Godolphin–Marlborough ministry
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of the
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, and then of the
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, from May 1702, at the beginning of the reign of Queen Anne. During this period, the leaders of the ministry were
Lord Godolphin Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, (15 June 1645 – 15 September 1712) was a leading British politician of the late 17th and the early 18th centuries. He was a Privy Councillor and Secretary of State for the Northern Department b ...
and
the Duke of Marlborough Duke of Marlborough (pronounced ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen Anne in 1702 for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, 1st Earl of Marlborough (1650–1722), the n ...
. 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 The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
and the Duke of Marlborough as
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(among other numerous appointments). They would lead this coalition of
Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
and Whigs until 1708, one year after the Act of Union formed the
Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...
. 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 :''See also Earl of Winchilsea'' Earl of Nottingham is a title that has been created seven times in the Peerage of England. It was first created for John de Mowbray in 1377, at the coronation of Richard II. As this creation could only pass to ...
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 The Whig Junto is the name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party and often the government, during the reigns of William III and Anne. The Whig Junto proper consisted of John Somers, later ...
'', bringing the
Earl of Sunderland Earl of Sunderland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1627 in favour of Emanuel Scrope, 11th Baron Scrope of Bolton. The earldom became extinct on his death in 1630 while the barony becam ...
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
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. 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 Baron Somers, of Evesham in the County of Worcester, is a title that has been created twice. The title was first created in the Peerage of England in 1697 for Sir John Somers, so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as Lord Chancel ...
as
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, the
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as
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, and the Earl of Wharton as
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. 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


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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godolphin-Marlborough ministry English ministries British ministries 1700s in England 1700s in Great Britain Ministries of Anne, Queen of Great Britain 1702 establishments in England 1710 disestablishments in Great Britain 1710s in Great Britain