Godolphin–Marlborough ministry | |
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1702-1710 | |
Engravings of Lord Godolphin (left) and the Duke of Marlborough (right) | |
Date formed | May 1702 |
Date dissolved | 8 August 1710 |
People and organisations | |
Monarch | Anne |
Lord High Treasurer | Lord Godolphin |
Master-General of the Ordnance | The Duke of Marlborough |
Member party | Tory Whigs |
Status in legislature | Majority coalition (England, and GB after 1707) Outside of Parliament (Scotland) 482 / 513(1702-1705) 493 / 513 (1705-1708) 513 / 558 (1708-1710) |
Opposition cabinet | None |
History | |
Elections | England: Scotland: 1702 Great Britain: 1708 |
Legislature terms | 1st Parliament of Queen Anne (England) 1702-1707 Scottish Parliament (Scotland) 1st British Parliament (after 1707) |
Successor | Harley ministry |
This is a list of the principal Ministers of the Crown of the Kingdom of England, and then of the Kingdom of Great Britain, from May 1702, at the beginning of the reign of Queen Anne. During this period, the leaders of the ministry were Lord Godolphin and the Duke of Marlborough.
On 8 August 1710 Godolphin was dismissed and the Harley ministry took power.
History
Upon Queen Anne's accession to the English throne in 1702, she appointed Lord Godolphin as Lord High Treasurer and the Duke of Marlborough as Master-General of the Ordnance (among other numerous appointments). They would lead this coalition of Tories and Whigs until 1708, one year after the Act of Union formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. There were three phases to the ministry. From 1702 to 1704 the ministry was largely Tory – Godolphin and Marlborough themselves were Tories, as were the Earl of Nottingham and Sir Charles Hedges, the Secretaries of State. After Nottingham's resignation in 1704, Godolphin and Marlborough turned for support to the "Country" Whigs, led by Speaker Robert Harley. Not long after, the Whig complexion of the ministry grew, as Godolphin sought the support of Harley's opponents, the second Whig Junto, bringing the Earl of Sunderland in to replace Hedges as Secretary of State in 1706, and other Junto allies like Sir William Cowper began to be appointed to positions of power. The leading ministers looked favourably on the Junto's strong support for the War of the Spanish Succession. Harley at this point began to turn against the ministry and towards the opposition Tories, and his resignation in 1708 left the government largely in the hands of the Junto for its last two years, with Sunderland as Secretary of State, Lord Somers as Lord President of the Council, the Earl of Orford as First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Earl of Wharton as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The ministry finally collapsed in 1710 when Queen Anne turned to Harley and the Tories, dismissing Godolphin and the Junto Whigs, and, soon after, Marlborough himself.
List of ministers
See also
- 1st Parliament of Great Britain 1705–1708
- 2nd Parliament of Great Britain 1708–1710
References
- Chris Cook and John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1688–1760, Macmillan 1988, p. 33–35
- World Statesmen
Preceded byPembroke ministry | Government of England 1702–1707 |
Acts of Union |
First Acts of Union |
Government of Great Britain 1707–1710 |
Succeeded byHarley ministry |
English ministries | |
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→ List of British governments |