Spencer Perceval was born into the Anglo-Irish nobility in 1762. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. After that, he studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, becoming a King’s Counsel.

He entered Parliament as MP for Northampton in 1796, and he immediately associated with ‘the Friends of Mr Pitt’. As a lawyer, he already had accomplished speaking skills. He impressed Pitt and was soon appointed to be Solicitor to the Ordnance.

Perceval saw no reason to resign with Pitt in 1801. After all, he personally opposed Catholic emancipation. He was happy to continue in Addington’s ministry, where he served as first solicitor general and then attorney general. However, he did resign in 1806, rather than join Grenville’s government.

Perceval had a formidable, evangelical Christianity, and made charitable donations, even when he could barely afford them himself. In Parliament, he was a keen supporter of abolishing the slave trade.

In opposition, Perceval criticised the Grenville and Portland ministries. During this time, he also acted as a legal adviser to Princess Caroline, who was investigated by a Commission for misconduct. A lengthy defence letter that Perceval wrote helped to buttress Caroline’s case, and the Commission failed to implicate the Princess, who later was godmother to one of Perceval’s children.

In 1807, Perceval was back in Cabinet, becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He expanded the Orders in Council, to restrict the trade of neutral countries with France. He also raised loans to pay for the war.

The Duke of Portland suffered a stroke in 1809 and chose to resign. Canning, Lord Grenville, and Lord Grey were all discussed as successors. Ultimately, however, Grenville and Grey refused, and Perceval vetoed Canning, who had demanded to be Prime Minister and would accept nothing else. Thus, it fell to Perceval to form a government, and in October 1809 he became Prime Minister.

With some difficulties, Perceval formed a cabinet that contained Lord Liverpool and Lord Eldon, but not Canning or Lord Castlereagh who had recently duelled. It was a rather weak arrangement, and several votes in Parliament would be lost. Perceval was eventually able to bring Castlereagh into the government in 1812.

Towards the end of 1810, there was another Regency Crisis, as George III was no longer capable of his duties. Prince George demanded the creation of a Regency, and Perceval, suspicious of the Prince’s Whig sympathies, passed a restrictive Regency Bill that reduced George’s power for a year, by which point George had reconciled himself to Perceval’s government.

The war in Europe continued, with Perceval supporting Wellington’s military operations in Spain. Though Perceval did not live to see it, during the summer of 1812, Wellington was able to shift the strategic balance in Spain in favour of his forces. Meanwhile, on the other side of Europe, Napoleon prepared to invade Russia.

Percival was shot as he entered the lobby of the House of Commons by an embittered merchant named John Bellingham on 11 May 1812. Collapsing to the ground, he died within a few moments, and is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated. Perceval was buried on 16 May in a private funeral. Bellingham, who had blamed the government for not compensating him for being imprisoned in Russia, was swiftly tried, found guilty, and hanged on 18 May 1812.

Perceval married Jane Wilson in 1790, against her father’s wishes. They had 13 children. After his death, Parliament voted a sum of £50,000 for his widow and children.