Frederick John Robinson

Frederick Robinson was the second son of the former Ambassador to Spain and Foreign Secretary Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham. He graduated from the St. John's College at Cambridge in 1802 and afterwards entered Lincoln's Inn as a law student. After serving as private secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Robinson was elected to Parliament for Carlow Borough, Ireland (1806-1807) and later for Ripon (1807-1827). He built up a solid reputation having been President of the Board of Trade (1818-1823) and a mostly successful Chancellor of the Exchequer (1823-1827). He was made Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1827) and Viscount Goderich of Nocton on 28 Apr 1827, and entered the House of Lords.

After the death of George Canning (8 Aug 1827), King George IV sent for Viscount Goderich and asked him to take over the administration of government, but it took more than three weeks before Goderich was formally entrusted with the task of government formation. On 31 Aug 1827, he kissed hand as a new prime minister and assumed the office of First Lord of the Treasury (1827-1828). Goderich was not a firm leader of an Administration. He found his Cabinet colleagues disloyal and lacking in rigor. The Chancellor of the Exchequer J.C.Herries and Secretary of War William Huskisson in particular were a source of trouble and in Cabinet they failed to settle down to constructive work. Even the one overseas success, the winning of the battle of Navarino (20 Oct 1827) against the Turks and the Egyptians, drew confused Cabinet reaction, as sympathy for the Greeks was contradicted by fears of Russian moves against a defeated Turkey. Amidst this disarray Goderich resigned his premiership (8 Jan 1828) after only a few months in office, although some years later he returned to serve briefly in the Cabinet of Earl Grey. [1, pp. 118-123]