A descendant of the 1st Earl of Strafford, Lord Rockingham was brought up at the family home of Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham in Yorkshire. He was educated at Westminster School. During the Jacobite rising of 1745 See more

On 13 May 1751 (his 21st birthday), Rockingham inherited his father's estates. The rents from the land in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire … See more

Rockingham spent the next sixteen years in opposition. He was a keen supporter of constitutional rights for colonists.
Rockingham wrote to Edmund Burke on 14 February 1771: "I … See more

Rockingham's estates, but not his marquessate, passed to his nephew William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam. Burke wrote to Fitzwilliam on 3 July 1782: "You are Lord Rockingham in every thing. ... I have no doubt that you will take it in good part, that his … See more

The king's dislike, as well as Grenville's general lack of parliamentary support, led to his dismissal in 1765, and, following negotiations conducted through the medium of the king's uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Rockingham was appointed Prime … See more

In 1782 he was appointed Prime Minister for a second time (with Charles James Fox and Lord Shelburne as Secretaries of State) and, upon taking office, pushed for an acknowledgement of the independence of the United States, initiating an end to British involvement … See more

• The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth (1730–1733)
• Viscount Higham (1733–1746)
• Earl of Malton (1746–1750) See more