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
OfficeNameAppointedFirst Lord of the TreasurySidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin8 May 1702Chancellor of the ExchequerHenry Boyle29 March 1701John Smith11 February 1708Lord President of the CouncilThomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery9 July 1702John Somers, 1st Baron Somers25 November 1708Chancellor of the Duchy of LancasterSir John Leveson-Gower12 May 1702James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby1 June 1706Master-General of the OrdnanceJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough1 July 1702Secretary of State for the Southern DepartmentDaniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham2 May 1702Sir Charles Hedges18 May 1704Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland3 December 1706William Legge, 2nd Baron Dartmouth15 June 1710Secretary of State for the Northern DepartmentSir Charles Hedges2 May 1702Robert Harley18 May 1704Henry Boyle13 February 1708Lord Privy SealJohn Sheffield, 1st Marquess of Normanby27 April 1702John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne21 March 1705President of the Board of TradeThomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth12 June 1702Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford25 April 1707Lord High Admiral /First Lord of the AdmiraltyPrince George of Denmark20 May 1702Queen Anne28 October 1708Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke29 November 1708Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford8 November 1709Secretary at WarGeorge Clarke3 March 1692Henry St John20 April 1704Robert Walpole25 February 1708Treasurer of the NavySir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Baronet29 May 1699Robert Walpole21 January 1710Paymaster of the Forcesat HomeJohn Howe4 January 1703AbroadCharles Fox4 January 1703James BrydgesApril 1705 Secretary of State for Scotland John Erskine, Earl of Mar 1 May 1707 James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry 3 February 1709
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