Henry Addington

The Viscount Sidmouth
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
17 March 1801 – 10 May 1804
MonarchGeorge III
Preceded byWilliam Pitt the Younger
Succeeded byWilliam Pitt the Younger
Ministerial offices
Home Secretary
In office
11 June 1812 – 17 January 1822
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Liverpool
Preceded byRichard Ryder
Succeeded byRobert Peel
Lord President of the Council
In office
8 April 1812 – 11 June 1812
Prime Minister
Preceded byThe Earl Camden
Succeeded byThe Earl of Harrowby
In office
8 October 1806 – 26 March 1807
Prime MinisterThe Lord Grenville
Preceded byThe Earl Fitzwilliam
Succeeded byThe Earl Camden
In office
14 January 1805 – 10 July 1805
Prime MinisterWilliam Pitt the Younger
Preceded byThe Duke of Portland
Succeeded byThe Earl Camden
Lord Privy Seal
In office
5 February 1806 – 15 October 1806
Prime MinisterThe Lord Grenville
Preceded byThe Earl of Westmorland
Succeeded byThe Lord Holland
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
14 March 1801 – 10 May 1804
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byWilliam Pitt the Younger
Succeeded byWilliam Pitt the Younger
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
17 March 1801 – 10 May 1804
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byWilliam Pitt the Younger
Succeeded byWilliam Pitt the Younger
Speaker of the House of Commons
of the United Kingdom
[a]
In office
1 January 1801 – 10 February 1801
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterWilliam Pitt
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded bySir John Mitford
Speaker of the House of Commons
of Great Britain
In office
8 June 1789 – 31 January 1800
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterWilliam Pitt
Preceded byWilliam Grenville
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Member of Parliament
for Devizes
In office
1784–1805
Preceded byHenry Jones
Succeeded byThomas Grimston Estcourt
Personal details
Born(1757-05-30)30 May 1757
Holborn, Middlesex, England
Died15 February 1844(1844-02-15) (aged 86)
White Lodge, Surrey, England
Resting placeSt Mary the Virgin, Mortlake
Political partyTory (Addingtonian)
Spouses
(m. 1781; died 1811)
Marianne Townsend
(m. 1823)
Children8 (by Hammond)
ParentAnthony Addington (father)
Relatives
Education
Alma materBrasenose College, Oxford
Cabinet§ Cabinet
SignatureCursive signature in ink
  1. ^ Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from the Act of Union in January 1801.

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC (30 May 1757 – 15 February 1844) was a British Tory statesman who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804 and as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1789 to 1801.

Addington is best known for obtaining the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, an unfavourable peace with Napoleonic France which marked the end of the Second Coalition during the French Revolutionary Wars. When that treaty broke down, Addington resumed the war without allies. He conducted relatively weak defensive hostilities, ahead of what would become the War of the Third Coalition. He was forced from office in favour of William Pitt the Younger, who had preceded Addington as prime minister. Addington is also known for his reactionary crackdown on advocates of democratic reforms during a ten-year spell as Home Secretary from 1812 to 1822. He is the longest continuously serving holder of that office since it was created in 1782.