William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (1737-1805), British statesman, prime minister of Great Britain (1782-1783), who was sympathetic to the American colonies. Born in Dublin, he received little formal education before attending Christ Church, Oxford, and entering the army in 1759. Serving during the Seven Years’ War he distinguished himself at the Battle of Minden, and became aide-de-camp to George II. He entered the House of Commons for the rotten borough of Chipping Wycombe in 1760, and was re-elected in 1761, but sat for only a few weeks before the death of his father elevated him to the House of Lords.

In 1763 Lord Shelburne was appointed President of the Board of Trade by the Earl of Bute, but he resigned after involvement in an intrigue to replace George Grenville with William Pitt. His support of John Wilkes over the North Briton libel case led to his dismissal as aide-de-camp. Refusing to serve under the Marquess of Rockingham, in 1766 he became secretary of state for the southern department under Pitt. He resigned in 1768 following the succession of the Duke of Grafton as prime minister, joining opposition to the government and criticizing the handling of the spiralling crisis with the American colonies.

On the fall of the ministry of Lord North in 1782, following British defeat in the American War of Independence, George III asked Shelburne to form a government. He declined, but consented to serve in the ministry under Rockingham as secretary of state for the home department. On the death of Rockingham in the same year, Shelburne finally became prime minister. In that capacity, he helped draw up the peace treaty, signed on September 3, 1783, in which Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. Shortly afterwards, Shelburne found his ministry outvoted on the issue of reform of the public service by the coalition between the Whig leader Charles James Fox and Lord North, who refused to serve under Shelburne. He resigned in 1783 and was succeeded by the Duke of Portland. He was left out of government in the ministry formed by William Pitt the Younger later that year, and retired from active politics. He was created Marquess of Landsdowne in 1784.