First Gladstone ministry explained

Incumbent:	1868–1874
Government Head Title:	Prime Minister
Government Head:	William Gladstone
State Head Title:	Monarch
State Head:	Victoria
Total Number:	125 appointments
Political Party:	Liberal Party
Legislature Status:	Majority
Election:	1868 general election
Last Election:	1874 general election
Opposition Party:	Conservative Party
Previous:	Third Derby–Disraeli ministry
Successor:	Second Disraeli ministry

The Conservative government under Benjamin Disraeli had been defeated at the 1868 general election, so in December 1868 the victorious William Gladstone formed his first government. He introduced reforms in the British Army (including the abolition of the purchase system), the legal system (establishing the Supreme Court of Judicature) and the Civil Service, and disestablished the Church of Ireland. In foreign affairs he pursued a peaceful policy. His ministry was defeated in the 1874 election, whereupon Disraeli formed a ministry and Gladstone retired as Leader of the Liberal Party.^[1]

Cabinet

December 1868 – February 1874

Office	Name	Term
First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	William Gladstone	December 1868 – February 1874
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Hatherley	December 1868 – October 1872
	The Lord Selborne	October 1872 – February 1874
Lord President of the Council	The Earl de Grey†	December 1868 – August 1873
	The Lord Aberdare	August 1873 – February 1874
Lord Privy Seal	The Earl of Kimberley	December 1868 – July 1870
	The Viscount Halifax	July 1870 – February 1874
Home Secretary	Henry Austin Bruce‡	December 1868 – August 1873
	Robert Lowe	August 1873 – February 1874
Foreign Secretary	The Earl of Clarendon	December 1868 – July 1870
	The Earl Granville	July 1870 – February 1874
Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Earl Granville	December 1868 – July 1870
	The Earl of Kimberley	July 1870 – February 1874
Secretary of State for War	Edward Cardwell	December 1868 – February 1874
Secretary of State for India	The Duke of Argyll	December 1868 – February 1874
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Robert Lowe	December 1868 – August 1873
	William Gladstone	August 1873 – February 1874
First Lord of the Admiralty	Hugh Childers	December 1868 – March 1871
	George Joachim Goschen	March 1871 – February 1874
President of the Board of Trade	John Bright	December 1868 – January 1871
	Chichester Fortescue	January 1871 – February 1874
President of the Poor Law Board	George Joachim Goschen	December 1868 – March 1871
	replaced by the Local Government Board
President of the Local Government Board	James Stansfeld	March 1871 – February 1874
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Hugh Childers	August 1872 – September 1873
	John Bright	September 1873 – February 1874
Postmaster General	Marquess of Hartington	December 1868 – January 1871
	incumbent not in cabinet
Chief Secretary for Ireland	Chichester Fortescue	December 1868 – January 1871
	Marquess of Hartington	January 1871 – February 1874
Vice President of the Council	William Edward Forster	July 1870 – February 1874
Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl Granville	December 1868 – February 1874

Notes

† The Earl de Grey was created the Marquess of Ripon in 1871.

‡ Henry Austin Bruce was created Baron Aberdare in 1873.

William Gladstone served as both First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer between August 1873 and February 1874.

Changes

July 1870: On the death of Lord Clarendon, Lord Granville succeeds him as Foreign Secretary. Lord Kimberley succeeds Granville as Colonial Secretary, and Lord Halifax succeeds Kimberley as Lord Privy Seal. W.E. Forster enters the cabinet as vice president of the council.
January 1871: Chichester Fortescue succeeds Bright at the Board of Trade. Lord Hartington succeeds Fortescue as Chief Secretary for Ireland. Hartington's successor as Postmaster-General is not in the Cabinet.
March 1871: G.J. Goschen succeeds Childers at the Admiralty. James Stansfeld succeeds Goschen at the Poor Law Board (which becomes the Local Government Board later that year).
August 1872: Hugh Childers returns to the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
October 1872: Lord Selborne succeeds Lord Hatherley as Lord Chancellor.
August 1873: Lord Aberdare (formerly Henry Austin Bruce) succeeds Lord Ripon as Lord President. Robert Lowe succeeds Aberdare as Home Secretary. Gladstone himself takes over the Exchequer.
September 1873: John Bright returns to the Cabinet, succeeding Childers at the Duchy of Lancaster.

List of ministers

Cabinet members are listed in bold face.

Office	Name	Date
scope=row	Prime Minister	William Gladstone	3 December 186817 February 1874
scope=row	First Lord of the Treasury
scope=row	Leader of the House of Commons
scope=row rowspan=2	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Robert Lowe	9 December 1868
William Gladstone	11 August 1873
scope=row rowspan=2	Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	George Glyn	9 December 1868
Arthur Peel	1 August 1873
scope=row rowspan=4	Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Acton Smee Ayrton	9 December 1868
James Stansfeld	2 November 1869
William Edward Baxter	17 March 1871
John George Dodson	11 August 1873
scope=row rowspan=7	Junior Lords of the Treasury	James Stansfeld	16 December 18682 November 1869
The Marquess of Lansdowne	16 December 186825 April 1872
William Patrick Adam	16 December 18688 August 1873
John Cranch Walker Vivian	16 December 18684 August 1870
William Henry Gladstone	2 November 186917 February 1874
Lord Frederick Cavendish	8 August 187317 February 1874
Algernon Greville	8 August 187317 February 1874
scope=row rowspan=2	Lord Chancellor	The Lord Hatherley	9 December 1868
The Lord Selborne	15 October 1872
scope=row rowspan=2	Lord President of the Council	The Earl de Grey and Ripon	9 December 1868
Henry Bruce	9 August 1873
scope=row rowspan=2	Lord Privy Seal	The Earl of Kimberley	9 December 1868
The Viscount Halifax	6 July 1870
scope=row rowspan=2	Secretary of State for the Home Department	Henry Bruce	9 December 1868
Robert Lowe	9 August 1873
scope=row rowspan=3	Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen	10 December 1868
George Shaw-Lefevre	11 January 1871
Henry Winterbotham	17 March 1871
scope=row rowspan=2	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Earl of Clarendon	9 December 1868
The Earl Granville	6 July 1870
scope=row rowspan=2	Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Arthur Otway	12 December 1868
Viscount Enfield	9 January 1871
scope=row	Secretary of State for War	Edward Cardwell	9 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=2	Under-Secretary of State for War	The Lord Northbrook	10 December 1868
The Marquess of Lansdowne	26 April 1872
scope=row rowspan=2	Financial Secretary to the War Office	John Cranch Walker Vivian	5 August 1870
Henry Campbell-Bannerman	15 November 1871
scope=row	Surveyor-General of the Ordnance	Sir Henry Storks	5 August 1870
scope=row rowspan=2	Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Earl Granville	9 December 1868
The Earl of Kimberley	6 July 1870
scope=row rowspan=2	Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	William Monsell	10 December 1868
Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen	14 January 1871
scope=row	Secretary of State for India	The Duke of Argyll	9 December 1868
scope=row	Under-Secretary of State for India	M. E. Grant Duff	10 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=2	First Lord of the Admiralty	Hugh Childers	9 December 1868
George Goschen	24 March 1871
scope=row rowspan=2	First (later Parliamentary) Secretary to the Admiralty	William Edward Baxter	18 December 1868
George Shaw-Lefevre	17 March 1871
scope=row rowspan=2	Civil Lord of the Admiralty	George Trevelyan	21 December 1868
The Earl of Camperdown	11 July 1870
scope=row	Vice-President of the Committee on Education	William Edward Forster	9 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=2	Chief Secretary for Ireland	Chichester Fortescue	16 December 1868
Marquess of Hartington	12 January 1871
scope=row	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Earl Spencer	18 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=3	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye	12 December 1868
Hugh Childers	9 August 1872
John Bright	30 September 1873
scope=row rowspan=2	President of the Poor Law Board	George Goschen	9 December 1868
James Stansfeld	24 March 1871
scope=row	Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board	Arthur Peel	10 December 1868
scope=row	President of the Local Government Board	James Stansfeld	19 August 1871
scope=row	Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board	John Tomlinson Hibbert	19 August 1871
scope=row rowspan=3	Postmaster-General	Marquess of Hartington	9 December 1868
William Monsell	14 January 1871
Lyon Playfair	18 November 1873
scope=row rowspan=2	President of the Board of Trade	John Bright	9 December 1868
Chichester Fortescue	14 January 1871
scope=row rowspan=2	Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade	George Shaw-Lefevre	9 December 1868
Arthur Peel	14 January 1871
scope=row rowspan=3	Paymaster General	The Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye	12 December 1868
Hugh Childers	9 August 1872
William Patrick Adam	30 September 1873
scope=row rowspan=3	First Commissioner of Works	Austen Henry Layard	9 December 1868
Acton Smee Ayrton	26 October 1869
William Patrick Adam	11 August 1873
scope=row rowspan=3	Attorney General	Sir Robert Collier	12 December 1868
Sir John Coleridge	10 November 1871
Sir Henry James	20 November 1873
scope=row rowspan=4	Solicitor General	Sir John Coleridge	12 December 1868
Sir George Jessel	10 November 1871
Sir Henry James	26 September 1873
Sir William Vernon Harcourt	20 November 1873
scope=row rowspan=4	Judge Advocate General	Sir Colman O'Loghlen	16 December 1868
John Robert Davison	28 December 1870
Sir Robert Phillimore	17 May 1871
Acton Smee Ayrton	21 August 1873
scope=row rowspan=2	Lord Advocate	James Moncreiff	10 December 1868
George Young	14 October 1869
scope=row rowspan=2	Solicitor General for Scotland	George Young	14 December 1868
Andrew Rutherfurd-Clark	14 October 1869
scope=row rowspan=4	Attorney General for Ireland	Edward Sullivan	12 December 1868
Charles Robert Barry	26 January 1870
Richard Dowse	13 January 1872
Christopher Palles	5 November 1872
scope=row rowspan=4	Solicitor General for Ireland	Charles Robert Barry	12 December 1868
Richard Dowse	14 February 1870
Christopher Palles	6 February 1872
Hugh Law	18 November 1872
scope=row	Lord Steward of the Household	The Earl of Bessborough	12 December 1868
scope=row	Lord Chamberlain of the Household	The Viscount Sydney	9 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=2	Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Viscount Castlerosse	12 December 1868
Lord Richard Grosvenor	25 February 1872
scope=row	Master of the Horse	The Marquess of Ailesbury	12 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=3	Treasurer of the Household	The Lord de Tabley	12 December 1868
The Lord Poltimore	1 March 1872
The Lord Monson	1 January 1874
scope=row	Comptroller of the Household	Lord Otho FitzGerald	12 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=4	Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Lord Foley	12 December 1868
The Marquess of Normanby	27 December 1869
The Earl Cowper	20 April 1871
The Earl of Ilchester	1 January 1874
scope=row	Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Duke of St Albans	22 December 1868
scope=row	Master of the Buckhounds	The Earl of Cork	12 December 1868
scope=row rowspan=2	Mistress of the Robes	The Duchess of Argyll	17 December 1868
The Duchess of Sutherland	22 January 1870
scope=row rowspan=11	Lords in Waiting	The Marquess of Normanby	17 December 186827 December 1869
The Earl of Camperdown	17 December 186811 July 1870
The Lord Camoys	17 December 186817 February 1874
The Lord Suffield	17 December 186825 February 1872
The Lord Methuen	17 December 186817 February 1874
The Earl of Morley	22 December 186817 February 1874
The Lord Lurgan	27 January 186917 February 1874
The Lord Wrottesley	27 December 186917 February 1874
The Marquess of Huntly	21 July 18701 March 1873
The Earl of Kenmare	25 February 187217 February 1874
The Earl of Breadalbane	1 March 187317 February 1874

Notes

Notes and References

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