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Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon

Earl of Ripon
Term of Office:January, 1828 - November, 1830
PM Predecessor:George Canning
PM Successor:Duke of Wellington
Date of Birth:1 November 1782
Place of Birth:London, England
Political Party:Tory

Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon (November 1, 1782 - January 28, 1859). Known as Frederick John Robinson (1782-1827), Viscount Goderich (1827-1833), Earl of Ripon (1833-1859). British statesman and prime minister.

After studying at Harrow and Cambridge, Robinson entered parliament in 1806, and served in various minor positions in the government of Lord Liverpool, including Treasurer of the Navy, from which position he sponsored the Corn Laws of 1815, before entering the Cabinet in 1818 as President of the Board of Trade. In 1823 Robinson succeeds Nicholas Vansittart as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In 1827 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Goderich, and served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Leader of the House of Lords in George Canning's short-lived government. On Canning's death Goderich succeeded him as leader of a tenuous coalition of moderate Tories and Whigs, but proved unable to maintain a majority, and resigned, to be succeeded by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

In 1831 Goderich moved over to the Whigs and joined Lord Grey's cabinet, again as Colonial Secretary. In 1833 he became Earl of Ripon, and became Lord Privy Seal. But the next year he broke with the Whigs over Irish disestablishment.

Ripon later served in Peel's second administration as President of the Board of Trade (1841-1843) and then as President of the Board of Control (1843-1846).

Lord Goderich's Government, September 1827 - January 1828

Ripon's second son, the George Robinson, Marquess of Ripon, was a Cabinet minister in later British governments.

Preceded by:
George Canning
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Followed by:
Duke of Wellington

Preceded by:
New Creation
Earl of Ripon Followed by:
George Robinson