Second Peel ministry

Sir Robert Peel, Bt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1834–1835, 1841–1846.

The Second Peel Ministry was formed by Sir Robert Peel, Bt in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1841.

History

Contemporary engraving showing the members of Peel's second ministry

Peel came to power for a second time after the Conservative victory in the General Election caused the Whig government of Lord Melbourne to resign.

Henry Goulburn was Chancellor of the Exchequer, the future Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen Foreign Secretary and Sir James Graham Home Secretary. William Ewart Gladstone, who was yet to join the Liberal Party, became a member of the cabinet for the first time in 1843 when he was appointed President of the Board of Trade. His future rival Benjamin Disraeli was overlooked by Peel and was a sharp critic of the government.

The government was brought down by Peel's decision in 1846 to support the repeal of the Corn Laws, leading to a split in the Tory party and the formation of a Whig government under Lord John Russell.

Cabinet

September 1841 – July 1846

OFFICE	NAME	TERM
First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Sir Robert Peel, Bt	September 1841 – July 1846
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Lyndhurst	September 1841 – July 1846
Lord President of the Council	The Lord Wharncliffe	September 1841 – December 1845
	The Duke of Buccleuch	December 1845 – July 1846
Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Buckingham	September 1841 – February 1842
	The Duke of Buccleuch	February 1842 – January 1846
	The Earl of Haddington	January–July 1846
Home Secretary	Sir James Graham, Bt	September 1841 – July 1846
Foreign Secretary	The Earl of Aberdeen	September 1841 – July 1846
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	Lord Stanley	September 1841 – December 1845
	William Ewart Gladstone	December 1845 – July 1846
First Lord of the Admiralty	The Earl of Haddington	September 1841 – January 1846
	The Earl of Ellenborough	January–July 1846
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Henry Goulburn	September 1841 – July 1846
President of the Board of Control	The Lord Ellenborough	September–October 1841
	The Lord FitzGerald	October 1841 – May 1843
	The Earl of Ripon	May 1843 – July 1846
President of the Board of Trade	The Earl of Ripon	September 1841 – May 1843
	William Ewart Gladstone	May 1843 – January 1845
First Commissioner of Woods and Forests	Earl of Lincoln	February 1845 – January 1846
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Lord Granville Somerset	May 1844 – July 1846
Secretary at War	Sir Henry Hardinge	September 1841 – January 1845
	Sidney Herbert	January 1845 – July 1846
Paymaster-General	Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bt	September 1841 – January 1845
Chief Secretary for Ireland	Earl of Lincoln	January–July 1846
Minister without Portfolio Leader of the House of Lords	The Duke of Wellington	September 1841 – July 1846

Changes

• October 1841: Lord FitzGerald succeeds Lord Ellenborough as President of the Board of Control.
• February 1842: The Duke of Buccleuch succeeds the Duke of Buckingham as Lord Privy Seal.
• May 1843: Lord Ripon succeeds FitzGerald as President of the Board of Control. William Ewart Gladstone succeeds Ripon at the Board of Trade.
• May 1844: Lord Granville Somerset, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, enters the Cabinet. Sir Henry Hardinge leaves the cabinet. His successor as Secretary at War is not in the Cabinet.
• February 1845: William Gladstone resigns as President of the Board of Trade. His successor in that post is not in the Cabinet. The First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, Lord Lincoln, enters the Cabinet, while Sir Edward Knatchbull, the Paymaster, leaves it.
• May 1845: Sidney Herbert, the Secretary at War, enters the Cabinet.
• December 1845: Gladstone succeeds Lord Stanley as Secretary for War and the Colonies.
• January 1846—The Duke of Buccleuch succeeds Lord Wharnecliffe as Lord President. Lord Haddington succeeds Buccleuch as Lord Privy Seal. Ellenborough succeeds Haddington as First Lord of the Admiralty. Lincoln becomes Chief Secretary for Ireland. His successor as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests is not in the Cabinet.

List of Ministers

Members of the Cabinet are indicated by bold face.

Office	Name	Date	Notes
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons	Sir Robert Peel, Bt	30 August 1841 – 29 June 1846	resigned 6 December 1845 and resumed 20 December 1845
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Henry Goulburn	4 September 1841
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt	8 September 1841
	John Young	21 May 1844
Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Sir George Clerk, Bt	8 September 1841
	Edward Cardwell	4 February 1845
Junior Lords of the Treasury	James Milnes Gaskell	6 September 1841 – 11 March 1846
	Henry Bingham Baring	6 September 1841 – 27 June 1846
	Alexander Perceval	6 September 1841 – 16 September 1841
	Alexander Pringle	6 September 1841 – 26 April 1845
	John Young	16 September 1841 – 21 May 1844
	Lord Arthur Lennox	21 May 1844 – 8 August 1845
	William Forbes Mackenzie	26 April 1845 – 11 March 1846
	William Cripps	8 August 1845 – 27 June 1846
	Hon. Swynfen Carnegie	11 March 1846 – 27 June 1846
	Ralph Neville	11 March 1846 – 27 June 1846
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Lyndhurst	3 September 1841
Lord President of the Council	The Lord Wharncliffe	3 September 1841
	The Duke of Buccleuch	21 January 1846
Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos	3 September 1841
	The Duke of Buccleuch	2 February 1842
	The Earl of Haddington	21 January 1846
Secretary of State for the Home Department	Sir James Graham, Bt	3 September 1841
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	John Manners-Sutton	3 September 1841
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Earl of Aberdeen	3 September 1841
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Viscount Canning	4 September 1841
	George Smythe	27 January 1846
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	Lord Stanley	3 September 1841
	William Ewart Gladstone	23 December 1845
Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	George William Hope	8 September 1841
	The Lord Lyttelton	8 January 1846
First Lord of the Admiralty	The Earl of Haddington	6 September 1841
	The Earl of Ellenborough	8 January 1846
First Secretary of the Admiralty	Sidney Herbert	10 September 1841
	Henry Lowry-Corry	4 February 1845
Civil Lord of the Admiralty	Henry Lowry-Corry	6 September 1841
	Henry Fitzroy	10 February 1845
President of the Board of Control	The Lord Ellenborough	4 September 1841	created Earl of Ellenborough 22 October 1844
	The Lord Fitzgerald	23 October 1841
	The Earl of Ripon	17 May 1843
Joint Secretaries of the Board of Control	James Emerson Tennent	8 September 1841 – 5 August 1845
	Bingham Baring	8 September 1841 – 17 February 1845
	Viscount Jocelyn	17 February 1845 – 27 June 1846
	Viscount Mahon	5 August 1845 – 27 June 1846
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Lord Granville Somerset	3 September 1841	entered the Cabinet May 1844
Paymaster-General	Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bt	8 September 1841
	Bingham Baring	1 March 1845
Minister without Portfolio and Leader of the House of Lords	The Duke of Wellington	3 September 1841
President of the Board of Trade	The Earl of Ripon	3 September 1841
	William Ewart Gladstone	15 May 1843
	The Earl of Dalhousie	5 February 1845
Vice-President of the Board of Trade	William Ewart Gladstone	3 September 1841
	The Earl of Dalhousie	10 June 1843
	Sir George Clerk, Bt	5 February 1845
Secretary at War	Sir Henry Hardinge	4 September 1841
	Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt	17 May 1844
	Sidney Herbert	4 February 1845	entered the Cabinet May 1845
First Commissioner of Woods and Forests	Earl of Lincoln	16 September 1841	entered the Cabinet February 1845
	The Viscount Canning	2 March 1846
Chief Secretary for Ireland	Lord Eliot	6 February 1841
	Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt	1 February 1845
	Earl of Lincoln	14 February 1846
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Earl de Grey	11 September 1841
	The Lord Heytesbury	17 July 1844
Master of the Mint	William Ewart Gladstone	9 September 1841
	Sir George Clerk, Bt	12 February 1845
Master-General of the Ordnance	Sir George Murray	9 September 1841
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance	Jonathan Peel	9 September 1841
Clerk of the Ordnance	Henry George Boldero	9 September 1841
	Lord Arthur Lennox	7 August 1845
Storekeeper of the Ordnance	Francis Robert Bonham	9 September 1841
	Sir Thomas Hastings	25 July 1845
Postmaster-General	Viscount Lowther	9 September 1841	succeeded as 2nd Earl of Lonsdale 19 March 1844
	The Earl of St Germans	30 December 1845
Attorney General	Sir Frederick Pollock, Bt	6 September 1841
	Sir William Webb Follett	15 April 1844
	Sir Frederic Thesiger	29 June 1845
Solicitor General	Sir William Webb Follett	6 September 1841
	Sir Frederic Thesiger	29 June 1844
	Sir Fitzroy Kelly	17 July 1845
Judge Advocate General	John Iltyd Nicholl	8 September 1841
	James Stuart-Wortley	24 January 1846
Lord Advocate	Sir William Rae, Bt	4 September 1841
	Duncan McNeill	26 October 1842
Solicitor General for Scotland	Duncan McNeill	9 September 1841
	Adam Anderson	8 November 1842
Attorney General for Ireland	Francis Blackburne	23 September 1841
	Thomas Cusack-Smith	10 November 1842
	Richard Wilson Greene	2 February 1846
Solicitor General for Ireland	Edward Pennefather	23 September 1841
	Joseph Devonsher Jackson	10 November 1841
	Thomas Cusack-Smith	21 September 1842
	Richard Wilson Greene	1 November 1842
	Abraham Brewster	2 February 1846
Lord Steward of the Household	The Earl of Liverpool	3 September 1841
Lord Chamberlain of the Household	The Earl De La Warr	8 September 1841
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Lord Ernest Bruce	7 September 1841
Master of the Horse	The Earl of Jersey	4 September 1841
Treasurer of the Household	Earl Jermyn	9 September 1841
Comptroller of the Household	George Dawson-Damer	9 September 1841
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Lord Forester	8 September 1841
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Marquess of Lothian	8 September 1841
	The Earl of Beverley	15 January 1842
Master of the Buckhounds	The Earl of Rosslyn	10 September 1841
Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal	Lord Charles Wellesley	10 September 1841
Mistress of the Robes	Duchess of Buccleuch	10 September 1841
Lords in Waiting	Marquess of Ormonde	10 September 1841 – 27 June 1846
	The Earl of Warwick	10 September 1841 – 27 June 1846
	The Earl of Morton	10 September 1841 – 27 June 1846
	The Earl of Hardwicke	10 September 1841 – 31 January 1846
	The Lord Rivers	10 September 1841 – 27 June 1846
	The Viscount Hawarden	15 September 1841 – 27 June 1846
	The Lord Glenlyon	31 January 1846 – 27 June 1846

References

• C. Cook and B. Keith, British Historical Facts 1830–1900’’