Daguerreotype of Wellington, aged 74 or 75, by Antoine Claudet, 1844. This is the earliest photograph known to have been taken of any British prime minister.

King William IV had dismissed the Whig government of Lord Melbourne on 14 November 1834 and asked the Duke of Wellington to form a government but he declined, instead recommending Sir Robert Peel. Peel was in Sardinia at the time, so the Duke of Wellington took control of the government in a caretaker capacity[1] until Peel returned and was able to form his government on 10 December.

List of ministers

During the caretaker government there was no Cabinet.[2]

Ministers[3]
Office Name Date
The Duke of Wellington 17 November 1834 –
 9 December 1834
Lord Chancellor The Lord Lyndhurst 21 November 1834
Chancellor of the Exchequer (interim) The Lord Denman 15 November 1834
Lords Commissioners of the Treasury The Duke of Wellington 21 November 1834
The Earl of Rosslyn
The Lord Ellenborough
Lord Maryborough
Sir John Beckett
Joseph Planta

Notes

  • Wellington was the only Secretary of State.[4]
  • As no separate Chancellor of the Exchequer had been appointed, Denman held the post pro tempore by virtue of being Lord Chief Justice.
  • Most offices were in commission.

References

  1. ↑ A Cabinet Council by John Doyle, depicting Wellington sitting alone at the Cabinet table (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
  2. ↑ Venning, T. (2005). Compendium of British Office Holders. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p.106.
  3. ↑ Cook, C; Keith, B. (1975). British Historical Facts 1830–1900. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, p.4.
  4. ↑ "No. 19211". The London Gazette. 18 November 1834. p. 2047.
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