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Home My WebLink AboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-12-30, Page 3Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Page 3 Viscount Goderich: Frederick John Robinson 2010 will mark the opening of the newly renovated Goderich town hall and Goderich Public School. Yet, even though Viscount Goderich rose to become one of the most powerful British statesmen of his age and briefly held the Prime Minister's office, he is a virtually forgotten figure in both Canadian and British history. Frederick John Robinson was born to Eng- land's ruling class on November 1, 1782. His father, Thomas Robinson, was Baron Gran- tham. His mother, Lady Mary Yorke, was the daughter of the Duke of Hardwicke. His family were devout members of the Anglican Church. Robinson received a proper upper-class education at Harrow where he won first class honours in classical history. He graduated from St. John's College, Cambridge Univer- sity in 1802 and later that year earned a Mas- ter's degree. Robinson also displayed a talent for poetry. He won the Sir William Browne Medal for writing Latin odes. He was a bril- liant young man destined to administer an empire. In 1803, Robinson held a Captain's com- mission of his uncle's Yorkshire Hussar Regi- ment of Yeoman Cavalry. When Robinson's uncle, Lord Hardwicke, became Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland in 1804, he appointed Rob- inson as his -private secretary. Robinson entered Parliament in 18Q6 as the member from Carlow. He delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons in 1808. He established a speaking style that distinguished his entire political career. He would summarize the merits of the opposi- tion's case and then state why he could not support it. One critic noted "the leading char- acteristic of his speeches is the want of any- thing decisive?' Others thought his speeches demonstrated a balanced mind. All agree that his speeches were sincere and often insightful, but un- imaginative and incredibly dull. Robinson would have fit comfortably into the current Canadian political landscape. His personal popularity on both sides of the House earned him a series of sub -cabinet posts including Under-Secretary of the Colo- nies; Vice -President of the Board of Trade; and Naval Treasurer. His sharp eye on the realm's finances -was rewarded with member- ship in the Privy Council in 1812. Robinson married well. In 1814, he was wedded by the Archbishop of Canterbury to Lady Sarah Hobart, the daughter of the early Earl of Buckingham. Although no one described Lady Sarah as a beauty, she was the heir to her father's wealth. A few more inheritances through a series of fortunate deaths made the Robinsons one of the richest couples in Britain. In 1818, Robinson entered the cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. He held that office until 1823 when he as appointed Chan- cellor of the Exchequer - the equivalent of a modem Pyrans Minister. Under Robinson's direction the Crown's treasury flourished. Robinson lowered taxes, removed war -time tariffs and encouraged the expansion of British trade. His trade poli- cies made Britain the wealthiest nation in history. He was deri- sively dubbed `Pros- perity' Robinson by radical journalist Wil- liam Cobbett. Although a Tory, Robinson advocated closer ties with the United States as. the surest way to maintain Canada; he promoted free trade; encouraged democratic reform and was a militant oppo- nent of slavery. Indeed, the Town of Goder- ich in Sierre Leonne (19,000 inhabitants) is a tribute to his abolitionist activities. In 1827, Robinson was raised to the peel.- age eerage and given the title Viscount Goderich and appointed Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The sudden death of Prime Min- ister George Canning accidentally elevated Goderich, as the senior cabinet member, to the Prime Minister's office in August 1827. Goderich's premiership would be brief as a series of political and personal crises doomed his administration. Goderich 'found it im- possible to fill several key cabinet positions. Personality clashes, political in -fighting and royal interference aggravated Goderich's at- tempts to form a cabinet. In the Greek war for independence from Turkish rule, British Admiral Sir Edward Co- drington was ordered in October to blockade the combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet at Greece's Navarino Bay. Not content to fol- low orders, Codrington sailed into Navarino Bay and destroyed it. Wellington wanted Codrington court-mar- tialed. ourtmar- tialed. The British public demanded a hero. • The King awarded Codrington the Grand Cross of the Bath without consulting his min- isters. Goderich was left with the diplomatic fall out. The remainder of his administration was spent avoiding war with the Turks. Lack- ing a navy, the 'lurks had little choice but to accept Goderich's terms. On the domestic front, Lady Sarah, Goderich's wife, had given birth to a son in August. In what would . be diagnosed today as post -partum depression, Lady Sarah became "more cross than ever." Em- ily Eden, her closest confidante reported that heavy doses of the opiate laudanum were administered "to quell Lady Sarah's ex- citement." Eden rather cattily remarked that Lady Sarah's "atten- tion to her own self is never disturbed for a Yates moment." Her tantrums and demands on her husband were an emotional drain that may have cost him his premiership. On January 8, 1828, Goderich reported to King George IV that he could not form a cabinet. The King at that moment considered -the government `virtually dissolved.' One critic harshly stated that Goderich "was probably the weakest Prime Minister who ever held office in this country, and was the only one who never faced Parliament," - Viscount Goderich continued his career as an able administra- tor in successive Whig governments as he held high profile cabi- net positions until his retirement from poli- tics in 1846. In 1833, the Earldom of Ripon was added to his many honours. Upon his death on January 28, 1859, Vis- count Goderich was a much revered elder statesman. Even his harshest critics con- ceded that Goderich was "an amiable, up- right,. irresolute man of respectable abilities and businesslike hab- its." • W.D. Jones in the only biography of Viscount Goderich en-. titled Prosperity Jones (1967) concluded that `perhaps' Goderich "deserves to live in ua OUr$ECOR MiOtA Bowes Publishers Limited A Subsidiary of . Sun Media Corporation - A Quebecor Company The Goderich Signal -Star, published every Wednesday, 52 times per year, at Goderich, Ontario is one of The ' al -Star Publishing Group of Community Newspapers. The Signal -Star shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad or for typographical errors in publication except to the extent of the cost of that portion of the ad in which the error mewed. The Goderich Signal -Star reserves the right to reject or edit any advertisement. 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