Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1693–1768)

British Whig politician, prime minster 1754–56 and 1757–62. He served as secretary of state for 30 years from 1724, then succeeded his younger brother, Henry Pelham, as prime minister in 1754. In 1756 he resigned as a result of setbacks in the Seven Years' War, but returned to office in 1757 with Pitt the Elder (1st Earl of Chatham) taking responsibility for the conduct of the war. He was made an earl in 1714, and a duke in 1715.