Liberal government, 1859–1866 explained

The Liberal government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that began in 1859 and ended in 1866 consisted of two ministries: the second Palmerston ministry and the second Russell ministry.

History

After the fall of the second of Lord Derby's short-lived attempts at governments in 1859, Palmerston returned to power, this time in alliance with his former rival, the Earl Russell, in what is regarded as the first Liberal government. Palmerston remained as Prime Minister until his death in 1865, when Russell succeeded him. However, disunity within the party caused the fall of the government in the following year, and Lord Derby formed another Conservative ministry.

Cabinets

The Viscount Palmerston's Cabinet, June 1859 – October 1865

• Lord Palmerston – First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Campbell – Lord Chancellor
• Lord Granville – Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords
• The Duke of Argyll – Lord Privy Seal
• Sir George Cornewall Lewis – Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Lord John Russell – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• The Duke of Newcastle – Secretary of State for the Colonies
• Sidney Herbert – Secretary of State for War
• Sir Charles Wood – Secretary of State for India
• The Duke of Somerset – First Lord of the Admiralty
• William Ewart Gladstone – Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Edward Cardwell – Chief Secretary for Ireland
• Thomas Milner Gibson – President of the Board of Trade and of the Poor Law Board
• Sir George Grey – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Lord Elgin – Postmaster-General

Changes

• July 1859 – Charles Pelham Villiers succeeds Milner-Gibson as President of the Poor Law Board (Milner-Gibson remains at the Board of Trade)
• May 1860 – Lord Stanley of Alderley succeeds Lord Elgin as Postmaster-General
• June 1861 – Lord Westbury succeeds Lord Campbell as Lord Chancellor
• July 1861 – Sir George Cornewall Lewis succeeds Herbert as Secretary for War. Sir George Grey succeeds Lewis as Home Secretary. Edward Cardwell succeeds Grey as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Cardwell's successor as Chief Secretary for Ireland is not in the Cabinet.
• April 1863 – Lord de Grey becomes Secretary for War following Sir George Lewis's death.
• April 1864 – Edward Cardwell succeeds the Duke of Newcastle as Colonial Secretary. Lord Clarendon succeeds Cardwell as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
• July 1865 – Lord Cranworth succeeds Lord Westbury as Lord Chancellor

The Earl Russell's Cabinet, October 1865 – June 1866

Office	Name	Term
First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl Russell	October 1865 – June 1866
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Cranworth	October 1865 – June 1866
Lord President of the Council	The Earl Granville	October 1865 – June 1866
Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Argyll	October 1865 – June 1866
Chancellor of the Exchequer Leader of the House of Commons	William Ewart Gladstone	October 1865 – June 1866
Home Secretary	Sir George Grey, Bt	October 1865 – June 1866
Foreign Secretary	The Earl of Clarendon	October 1865 – June 1866
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Edward Cardwell	October 1865 – June 1866
Secretary of State for War	The Earl de Grey	October 1865 – February 1866
	Marquess of Hartington	February–June 1866
Secretary of State for India	Sir Charles Wood, Bt	October 1865 – February 1866
	The Earl de Grey	February–June 1866
First Lord of the Admiralty	The Duke of Somerset	October 1865 – June 1866
President of the Board of Trade	Thomas Milner Gibson	October 1865 – June 1866
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	George Goschen	January–June 1866^[1]
President of the Poor Law Board	Charles Pelham Villiers	October 1865 – June 1866
Postmaster General	The Lord Stanley of Alderley	October 1865 – June 1866

Changes

• February 1866: The Lord de Grey succeeds Sir Charles Wood as Secretary for India. Lord Hartington succeeds Grey as Secretary for War.

List of ministers

Cabinet members are listed in bold face.

Office	Name	Date
scope=row rowspan=2	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Viscount Palmerston	12 June 185918 October 1865
The Earl Russell	29 October 186526 June 1866
scope=row	Chancellor of the Exchequer	William Ewart Gladstone	18 June 1859
scope=row	Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	Henry Brand	24 June 1859
scope=row rowspan=3	Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Samuel Laing	24 June 1859
Frederick Peel	2 November 1860
Hugh Childers	19 August 1865
scope=row rowspan=7	Junior Lords of the Treasury	Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen	24 June 185921 April 1865
Sir William Dunbar	24 June 185921 April 1865
John Bagwell	24 June 185925 March 1862
Luke White	25 March 18622 June 1866
William Patrick Adam	21 April 186526 June 1866
John Bonham Carter	2 June 186626 June 1866
John Esmonde	2 June 186626 June 1866
scope=row rowspan=3	Lord Chancellor	The Lord Campbell	18 June 1859
The Lord Westbury	26 June 1861
The Lord Cranworth	7 July 1865
scope=row	Lord President of the Council	The Earl Granville	18 June 1859
scope=row	Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Argyll	18 June 1859
scope=row rowspan=2	Secretary of State for the Home Department	Sir George Cornewall Lewis	18 June 1859
Sir George Grey	25 July 1861
scope=row rowspan=4	Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	George Clive	18 June 1859
Henry Bruce	14 November 1862
Thomas Baring	25 April 1864
Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen	25 May 1866
scope=row scope=row rowspan=2	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Lord John Russell	18 June 1859
The Earl of Clarendon	3 November 1865
scope=row rowspan=2	Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Lord Wodehouse	19 June 1859
Austen Henry Layard	15 August 1861
scope=row rowspan=4	Secretary of State for War	Sidney Herbert	18 June 1859
Sir George Cornewall Lewis	22 July 1861
The Earl de Grey and Ripon	28 April 1863
Marquess of Hartington	16 February 1866
scope=row rowspan=5	Under-Secretary of State for War	The Earl de Grey and Ripon	18 June 1859
Thomas Baring	21 January 1861
The Earl de Grey and Ripon	31 July 1861
Marquess of Hartington	28 April 1863
The Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye	17 February 1866
scope=row rowspan=2	Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Duke of Newcastle	18 June 1859
Edward Cardwell	7 April 1864
scope=row rowspan=2	Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	Chichester Fortescue	18 June 1859
William Edward Forster	25 November 1865
scope=row rowspan=2	Secretary of State for India	Sir Charles Wood	18 June 1859
The Earl de Grey and Ripon	16 February 1866
scope=row rowspan=6	Under-Secretary of State for India	Thomas Baring	25 June 1859
The Earl de Grey and Ripon	21 January 1861
Thomas Baring	31 July 1861
The Lord Wodehouse	25 April 1864
Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye	16 November 1864
James Stansfeld	17 February 1866
scope=row	First Lord of the Admiralty	The Duke of Somerset	27 June 1859
scope=row rowspan=2	First Secretary of the Admiralty	Lord Clarence Paget	30 June 1859
Thomas Baring	30 April 1866
scope=row rowspan=7	Civil Lord of the Admiralty	Samuel Whitbread	27 June 1859
Marquess of Hartington	23 March 1863
James Stansfeld	2 May 1863
Hugh Childers	21 April 1864
Henry Fenwick	22 January 1866
Lord John Hay	7 April 1866
George Shaw-Lefevre	8 May 1866
scope=row rowspan=3	Chief Secretary for Ireland	Edward Cardwell	24 June 1859
Sir Robert Peel	29 July 1861
Chichester Fortescue	7 December 1865
scope=row rowspan=2	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Earl of Carlisle	24 June 1859
The Lord Wodehouse	1 November 1864
scope=row rowspan=5	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Sir George Grey	22 June 1859
Edward Cardwell	25 July 1861
The Earl of Clarendon	7 April 1864
vacant	3 November 1865
George Goschen	26 January 1866
scope=row rowspan=2	President of the Poor Law Board	Thomas Milner Gibson	24 June 1859
Charles Pelham Villiers	9 July 1859
scope=row rowspan=2	Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board	Charles Gilpin	28 June 1859
George Byng	22 February 1865
scope=row rowspan=3	Postmaster-General	The Earl of Elgin	24 June 1859
The Duke of Argyll	11 May 1860
The Lord Stanley of Alderley	17 August 1860
scope=row rowspan=2	President of the Board of Trade	vacant
Thomas Milner Gibson	6 July 1859
scope=row rowspan=5	Vice-President of the Board of Trade	James Wilson	18 June 1859
William Francis Cowper	12 August 1859
William Hutt	22 February 1860
George Goschen	29 November 1865
William Monsell	12 March 1866
scope=row rowspan=2	Vice-President of the Committee on Education	Robert Lowe	24 June 1859
Henry Bruce	26 April 1864
scope=row rowspan=5	Paymaster General	James Wilson	18 June 1859
William Francis Cowper	12 August 1859
William Hutt	22 February 1860
George Goschen	29 November 1865
William Monsell	12 March 1866
scope=row rowspan=2	First Commissioner of Works	Henry Fitzroy	18 June 1859
William Francis Cowper	9 February 1860
scope=row rowspan=3	Attorney General	Sir Richard Bethell	18 June 1859
Sir William Atherton	4 July 1861
Sir Roundell Palmer	2 October 1863
scope=row rowspan=4	Solicitor General	Sir Henry Keating	18 June 1859
Sir William Atherton	16 December 1859
Sir Roundell Palmer	8 July 1861
Sir Robert Collier	2 October 1863
scope=row	Judge Advocate General	Thomas Emerson Headlam	24 June 1859
scope=row	Lord Advocate	James Moncreiff	24 June 1859
scope=row rowspan=2	Solicitor General for Scotland	Edward F. Maitland	27 June 1859
George Young	11 November 1862
scope=row rowspan=4	Attorney General for Ireland	John David Fitzgerald	June 1859
Rickard Deasy	February 1860
Thomas O'Hagan	1861
James Anthony Lawson	1865
scope=row rowspan=5	Solicitor General for Ireland	John George	June 1859
Rickard Deasy	1859
Thomas O'Hagan	February 1860
James Anthony Lawson	1861
Edward Sullivan	1865
scope=row rowspan=2	Lord Steward of the Household	The Earl of St Germans	18 June 1859
The Earl of Bessborough	20 January 1866
scope=row	Lord Chamberlain of the Household	The Viscount Sydney	23 June 1859
scope=row	Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Viscount Castlerosse	23 June 1859
scope=row	Master of the Horse	The Marquess of Ailesbury	24 June 1859
scope=row rowspan=2	Treasurer of the Household	Viscount Bury	23 June 1859
Lord Otho Fitzgerald		8 May 1866
scope=row	Comptroller of the Household	Lord Proby	23 June 1859
scope=row	Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Lord Foley	28 June 1859
scope=row	Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Earl of Ducie	28 June 1859
scope=row rowspan=2	Master of the Buckhounds	The Earl of Bessborough	18 June 1859
The Earl of Cork	23 January 1866
scope=row	Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal	Lord Alfred Paget	1 July 1859
scope=row rowspan=2	Mistress of the Robes	The Duchess of Sutherland	22 June 1859
The Duchess of Wellington	25 April 1861
scope=row rowspan=11	Lords in Waiting	The Earl of Caithness	23 June 185926 June 1866
The Lord Camoys	23 June 185926 June 1866
The Lord Rivers	23 June 185928 April 1866
The Lord de Tabley	23 June 185926 June 1866
The Lord Cremorne	23 June 185926 June 1866
The Lord Methuen	23 June 185926 June 1866
The Viscount Torrington	23 June 185927 April 1884
The Lord Byron	17 July 183731 March 1860
The Lord Harris	31 March 18604 May 1863
The Lord Talbot of Malahide	4 May 186326 June 1866
The Marquess of Normanby	8 May 186626 June 1866
scope=row	Extra Lord in Waiting	The Lord Byron	31 March 18603 March 1868

Notes

References

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

Notes and References

1. The post had been vacant. John Prest, Lord John Russell (University of South Carolina Press, 1972), 431.