailing Portland resigned as Prime
Minister, and Canning offered himself to
George III as a potential
successor. However, the King appointed
Spencer Perceval instead, and Canning left
office once more. He did take consolation, though, in the fact that
Castlereagh also stood down.
Return to government
Upon Perceval's assassination in 1812, the new Prime Minister,
Lord
Liverpool, offered Canning the position of Foreign Secretary
once more. Canning refused, as he also wished to be
Leader of the House of
Commons and was reluctant to serve in any government with
Castlereagh.
In 1814 he became the British Ambassador to
Portugal, returning the following year. He received
several further offers of office from Liverpool and in 1816 he
became
President of
the Board of Control.
Canning resigned from office once more in 1820, in opposition to
the treatment of
Queen
Caroline, estranged wife of the new King
George IV. Canning and
Caroline were close friends and may have had a brief sexual affair.
This would have been regarded as unacceptable.
Portrait of George Canning by Richard
Evans, circa 1825
Another return
In 1822, Castlereagh, now
Marquess of
Londonderry, committed suicide. Canning succeeded him as both
Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. In his second
term of office he sought to prevent
South
America from coming into the French sphere of influence, and in
this he was successful. He also gave support to the growing
campaign for the abolition of slavery. Despite personal issues with
Castlereagh, he continued many of his foreign policies, such as the
view that the powers of Europe (Russia, France, etc.) should not be
allowed to meddle in the affairs of other states. This policy
enhanced public opinion of Canning as a liberal. He also prevented
the United States from opening trade with the West Indies.
Prime Minister
In 1827, Liverpool suffered a severe stroke and died soon
afterwards. Canning, as Liverpool's right-hand man, was then chosen
by George IV to succeed him, in preference to both the
Duke of Wellington
and Sir
Robert Peel. Neither man agreed
to serve under Canning, and they were followed by five other
members of Liverpool's Cabinet as well as 40 junior members of the
government.
The Tory party was now heavily split between
the "High Tories" (or "Ultras",
nicknamed after the contemporary
party in France
) and the
moderates supporting Canning, often called "Canningites". As a result Canning found
it difficult to form a government and chose to invite a number of
Whigs to join his Cabinet, including
Lord
Lansdowne. The government agreed not to discuss the difficult
question of
parliamentary reform,
which Canning opposed but the Whigs supported.
However, Canning's health by this time was in steep decline. He
died on 8 August 1827, in the very same room where Charles James
Fox met his own end, 21 years earlier. To this day Canning's total
period in office remains the shortest of any
Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom,
a mere 119 days.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey
.
Legacy
Canning has come to be regarded as a "lost leader", with much
speculation about what his legacy could have been had he lived. His
government of Tories and Whigs continued for a few months under
Lord
Goderich but fell apart in early 1828. It was succeeded by a
government under the
Duke of Wellington,
which initially included some
Canningites but soon became mostly "High Tory"
when many of the Canningites drifted over to the Whigs.
Wellington's administration would soon go down in defeat as well.
Some historians have seen the revival of the Tories from the 1830s
onwards, in the form of the
Conservative Party, as the
overcoming of the divisions of 1827. What would have been the
course of events had Canning lived is highly speculative.
To some later Conservatives, most prominently
Benjamin
Disraeli, Canning came to be regarded as a model and forerunner
of
One Nation Conservatism,
providing a contrast to Sir
Robert Peel,
whom Disraeli attacked bitterly.
A central square in Athens, Greece is named after Canning (Canning
Square (Plateia Kanigos)), in appreciation of his supportive stance
toward the Greeks during their War of Independence
(1821-1830).
Family
Canning married
Joan Scott (later
1st Viscountess Canning) (1776-1837) on
8 July 1800, with John Hookham Frere and William Pitt the Younger
as witnesses.
George and Joan Canning had four children:
George Canning's Government, April 1827 - August 1827
Changes
References
- Dixon, Peter George Canning: Politician and Statesman
New York: Mason/Charter, 1976
- Deane, Ciarán The Guinness Book of Irish Facts &
Feats Guinness Publishing 1994 ISBN 0-85112-793-2
- Hunt, Giles (ed) Mehitabel Canning: A Redoubtable
Woman Royston, Herts, England:Rooster Books Limited, 2001 ISBN
1-871510-20-1
- Hunt, Giles The Duel: Castlereagh, Canning and deadly
cabinet rivalry 2008 I B Tauris & Co Ltd, UK/Palgrave
Macmillan ISBN 1845115937
Notes
- Westminster: King St, Great George St and the Broad
Sanctuary in Old and New London: Volume 4 (1878), pp.
26-35, from British History Online
-
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9556
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