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Frederick John Robinson Goderich, 1st Viscount
(1782—1859) prime minister
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(1782–1859).
Prime minister. Educated at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge, Goderich sat as a moderate Tory for Carlow in 1806 and for Ripon, 1807–27. He held a number of offices—lord of Admiralty 1810–12, vice‐president of the Board of Trade 1812–18, lord of Treasury 1812–13, joint paymaster general 1813–17, president of the Board of Trade 1818–23 and 1841–3, treasurer of the navy 1818–23, secretary of state for war and the colonies 1827, 1830–3, lord privy seal 1833–4, president of the Board of Control for India 1843–6. He was made viscount 1827 and earl of Ripon 1833. His period as chancellor of the Exchequer 1823–7 earned him the nickname ‘Prosperity Robinson’, yet his premiership September 1827–January 1828 was a dismal failure, distinguished only by cabinet quarrels. ‘A transient and embarrassed phantom’, was Disraeli's terse comment.
Subjects: History — Regional and National History
