Brown, David J.

2013-06-26T12:42:26Z

2013-06-26T12:42:26Z

1989

After the Union, Scotland remained semi-independent, with its own church, legal and political structures. Governments had the choice either of ruling it from London, treating it as an English province, or of according power to a Scottish 'manager', in effect, and sometimes in name, a Secretary of State for Scotland. Such delegation had advantages and disadvantages. It might be vital to the direction of Scottish representatives at Westminster, particularly if government had only a narrow majority. It also raised the spectre of the manager using his delegated power against his 'masters'. Furthermore, the manager's Scots supporters expected him to further their interests. All these aspects are visible in the career of Henry Dundas, Scottish manager from 1783. His early prominence in Scottish politics rested on personal ability and family influence. His success as manager was based on the consent of a large part of the Scots landed interest, whose aspirations he understood and advanced, and upon his friendship with the Prime Minister, William Pitt. His careful construction of regional alliances and his deployment of government patronage made him by 1790 the single most important Scots politician. Resistance to him survived in Scotland, centred on the emerging Whig party but including many who disliked him personally. As manager he fostered personal policies on church and legal appointments and his influence with Pitt allowed him to protect Scots interests where these did not clash with English political or administrative requirements. He was largely indifferent to the working of the Scots revenue boards and these stagnated amidst spreading corruption. As a Cabinet minister, Dundas symbolised both the growing integration of the Scottish and English ruling classes and the participation of the former in the government of the empire. The impact of the French Revolution and the radical reform movement split the Whigs, some joining government, others lapsing into silence. Dundas recognised the long-term threat to the old order posed by the emerging industrial society, and this threat and the nature of the war, led to the gradual evolution of a Scottish Tory party focussed on Dundas and Pitt. Pitt's successor, Addington, initially continued Dundas's power as manager but later withdrew it and Dundas (now Lord Melville), disturbed at Addington's failings in office, eventually used his Scots influence to participate in his removal in 1804. Melville's return to office was brief and he was impeached in 1805 for malversation of naval funds. His political influence remained strong and survived the limited attacks made by the Grenville government. His friends remained aligned with the late Pitt's English allies and in this group can be seen the core of the nineteenth-century Scots Tory party.

504821

http://hdl.handle.net/1842/6880

eng

University of Edinburgh

Politics

History

Scotland

Law

Henry Dundas and the government of Scotland

PhD Doctor of Philosophy