Autograph manuscript of speech by the Second Viscount Palmerston, possibly prepared for and delivered before a committee of the Houses of Parliament enquiring into the transfer of the sovereignty of the Isle of Man from the proprietorship of the Duke of Atholl to the Crown
Date(s): c. 1765
Scope & Content: Palmerston argues strongly against the Crown staking an improper claim on the Isle of Man. The Treasury had offered the Duke of Atholl a price lower than appropriate and the Crown was threatening to refute the Duke's claim to ownership.
Administration / Biographical History: Henry Temple was a son of Henry Temple (son of Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston) and Jane, daughter of Sir John Barnard, Lord Mayor of London. He was born into 'the Ascendancy', the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, his family owning a vast country estate in the north of County Sligo in the west of Ireland. He succeeded to the peerage in 1757, and was educated at Clare College, Cambridge from 1757 to 1759. As a member of the House of Commons he represented the constituencies of East Looe between 1762 and 1768, Southampton between 1768 and 1774, Hastings between 1774 and 1784, Boroughbridge between 1784 and 1790, Newport, Isle of Wight between 1790 and 1796, and Winchester between 1796 and his death in 1802.
Viscount Palmerston was appointed to the Board of Trade in 1765, was a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty between 1766 and 1777 and was a Lord of the Treasury from 1777 to 1782.
He died on 17 April 1802 at his house in Hanover Square, Westminster and left behind his wife and children. His son, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century.
Source: Wikipedia.
Language: English
Extent: 4 pages (2 sheets)
Item name: text of speech
Collection: Manuscript Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: MS 09220
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