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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
The essay aims to close a longstanding gap in the political historiography of later Georgian Britain by examining the ‘Hanoverian Crisis’ of 1806. Drawing on a broad range of British, Hanoverian and Prussian records, the essay demonstrates that the British–Prussian conflict of that year was caused not – as conventionally assumed – by the closure of the North Sea ports to British shipping, but by the Prussian occupation of George III's electoral land of Hanover. The essay then shows how the commitment of the British government to its restitution was largely motivated by the desire of Charles James Fox and the incoming Ministry of All the Talents to build bridges to the crown. This stance was in complete contradiction both to the broad thrust of the new ‘maritime’ foreign policy of the Talents and to Fox's previous policy in matters Hanoverian. Subsequently the implications of this for our understanding of Fox's political biography are assessed. Finally, the essay illuminates the existence of a coherent ‘Hanoverian Faction’ in London headed by Count Münster which together with a highly activist George III was often able to tip the balance in the formulation of British policy.
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13 The British Library (B.L.) and the Public Record Office London (P.R.O.L.). The author has never knowingly cited a manuscript where a printed version of a document is available. In this way it is hoped to highlight where original research has added to our understanding of events.
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28 Jacobi report, 14 Feb. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.180C, fo. 65.
29 Jackson to Fox, 27 Mar. 1806, Berlin, P.R.O.L. F.O. 64/71, fo. 156.
30 Jacobi report, 14 Mar. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.180C, fo. 97.
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35 Fox to Gower (draft), 7 Apr. 1806, Downing Street, Holland House Papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51460, fo. 129.
36 Jacobi report, 8 Apr. 1806, London, G.STA.M., Rep. XI.180C, fo. 138.
37 Jacobi report, 2 May 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.180C, fo. 197.
38 Jacobi report, 20 May 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.180C, fo. 219.
39 Jacobi report, 16 May 1805, London, G.STA.M., Rep. XI.180C, fo. 209. Even in retrospect, writing sometime before Sept. 1812, Lord Holland acknowledged that the plan to send him as ambassador to Berlin had come to nothing because ‘the seizure of Hanover by the Prussian troops brought on hostilities with that court’. Obviously, what had lodged in Holland's mind was that the occupation of the Electorate was the casus belli with Prussia. Clearly, the closure of the North Sea ports, as such, did not rate very high: Lord, Holland, Memoirs of the whig party during my time, I (London, 1852), 233Google Scholar. I am most grateful to Dr C. J. Wright for drawing my attention to this passage.
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49 Valerie, E. Chancellor, ‘The Ministry of all the Talents, January 1806 – March 1807: a political study’ (unpublished D.Phil, dissertation, University of Oxford, 1978), p. 63.Google Scholar
50 I have dealt with the question of maritime versus continental warfare in greater detail in my thesis, Simms, , ‘Anglo-Prussian relations, 1804–6’, pp. 104–9.Google Scholar
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54 Ham, , ‘Strategies of coalition and isolation’, p. 82.Google Scholar
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57 Ham, , ‘Strategies of coalition and isolation’, p. 78.Google Scholar
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59 Fox to Yarmouth, 26 June 1806, Downing Street, P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/73, unfoliated.
60 Fox to Yarmouth, 26 July 1806, Downing Street, P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/73.
61 Yarmouth to Fox, ‘confidential communication made 13 June 1806’, P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/73.
62 Yarmouth to Fox, 30 July 1806, Paris, P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/73.
63 Yarmouth to Fox (draft), Paris, 25 July 1806, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51458, fo. 71; Yarmouth to Fox, 30 July 1806, Paris, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51458, fo. 83.
64 Yarmouth to Fox, ‘received June 21’, copy or extract, P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/73.
65 Fox to Yarmouth, 26 June 1806, Downing Street; Fox to Yarmouth, 5 July 1806, Downing Street; Fox to Yarmouth, 18 July 1806, Downing Street. All P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/73.
66 Yarmouth to Fox, 27 July 1806, Paris; Yarmouth to Fox, 30 July 1806, Paris. Both P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/73.
67 Fox to Lauderdale, 2 Aug. 1806, Downing Street, P.R.O.L. F.O. 27/74; Windham to Lauderdale, 10 Sept. 1806, Downing Street, P.R.O.L. F.O. 72/74.
68 Spencer to Lauderdale, 23 Sept. 1806, Downing Street, P.R.O.L. F.O. 72/74.
69 Lauderdale to Fox, 30 Aug. 1806, Paris, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51458, fo. 146.
70 Jacobi report, 18 July 1806, London, G.STA.M., Rep. XI.181A, fos. 30–1; Jacobi report, 22 July 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.181A, fo. 33; Jacobi report, 1 Aug. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.181A, fo. 54; Balan report, 12 Aug. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. X1.181A, fo. 59. For the Adair overture in Vienna see: Adair to Fox (‘private’), 30 June 1806, Vienna, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51459, fos. 81–2; Fox to Adair (‘private’), 1 July 1806, Stable Yard, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51459, fos. 85–6.
71 Jacobi report, 24 Jan. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.73.180C, fo. 43; Jacobi report, 7 Feb. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.180C, fo. 55.
72 Castlereagh to George III, 11 Jan. 1806, Downing Street; George III to Castlereagh, 12 Jan. 1806, Windsor. Both in Aspinall, (ed.), Later correspondence of George III, pp. 376–7.Google Scholar
73 Münster to Cathcart, 25 Jan. 1806, N.Sta.H., Hann.92 XLI 71 III, fo. 99.
74 ‘Substance of papers communicated by his excellency Count Woronzow, marked “A” sent to Fox’, 7 Feb. 1806, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51460, fos. 119–21; Münster to Fox, 27 June 1806, London, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51461, fos. 68–9.
75 ‘Aus den Lebenserinnerungen des Gesandten Ompteda’, in von Ompteda, Ludwig, Politischer Nachlaβ des hannoverschen Stoats und Cabinettsministers, Ludwig von Ompteda aus den Jahren 1804 bis 1813, I (Jena, 1869), 144–5.Google Scholar
76 Bremer to Ompteda, 3 Apr. 1806, Dresden, in Ompteda, , Politischer Nachlaβ, p. 141.Google Scholar
77 Möller to Ompteda, 31 Jan. 1806, St Petersburg, in Ompteda, , Politischer Nachlaβ, p. 132.Google Scholar
78 Brandes, , ‘Hannover in der Politik der Großmächte’, p. 274.Google Scholar
79 Münster to George III, 12 Dec. 1805, Hanover, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, 1, fo. 235.
80 Münster to Harrowby (copy), 7 Dec. 1805, Hanover, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, 1, fo. 239.
81 Münster to Novosiltzov, 7 Dec. 1805, Hanover, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, I, fo. 237.
82 Münster to the princes, 20 Jan. 1806, Hanover, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, II, fos. 35–8.
83 Best to the princes, 6 Feb. 1806, London, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI, II, fo. 126.
84 Best to an unnamed British politician, 16 Feb. 1806, Hann.92 XLI, III, fo. 135; Münster to Grenville, 22 Feb. 1806, London, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 59059, fos. 8–16. (not in the Dropmore printed collection).
85 For the involvement of the prince of Wales, via Best and Münster, see Fox to prince of Wales, 10 Feb. 1806, Downing Street, in Arthur, Aspinall (ed.), The correspondence of George, prince of Wales, 1770–1812, V 1804–1806 (London, 1968), 330Google Scholar; Münster to the prince of Wales, 20 Jan. 1806, Hanover, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51460, fos. 31–4.
86 Jacobi report, 1 Apr. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.73.180C, fo. 125.
87 Jacobi report, 30 May 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.73.180C, fo. 239.
88 Jacobi report, 18 Feb. 1806, London, G.STA.M. Rep. XI.73.180C, fo. 68.
89 In addition to the examples taken from the B.L. and the Staatsarchiv Hannover and cited in the text there is the evidence in P.R.O.L. F.O. 97/243, entitled Hanover. Letters and papers in correspondence between the electoral minister etc and the secretary of state on military points of business – and other communications of a miscellaneous nature during the years 1780–1806: Münster to Fox, 27 Mar. 1807, Clarges Street; Münster to Fox, 17 July 1806, Clarges Street; et passim. Perhaps surprisingly, there are no letters from Best or Münster for 1806 in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle. I am grateful to the registrar of the Royal Archives, Lady de Bellaigue, for this information.
90 Münster to Grenville, 22 Feb. 1806, London, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 59059, fos. 8–16; copies of the same document can be found in N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, 1, fos. 182–8 and in Durham University Library, Grey MSS Box 41. I am most grateful to Dr J. M. Fewster of Durham University Library for supplying me with a photocopy of the latter document.
91 Ompteda to the Prussian government, 7 Apr. 1806, Berlin, Rep. XI.14O.Braunschweig-Luneburg.5O.fasc.2, fos. 74–5.
92 Münster to Grenville, 17 July 1806, London, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 59059, fos. 87–9 (not in the Dropmore printed collection).
93 Münster to Grenville, 19 Sept. 1806, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 59059, fo. 168 (not in the Dropmore printed collection).
94 Münster circular, 25 Apr. 1806, Clarges Street, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, III, fo. 162. Acknowledgements fos. 163–72.
95 Münister to the princes, 10 July 1806, Clarges Street, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, III, fo. 251; Declaration of the princes, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, III, fos. 252–5.
96 In addition to the evidence cited throughout the text, see also Münster to Fox, 11 Mar. 1806, Windsor, Durham University Library, Earl Grey papers, 2nd Earl. I am much indebted to Dr J. M. Fewster for supplying me with a photocopy of this document.
97 Valerie, Chancellor, ‘The Ministry of All the Talents’, p. 72.Google Scholar
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101 Münster to Fox (draft), 10 Mar. 1806, Windsor, N.Sta.H. Harm.92, XLI 71, II, fo. 236.
102 Fox to Münster, ‘before 7 March’ 1806, N.Sta.H. Dep.110 A 48, unfoliated.
103 Münster to Fox, 17 Mar. 1806, Windsor, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51460, fo. 73.
104 Some other instances not already mentioned in the text: Münster to Fox (draft), 5 Mar. 1806, N.Sta.H. Dep.110 A 48, unfoliated; Fox to Münster, 16 Mar. 1806, Downing Street, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, III, fo. 1; Howick to Münster, 28 Sept. 1806, Downing Street, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 78, II, fo. 18; Münster to Fox, 27 June 1806, London, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51461, fo. 68; Münster to Grenville, 15 Sept. 1806, London, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 59059, fo. 163 (not in the Dropmore printed collection).
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118 Déclaration of 20 Apr. 1806, signed by George III and Count Münster, Windsor, N.Sta.H. Hann.92 XLI 71, III, fos. 233–4.
119 Parliamentary history, cols. 882–3.
120 Ibid. col. 886.
121 Ibid. col. 891.
122 Ibid. cols. 893–4.
123 E.g. Auckland to Fox (copy), 12 Apr. 1806, Eden Farm, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 58923, fos. 41–2; Henry Heyman to Fox, 20 May 1806, Bloomsbury, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51461, fo. 26; Auckland to Grenville, 4 May 1806, Palace, Yard, in Dropmore, p. 132.Google Scholar
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127 J. Nichol to Auckland (‘private’), 15 May 1806, B.L. Add. MSS 34456, fo. 491.
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132 Allen, G. Eastby, ‘Charles James Fox and the ministry of All the Talents’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1973), pp. 197–206Google Scholar provides an accurate account, but no detail on the Hanoverian faction; Chancellor, , ‘Ministry of All the Talents’, p. 72Google Scholar catches Fox's hesitation in moving against Hanover but contains absolutely no material on the court dimension; Taylor, , ‘Foxite party and foreign polities’, pp. 70–3Google Scholar is a good treatment of events but, again, is unaware of the Hanoverian influences.
133 Herbert, Butterfield, Charles James Fox and Napoleon. The peace negotiations of 1806, Creighton Lecture in History, 1961 (London, 1962)Google Scholar. Coquelle, P., Napoleon and England, 1803–1813. A study from unpublished documents (London, 1904)Google Scholar contains some important extracts from documents in which Hanoverian concerns are raised (e.g. pp. 89, 106, 124) but does not cite, and does not seem to be aware of, those dispatches in which the centrality of Hanover is obvious.
134 There is no hint of Hanoverian concerns in the Royal Correspondence of Grenville, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 58865, nor does the General Correspondence, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 59380–6 contain anything beyond one letter from Best on a financial matter. There is no evidence in B.L. Dropmore 58863 that the dukes of York, Clarence or Gloucester tried to exert influence on Grenville, though we have seen that they did try to do so on Fox. The promising-sounding engagement diaries, Dropmore papers, B.L. Add. MSS 59331–2 turn out to contain only a record of monies spent. Equally disappointing are the dinner books of Lady Holland, Holland House papers, B.L. Add. MSS 51950–1 (I thank Dr Wright of the British Library for allowing me to use the index he compiled of the Hollands' dinner guests). Finally, a computer-search at the National Register of Archives produced no records on Best or Münster.
135 Introduction to volume four of Aspinall's, Correspondence of the prince of Wales, p. 297.Google Scholar
136 Taylor, , ‘Foxite party and foreign polities’, p. 8.Google Scholar
137 Herbert, Butterfield, Sincerity and insincerity in Charles James Fox, Raleigh Lecture in History (Oxford, 1972), pp. 17–19.Google Scholar
138 Ibid. p. 20.
139 Taylor, , ‘Foxite party and foreign polities’, p. 38.Google Scholar
140 Ibid. p. 420.
141 Taylor, A. J. P., The trouble makers. Dissent over foreign policy 1792–1939 (London, 1957).Google Scholar
142 Taylor, , ‘Foxite party and foreign polities’, p. 13.Google Scholar
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144 H. M. Scott, private communication to the author, 28 Feb. 1993.
145 Lady Bessborough to Granville Leveson Gower, 5 Feb. 1806, in Castalia, Countess Granville (ed.), Lord Granville Leveson Gower. Private correspondence 1781 to 1821, II (London, 1916), 177.Google Scholar
146 Taylor, , ‘Foxite party and foreign polities’, p. 71.Google Scholar
147 Fox to Adair, ‘March 1804’, in Russell, (ed.), Memorials and correspondence, IV, 33.Google Scholar
148 Cited in Taylor, , ‘Foxite party and foreign polities’, p. 70.Google Scholar
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