Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich

Infobox Prime Minister
name =Rt. Hon. The Viscount Goderich
small

order =Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
term_start =31 August 1827
term_end =21 January 1828
monarch =George IV
predecessor =George Canning
successor =The Duke of Wellington
birth_date =birth date|1782|11|1|df=y
birth_place =London
death_date =death date and age|1859|1|28|1782|11|1|df=y
death_place =Putney Heath, London
alma_mater =St John's College, Cambridge
party =Tory
order2 =Chancellor of the Exchequer
term_start2 =31 January 1823
term_end2 =20 April 1827
monarch2 =George IV
predecessor2 =Nicholas Vansittart
successor2 =George Canning|

Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon PC (1 November 1782 – 28 January 1859), Frederick John Robinson until 1827, The Viscount Goderich 1827–1833, and The Earl of Ripon 1833 onwards, was a British statesman and Prime Minister (when he was known as Lord Goderich).

He was born to Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham and his wife, Lady Mary Yorke. After studying at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge, Robinson entered Parliament in 1806. He was made Privy Counsellor in 1812, and served in various minor positions in the government of Lord Liverpool, including joint-Paymaster of the Forces, from which position he sponsored the Corn Laws of 1815, before entering the Cabinet in 1818 as President of the Board of Trade. In 1823 Robinson succeeded Nicholas Vansittart as Chancellor of the Exchequer. While he held this position he was called "Prosperity Robinson" by the sarcastic journalist William Cobbett. William Cobbett also gave him the name "Goody Goderich" during an economic crisis in 1825.

In 1827 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Goderich, of Nocton in the County of Lincoln, and served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Leader of the House of Lords in George Canning's short-lived government. On Canning's death Goderich succeeded him as leader of a tenuous coalition of moderate Tories - also known as the Canningites and Whigs, but it only lasted a few months and did not even meet Parliament. Goderich had been an able minister but when it came to leading he was unsure and the government couldn't be run effectively as a number of Tory MPs stepped in to become the unofficial Prime Minister in an effort to help Goderich run the country. It is reported that when Goderich resigned to George IV he burst into tears and George IV had to lend Goderich a handkerchief as he didn't have one. Goderich was succeeded by the Duke of Wellington.

In 1830 Goderich moved over to the Whigs and joined Lord Grey's cabinet, again as Colonial Secretary. In 1833 he was created Earl of Ripon, and became Lord Privy Seal. But the next year he broke with the Whigs over Irish disestablishment.

He later served in Peel's second administration as President of the Board of Trade (1841–1843) and then as President of the Board of Control (1843–1846).

His son, George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, was a noted Liberal statesman and Cabinet Minister.

The Earl of Ripon served as President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1830 to 1833, and President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1834 to 1845. [cite book|title=Biographia Britannica Literaria: Or, Biography of Literary Characters of Great Britain and Ireland|last=Wright|first=Thomas|date=1846|publisher=J.W. Parker]

Lord Goderich's Government, September 1827 – January 1828

*Lord Goderich - First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Lords
*Lord Lyndhurst - Lord Chancellor
*The Duke of Portland - Lord President of the Council
*Lord Carlisle - Lord Privy Seal
*Lord Lansdowne - Secretary of State for the Home Department
*Lord Dudley - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
*William Huskisson - Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Leader of the House of Commons
*John Charles Herries - Chancellor of the Exchequer
*Lord Anglesey - Master-General of the Ordnance
*Charles Grant - President of the Board of Trade and Treasurer of the Navy
*Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn - President of the Board of Control
*William Sturges Bourne - First Commissioner of Woods and Forests
*Lord Bexley - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
*Lord Palmerston - Secretary at War

References

External links

* [http://pm.gov.uk/output/Page155.asp More about Frederick Robinson, Viscount Goderich] on the Downing Street website.

-

*Rayment