In 1765, his father (by then Sir Charles Pratt, having been appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1762) was created Baron Camden, at which point he became The Hon.

[2] In 1780, Pratt was elected Member of Parliament for Bath and obtained the position of Teller of the Exchequer the same year,[1] a lucrative office which he kept until his death, although after 1812 he refused to receive the large income arising from it.

[4] As an opponent of parliamentary reform and of Catholic emancipation, Camden's term of office was one of turbulence, culminating in the rebellion of 1798.

[3] His refusal in 1797 to reprieve the United Irishman William Orr, convicted of treason on the word of one witness of dubious credit (and for which his own sister Frances, Lady Londonderry, petitioned him),[5] aroused great public indignation.

In 1804, Camden became Secretary of State for War and the Colonies under Pitt,[8] and in 1805 Lord President of the Council,[9] an office he retained until 1806.

[1] The family owned and lived in a house located at 22 Arlington Street in St. James's, a district of the City of Westminster in central London,[13] which is adjoining the Ritz Hotel.