Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

George Canning Politician

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United Kingdom
  • Born: Apr 11, 1770
  • Died: Aug 8, 1827

George Canning PC, FRS (11 April 1770 - 8 August 1827) was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.

Canning was born into an Anglo-Irish family at his parents' home in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, London. Canning described himself as "an Irishman born in London". His father, George Canning, Sr., of Garvagh, County Londonderry, Ireland, was a gentleman of limited means, a failed wine merchant and lawyer, who renounced his right to inherit the family estate in exchange for payment of his substantial debts. George Sr. eventually abandoned the family and died in poverty on 11 April 1771, his son's first birthday, in London. Canning's mother, Mary Anne Costello, took work as a stage actress, a profession not considered respectable at the time. Indeed when in 1827 it looked as if Canning would become Prime Minister, Lord Grey remarked that "the son of an actress is, ipso facto, disqualified from becoming Prime Minister".

Indecision and delays are the parents of failure. failure

A steady patriot of the world alone, The friend of every country but his own. alone

I can prove anything by statistics except the truth. truth