Wellington caretaker ministry

King William IV had dismissed the Whig government of Lord Melbourne on 14 November 1834 and asked Arthur Wellesley, 1st 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 anyone who had been the 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	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington	17 November 1834 –  9 December 1834
Lord Chancellor	John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst	21 November 1834
Chancellor of the Exchequer (interim)	Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman	15 November 1834
Lords Commissioners of the Treasury	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington	21 November 1834
	James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn
	Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough
	William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough
	Sir John Beckett, 2nd Baronet
	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.