(born May 13, 1730died July 1, 1782, London, Eng.) British politician. From 1751 to 1762 he served as gentleman of the bedchamber for George II and then George III, who appointed him prime minister in 1765. He obtained repeal of the unpopular Stamp Act but agreed to the passage of the Declaratory Act. His ministry collapsed through internal dissension in 1766. He and Edmund Burke led the parliamentary opposition to the ministries in power and spoke in favour of independence for the American colonies. and obtained legislative independence for the Irish parliament.
The English statesman Charles WatsonWentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (17301782), as prime minister and leader of the Whig opposition, advocated leniency toward the American colonies.
Charles WatsonWentworth was born on May 13, 1730. He was educated at Westminster School and at Cambridge. In 1745, at the age of 15, he ran away without parental permission to join the Duke of Cumberland's army, which was fighting against Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender. Between 1748 and 1750, WatsonWentworth completed the grand tour of Europe. Johnny Unitas Jersey
On the death of his father in 1750, Rockingham succeeded to the family estates in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, and Ireland, and in 1752 he augmented his inheritance by marrying Mary Bright, a Yorkshire heiress. In 1751 Rockingham also succeeded to his father's offices of lord lieutenant of the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire, was appointed a lord of the bedchamber, and took his seat in the House of Lords. For the next 15 years Rockingham divided his time between the Lords and his consuming passion for horse racing. In general he entered little into political issues, but in 1762, in protest against the signing of the Peace of Paris, he resigned his place in the bedchamber. In consequence, he was dismissed from his lieutenancies.
During the regency crisis of 1765 Rockingham and the elder William Pitt were approached by the Duke of Cumberland with a view to forming a coalition; and on Pitt's refusal to serve, Rockingham became prime minister. Rockingham was among those ministers inclined to act leniently on the American question. Nevertheless, it was not until the spring of 1766 that the government proposed and carried the repeal of the Stamp Act. The repeal was facilitated by a concurrent statutory declaration of the absolute supremacy of Parliament over the Colonies. George III, chagrined by the repeal of the Stamp Act, was further mortified by the coalition's refusal to grant an allowance to his brothers and by the passage of resolutions condemning general warrants. In July 1766 he dismissed Rockingham, and Pitt returned to power.
Disappointed, Rockingham, took little part in public affairs until the conclusion of the FrancoAmerican alliance. Then he bitterly attacked Lord North's American policy, and in March 1778 he declared for the immediate recognition of the independence of the Colonies. On the fall of North's administration in February 1782, Rockingham again became prime minister in a coalition government. This ministry conceded legislative independence to Ireland, and it considerably curtailed the political power of the Crown, chiefly by reducing the King's household. Rockingham's death on July 1, 1782, dissolved this shortlived administration. The only biographical study is short and deals with his life up to 1765: G. H. Guttridge, The Early Career of Lord Rockingham, 17301765 (1952). A later study by Guttridge, English Whiggism and the American Revolution (1963), is important for the political philosophy of Rockingham and his associates. Recommended for general historical background is J. Steven Watson, The Reign of George III, 17601815 (1960).
Rockingham, Charles WatsonWentworth, 2nd marquis of (173082). An often underrated politician, Rockingham contributed significantly to the emergence of a distinct Whig ideology. Although his two brief periods as prime minister (17656 and 1782) were unhappy, Rockingham achieved much as a party leader. Having held a court appointment from 1751, Rockingham resigned in November 1762 and joined the opposition to Lord Bute. He was appointed 1st lord of the Treasury in 1765 and successfully orchestrated the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. Rockingham, nevertheless, believed in the subservience of the colonies and repeal was accompanied by a Declaratory Act, asserting British legislative supremacy. Dismissed in March 1766 because of his continuing suspicions of Bute's influence, he remained in opposition for the next sixteen years. Rockingham and his followers constantly reiterated that they were the only true Whigs and, by force of repetition, a diffuse term was reclaimed: the Rockinghamites gradually developed a near monopoly of the title 'Whig Party'. Much was made of the supposedly increased power of the crown and it was argued that the political advantages derived from granting places and contracts ought to be reduced. Economical reform was favoured rather than parliamentary reform. Rockingham's return to power, in the wake of Lord North's fall, was irresistible, since his party was the largest in opposition. Rockingham insisted on becoming 1st lord of the Treasury, but his premiership was undermined by the king's insistence on cabinet office for Shelburne, whom Rockingham rightly mistrusted. Ministers were soon at loggerheads and Rockingham's unexpected death in July 1782 may have simply hastened a looming political crisis. Andrew Bogut Authentic Jersey
Rockingham, Charles WatsonWentworth, 2d marquess of (rk'ngm), 173082, British statesman. In the early years of the reign of George III he became a leading opponent of the "king's friends," held several offices, and formed a coalition government in 1765. During his ministry the Stamp Act was repealed and conciliation with the American colonies attempted, but the administration fell in 1766. Rockingham continued to oppose the coercive colonial policy of the government. In 1782, at the fall of Lord North, he again formed a ministry. The war in America was already lost, and Rockingham died before the peace settlement could be reached.