Following the Union of Parliaments in 1707, Henry Dundas was the first Scot to reach and maintain a position at the top of British politics. A friend and adviser to the Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, he was made Home Secretary in 1791 and Secretary of War in 1794. He ultimately became First Lord of the Admiralty, but was forced to resign in 1805 following accusations of misspending public funds. Although he was eventually acquitted, Dundas never succeeded in making a political comeback and his last years were spent in spiteful plotting and heavy drinking.