George
Hamilton Gordon, was
born in Edinburgh in 1784. Educated
at Harrow he obtained the title Lord Haddo
when his father died in 1793. His joint guardians were William
Pitt and Henry Dundas. He became the
4th Earl of Aberdeen on the death of his grandfather in 1801.
In 1813 the Earl of Aberdeen was sent as a special ambassador to Vienna
by Lord Liverpool. Aberdeen successfully
negotiated the Treaty of Toplitz that created the alliance of Great
Powers against Napoleon.
In 1828 the Duke of Wellington appointed
Aberdeen as his Foreign Secretary. He also held this position under
Sir Robert Peel between 1841 and 1847. Aberdeen
was a strong believer in free trade and helped Peel repeal the Corn
Laws in 1846. This action split the Conservative
Party and Peel and Aberdeen were forced to resign.
The Earl of Aberdeen became Prime Minister after the resignation of
the Earl of Derby in 1852. Aberdeen's coalition
government was very popular with the public at first. However, attitudes
changed when Britain became involved in the Crimean
War in 1854. Aberdeen was blamed for the mismanagement of the
war and he was forced to resign in February 1855. George Hamilton
Gordon died in 1860.
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