James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope

The Right Honourable The Earl Stanhope PC
Portrait by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1705–1710
First Lord of the Treasury
In office 12 April 1717 – 21 March 1718
Monarch	George I
Preceded by	Robert Walpole
Succeeded by	The Earl of Sunderland
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 15 April 1717 – 20 March 1718
Monarch	George I
Preceded by	Robert Walpole
Succeeded by	John Aislabie
Secretary of State for the Northern Department
In office 12 December 1716 – 12 April 1717
Monarch	George I
Preceded by	The Viscount Townshend
Succeeded by	The Earl of Sunderland
In office 16 March 1718 – 4 February 1721
Monarch	George I
Preceded by	The Earl of Sunderland
Succeeded by	The Lord Carteret
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office 27 September 1714 – 22 June 1716
Monarch	George I
Preceded by	The Viscount Bolingbroke
Succeeded by	Paul Methuen
Personal details
Born	c. 1673 Paris, Kingdom of France
Died	(1721-02-05)5 February 1721 London, England, Kingdom of Great Britain
Nationality	English
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Lucy Pitt (1692–1723)
Children	7
Parent(s)	Alexander Stanhope Katherine Burghill
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Trinity College, Oxford

James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC (c. 1673 – 5 February 1721) was a British Army officer, politician, diplomat and peer who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He was also the last Chancellor of the Exchequer to sit in the House of Lords.

Born in Paris as the son of a prominent diplomat, Stanhope pursued a military career. Although he also served in Flanders and Italy, he is best remembered for his service in Portugal and Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession. He was the first British Governor of Minorca, which he captured from the Spanish in 1708.

In 1710 he commanded the British contingent of the Allied Army which occupied Madrid, having won a decisive victory at the Battle of Zaragoza. Having then evacuated the Spanish capital, Stanhope's rearguard on the retreat to Barcelona were overwhelmed and forced to surrender at Brihuega.

Paroled, he returned to Britain and pursued a political career as a Whig. A supporter of the Hanoverian Succession he was rewarded with office by George I in 1714. As Southern Secretary he oversaw the negotiation of an Anglo-French Alliance. Emerging as the dominant figure in government after 1717, following the Whig Split, he led Britain to success in a new Spanish War and suppressed a Jacobite Rising in 1719. However the government was overtaken by the collapse of the South Sea Bubble and he died in office. He is occasionally mentioned as an alternative candidate to Robert Walpole as Britain's first Prime Minister.^[1]