Prologue: Two Legacies

The focus in this chapter is primarily on the turbulent and unsatisfying relationship that persisted between Lord Shelburne and his younger brother, the Hon. Thomas Fitzmaurice (1742–93). They illustrate parallel paths in integrating themselves as an ancient Anglo-Irish family, more Irish than English and primarily resident in Ireland, into the British political and cultural establishment, with seats respectively in both British Houses of Parliament. Their dealings towards each other were characterized by a caution and often a distance that had its origins in early life and is symbolized by their different surnames: respectively, Petty and Fitzmaurice. For Thomas was no ordinary younger son: he was made the heir to many of the Fitzmaurice properties in Ireland which came to him in 1761 and 1780, whereas his brother, the 2nd Earl, acquired principally the Petty settled estates from his father. Shelburne's relations with his closest male family members were often awkward and strained and one might say that the multiple misunderstandings between the siblings nicely parallel the 2nd Earl's habitually awkward dealings with other members of the late eighteenth-century British political elite. Though Thomas in life had an equivalent share of disappointments and frustrations to Shelburne's, he was a pioneering gentleman industrialist and his career and character desperately need rescuing from the shadow of his elder brother's. This chapter is an initial attempt at recovery.

The seeds of fraternal disgruntlement were sown while William (the future 2nd Earl) (Figure 1) and Thomas (Figure 2) were boys being brought up in Ireland during the 1740s.

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, created 1st Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784, is the least studied statesman of the reign of George III. The only modern monograph on him was written in 1963 by John Norris, and concentrated on Economical (i.e. administrative) Reform. This dearth is in part a tribute to the longevity of the three-volume biography written by Shelburne's descendant, the minor Liberal politician Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice (later created 1st Baron Fitzmaurice), based securely on the family archives. That there is such an abundance of archival sources makes the omission the more glaring. The William L. Clements Library at Ann Arbor bought a selection of papers when they were sold in the 1920s. Access to what remained at Bowood was, admittedly, for a while problematic despite the papers being xeroxed by the Bodleian Library. After the death of the 6th Marquess, there was a further sale to the British Library with a relatively small residue being left with the family at Bowood. The essays in this book are based squarely on these unpublished sources. They are a contribution toward his systematic reassessment, and reflect new perspectives on political life, gender, and the Enlightenment, that have developed since Norris's work was published. They are intended to provoke new debate and further research. Selected aspects of Shelburne's life and career receive fresh attention in this collection; other avenues for further exploration are also suggested in this introduction. There are several conceptual frames through which the life and career of Lord Shelburne can be examined. The most obvious is his role in high politics.