Henry Pelham was born in September 1694, son of Baron Pelham and his second wife Grace Pelham.

Pelham was educated at Westminster School and Hart Hall, Oxford (though he never graduated). In 1715, Pelham served as a volunteer soldier during the Jacobite rebellion. He was captain of a troop of dragoons and fought with distinction at the Battle of Preston in Lancashire where, during several days of combat, the Jacobites were defeated.  He travelled to Europe over 1715-17 on the ‘Grand Tour’.

Henry Pelham was unusually close to his older half-brother Thomas, who inherited both his father’s baronetcy and his uncle’s lands, becoming the Duke of Newcastle in 1715.  For the rest of Pelham’s life, they would be a formidable political double act.

It was his brother who found Pelham the winnable seat of Sussex during a 1717 by-election. It was also thanks to Newcastle that Pelham joined the government that year as Treasurer of the Chamber. In the Commons, Pelham was a good speaker and displayed a strong understanding of the government’s finances.

In this position, he made the acquaintance of Robert Walpole, who appointed Pelham a Lord of the Treasury in 1721.  In Walpole’s government, Pelham rose through the ranks, becoming Secretary at War, and served continuously until Walpole’s resignation in 1742.

Pelham was never raised to the peerage. He was first elected to the constituency of Seaford in 1717, and then represented the Sussex constituency from 1722 for the rest of his life. In 1734, he also stood as MP for Aldborough, but was elected to Sussex and chose to represent that constituency instead.

Despite his mild exterior, he earned a reputation for formidable hard work and effective parliamentary management (though he was not promoted to Cabinet). He was also honest, not choosing to enrich himself from his offices. In 1733, during the Excise Crisis, he protected Sir Robert Walpole when confronted by a mob of angry opponents outside the House of Commons, drawing a sword and asking the crowd ‘Who will be the first to fall?’ Pelham’s brave gesture allowed Walpole to escape the danger.

In 1742, Walpole recommended that Pelham replace him as Prime Minister. But George II preferred Lord Wilmington. Pelham continued to defend the government as the Leader of the House of Commons.

Upon Wilmington’s death in 1743, Pelham was finally appointed First Lord of the Treasury. Though, his position as first minister was not quite established until the fall of the powerful Lord Carteret in November 1744. After that, Pelham formed a ‘broad-bottomed’ ministry, with a diverse set of Whig and Tory ministers.

The first priority was the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). Britain had largely lost the war in Europe, with the Pragmatic Army defeated at Fontenoy in 1745, and the Low Countries overrun by the French army. But the British had triumphed at sea and seized French colonies. Peace in 1748 largely confirmed the status quo ante bellum with many believing that war would come again soon.

In 1745, Pelham’s government faced the last and greatest Jacobite uprising, ‘the ’45’. John Cope’s British army was defeated in a few minutes at Prestonpans, the rebels seized Edinburgh, and began to advance into England. Panic reigned in London. Pelham ordered the Duke of Cumberland’s British contingent withdrawn from the Pragmatic Army. The rebels turned back at Derby, and Cumberland’s army chased them to Culloden, where they were bloodily defeated in April 1746. Pelham’s Cabinet would discuss the sentences for the Jacobite prisoners, pardoning some, but showing no mercy to others.

In February 1746, Pelham proposed bringing William Pitt into the government to strengthen its standing. But George II disliked Pitt and would not contemplate this. In a secret meeting, on 9 February 1746, the Cabinet met and chose to force the issue. The following day, they all resigned.

George II tried to call their bluff by appointing Lord Bath as First Lord, but he was unable to fill the positions and had no support in Parliament. Within two days, George was forced to go back to Pelham, with the minister insisting that he continue on his own terms. This was an important step to establishing the doctrine of ‘Cabinet Responsibility’, that all ministers are responsible for the policy of the government – and must resign if they are not.

With the wars over, Pelham focused on peacetime government. His aims were similar to those of Walpole – peace, stability, and efficient administration. He succeeded in cutting the national debt from £12 million to £7 million.

Pelham’s government also passed some famous reforms including the Calendar Act adopting the Gregorian Calendar (which, contrary to myth, did not provoke riots) and an Act establishing the British Museum in 1753. More infamous was the Marriage Act of 1753 prohibiting clandestine marriages, and the Jewish Naturalisation Act of 1753 which Pelham passed but later withdrew due to anti-Semitic outrage.

Pelham tried to retire during the early 1750s, but George II persuaded him to stay. His health deteriorated and he died in March 1754. According to the diarist Horace Walpole, George II’s response was ‘Now I shall have no more peace’.

Pelham married Lady Catherine Manners in 1726. They had two sons and six daughters (four of which survived childhood). Both of Pelham’s sons died, aged 3 and 10, in two days in 1739.