Addington, Henry (1757-1844), was prime minister of the United Kingdom from March 1801 to May 1804. He was the first prime minister to come from the middle class. All previous prime ministers had been peers or had come from noble families. His time in office was marked by the Napoleonic Wars, a series of military campaigns led by Napoleon Bonaparte of France.
Addington was born on May 30, 1757, in London. Addington’s father was a country doctor who moved to London, where his patients included George III and William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham. Addington became friendly with William Pitt the Younger. Addington was educated at Winchester School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He entered Parliament in 1784 as representative for Devizes, Wiltshire, in the House of Commons. He was elected Speaker of the House in 1789. In 1801, the younger Pitt resigned as prime minister, and Addington succeeded him. After three uneasy years, Addington resigned and Pitt again became prime minister. In 1805, Addington took the title Viscount Sidmouth and a seat in the House of Lords.
Addington served as home secretary from 1812 to 1822. He aroused intense disapproval because of his harsh treatment of working-class “agitators.” During Addington’s term as home secretary, troops clashed with a crowd in an incident that became known as the Peterloo Massacre. The incident occurred in 1819 in St. Peter’s Field in Manchester, England, where about 60,000 people had gathered to hear a speech by Henry “Orator” Hunt, a radical leader. Magistrates sent troops to arrest Hunt, but when the crowd resisted, the troops charged with drawn sabers. Eleven people were killed in the incident and about 400 were wounded.
Henry Addington married Ursula Mary Hammond in 1781, with whom he had five children. Ursula died in 1811. In 1823, he married Mary Anne Townsend and had three more children. Addington died in Richmond, Surrey, on Feb. 15, 1844.
See also Napoleonic Wars; Pitt, William, the Younger.
