Which British Prime Minister was assassinated in 1812?

Spencer Perceval, (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 October 1809 until his death on 11 May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated. He is also the only solicitor general or attorney general to have been prime minister.

At first it was feared that the assassination might signal the start of an uprising, but it soon became apparent that the assassin—who had made no attempt to escape—was a man with an obsessive grievance against the Government and had acted alone. The assassin, John Bellingham, was a merchant who believed he had been unjustly imprisoned in Russia and was entitled to compensation from the government, but all his petitions had been rejected.

Perceval was buried on 16 May in the Egmont vault at St Luke's Church, Charlton. The previous day, Bellingham had been tried, and, refusing to enter a plea of insanity, was found guilty. He was hanged on 18 May.

In a curious echo Henry Bellingham, who says he is descended from a relative of Bellingham's, was elected in 1983 as the Member of Parliament for North West Norfolk. In 1997 he lost the seat by 1,339 votes. This could be attributed in part to the 2,923 votes received by the Referendum Party candidate Roger Percival, who newspapers claimed to be descended from Perceval.