William Carr

“ The methods of the chancellor of the exchequer began now to be subjected to severe criticism. On the debate (2 Feb. 1819) on the continuance of the Bank Restriction Act, Tierney attacked the whole conduct of Vansittart's finance, asserting that the minister added to the debt by exchequer bills as fast as he reduced it by the sinking fund.
The budget of 1819 was framed on the principle enunciated in the regent's speech for the year, that a clear available surplus of 5,000,000l. ought to be applied annually to the reduction of the national debt. ”

“ Thomas Butler, seventh earl of Ormonde (Ware, Annals of Ireland, ed. 1703, p. 17) , and to have been early noted for his expertness in feats of arms; throughout his career he was commonly known as ‘Black James.' He followed the traditions of his family in supporting the Lancastrian house, and received knighthood for useful services rendered in Ireland during the rising of Lambert Simnel, when he proved himself most active in his opposition to the Earl of Kildare, who supported the pretender. ”

“ A mild-mannered man, most ineffective in debate, he yet had many friends, and his mediocre abilities with accommodating and moderate views probably account for his holding office from 1801 to 1828 with the exception of only two years. He took a keen interest in foreign politics, and maintained a lengthy correspondence with D'Ivernois and Generals Miranda and Dumourier, which is preserved among his papers in the British Museum.
Vansittart was a high steward of Harwich, a director of Greenwich Hospital, a F.R.S. and F.S.A.; and received the freedom of the city of Edinburgh on 2 March 1814. ”

“ On the burning down of the old theatre, 24 Feb. 1809, he became a member, and soon after chairman, of the committee for the rebuilding of the theatre. A bill for its re-erection by subscription was passed through parliament, and Whitbread supported the interests of Drury Lane in the commons, successfully opposing the introduction of bills for the establishment of rival theatres, one of his arguments being that the more theatres the worse actors and no one good play (9 May 1811, 20 March 1812) . ”

“ The plan of his first budget, which was presented on 17 June 1812, was due to his predecessor; but Vansittart made new proposals for taxation, preferring additions to the existing taxes on male servants, carriages, horses, dogs, agricultural and trade horses, to Perceval's proposed tax on private brewing establishments. On 3 March 1813 he brought forward, in a number of resolutions in the House of Commons, a ‘new plan of finance’ (published 1813 under title ‘The Outlines of a Plan of Finance’) , dealing with the sinking fund. ”

“ For the next three years he completely devoted himself to the business of the brewery. His marriage in 1789 with Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir Charles (afterwards first Earl) Grey, and sister of his old schoolfellow, inclined his interests to politics, and at the general election in 1790 he was elected as a whig to represent Bedford. Almost immediately he began to take a prominent part in the debates in the house, and in November 1790 energetically attacked the government for waste of money on military preparations. ”

“ Through his grandmother Grace, daughter of Charles Fitzroy, first duke of Southampton and Cleveland [q. v.] , he represented the family for which in the first instance the dukedom was created.
The duke was more notable as a sportsman than as a politician. Living at Raby Castle for a considerable portion of every year, he proved himself an enthusiastic upholder of every form of sport. He commenced to hunt his father's hounds in 1787, and spared no expense on his kennel. ”

“ Samuel Whitbread the elder came of a nonconformist family in Bedfordshire, where he inherited a small property. As a young man he entered a London brewery, in the first instance as a clerk, and in course of time became possessor of the whole brewery through hard work and good luck. ”

“ From 1809 up to the time of his death Whitbread spoke more frequently than any member of the House of Commons. His opinion that publicity was the very essence of the British constitution accounts for the earnestness with which he attacked abuses of all kinds, and the frequent debates he occasioned on foreign affairs. His criticism of Lord Chatham's conduct with regard to the Scheldt operations was highly successful and greatly inspirited the opposition; his motion on 23 Feb. ”

“ In 1832 appeared the first edition of Williams's ‘Treatise on the Law of Executors and Administrators;’ this great legal work passed through seven editions during its author's lifetime, and remains still the standard authority on the subject; it has justly been described as one of the most able and correct works that have ever been published on any legal subject (Chitty, Practice, p. 510) . In October 1846 Williams was made a puisne judge of the court of common pleas, and received knighthood on 4 Feb. ”

“ Notwithstanding Canning's declaration that no assembly of reasonable men could be persuaded to give their concurrence, all the resolutions were passed. On Sidmouth eventually joining the Perceval administration, Vansittart was at first suggested as lord treasurer and chancellor of the exchequer for Ireland (Colchester, Diary, ii. 372) ; but the assassination of the prime minister on 11 May gave him a chance of higher office, and he was appointed chancellor of the exchequer on 20 May 1812.
Vansittart came into office at one of the most embarrassing periods in the history of English finance. ”

“ After each day's hunting it was his habit to enter an account of the day's sport in a diary, portions of which were privately published at the close of every season. He paid considerable sums of money to his tenants for the preservation of foxes, and on their behalf he successfully opposed the first Stockton and Darlington railway in 1820, because in its course it encroached on a favourite covert. ”

“ His name was now placed at the head of the committee appointed by the commons to draw up the articles of impeachment, and he was appointed manager on the nomination of Lord Temple. He entered on the task with the energy of an enthusiast, and the same session moved for a bill of indemnity in favour of those who had been in office under Melville who should give evidence on his impeachment. On 29 April 1806, on the first day of the trial in Westminster Hall, Whitbread opened all the charges in a speech of three hours and twenty minutes. ”

“ At this period he certainly deserved well of his party, for his attack on Melville, which he followed up by a vigorous exposure of the conduct of the Duke of York, was popular in the country and improved the position of the whigs (Le Marchant, Life of Lord Spencer, p. 115; see art. Johnstone, Andrew James Cochrane) .
In 1807 Whitbread brought in a poor-law bill of the most elaborate and unwieldy character. ”

“ A similar arrangement for the conversion of the Irish five per cents was executed with equal facility the same year. The financial plan which Vansittart produced the same year for relieving in some degree the immediate burden of military and naval pensions was, however, from the first doomed to complete failure. His proposition was to grant to contractors a fixed annuity for forty-five years, calculated at about 2,800,000l., while the contractors for the annuity were to pay sums sufficient to meet the pensions due during a term of forty-five years. ”

“ In London he at first associated with a somewhat gay set in fashionable society, but soon turned seriously to politics and proved himself a useful pamphleteer in support of Pitt's government. In 1793 he published ‘Reflections on the Propriety of an Immediate Peace,’ in which he maintained the necessity for the war, and the folly of trusting to an uncertain peace. In 1794 and 1795 he defended Pitt's finance in ‘A Reply to the Letter addressed to Mr. Pitt by Jasper Wilson,’ and in ‘Letters to Mr. ”

“ VANE, WILLIAM HARRY, first Duke of Cleveland of the second creation and third Earl of Darlington (1766–1842) , was son of Henry Vane, second earl of Darlington, by Margaret, daughter of Robert Lowther, and sister of James Lowther, first earl of Lonsdale [q. v.] He was born on 27 July 1766 in St. ”

“ In 1824, in conjunction with Patteson, he brought out a fifth edition of his father's notes on ‘Saunders's Reports,’ and established his reputation as a lawyer by the publication of this main repository of common-law learning. He first joined the Oxford circuit, where he soon found work ”

“ In 1491 he was created by grant captain and governor of the army about to be sent to Kilkenny against the rebels, and in the following year received by patent the castle and manors in Meath, Kilkenny, and Tippenay which had belonged to the earldom of Marsh. ”

“ On 16 June 1814 he received the honorary degree of D.C.L. Becoming a student of Lincoln's Inn on 21 April 1788, he was called to the bar 26 May 1791, and went the northern circuit for about a year, but never devoted himself to his profession. ”