Henry Pelham as a Student

  but Henry's private papers have been largely lost and hence he traditionally has not received the recognition he deserves. Pelham was born into the British aristocracy - the son of Thomas Pelham who was 1st Lord Pelham. Henry was educated in Oxford at Hertford College which was known as Hart Hall when he attended and his favorite tutor was and remained Isaac Newton. He joined the army as many younger sons did at that time and fought to defeat the Jacobite rebels in 1715. He first ran for Parliament and was elected in 1717. Pelham quickly became known for his candor and honest which stood him in good steed with his fellow Whig Members of Parliament. He worked his way up in the ranks of government serving as Lord of the Treasury in 1721 and then Secretary for War in 1724.

In 1730 he was appointed Paymaster of the Forces. Pelham was a strong supporter of Robert Walpole but Walpole was under pressure from the House of Commons and in 1742 stepped down leaving Pelham to become Prime Minister. His biggest ally in his administration was his brother Thomas Pelham-Holles who was a master strategist at handling the House of Commons and maintaining support for Henry's Whig administration.  

Also in his administration were notables such as the Duke of Newcastle  and John Carteret who maintained and secured a close working relationship with King George II. This relationship between Carteret and George II lead to one of the great steps forward in Parliament establishing it's power over the King. Careret worked hard to push England more deeply into the war of Spanish succession.

By 1744 this position caused Pelham to dismiss him from his ministry which put him in a position of opposition to George II. King George insisted that Carteret be brought back into the ministry and Pelham retaliated by asking for the resignation of the leading Whig members of the government. Carteret was left to form a government form a small rump of the Whig party and within a few days he and King George had to admit defeat and step down in favour of Pelham.

One of the new figures that Pelham brought into the ministry with him was the future Prime Minister William Pitt who the King despised. The only other serious challenge Pelham faced in his efforts to bring the war to an end was the Prince of Wales and his supporters. Pelham withstood their pressure and in 1748 England signed the treaty of  Aix-la-Chapelle which ended the war of Austrian Succession. He immediately began to reduce the expenditures on the army and navy and get England's financial house in order.

Pelham died in March of 1754 of a skin infection and not from eating too much and exercising too little as many claimed at the time. His well oiled system of Whig landowners began to shake a little after his passing and even George II realized that although Pelham had opposed him in certain matters, he had brought stability and responsible financial government to his Kingdom.