Spencer Perceval

Statesman and Abolitionist

Spencer Perceval, statesman, and Prime Minister 1809-1812, has a memorial in the nave of Westminster Abbey. It sits on a window ledge and is by sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott.

Perceval was shot and killed on 11th May 1812 in the lobby of the House of Commons by John Bellingham, a bankrupt merchant with a grievance against the Government which had unbalanced his mind. He is the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated.

The monument shows a relief of the assassination and a figure of the dead Prime Minister lying on a mattress. Allegorical figures at his head and feet represent Power, Truth and Temperance. The monument was commissioned in 1814 but not unveiled until 21st December 1822 and cost £5,250.

The inscription reads:

In memory of the Right Honble. Spencer Perceval Chancellor of the Exchequer - First Lord of the Treasury. This monument was erected by the Prince Regent and Parliament to record their deep sense of his public and private virtues and to mark the nation's abhorrence of the act by which he fell. Born 1 Novr. 1762 - assassinated within the walls of the House of Commons - 11 May 1812

His Life and assassination

Perceval was born in London, a son of John Perceval (died 1770), 2nd Earl of Egmont, and his second wife Catherine (Compton). His parents had a manor house at Charlton, near Greenwich, in Kent and he was educated at Harrow school and Trinity College Cambridge. He became a lawyer, and a Member of Parliament in 1796 and was a supporter of the abolition of slavery. Between 1807 and 1809 he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons.

In 1790 he married Jane daughter of Sir Thomas Wilson and sister of his elder brother's wife. They had six sons and six daughters.

His assassin Bellingham was hanged as his plea of insanity was rejected. The papers on the inquest are preserved in the Westminster Abbey archives. He was buried in the family vault at St Luke's church at Charlton and there is a bust of him in that church.