1807 - 1812

Spencer Perceval (1762-1812) Perceval was a well-known barrister, prosecuting radicals charged for sedition in the 1790s, before he was elected to Parliament in 1796. Though an associate of Pitt, he was deeply opposed to Catholic emancipation; he refused, for this reason, to take office with Charles James Fox in Grenville's 'Ministry of All the Talents', and after the resignation of the Grenville ministry over the Catholic issue, Perceval agreed to take the position of chancellor of the exchequer and Leader of the Commons in a government nominally headed by the Duke of Portland. Perceval at first had a miserable time in government with the war in Spain going badly and rows with the Prince of Wales. But just as things were beginning to improve in both quarters, Perceval was shot and killed in May 1812 in the lobby of the House of Commons, his assailant a man with a personal grievance against the government.