Problem-Solver

Born This Day Series, Social Media Content

Henry Pelham, attrib. John Giles Eccardt

Born this day 1694, Henry Pelham, a British prime minister few remember but who was incredibly progressive for his time. Thanks to him, Jews were able to become British citizens, and Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar. He set a minimum age for marriage, cut the land tax in half, and entrenched the concept of government being formed by a Commons majority, rather than royal prerogative. He is also credited with drying out London.

When William of Orange arrived in England, he brought ‘Jenever’ with him—gin. With trouble between France and England, it was deemed better to restrict brandy imports and encourage gin production. The monopoly of the London Guild of Distillers was broken, anybody could produce gin, and everybody started drinking it, including Queen Anne. Its ready availability and low cost led to the Gin Craze; by 1743, the average annual consumption of Londoners was 2.2 gallons.

Gin Lane, William Hogarth

London saw an epidemic of drunkenness, debauchery and crime. Daniel Defoe wrote that drunken mothers were producing a "spindle-shanked generation" of children. Preachers decried "vice among the inferior sort of people". But people at all social levels were drinking anything they could find, with ‘gin’ being the general term for all grain-based alcohol.

The government taxed it, and required licenses. This led to violence, particularly towards informers who earned £5 by ratting out gin shops. Production went underground and there were mass poisonings. When the government tried to stop the flow with legislation, there were riots. (There are two excellent depictions of the situation: one in Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge, the other in William Hogarth’s engraving Gin Lane.)

Pelham pushed through the Gin Act of 1751, a combination of lower fines and taxes, with the requirement that gin be served indoors and with food available. Higher grain prices allowed landowners to stop producing gin; the price of food and liquor rose. Finally, Pelham’s government conducted a PR campaign extolling the virtues of beer and tea. Problem solved.