The Ministry of the Chits[1] was the government of the Kingdom of England from November 1679 to 1688. The administration was led by three young ministers, collectively known as the chits:[2] Laurence Hyde (Earl of Rochester, 1682), Sidney Godolphin (Lord Godolphin, 1684) and the Earl of Sunderland.
Rochester, brother-in-law of King Charles II's brother James, Duke of York, served as First Lord of the Treasury until "kicked upstairs" (term coined by Lord Halifax[3]) as Lord President of the Council in September 1684. On the Duke of York's succession as King James II in February 1685, Rochester returned as Lord High Treasurer. He was troubled by the King's Catholicism and disputed religious matters with him. On 4 January 1687 James II dismissed Rochester and his brother the Earl of Clarendon, replacing both with Catholic appointees, Lord Belasyse (aged 72) and Lord Arundell (aged 79).
Sunderland, who served variously as Northern Secretary and Southern Secretary, and additionally as Lord President of the Council from 1685, remained in post until his dismissal by James II in October 1688, when he fled to Rotterdam.
Godolphin, First Lord of the Treasury 1684–85, was retained at the Treasury by William III, returning as First Lord in the Carmarthen Ministry of 1690.
The moniker "the chits" stems from a satirical verse on the three ministers, attributed to John Dryden by Johnson's Dictionary:[4]
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
| First Lord of the Treasury | The Earl of Rochester | 1679 - 1684 |
| Treasury Commissioner Northern Secretary | Sidney Godolphin | 1679 - 1684 1684 |
| Northern Secretary Southern Secretary Northern Secretary | The Earl of Sunderland | 1679 - 1680 1680 - 1681 1683 - 1684 |
| Lord Chancellor Lord Keeper | The 1st Earl of Nottingham | 1679 - 1682 |
| The Lord Guilford | 1682 - 1684 | |
| Lord President of the Council | The Earl of Radnor | 1679 - 1684 |
| Lord Privy Seal | The Earl of Anglesey | 1679 - 1682 |
| The Marquess of Halifax | 1682 - 1684 | |
| Lord Steward | The Duke of Ormonde | 1679 - 1684 |
| Lord Chamberlain | The Earl of Arlington | 1679 - 1684 |
| Southern Secretary | Henry Coventry | 1679 - 1680 |
| The Earl of Sunderland | 1680 - 1681 | |
| Sir Leoline Jenkins | 1681 - 1684 | |
| Northern Secretary | The Earl of Sunderland | 1679 - 1680 |
| Sir Leoline Jenkins | 1680 - 1681 | |
| The Earl of Conway | 1681 - 1683 | |
| The Earl of Sunderland | 1683 - 1684 | |
| Sidney Godolphin | 1684 | |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | Sir John Ernle | 1679 - 1684 |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | Sir Henry Capell | 1679 - 1681 |
| The 2nd Earl of Nottingham | 1681 - 1684 | |
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM | |
| First Lord of the Treasury | The Lord Godolphin | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Southern Secretary | The Earl of Sunderland | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Lord President of the Council | The Earl of Rochester | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Lord Keeper | The Lord Guilford | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Lord Privy Seal | The Marquess of Halifax | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Lord Steward | The Duke of Ormonde | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Lord Chamberlain | The Earl of Arlington | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Northern Secretary | The Earl of Middleton | 1684 - 1685 | |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | Sir John Ernle | 1684 - 1685 | |
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM | How left office | |
| Lord High Treasurer First Lord of the Treasury | The Earl of Rochester | 1685 - 1687 | ||
| The Lord Belasyse | 1687 - 1689 | |||
| Chamberlain to the Queen Treasury Commissioner | The Lord Godolphin | 1685 - 1687 1687 - 1689 | "He adhered to James till the last; he was one of the council of five [the others were Belasyse, Preston, Jeffreys and Arundell] appointed to remain in London when James advanced to Salisbury [on 17 November], and he was sent with Halifax and Nottingham to treat with the Prince of Orange at Hungerford in December."[5] | |
| Lord President of the Council and Southern Secretary Lord President of the Council and Northern Secretary | The Earl of Sunderland | 1685 - 1688 | Dismissed 27 October 1688[6] | |
| The Viscount Preston | October 1688 | |||
| Lord Chancellor | The Lord Jeffreys | 1685 - 1688 | Surrendered the great seal to the king, 8 December 1688[7] | |
| Lord Privy Seal | The Earl of Clarendon | 1685 - 1687 | ||
| The Lord Arundell of Wardour | 1687 - 1688 | "On the abdication of James, Arundell retired to his house at Breamore, Hampshire, and took no further part in public life."[8] | ||
| Lord Steward | The Duke of Ormonde | 1685 - 1688 | Died 21 July 1688 | |
| Lord Chamberlain | The Earl of Ailesbury | July 1685 - October 1685 | Died 20 October 1685 | |
| The Earl of Mulgrave | 1685 - 1689 | "Upon William's landing in England Mulgrave remained with James in London until the time of his flight. When the news of his capture in Kent [on 11 December] reached London, Halifax wished to adjourn the council of lords, who carried on a provisional government, in order to avoid the responsibility of action. But Mulgrave, begging them to keep their seats, introduced the king's messenger, and prevailed on them to send Lord Feversham to the assistance of James (Mulgrave, Account of the Revolution). He came to the aid also of the Spanish ambassador when the mob demolished his house, inviting him to Whitehall and paying him marked honour. For this conduct, which avoided friction with the Spanish court, he received the thanks of both James and William. On the establishment of the revolutionary government Mulgrave quietly submitted and voted for associating William with Mary on the throne."[9] | ||
| Northern Secretary | The Earl of Middleton | 1685 - October 1688 | Transferred to Southern Department Oct. 1688[10] | |
| Southern Secretary | The Earl of Middleton | October 1688 | "[H]e justified the confidence reposed in him by remaining faithful to James to the last. After the king's sudden withdrawal to Faversham [on the night of 10/11 December] he declined to attend the meeting of the lords and privy council called to consider the steps to be taken in the crisis (Clarke, Life of James II, ii. 259). Nevertheless he was one of the four nobles deputed by them to invite the king to return to Whitehall, and was present with him at Whitehall when a message came from the Prince of Orange that James should retire from London. At the king's request he arranged for his withdrawal to Rochester [on 18 December]. Subsequently he waited on the king there to surrender the seals of the secretary's office, and endeavoured to induce him to abandon his projected flight and to summon a parliament. It was to him that the king, after making his secret escape, left the paper containing his reasons for ‘withdrawing himself from England.’ "[11] | |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | Sir John Ernle | 1685 - 1688 | ||