Second Rockingham ministry | |
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March–July 1782 | |
![]() Rockingham (after Joshua Reynolds) | |
Date formed | 27 March 1782 |
Date dissolved | 1 July 1782 |
People and organisations | |
Monarch | George III |
Prime Minister | Lord Rockingham |
Total no. of members | 16 appointments |
Member party | Rockingham Whigs |
Status in legislature | Majority 234 / 449 |
Opposition party | Grenvillites |
History | |
Legislature terms | 15th GB Parliament |
Predecessor | North ministry |
Successor | Shelburne ministry |
This is a list of the principal holders of government office during the second premiership of the Marquess of Rockingham for four months in 1782.
The North ministry resigned on 22 March 1782 after losing the confidence of Parliament following the British defeat at the siege of Yorktown during the American War of Independence. Whig Lord Rockingham, Prime Minister from 1765 to 1766, formed a government. The Rockingham Whigs had generally been sympathetic to the cause of the Colonists and under Rockingham the British government began the negotiations leading to the Peace of Paris that concluded the war.
The death of Rockingham on 1 July 1782 caused a split in the ministry. The Home Secretary Lord Shelburne was appointed to succeed him, but several members of the government refused to serve under him and resigned. These "Portland Whigs" (named after their nominal leader, the Duke of Portland, but in reality led by Charles James Fox) allied in opposition with Lord North and brought down the Shelburne ministry in 1783. The Portland Whigs came to power as the Fox–North coalition.
Cabinet
[edit]Portfolio | Minister | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|
(head of ministry) | 27 March 1782 | 1 July 1782 | |
Lord Chancellor | 3 June 1778 | 7 April 1783 | |
Lord President of the Council | 27 March 1782 | 2 April 1783 | |
Lord Privy Seal | 1782 | 1783 | |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | 27 March 1782 | 10 July 1782 | |
Secretary of State for the Home Department | 27 March 1782 | 10 July 1782 | |
27 March 1782 | 5 July 1782 | ||
First Lord of the Admiralty | 1782 | 1783 | |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | 17 April 1782 | 29 August 1783 | |
Master-General of the Ordnance | 1782 | 1783 | |
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces | 1782 | 1783 |
Ministers not in Cabinet
[edit]- The Lord Grantham – First Lord of Trade
- Isaac Barré – Treasurer of the Navy
- Thomas Townshend – Secretary at War
- Edmund Burke – Paymaster of the Forces
- The Duke of Portland – Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
References
[edit]- Cook, Chris; Stevenson, John (1980). British Historical Facts: 1760–1830. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 978-0-333-21512-8.