a British statesman who is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1762 CE
to 1812 CE
Spencer Perceval KC (November 1, 1762 – May 11, 1812) is a British statesman who is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812.
Perceval is the only British prime minister to have been murdered.
He is also the only Solicitor General or Attorney General to become Prime Minister.\
The younger son of an Irish earl, Perceval is educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge
He studies Law at Lincoln's Inn, practices as a barrister on the Midland circuit and in 1796 becomes a King's Counsel before entering politics aged thirty-three as a Member of Parliament for Northampton.
A follower of William Pitt, Perceval always describes himself as a "friend of Mr Pitt" rather than a Tory.
Perceval is opposed to Catholic emancipation and reform of Parliament; he supports the war against Napoleon and the abolition of the slave trade.
He is opposed to hunting, gambling and adultery, does not drink as much as most members of Parliament at this time, gives generously to charity, and enjoys spending time with his thirteen children.
After a late entry into politics, his rise to power is rapid; he is solicitor general, then attorney general in the Addington ministry, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons in the Portland ministry, and becomes Prime Minister in October 1809.
At the head of a weak ministry, Perceval faces a number of crises during his term in office including an inquiry into the Walcheren expedition, the madness of King George III, economic depression and Luddite riots.
He overcomes these crises, successfully pursues the Peninsular War in the face of opposition defeatism, and wins the support of the Prince Regent.
His position is looking stronger by the spring of 1812, when a merchant with a grievance against his government shoots him dead in the lobby of the House of Commons.
Although Perceval was a seventh son and had four older brothers who survived to adulthood, the Earldom of Egmont reverted to one of his great-grandsons in the early-twentieth century and remained in the hands of his descendants until its extinction in 2011.
