Harley ministry

Robert Harley headed the government and has been described as Britain's first Prime Minister.

Henry St John served as Northern and then Southern Secretary and oversaw the negotiations that led to the Peace of Utrecht. He unsuccessfully tried to secure a Jacobite succession of Queen Anne's death.

The Harley (or Oxford–Bolingbroke) ministry was the British government that existed between 1710 and 1714 in the reign of Queen Anne. It was headed by Robert Harley (from 1711, Earl of Oxford) and composed largely of Tories. Harley was a former Whig who had changed sides, bringing down the seemingly powerful Whig Junto and their moderate Tory ally Lord Godolphin. It came during the Rage of Party when divisions between the two factions were at their height, and a "paper war" broke out between their supporters. Amongst those writers supportive of Harley's government were Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Delarivier Manley, John Arbuthnot and Alexander Pope who clashed with members of the rival Kit-Kat Club.

Peace treaty

The ministry vigorously pushed for a peace to end the War of the Spanish Succession, leading to the Treaty of Utrecht. Foreign affairs were largely conducted by Viscount Bolingbroke. They were fiercely pressed by the Whig opposition, who used the rallying cry of No Peace Without Spain. In order to secure his peace treaty through the hostile Whig-dominated House of Lords, Harley created twelve new peerages known as Harley's Dozen in a single day to tip the balance. The ministry successfully prosecuted Robert Walpole over charges of profiteering and had him imprisoned in the Tower of London for a period.

In December 1711 the government controversially dismissed Lord Marlborough, a notional Tory but long supported by the Whigs, as Captain General and replaced him with the staunchly Tory Irish general the Duke of Ormonde. Ormonde took the field as commander of the British forces in Flanders in 1712, but received "restraining orders" from Harley forbidding him from committing troops to fight the French. Ormonde marched his troops away from the Allies, now commanded by Eugene of Savoy, who suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Denain without the assistance of the British. Marlborough was also dismissed from his post in the cabinet Master General of the Ordnance, a position that was handed to the Scottish Tory Duke of Hamilton. Hamilton was also appointed as the first British Ambassador to France following the war, but before he left for France he was killed in a notorious duel in Hyde Park with the Whig politician Lord Mohun.

Fall and aftermath

The government fell following Anne's death in 1714. The new king, George I, was not comfortable with Harley or Bolingbroke, who he believed had opposed the Hanoverian Succession and instead supported the Jacobite pretenders. They were replaced by the Townshend ministry, beginning the Whig Ascendancy, and it would be nearly fifty years before a Tory ministry gained office again in 1762. Bolingbroke was forced into exile, along with many of his followers after being accused of treason. Harley was impeached by Parliament, and remained in the Tower of London until 1717. Matthew Prior who had played an important part in the negotiating the Utrecht treaty was also imprisoned.

Several former members of the government were involved or caught up in the 1715 Jacobite rebellion. Bolingbroke in Paris served as Secretary of State for the claimant James III, the former Scottish Secretary the Earl of Mar led the uprising in Scotland while Sir William Wyndham was arrested as a potential leader of the revolt in England.

Principal ministers

Office^[1]	Name	Term
Lord Treasurer	The Earl Poulett (First Lord of commission)	1710–1711
	The Earl of Oxford	1711–1714
	The Duke of Shrewsbury	1714–1714
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Robert Harley	1710–1711
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Robert Benson	1711–1714
Lord President of the Council	The Earl of Rochester	1710–1711
Lord President of the Council	The Duke of Buckingham	1711–1714
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Lord Berkeley	1710–1714
Master-General of the Ordnance	The Duke of Marlborough	1702–1712
	The Earl Rivers	1712–1712
	The Duke of Hamilton	1712–1712
	Vacant	1712–1714
Secretary of State for the Southern Department	The Lord Dartmouth (Earl of Dartmouth from 1711)	1710–1713
Secretary of State for the Southern Department	The Viscount Bolingbroke	1713–1714
Secretary of State for the Northern Department	The Viscount Bolingbroke	1710–1713
Secretary of State for the Northern Department	William Bromley	1713–1714
Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Newcastle	1705–1711
	The Bishop of Bristol	1711–1713
	The Earl of Dartmouth	1713–1714
First Lord of Trade	The Earl of Stamford	1707–1711
	The Earl of Winchilsea	1711–1713
	The Lord Guilford	1713–1714
First Lord of the Admiralty	The Earl of Orford	1709–1710
	Sir John Leake	1710–1712
	The Earl of Strafford	1712–1714
Secretary at War	George Granville	1710–1712
	Sir William Wyndham	1712–1713
	Francis Gwyn	1713–1714
Treasurer of the Navy	Robert Walpole	1710–1711
Treasurer of the Navy	Charles Caesar	1711–1714
Paymaster-General of the Forces^{[n 1]}	James Brydges	1707–1713
Paymaster-General of the Forces^{[n 1]}	Thomas Moore	1713–1714
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Duke of Ormonde	1710–1713
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Duke of Shrewsbury	1713–1714
Secretary of State for Scotland	The Duke of Queensberry	1710–1711
Secretary of State for Scotland	John Erskine, Earl of Mar	1713–1714

^ Cook and Stevenson also list Edward Nicholas as Paymaster-General in 1713, but his office was that of Paymaster of Pensions.^[2]

References

^ Chris Cook and John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1688–1760, Macmillan 1988, pp. 35–36.
^ J. C. Sainty, Paymaster of Pensions 1703-1782. Accessed 9 December 2018.

Agama	Bahasa	Biografi	Budaya	Ekonomi	Elektronika
Film	Filsafat	Geografi	Indonesia	Ilmu	Lingkungan
Masyarakat	Matematika	Militer	Mitologi	Musik	Olahraga
Pendidikan	Politik	Sastra	Sejarah	Seni	Teknologi

Harley ministry

Peace treaty

Fall and aftermath

Principal ministers

References

See also

Read other articles:

Komando Pasukan Khusus

Pontius Pilatus

The Dawn Trail

Ragam salib Kristen

Haranggaol Horison, Simalungun

Distrik Adilabad

Vanessa Angel (pemeran, lahir 1993)

Jalan Lubang Buaya (Jakarta)

Snow

KASH-FM

Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work

Lembah Bakkara

コルク

2022年肯塔基州聯邦參議員選舉

3ª Divisione fanteria di marina "San Marco"

2016年美國總統選舉

Rockdale Temple

2020年夏季奧林匹克運動會波蘭代表團

哈萨克斯坦总统

Al Schoterman

Portal di Ensiklopedia Dunia