Waterloo : Letter from Spencer Perceval to George, Prince Regent
Perceval, Spencer, 1762-1812
Waterloo
<p style='text-align: justify;'>Spencer Perceval (1762–1812) was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1807 to 1809, and Prime Minister from 1809 to 1812. He was assassinated in Parliament on 11 May 1812. Among the most interesting documents in the collection of his papers held in Cambridge University Library as <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20Add.8713'>MS Add. 8713</a> are the drafts and file copies of Perceval’s own letters, which provide an insight into the workings of a prime minister’s mind. In this letter to the Prince Regent (the future King George IV) from April 1811, he proposed that a vote of thanks be made to Wellington in both Houses of Parliament, following the Duke’s successful operations against the French in Portugal and Spain over the previous three years.</p>