Second Melbourne ministry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1835–1841 | |
 | |
| Date formed | 8 April 1835 |
| Date dissolved | 30 August 1835 |
| People and organisations | |
| Monarch | William IV Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
| History | |
| Election | 1835 general election |
| Outgoing election | 1841 general election |
| Predecessor | First Peel ministry |
| Successor | Second Peel ministry |
The second Lord Melbourne ministry was formed in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by the Viscount Melbourne in 1835.
Lord Melbourne's second government came to power after Sir Robert Peel's minority government resigned in 1835. Lord Palmerston returned as Foreign Secretary while Lord John Russell held his first major office as Home Secretary.
In 1837 Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne, and as was usual for a queen regnant, the Royal Household was appointed by the Prime Minister. The young Queen was so attached to her Whig ladies of the bedchamber that after Melbourne's resignation in 1839, she refused to let Sir Robert Peel replace them with Conservative ladies. This was known as the Bedchamber Crisis, and led to Peel's refusal to form a government. Melbourne therefore resumed, and continued in office until the Conservatives finally won a House of Commons majority in the General Election of 1841. He was succeeded by Sir Robert Peel's second government.
The 1841 votes of no confidence against the government of Viscount Melbourne were votes of no confidence in the government of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne which occurred on 7 June 1841. [1] Melbourne lost the vote by only one vote and dissolved Parliament leading to an election in July 1841. Melbourne lost a second vote of confidence shortly after the election in August, leading to his resignation.
Members of the Cabinet are indicated by bold face.
Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–1835). He previously was Home Secretary twice. He is regarded as the father of modern British policing, owing to his founding of the Metropolitan Police Service while he was Home Secretary. Peel was one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party.
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell,, known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 1866.
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, its holder was responsible for the monarch's personal (privy) seal until the use of such a seal became obsolete. Though one of the oldest offices in European governments, it has no particular function today because the use of a privy seal has been obsolete for centuries; it may be regarded as a traditional sinecure, but today, the holder of the office is invariably given a seat in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, and is sometimes referred to as a minister without portfolio.
Charles Manners-Sutton, 1st Viscount Canterbury, was a British Tory politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1817 to 1835.
James Abercromby, 1st Baron Dunfermline FRSE, was a British barrister and Whig politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1835 and 1839, the first Scottish MP to hold that position.
Colonel James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Wharncliffe, PC was a British soldier and politician. A grandson of Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, he held office under Sir Robert Peel as Lord Privy Seal between 1834 and 1835 and as Lord President of the Council between 1841 and 1845.
The 1841 United Kingdom general election, was held between 29 June and 22 July 1841 to elect the new Parliament of the United Kingdom. In this election, there was a large swing as Sir Robert Peel's Conservatives took control of the House of Commons. Melbourne's Whigs had seen their support in the Commons erode over the previous years. Whilst Melbourne enjoyed the firm support of the young Queen Victoria, his ministry had seen increasing defeats in the Commons, culminating in the defeat of the government's budget in May 1841 by 36 votes, and by 1 vote in a 4 June 1841 vote of no confidence put forward by Peel. According to precedent, Melbourne's defeat required his resignation. However, the cabinet decided to ask for a dissolution, which was opposed by Melbourne personally, but he came to accept the wishes of the ministers. Melbourne requested the Queen dissolve Parliament, leading to an election. The Queen thus prorogued Parliament on 22 June.
John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough, PC, known as Viscount Duncannon from 1793 to 1844, was a British Whig politician. He was notably Home Secretary in 1834 and served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 1846 and 1847, the first years of the Great Famine.
The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to the end of 1800, it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament: the Chancellor was Speaker of the Irish House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor was also Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland. In all three respects, the office mirrored the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.
William Vesey-FitzGerald, 2nd Baron FitzGerald and Vesey, was an Anglo-Irish statesman. A Tory, he served in the governments of Lord Wellington and Robert Peel, but is best known for his defeat in the 1828 Clare by-election, hastening Catholic Emancipation across Britain and Ireland.
Earl of Bessborough is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1739 for Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon, who had previously represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons. In 1749, he was given the additional title of Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby, in the County of Leicester, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which entitled him to a seat in the British House of Lords. The titles Viscount Duncannon, of the fort of Duncannon in the County of Wexford, and Baron Bessborough, of Bessborough, Piltown, in the County of Kilkenny, had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1723 and 1721 respectively for Lord Bessborough's father William Ponsonby, who had earlier represented County Kilkenny in the Irish House of Commons.
Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington, KT, PC, FRS, FRSE, known as Lord Binning from 1794 to 1828, was a Scottish Conservative statesman.
Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley,, known as The Lord Eddisbury between 1848 and 1850, was a British politician. He served as Postmaster General between 1860 and 1866.
The second Peel ministry was formed by Sir Robert Peel in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1841.
Ernest Augustus Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury,, styled Lord Ernest Bruce from 1821 until 1878, was a British courtier and politician. He served for many years as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.
Thomas Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton, GCH, PC, known as Thomas Grosvenor until 1814, was a British nobleman and Tory politician. He served as Lord Steward of the Household in 1835 in Sir Robert Peel's first government.
The Bedchamber crisis occurred on 7 May 1839 after Whig politician William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne declared his intention to resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after a government bill passed by a very narrow margin of only five votes in the House of Commons. Following a few false moves toward an alternative Tory prime minister and a Conservative government, Lord Melbourne was reinstated until the 1841 election, when the Conservative party took over.
Admiral Maurice Frederick FitzHardinge Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge, was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he commanded gunboats on the Tagus, reinforcing the Lines of Torres Vedras, in Autumn 1810 during the Peninsular War and, as a captain, he served on the coast of Syria taking part in the capture of Acre in November 1840 during the Oriental Crisis. He also served as Whig Member of Parliament for Gloucester and became First Naval Lord in the Aberdeen ministry in June 1854 and in that role focussed on manning the fleet and in carrying out reforms and improvements in the food, clothing, and pay of seamen.
