Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby

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Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby (22 December 1762-26 December 1847) was a prominent British politician of the Pittite faction and the Tory party.

Ryder was the eldest son of Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby, and was born in London. Nathaniel Ryder was a Member of Parliament for Tiverton for 20 years. Educated at Harrow School and St John's College, Cambridge, Dudley Ryder took his father's old Parliament seat in 1784.

Ryder's administrative career began with an appointment to be joint-Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs in 1789. In 1791 he was appointed co-Paymaster of the Forces, having been made Vice-President of the Board of Trade in 1790. He resigned the positions and also that of Treasurer of the Navy when he succeeded to his father's barony in June 1803. In 1804 he was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and in 1805 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under his intimate friend William Pitt; in the latter year he was sent on a special and important mission to the emperors of Austria and Russia and the king of Prussia. From 1812 to 1827 he served as Lord President of the Council under Lord Liverpool.

After George Canning's death in 1827, Ryder refused to serve George IV as prime minister. Ryder never held office again, although he continued to take part in politics, being especially prominent during the deadlock which preceded the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832. Harrowby's long association with the Tories did not prevent him from assisting to remove the disabilities of Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters, or from supporting the movement for electoral reform; he was also in favour of the emancipation of the slaves.

Ryder died at his Staffordshire residence, Sandon Hall, being, as Charles Greville says, "the last of his generation and of the colleagues of Mr Pitt, the sole survivor of those stirring times and mighty contests."

Preceded by: The Lord Mulgrave and The Duke of Montrose	Paymaster of the Forces 1791–1800 (jointly with Thomas Steele)	Succeeded by: Thomas Steele and George Canning
Preceded by: Henry Dundas	Treasurer of the Navy 1800–1801	Succeeded by: Charles Bragge
Preceded by: Lord Hawkesbury	Foreign Secretary 1804–1805	Succeeded by: The Lord Mulgrave
Preceded by: The Earl of Buckinghamshire	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1805–1806	Succeeded by: The Earl of Derby
Preceded by: Robert Dundas	President of the Board of Control 1809	Succeeded by: Robert Dundas
Preceded by: The Viscount Sidmouth	Lord President of the Council 1812–1827	Succeeded by: The Duke of Portland

Preceded by: New Creation	Earl of Harrowby	Succeeded by: Dudley Ryder
Preceded by: Nathaniel Ryder	Baron Harrowby

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.