Wellington caretaker ministry

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.

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.

List of ministers

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

Ministers^[3]

Office	Name	Date
Prime Minister Leader of the House of Lords Secretary of State	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.

Preceded by First Melbourne ministry	Government of the United Kingdom 1834	Succeeded by First Peel ministry