First Pitt ministry

For other uses, see Pitt ministry.

First Pitt ministry
1783–1801
Pitt by Thomas Gainsborough
Date formed	19 December 1783 (1783-12-19)
Date dissolved	14 March 1801 (1801-03-14)
People and organisations
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	William Pitt the Younger
Total no. of members	38 appointments
Member parties	Tory Party Whig Party (1794–1801)
Status in legislature	Minority (1783–1784) Majority (1784–1794) Majority (coalition) (1794–1801)
Opposition party	Whig Party (1783–1794) Foxites (1794–1801)
Opposition leaders	Charles James Fox George Tierney (1797–1801)
History
Elections	1784 general election 1790 general election 1796 general election
Outgoing election	1801 co-option
Legislature terms	15th GB Parliament lost a vote of confidence 16th GB Parliament 17th GB Parliament 18th GB Parliament 1st UK Parliament
Predecessor	Fox–North coalition
Successor	Addington ministry

William Pitt the Younger led the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1783 to 1801.

In 1800, the Acts of Union between Great Britain and Ireland were accepted by their respective parliaments, creating the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK), which would be governed by the former Parliament of Great Britain (now the UK Parliament). Pitt governed this new state for the first month of its existence, until differences with King George III over Catholic emancipation caused him to resign.

Cabinet

Portrait of the Duke of Leeds by Thomas Lawrence. Appointed as Foreign Secretary while still Lord Carmarthen, he held the post from 1783 to 1791.

Portfolio	Minister	Took office	Left office	Party
First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer	William Pitt the Younger (head of ministry)	19 December 1783 (1783-12-19)	14 March 1801 (1801-03-14)		Tory
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Thurlow	23 December 1783 (1783-12-23)	June 1792 (1792-06)		Tory
	The Lord Loughborough	28 January 1793 (1793-01-28)	14 April 1801 (1801-04-14)		Independent
Lord President of the Council	The Earl Gower	19 December 1783 (1783-12-19)	1 December 1784 (1784-12-01)		Tory
	The Earl Camden	1 December 1784 (1784-12-01)	18 April 1794 (1794-04-18)		Tory
	The Earl Fitzwilliam	1 July 1794 (1794-07-01)	17 December 1794 (1794-12-17)		Whig
	The Earl of Mansfield	17 December 1794 (1794-12-17)	1 September 1796 (1796-09-01)		Tory
	The Earl of Chatham	21 September 1796 (1796-09-21)	Continued		Independent
Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Rutland	23 December 1783 (1783-12-23)	27 November 1784 (1784-11-27)		Independent
	The Earl Gower	27 November 1784 (1784-11-27)	1794 (1794)		Tory
	The Earl Spencer	1794 (1794)	16 July 1794 (1794-07-16)		Whig
	The Earl of Chatham	16 July 1794 (1794-07-16)	14 February 1798 (1798-02-14)		Independent
	The Earl of Westmorland	14 February 1798 (1798-02-14)	Continued		Tory
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Earl Temple	19 December 1783 (1783-12-19)	23 December 1783 (1783-12-23)		Tory
	The Duke of Leeds	23 December 1783 (1783-12-23)	May 1791 (1791-05)		Tory
	The Lord Grenville	8 June 1791 (1791-06-08)	20 February 1801 (1801-02-20)		Tory
	Lord Hawkesbury	20 February 1801 (1801-02-20)	Continued		Tory
Secretary of State for War	Henry Dundas	11 July 1794 (1794-07-11)	17 March 1801 (1801-03-17)		Tory
Secretary at War	William Windham	1794 (1794)	1801 (1801)		Whig
Secretary of State for the Home Department	The Earl Temple	19 December 1783 (1783-12-19)	23 December 1783 (1783-12-23)		Tory
	The Lord Sydney	23 December 1783 (1783-12-23)	5 June 1789 (1789-06-05)		Whig
	The Lord Grenville	5 June 1789 (1789-06-05)	8 June 1791 (1791-06-08)		Tory
	Henry Dundas	8 June 1791 (1791-06-08)	11 July 1794 (1794-07-11)		Tory
	The Duke of Portland	11 July 1794 (1794-07-11)	Continued		Whig
First Lord of the Admiralty	The Viscount Howe	1783 (1783)	1788 (1788)		Independent
	The Earl of Chatham	1788 (1788)	1794 (1794)		Independent
	The Earl Spencer	1794 (1794)	1801 (1801)		Whig
	The Earl of St Vincent	1801 (1801)	Continued		Whig
Master-General of the Ordnance	The Duke of Richmond	1784 (1784)	1795 (1795)		Tory
	The Marquess Cornwallis	1795 (1795)	1801 (1801)		Independent
President of the Board of Trade	The Earl of Liverpool	23 August 1786 (1786-08-23)	Continued		Tory
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Earl of Northington	3 May 1783 (1783-05-03)	12 February 1784 (1784-02-12)		Independent
	The Duke of Rutland	12 February 1784 (1784-02-12)	27 October 1787 (1787-10-27)		Independent
	The Marquess of Buckingham	27 October 1787 (1787-10-27)	24 October 1789 (1789-10-24)		Tory
	The Earl of Westmorland	24 October 1789 (1789-10-24)	13 December 1794 (1794-12-13)		Tory
	The Earl Fitzwilliam	13 December 1794 (1794-12-13)	13 March 1795 (1795-03-13)		Whig
	The Earl Camden	13 March 1795 (1795-03-13)	14 June 1798 (1798-06-14)		Tory
	The Marquess Cornwallis	14 June 1798 (1798-06-14)	27 April 1801 (1801-04-27)		Independent

Changes

• March 1784 – The Duke of Rutland becomes Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, remaining also Lord Privy Seal.
• December 1784 – Lord Gower (Lord Stafford from 1786) succeeds Rutland as Lord Privy Seal (Rutland remains Viceroy of Ireland). Lord Camden succeeds Gower as Lord President.
• November 1787 – Lord Buckingham succeeds Rutland as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
• July 1788 – Lord Chatham, Pitt's elder brother, succeeds Lord Howe as First Lord of the Admiralty.
• June 1789 – William Grenville (Lord Grenville from 1790) succeeds Lord Sydney as Home Secretary.
• October 1789 – Lord Westmorland succeeds Buckingham as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
• June 1791 –
  • Grenville succeeds the Duke of Leeds (Lord Carmarthen before 1789) as Foreign Secretary.
  • Henry Dundas succeeds Grenville as Home Secretary.
  • Lord Hawkesbury (from 1796 Earl of Liverpool), the President of the Board of Trade, joins the Cabinet.
• June 1792 – Lord Thurlow resigns as Lord Chancellor. The Great Seal goes into commission.
• January 1793 – Lord Loughborough becomes Lord Chancellor.
• July 1794 –
  • Lord Fitzwilliam succeeds Camden as Lord President.
  • Dundas takes the new Secretaryship of State for War, while the Duke of Portland succeeds him as Home Secretary.
  • Lord Spencer succeeds Stafford as Lord Privy Seal.
  • William Windham enters the Cabinet as Secretary at War.
• December 1794 –
  • Chatham succeeds Spencer as Lord Privy Seal.
  • Spencer succeeds Chatham as First Lord of the Admiralty.
  • Fitzwilliam succeeds Westmorland as Viceroy of Ireland.
  • Lord Mansfield succeeds Fitzwilliam as Lord President.
• February 1795 – Lord Cornwallis succeeds the Duke of Richmond as Master-General of the Ordnance.
• March 1795 – Camden succeeds Fitzwilliam as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
• September 1796 – Chatham succeeds Mansfield as Lord President. Chatham remains Lord Privy Seal.
• February 1798 – Westmorland succeeds Chatham as Lord Privy Seal. Chatham remains Lord President.
• June 1798 – Cornwallis succeeds Camden as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, remaining also Master-General of the Ordnance.
• February 1801 – Grenville, Spencer, and Windham resign from the Cabinet. The first two are succeeded by Lord Hawkesbury and Lord St Vincent, while Windham's successor is not in the Cabinet.

References

• Porritt, Edward (1909). "The Evolution of the Non-partisan Speaker". The Unreformed House of Commons. CUP Archive. p. 461.
• Wakeman, Henry Offley (1909). Charles James Fox (3rd ed.). London: Gibbings. OL 7116684M.

Further reading

• Cook, Chris; Stevenson, John (1980). British Historical Facts: 1760–1830. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 978-0-333-21512-8.