Details:

Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow autographed handwritten letter (ALS) signed at the conclusion "T" [1786]. Accompanied by a 19th century printed engraved portrait and a newspaper clipping.

Light age but overall in fine condition.

Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow, PC (9 December 1731 – 12 September 1806), was a British lawyer and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1765 to 1778 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Thurlow. He served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain for fourteen years and under four Prime Ministers.appointed Lord Chancellor by Lord North, taking his seat on 14 July 1778. In this post he notably opposed the economical and constitutional reforms proposed by Edmund Burke and John Dunning.

The Tory administration of Lord North fell in March 1782, after twelve years in office. The Whigs under Lord Rockingham came to power, but Thurlow managed to cling on as Lord Chancellor. Rockingham died in July 1782, but Thurlow remained Lord Chancellor also when Lord Shelburne
became Prime Minister. The latter government fell in April 1783, when a coalition government under Charles James Fox and Lord North was formed (with the Duke of Portland as titular Prime Minister). Thurlow was not invited to resume the role of Lord Chancellor, and instead the Great Seal was put into commission.

He went into opposition and contributed to the downfall of the coalition in December 1783. William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister and reinstated Thurlow as Lord Chancellor. The relationship between Pitt and Thurlow was always fragile, and Thurlow often relied on his friendship with King George III to be able to remain in office.

He opposed a bill for the restoration to the heirs of estates forfeited in the Jacobite rising of 1745. Partly to please the king, he consistently and strongly supported Warren Hastings, and negotiated with the Whigs to ensure his continued power in the event of a change of government. In 1792, when he attacked Pitt's bill to establish a fund to redeem the national debt, he was finally dismissed

Authentication:
Includes a full letter of authenticity from JG Autographs, Inc.

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Reference sku: 11600 1394734-1