Godolphin–Marlborough 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 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 loked favorably 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

OFFICE	NAME	DATE
First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer Leader of the House of Commons Master-General of the Ordnance	The Duke of Marlborough	8 May 1702
Chancellor of the Exchequer	The Lord Godolphin	8 May 1702
Lord President of the Council	The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery	9 July 1702
	The Lord Somers	25 November 1708
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Sir John Leveson-Gower	12 May 1702
	The Earl of Derby	1 June 1706
Secretary of State for the Southern Department	The Earl of Nottingham	2 May 1702
	Sir Charles Hedges	18 May 1704
	The Earl of Sunderland	3 December 1706
	The Lord Dartmouth	15 June 1710
Secretary of State for the Northern Department	Sir Charles Hedges	2 May 1702
	Robert Harley	18 May 1704
	Henry Boyle	13 February 1708
Lord Privy Seal	The Marquess of Normanby	27 April 1702
	The Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne	21 March 1705
President of the Board of Trade	The Viscount Weymouth	12 June 1702
	The Earl of Stamford	25 April 1707
Lord High Admiral / First Lord of the Admiralty	Prince George of Denmark	20 May 1702
	Queen Anne	28 October 1708
	The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery	29 November 1708
	The Earl of Orford	8 November 1709
Secretary at War	George Clarke	3 March 1692
	Henry St John	20 April 1704
	Robert Walpole	25 February 1708
Treasurer of the Navy	Sir Thomas Littleton	29 May 1699
	Robert Walpole	21 January 1710
Paymaster of the Forces	John Howe Charles Fox	4 January 1703
	John Howe James Brydges	April 1705

References

• Chris Cook and John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1688-1760, Macmillan 1988, p. 33-35

Preceded by Pembroke Ministry	Ministry of England 1702–1707	Succeeded by Acts of Union
Preceded by Acts of Union	Government of Great Britain 1707–1710	Succeeded by Harley Ministry