EDEN, William, 1st Lord AUCKLAND; b. Durham, April 1744; d. there, 28 May 1814. He was educated at Eton and at Oxford, where he received his M.A. in 176& He studied law and published in 1772 'Principles of Penal Law.' In the same year he was chosen Under secretary of State. In 1774 he entered the House of Commons and was again chosen in 1778, when he was one of the five commission ers to America. He published a report on his return in the form of 'Four Letters to the Earl of Carlisle.' In 1780 he accompanied Lord Carlisle as Chief Secretary to Ireland. In this capacity he was instrumental in establishing the National Bank of Ireland. In 1783 he became Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and a member of the privy council. He was a staunch supporter of Pitt, resigning with him in December 1783 and returning with Pitt's ministry in the following year. Eden was made Lord of the Committee of Council on trade and plantations, and was sent to France to negotiate the commercial treaty, which was finally consummated in 1786 87. He served as special Ambassador to Madrid in 1788; to the United States and to Holland in the succeeding years. In the latter country he
was especially active during the years 1790-93 as Ambassador extraordinary. In the last named year he retired and was created a peer of Great Britain as Lord Auckland of West Auckland, Durham. His support of Pitt con tinued, and in 1798, he returned to office in the capacity of joint Postmaster-General. His final resignation came in 1801, when the Pitt minis try collapsed under the disapproval of the king in regard to their Irish policy. The love of Pitt for Auckland's eldest daughter who later married the Earl of Buckinghamshire strained the relations between Pitt and Auckland, and resulted in the latter's refusal to join Pitt's second ministry. In 1796 he was chosen to be chancellor of Marischal College. Besides the publications already mentioned, he wrote 'His tory of New Holland' (1787), and 'Remarks on the Apparent Circumstances of the War.) His 'Journals and Correspondence) were edited by his son, Robert John, bishop of Bath and Wells (4 vols., 1860-62).