He was educated at Horrow and St. John's College, Cambridge. He was private secretary to Lord Hardwicke, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and then entered parliament in 1806. In 1811 he was made a Privy Counsellor, and Paymaster General. He accompanied Castlereagh abroad in 1813, staying with him during the peace negotiations. In 1818, he joined the cabinet as President of the Board of Trade, and in 1823 became Chancellor of the Exchequer.

With Canning's accession to Prime Minister in 1827, he became Secretary for War and the Colonies, and on the former's death, as a leading Canningite, and seen as a placid, pliant man by the king, he, rather than Wellington, was asked to form the administration. He resigned in early 1828, after losing the support of his two closest cabinet colleagues, never having met parliament as Prime Minister.

He was kept out of Wellington's cabinet, but joined Grey's Whig cabinet as Secretary for War. In 1832 he was made Lord Privy Seal, and created Earl of Rippon.

He left office in 1834, but joined Peel's administration in 1841 as President of the Board of Trade, and then President of the India Board. With Peel's resignation in 1846, he left office for the last time, and died in 1859.

Thanks to Dr. Jeff Moss, Alberta, Canada. Source: "The Prime Ministers of Britain 1721-1921" by Clive Bigham. E. P. Dutton & Co. 1924.