Historedia
No locationEvent

Resignation of the Duke of Newcastle

When
1756–1757
Where
Unresolved site
Episodes
3

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, was replaced as Prime Minister in November 1756. He was widely blamed for Britain's poor start to the Seven Years' War. The Duke of Devonshire succeeded him, while William Pitt was credited as the main influence on policy.

Episodes

  1. November 1756 · Unresolved siteResignation in November 1756

    Newcastle was replaced by the Duke of Devonshire in November 1756.

  2. November 1756 – June 1757 · Unresolved siteDevonshire's Tenure

    The Duke of Devonshire served as Prime Minister from November 1756 to June 1757.

  3. July 1757 · Unresolved siteNewcastle's Return

    Newcastle became Prime Minister again in July 1757.

Background and detail

Background. Newcastle succeeded his brother Henry Pelham as Prime Minister in March 1754 after Henry's death. He had previously held power alongside his brother until 1754. In April and May 1754, Newcastle oversaw a general election, adopting his brother's strategy and winning a large majority.

Resignation. In November 1756, Newcastle was replaced by the Duke of Devonshire. He was widely blamed for Britain's poor start to the Seven Years' War. Separately, some had called for his execution after the loss of Menorca in 1756.

Aftermath. Between November 1756 and June 1757, the Duke of Devonshire served as Prime Minister, although William Pitt is widely credited as the main influence on policy. In July 1757, Newcastle again became Prime Minister because Pitt could not gain enough support in Parliament.

People involved

Sources

  1. Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.