ABSTRACT
The nineteenth century, or the two-thirds from 1830 onwards, was the period in which the work of government expanded beyond the traditional concerns of foreign policy, defence of the realm, national security and administration of justice. A temporary break in the European war came via the Treaty of Amiens of March 1802. The settlement was not expected even then to produce an enduring peace; war was duly renewed in May 1803. French plans to invade Britain were ended by the naval victory at Trafalgar in October 1805. William Pitt was Prime Minister from 1784 to 1801 and from 1804 until his death in January 1806. Pitt’s death, and that of Charles James Fox eight months later, can, in the trite phrase, be said to mark the end of an era. The party labels of Whig and Tory began to re-emerge, the latter applied to the political successors of Pitt.
