North, Frederick, Lord, 2nd earl of Guilford

North, Frederick, Lord, 2nd earl of Guilford (1732–92). North was the eldest son of Francis, 1st earl of Guilford. He was returned to the House of Commons in 1754 for the family seat at Banbury, at the age of 22, and soon began moving up the ladder. He was a useful man of business, hard‐working, fat, and cheerful. Almost the whole of his life he spent in the Commons, and, according to Gibbon, he became ‘a consummate master of debate’. He was brought onto the Treasury Board in 1759 by his cousin the duke of Newcastle. He remained in office when Newcastle went out in 1762, mainly because he needed the money. He went out with Grenville in 1765, declined to serve with the Rockinghams, and came back into junior office in Grafton's administration in 1766. His great chance came in 1767 with the sudden death of Charles Townshend, whom he succeeded as chancellor of the Exchequer. When Grafton resigned in January 1770, North took over as 1st lord of the Treasury at the urgent entreaty of the king. He was 37.

His first few years in office were impressive. Government majorities were restored, the Wilkes issue receded, North's reputation climbed. An acknowledged expert in finance, his budgets were received with scarcely a dissentient voice. His Quebec Act in 1774 was an important concession to the catholics and helped to persuade Canadians in 1776 not to throw in their lot with the American rebels. The American question, which ultimately brought him down, had its roots deep in the past. (See american war of independence.) The British, heavily burdened after the war, resented the colonists' refusal to pay taxes. Grenville's Stamp Act and Townshend's duties brought in little revenue. North's first action was conciliatory—to abandon all of Townshend's duties save that on tea. The American response was the seizure of the revenue cutter Gaspée, the intimidation of customs officers, and the Boston Tea Party. Coercive measures against the colonists were inevitable. But once fighting began, North was marginalized and the military men took over. Repeatedly he begged to resign: time after time the king refused, understanding the value of North's parliamentary skill in presenting government policy. Only after the surrender at Yorktown in 1781, with his majority down to single figures, was North allowed to go.

The last ten years of his life were largely a postscript. He returned to office as home secretary in the spring of 1783 in the coalition with Charles Fox, but was unwell for several months and content to let his more vigorous colleagues make the running. Dismissed in December 1783, he slid gracefully into the role of a premature elder statesman, defending the Church of England from dissenting attacks and the constitution from dangerous innovation.