Henry Petty Fitzmaurice
HENRY PETTY FITZMAURICE, 3rd marquess of Lansdowne (1780-1863), son of the 1st marquess by his second marriage, was born on the 2nd of July 1780 and educated at Edinburgh University and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He entered the House of Commons in 1802 as member for the family borough of Calne and quickly showed his mettle as a politician. In February 1806, as Lord Henry Petty, he became chancellor of the exchequer in the ministry of " All the Talents," being at this time member for the university of Cambridge, but he lost both his seat and his office in 1807. In 1809 he became marquess of Lansdowne; and in the House of Lords and in society he continued to play an active part as one of the Whig leaders. His chief interest was perhaps in the question of Roman Catholic emancipation, a cause which he consistently championed, but he sympathized also with the advocates of the abolition of the slave-trade and with the cause of popular education. Lansdowne, who had succeeded his cousin, Francis Thomas Fitzmaurice, as 4th earl of Kerry in 1818, took office with Canning in May 1827 and was secretary for home affairs from July of that year until January 1828; he was lord president of the council under Earl Grey and then under Lord Melbourne from November 1830 to August 1841, with the exception of the few months in 1835 when Sir Robert Peel was prime minister. He held the same office during the whole of Lord John Russell's ministry (1846- 1852), and, having declined to become prime minister, sat in the cabinets of Lord Aberdeen and of Lftrd Palmerston, but without office. In 1857 he refused the offer of a dukedom, and he died on the 3 1st of January 1863. Lansdowne's social influence and political moderation made him one of the most powerful Whig statesmen of the time; he was frequently consulted by Queen Victoria on matters of moment, and his long official experience made his counsel invaluable to his party. He married Louisa (1785-1851), daughter of the 2nd earl of Ilchester, and was succeeded by his son Henry, the 4th marquess (1816-1866). The latter, who was member of parliament for Calne for twenty years and chairman of the Great Western railway, married for his second wife Emily (1819-1895), daughter of the comte de Flahaut de la Billarderie, a lady who became Baroness Nairne in her own right in 1867. By her he had two sons, the 5th marquess and Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice (Baron Fitzmaurice of Leigh).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
