1 November: Spencer Perceval

This date in 1762 was the birth date of Spencer Perceval, British statesman and Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated. 10 facts about him:

1. He was born in Mayfair, into a privileged family. His father, John, was the 2nd Earl of Egmont and an advisor to King George III. His mother, Catherine, was the granddaughter of the 4th Earl of Northampton. He was named after his mother’s great uncle, Spencer Compton, another former Prime Minister.
2. He attended Cambridge and then embarked on a legal career. His family connections helped his secure good positions, but in time he gained recognition on his own merit. He wrote a pamphlet which resulted in William Pitt the Younger offering him the position of Chief Secretary of Ireland. He turned it down in favour of a position as King’s Counsel, which had a better salary.
3. Which he would have needed because he and his wife Jane had thirteen children.
4. Spencer and his older brother fell in love with two sisters, Margaretta and Jane Wilson. His brother had the title and so the sisters’ father was more than happy to give consent to that match, but at the time, Spencer was a low ranking lawyer, so he wasn’t so lucky. He was told he’d have to wait until his prospects improved. When Jane turned 21, his prospects still hadn’t improved, so the couple eloped.
5. Perceval became an MP when his cousin, then MP for Northampton, inherited a title and moved on to the House of Lords. Perceval stood at the next election and won the seat.
6. After serving in a number of cabinet posts, in 1809 he became Prime Minister, following the resignation of the Duke of Portland.
7. He had some trouble forming a cabinet, however. Five people turned down offers of places in the cabinet, meaning that Perceval had to take on the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as Prime Minister.
8. What was he like? He was small, slight and pale and usually wore Black. He was the last British prime minister to wear a powdered wig tied in a queue, and knee-breeches. He never sat for a portrait. Images of him are either miniatures or based on his death mask. People sometimes referred to him as ‘Little P’. He was an evangelical Christian who supported the abolition of slavery and gave generously to charitable causes.
9. Perceval is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated. His killer was John Bellingham, a disgruntled merchant who’d got into debt in Russia and served time in a Russian prison. When Bellingham finally got back to England, he sought compensation from the government for his ordeal but Britain had broken its diplomatic relations with Russia, and so he got nothing. A civil servant at the Foreign Office advised Bellingham he was at liberty to take whatever measures he deemed necessary. Bellingham took this to mean that killing the Prime Minister was an option. He purchased two .50 calibre pistols and shot Perceval dead in the lobby of the House of Commons on 11th May 1812.
10. Perceval was succeeded by Robert Jenkinson, the second Earl of Liverpool.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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