Spencer Perceval

Uncommon card · No. 92826

Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated, and the only solicitor-general or attorney-general to have become prime minister. The younger son of The Earl of Egmont, an Anglo-Irish earl, Perceval was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn, practised as a barrister on the Midland circuit, and in 1796 became a King's Counsel. He entered politics at age 33 as a member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton. A follower of William Pitt the Younger, Perceval always described himself as a "friend of Mr. Pitt", rather than a Tory. He was opposed to Catholic emancipation and reform of Parliament; he supported the war against Napoleon and the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. After a late entry into politics, his rise to power was rapid; he was appointed as Solicitor General and then...

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