View source for Henry Pelham

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 to 1754}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}}
| image            = File:Henry Pelham by William Hoare.jpg
| caption          = ''[[Portrait of Henry Pelham]]'' by [[William Hoare]], 1751
| office           = [[Prime Minister of Great Britain]]
| term_start       = 27 August 1743
| term_end         = 6 March 1754
| monarch          = [[George II of Great Britain|George II]]
| predecessor      = [[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|The Earl of Wilmington]]
| successor        = [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|The Duke of Newcastle]]
| office1          = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| term_start2      = 12 December 1743
| term_end2        = 6 March 1754
| monarch2         = George II
| primeminister2  = Himself
| predecessor2     = [[Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys|Samuel Sandys]]
| successor2       = [[William Lee (English judge)|William Lee]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1694|9|25|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Laughton, East Sussex|Laughton, Sussex]], England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1754|3|6|1694|9|25|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Westminster]], England
| resting_place    = All Saints' Church, Laughton, East Sussex, England
| party            = [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Lady Catherine Pelham|Catherine Manners]]|29 October 1726}}
| children         = 4
| father           = [[Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham]]
| alma_mater       = {{ubl|[[King's College, Cambridge]]|[[Hertford College, Oxford|Hart Hall, Oxford]]}}
| signature        = Signature of Henry Pelham.svg
}}

'''Henry Pelham''' (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] statesman who served as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister of Great Britain]] from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle]], who served in Pelham's government and succeeded him as prime minister. Pelham is generally considered to have been Britain's third prime minister, after [[Robert Walpole]] and [[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|the Earl of Wilmington]].

Pelham's premiership was relatively uneventful in terms of domestic affairs, although it was during his premiership that [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] experienced the tumult of the [[1745 Jacobite uprising]]. In foreign affairs, Britain fought in several wars. Two of Pelham's final acts were the [[Jewish Naturalization Act 1753]], which allowed [[Jews]] to become [[naturalized]]  by application to [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]], and the [[Marriage Act 1753]], which enumerated the minimum [[age of consent]] for marriage. On Pelham's death, his brother Newcastle took full control of the British government.
{{TOC limit|3}}

==Early life==
Pelham, Newcastle's younger brother, was a younger son of [[Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham]], and his wife, the former Grace Pelham, Baroness Pelham of Laughton, the daughter of [[Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare]], and Grace Pierrepont. Pelham's father, Thomas, died when he was 12 years of age. Pelham inherited £5,000 and small annuities for life while a large part of the estate went to his elder brother, the Duke Newcastle.{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=3}}

He was educated at [[Westminster School]], and [[Matriculation|matriculated]] at [[King's College, Cambridge]] at Easter 1709,<ref>{{acad|id=PLHN709H|name=Pelham, Henry}}</ref> then migrated to [[Hart Hall, Oxford]] (the present-day Hertford College), matriculating on 6 September 1710,<ref name="ALUM">{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/alumni-oxon/1500-1714/pp1131-1154   |title= 'Peach-Peyton', in Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714, ed. Joseph Foster (Oxford, 1891), pp. 1131-1154 | author= Foster, Joseph |publisher= British History Online | access-date = 10 September 2018 }}</ref> upon the appointment of his tutor [[Richard Newton (academic)|Richard Newton]] as Principal of Hart Hall.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Newton, Richard (1676-1753)|first=William Prideaux|last=Courtney|volume=40}}</ref>

== Political career ==

=== Member of Parliament ===
As a volunteer he served in Dormer's regiment at the [[Battle of Preston (1715)|Battle of Preston]] in 1715 and spent some time on the Continent. He was returned as [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Seaford, East Sussex|Seaford]] in [[Sussex]] by his brother, the Duke of Newcastle, at a by-election on 28 February 1717 and represented it until 1722.<ref name="HOP">{{cite web| url = https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/pelham-hon-henry-1695-1754| title= PELHAM, Hon. Henry (1695-1754), of Esher Place, Surr.| publisher= History of Parliament Online| access-date = 10 September 2018}}</ref>{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=4}}

On 20 May 1720, Pelham made his [[Maiden speech|first speech]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]. It was made during a time of union for the Whigs, which was achieved by a call for discharging the civil list debt, a motion supported by both Pelham and Walpole. On 15 March 1721, Pelham aided Walpole in getting the [[Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland|Earl of Sunderland's]] acquittal from charges of [[bribery]].{{Sfn|Sedgwick|}}

The first position Pelham held was as [[Treasurer of the Chamber]] in 1720. The advancement came as a result of his brother's influence.{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=4}} Newcastle and Pelham lost £2,000 in the [[South Sea Company|South Sea Bubble]].{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=5}} 

===In government===
[[Image:HenryPelhamYoung.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Pelham by [[Michael Dahl]], {{c. |1720}}]]Through strong family influence, and the recommendation of [[Robert Walpole]], he was chosen in 1721 as [[Lord of the Treasury]]. At the [[1722 British general election|1722 general election]] he was returned as MP for Sussex county.<ref name=HOP/>

In 1724, he entered the ministry as [[Secretary at War]], a position he held for the next 6 years. Many of the problems that Pelham faced in that office was regarding legal affairs of the [[British Army]], which concerned enlistments, courts-martial, mutiny, desertion, the jurisdiction of army officials and civil magistrates and the commutation powers of the King.{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=7}} 

Pelham asserted his independent function in the ministry by voting against one of Walpole's measures to reduce interest on the [[National debt of the United Kingdom|national debt]].{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=10}} In 1729, Pelham proposed placing 17,000 troops and later commanded the debate to continue paying the 12,000 [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian troops]] for another year. He was criticised and denounced by [[William Shippen (MP)|William Shippen]], a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] member of Parliament, for the government's military policies.{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=8}}  When Walpole introduced a bill in the Commons to increase revenue by placing excise tax on salt, it was met with fierce opposition and the sole responsibillity of defending the government fell on Pelham's shoulders. He continued to support the bill despite it being highly unpopular despite being rebuked in public.{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=10}}

But following the resignation of Townshend, he exchanged his then position, in 1730 for the more lucrative one of [[Paymaster of the Forces]].{{Sfn|Wilkes|1964|p=9}} He made himself conspicuous by his support of Walpole on the question of the [[Robert Walpole#Support|excise]]. He, Newcastle, and the Prime Minister would often meet at [[Houghton Hall]] in Norfolk, where they would draw up much of the country's policy. These meetings became known as the [[Norfolk Congress]]. With Walpole, he served as a founding governor of the popular charity the [[Foundling Hospital]] when it opened its doors in 1739. Like his brother, the Duke of Newcastle, Pelham was an active [[freemason]] of the [[Premier Grand Lodge of England]], active alongside [[John Theophilus Desaguliers]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.skirret.com/papers/freemasonry_and_social_england.html|title=Freemasonry and Social England in the Eighteenth Century|last1=Gilbert W. Daynes |date=1 December 2019|work=The Skirret|access-date=1 December 2019}}</ref>

In 1742 a union of parties resulted in the formation of an administration in which Pelham became Prime Minister and [[First Lord of the Treasury]] the following year, succeeding the [[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|Earl of Wilmington]] after his death.{{Sfn|Williams|1962|p=246}}

==Prime Minister<span class="anchor" id="Premiership"></span><!-- linked from redirects [[Premiership of Henry Pelham]], [[Prime ministership of Henry Pelham]] -->==
=== Appointment ===
[[Image:Henry Pelham (1694–1754).jpg|thumb|upright|Pelham, attributed to [[John Giles Eccardt]]]]
The first year of Pelham's premiership is regarded as a continuation of the [[Carteret ministry]], with [[John Carteret, 1st Earl Granville|Lord Carteret]] continuing as [[Secretary of State for the Northern Department]] with responsibility for foreign affairs; Carteret was close to [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]]. Pelham served as [[First Lord of the Treasury]], [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] and [[Leader of the House of Commons]].

In November 1744, the Pelhams forced Lord Carteret out of the ministry: Pelham bluntly told the king that either Carteret step down, or the Pelhamites would, leaving His Majesty without a government. Thereafter Pelham shared power with his brother, the [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne]]. Pelham was regarded as the leading figure, but rank and influence made his brother very powerful in the Cabinet.  In spite of a genuine attachment, there were occasional disputes between them, which sometimes led to further difficulties.

=== "The Broad-Bottomed Administration" ===
{{Main|Broad Bottom ministry}}

Being strongly in favour of peace, Pelham carried on the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] with languor and indifferent success, but the country, wearied of the interminable struggle, was disposed to acquiesce in his foreign policy almost without a murmur. King [[George II of Great Britain|George II]], thwarted in his own favourite schemes, made overtures in February 1746 to [[William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath|Lord Bath]], but his purpose was upset by the resignation of the two Pelhams (Henry and Newcastle), who, after a two-day hiatus in which Bath and Carteret (now earl Granville) proved unable to form a ministry, resumed office at the king's request.  One of their terms was to insist that the king should have 'total confidence' in a ministry; rather than partial grudging acceptance of the Whigs.

[[File:Henry Pelham by William Hoare, 1743.jpg|thumb|right|Henry Pelham, by [[William Hoare]], {{circa|1743}}]]

The [[wikt:Augustan|Augustan]] era was essential to the development of [[Powers of the prime minister of the United Kingdom|prime ministerial power]] as being entirely dependent on a Commons majority, rather than [[royal prerogative]] interventions.  While the king struggled with his headstrong son, [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], his son's uncertain constitutional position was high in the Leicester House party set.  In 1748 Frederick, a Tory, planned to bring down the Pelhamites at a general election due the following year.  The Prime Minister called an early poll in 1748 by asking the king to dissolve Parliament in 1747.  The prince and his father, the king, grew to hate one another with unspeakable animosity. But one consequence was a closer relationship between Henry Pelham and the sovereign.  When he finally died in 1754, the king remarked "Now I shall have no more peace."  The [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]] had been signed in 1748 leading inexorably to a number of cost-cutting budgetary measures.

=== Economic reform ===
The [[British Army]] and [[Royal Navy]] spending shrunk from £12 m to £7 million per annum.  Pelham promised to reduce [[interest rates]] through introduction of a balancing act measure from 4% to 3% by 1757.  He also assisted a fund to reduce the [[national debt]]. In 1749, the [[Navy Act 1748]] was passed, reorganising the Royal Navy. On 20 March 1751, the British calendar was reorganised as well (New Year's Day became 1 January); Britain would adopt the [[Gregorian calendar]] one year later. In 1752 he was able to reduce the [[land tax]] from 4&nbsp;s to 2&nbsp;s in the pound (an effective reduction from 20% to 10%).

One social consequence of the [[press gangs]] going to sea in an expansive navy fleet was the growth of industrial processes necessary for warfare. The distillation of gin reduced the price of alcohol, resulting in [[Gin Craze|widespread drunkenness]], demonstrated clearly by [[William Hogarth]] in "[[Gin Lane]]". Preaching in favour of temperance, and social problems caused by drunken soldiers and sailors, persuaded the administration to introduce the Gin Acts. The [[Gin Act 1751]] was the last of four that had largely failed to prevent serious social unrest, including riots in London, reduced the number licensed dealers and sellers of liquor.  By restricting supply the consumption dropped and price fell helping to manage the problem.<ref>Brumwell, p.159</ref>

=== Final session and opposition press (1753) ===
Pelham’s final session saw passage of the [[Jewish Naturalization Act 1753]] and the [[Marriage Act 1753]]. On 20 July 1753 he told his brother, the Duke of Newcastle, that attacks in the opposition weekly [[The Protester (periodical)|''The Protester'']] “gave [him] not the least concern” and that “the less notice is taken of him the better”.<ref>Robert Harris, ''A Patriot Press: National Politics and the London Press in the 1740s'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 37.</ref> Later that year, despite Pelham’s objections, Newcastle approved a Treasury pension to end [[James Ralph]]’s political writing.<ref>Elizabeth R. McKinsey, “James Ralph: The Professional Writer Comes of Age,” ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' 117, no. 1 (1973): 76.</ref>

=== Death ===
Upon his death, his brother (the aforementioned Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne) took over government.

===Achievements===
His very defects were among the chief elements of Pelham's success, for one with a strong personality, moderate amount self-respect, or haughty conceptions of statesmanship could not have restrained the discordant elements of the cabinet for any length of time the way he did. Moreover, he possessed tact and a thorough acquaintance with the forms of the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]. Whatever quarrels or insubordination might have existed within the cabinet, they never broke out into open revolt. His foreign policy followed Walpole's model of emphasizing peace and ending wars.  His financial policy was a major success once peace had been signed in 1748 to end the [[War of the Austrian Succession]].{{Sfn|Williams|1962|p=259–270}} He demobilized the armed forces, and reduced government spending from £12 million to £7 million. He refinanced the national debt dropping the interest from 4% to 3%. In 1752 he reduced the land tax from four shillings to two shillings in the pound; that is, from 20% to 10%.<ref name="Brumwell and Speck 288">{{cite book |first1=Stephen |last1=Brumwell |first2=W. A. |last2=Speck |title=Cassell's Companion to Eighteenth Century Britain |year=2002 |page=288}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Dorothy |last=Marshall |title=Eighteenth Century England |year=1974 |pages=221–227}}</ref> Historians Stephen Brumwell and W. A. Speck describe him as being an effective politician:

{{quote|His subdued manner concealed a shrewd and calculating politician. He was reserved and cautious, but behind the reserve was steel. All agreed on his integrity, which was remarkable in a venal age; unlike Walpole, he died relatively poor.<ref name="Brumwell and Speck 288"/>}}

==Personal life==
[[File:Henry Pelham (c.1695-1754) Prime Minister lived here - Blue Plaque.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|right|[[Blue plaque]] located at Henry Pelham’s home in [[Westminster]]]]
Pelham married [[Lady Catherine Pelham|Lady Catherine Manners]], daughter of the [[John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland|2nd Duke of Rutland]], on 31 October 1726 in the [[St James's|Parish of St James]], [[City of Westminster]].<ref>''The Register of Marriages in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1723-1754''. 31 October 1726.</ref> They had four daughters:
* Catherine Pelham-Clinton, Countess of Clinton (1727–1760), married 1744 [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle|Henry Clinton, 9th Earl of Lincoln]], who by this marriage subsequently became the 2nd [[Duke of Newcastle]] (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
* Frances (1728–1775), died unmarried
* Grace Watson, Baroness Sondes (1735–1777), married 1752 the [[Lewis Watson, 1st Baron Sondes|Hon. Lewis Watson]], who in 1760 was created [[Earl Sondes|Baron Sondes]]
* Mary (1739–1???), died unmarried

When Pelham was elevated to Prime Minister, he began construction of a house located at [[Wimbourne House|22 Arlington Street]] in St James's, Westminster. He hired the architect [[William Kent]] to build the structure in two phases.<ref name="William Kent House">{{cite web|title=About this project|url=http://www.architecture.com/FindAnArchitect/ArchitectPractices/EttweinBridgesArchitects/Projects/WilliamKentHouse,LondonW1-110303.aspx|website=Architecture|publisher=The Royal Institute of British Architects|access-date=30 June 2015|location=London, England}}</ref> Kent died in 1748<ref name=Architect>{{cite web|title=William Kent|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/15/101015424/|website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=30 June 2015|location=England}}</ref> and the work was completed by Stephen Wright<ref name="Finishing architect">{{NHLE|desc=Location  Wimbourne House, 22, Arlington Street SW1|num=1066498|access-date=30 June 2015}}</ref> in 1754.<ref name="William Kent House" />

Pelham died in 1754 and was buried in All Saints' Church, [[Laughton, East Sussex]].<ref name="PelODNB">''PelODNB''.</ref> His personal papers were inherited by his son-in-law and now form part of the Newcastle (Clumber) Collection held at the department of [[Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham]].

==Legacy==
He was one of the first of a relatively few prime ministers who never acceded to a [[peerage]]. Others include [[George Grenville]] (died as an MP), [[William Pitt the Younger]] (died in office), [[Spencer Perceval]] (died in office), [[George Canning ]] (died in office), [[Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel]] (died as an MP, though was a [[Earl Peel#Peel baronets, of Drayton Manor and Bury (1800)|baronet in his own right]]), [[William Ewart Gladstone]] ([[List of people who have declined a British honour|declined a peerage]]), [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman|Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman]] (declined a peerage but died as an MP), [[Bonar Law]] (died as an MP), [[Ramsay MacDonald]] (died as an MP), [[Neville Chamberlain]] (declined a peerage but died as an MP), [[Winston Churchill|Sir Winston Churchill]] (declined a peerage), [[Edward Heath|Sir Edward Heath]] (declined a peerage), [[John Major|Sir John Major]] (declined a peerage), [[Tony Blair|Sir Tony Blair]] (declined a peerage), [[Gordon Brown]] (declined a peerage), [[Boris Johnson]], and [[Liz Truss]].

Prime Minister Henry Pelham was played by [[Roger Allam]], as depicted in the 2011 film ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides]]''.<ref>{{cite video | people = [[Rob Marshall]] (director) | title = [[Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides]] | type = Film | publisher=[[Walt Disney Pictures]] |year=2011}}</ref>

==Ancestry==
{{unsourced section|date=June 2021}}
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Henry Pelham'''
|2= 2. [[Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham]]
|3= 3. Lady Grace Holles
|4= 4. [[Sir John Pelham, 3rd Baronet|Sir John Pelham, 3rd Baronet, of Laughton]]
|5= 5. Lady Lucy Sydney
|6= 6. [[Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare]]
|7= 7. Grace Pierrepont
|8= 8. [[Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet|Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet, of Laughton]]
|9= 9. Mary Wilbraham
|10= 10. [[Robert Sydney, 2nd Earl of Leicester]]
|11= 11. [[Dorothy Sidney, Countess of Leicester|Lady Dorothy Percy]]
|12= 12. [[John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare]]
|13= 13. Hon. Elizabeth Vere
|14= 14. [[William Pierrepont (politician)|Hon. William Pierrepont]]
|15= 15. Elizabeth Harries
}}

==Arms==
{{Emblem table
| name = Pelham, of Laughton, Sussex
| image = Coat of arms of Pelham, of Laughton.svg
| imagesize = 180px
| crest = A peacock in his pride argent.
| coronet =
| escutcheon = Quarterly, 1 & 3, Azure, three pelicans argent vulning themselves in the breast gules; 2 & 3, Gules, two belts issuing out of the base argent, buckles and studs or.
| supporters = 
| motto =  ''Vicit amor patriæ'' (The love of my country prevails).<ref>{{cite book |title= A display of heraldry |author=John Guillim |edition=6 |year=1724}}</ref>
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Ballantyne, Archibald. ''Lord Carteret: A Political Biography 1690 to 1763'' (1887)  [https://archive.org/details/cu31924028125940 online]
* Coxe, William, ''Memoirs of the administration of the Right Honourable Henry Pelham, collected from the family papers, and other authentic documents'' (2 vol. 1829) [https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28memoirs%20henry%20pelham%29 online]
* Leonard, Dick. "Henry Pelham—Pragmatic Heir to Walpole." in Dick Leonard, ed. ''Eighteenth-Century British Premiers'' (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2011) pp.&nbsp;40–53.
* Marshall, Dorothy. ''Eighteenth Century England'' (2nd ed. 1974) political history 1714–1784,
* {{Cite book |last=Owen |first=John Beresford |url=https://archive.org/details/riseofpelhams0000owen/page/n7/mode/2up |title=The Rise of the Pelhams |publisher=Methuen & Co Ltd |year=1957 |edition=2nd}}
*{{cite book| first=John| last=Wilkes | title= A Whig in Power: The Political Career of Henry Pelham | url=https://archive.org/details/whiginpowerpolit0000wilk| url-access=registration| place=London | date=1964 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Basil |url=https://archive.org/details/whigsupremacy1710000basi/page/246/mode/2up |title=The Whig Supremacy, 1714-1760 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1962 |isbn=978-0198217107 |edition=2nd}}
*Some material has been adapted from the [[1911 Encyclopædia Britannica]].
*{{Cite web |last=Sedgwick |first=Romney R. |title=PELHAM, Hon. Henry (1695-1754), of Esher Place, Surr. |url=http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1715-1754/member/pelham-hon-henry-1695-1754 |url-status=dead |website=History of Parliament Online |access-date=19 October 2025 |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123090214/http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1715-1754/member/pelham-hon-henry-1695-1754 }}
*{{ODNBweb|first=A. J.|last=Kulisheck|id=21789|title=Pelham, Henry|ref=none}}; cited as ''PelODNB''.
* {{cite web
| url          = https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Pelham
| title        = Henry Pelham
| date         = July 28, 1999
| website      = Encyclopedia Britannica 
| publisher    = The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 
| access-date  = November 23, 2022
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.number10.gov.uk/past-prime-ministers/henry-pelham/ More about Henry Pelham] on the Downing Street website.
*[http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/family/newcastle/biographies/biographyofhenrypelham(c1695-1754;primeminister).aspx Biography of Henry Pelham, with links to online catalogues, on the website of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham]
*{{DNB|prescript=|wstitle=Pelham, Henry (1695?-1754) |ref=none}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Robartes, 2nd Earl of Radnor|The Earl of Radnor
]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Treasurer of the Chamber]]|years=1720–1722}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Stanhope (1673–1760)|Charles Stanhope]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor|Thomas Trevor]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary at War]]|years=1724–1730}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir William Strickland, 4th Baronet|Sir William Strickland]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|The Lord Wilmington]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Paymaster of the Forces]]|years=1730–1743}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Winnington (1696–1746)|Thomas Winnington]]}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|The Earl of Wilmington]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Great Britain]]|years=27 August 1743 – 6 March 1754}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|The Duke of Newcastle]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[First Lord of the Treasury]]|years=1743–1754}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys|Samuel Sandys]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]|years=1743–1754}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Lee (UK)|William Lee]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Leader of the House of Commons]]|years=1743–1754}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham|Thomas Robinson]]}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George Naylor]]|before2=[[Sir William Ashburnham, 2nd Baronet|William Ashburnham]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Seaford (UK Parliament constituency)|Seaford]]
 | alongside =[[George Naylor]]
 |years=1717–1722
}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet|Sir William Gage, Bt]]|after2=[[Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke|Sir Philip Yorke]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|Spencer Compton]]|before2=[[James Butler (1680-1741)|James Butler]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)|Sussex]]
 | with = [[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|Spencer Compton]] 1722–1728
 | with2 = [[James Butler (1680-1741)|James Butler]] 1728–1741
 | with3 = [[Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset|Earl of Middlesex]] 1742–1747
 | with4 = [[John Butler (politician)|John Butler]] 1747–1754
 | years=1722–1754
}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Butler (politician)|John Butler]]|after2=[[Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester|Thomas Pelham]]}}
{{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelham, Henry}}
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