Ministry of All the Talents

Lord Grenville,
Prime Minister 1806–1807

The Ministry of All the Talents was a national unity government formed by William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville on his appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 11 February 1806 after the death of William Pitt the Younger.^[1]

History

James Gillray's Charon's Boat.—or—the Ghosts of "all the Talents" taking their last voyage (1807) caricatured the ministry's break-up. Lord Howick rows and St. Vincent steers.

With the country at war, Grenville aimed to form the strongest possible government and so included most leading politicians from almost all groupings, although some followers of Pitt, led by George Canning, refused to join.

The inclusion of Charles James Fox raised eyebrows as King George III had been previously heavily hostile to Fox, but the King's willingness to put aside past enmities for the sake of national unity encouraged many others to join or support the government as well. The ministry boasted a fairly progressive agenda, much of it inherited from Pitt.

The Ministry of All the Talents had comparatively little success, failing to bring the sought-after peace with France (the war continued for nearly another decade). It did, however, abolish the slave trade in Britain in 1807 before it broke up over the question of Catholic emancipation.

It was succeeded by the Second Portland Ministry, headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland.

Other uses of the term

The term has since been used in politics to describe an administration with members from more than one party or even a non-coalition government that enjoys cross-party support due to gifted and/or non-partisan members. Examples include the coalition government which led Great Britain through the Second World War and the Canadian government that won the 1896 election.^[2]

List of Ministers

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

Office	Name	Date	Notes
First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	The Lord Grenville	11 February 1806 – 31 March 1807
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Lord Henry Petty	11 February 1806
Joint Secretaries to the Treasury	Nicholas Vansittart	February 1806 – March 1807
	John King	February–July 1806
	William Henry Fremantle	July 1806 – March 1807
Junior Lords of the Treasury	Viscount Althorp	11 February 1806
	William Wickham	11 February 1806
	John Courtenay	11 February 1806
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Erskine	February 1806
Lord President of the Council	The Earl Fitzwilliam	19 February 1806
	The Viscount Sidmouth	8 October 1806
Lord Privy Seal	The Viscount Sidmouth	February 1806
	The Lord Holland	8 October 1806
Secretary of State for the Home Department	The Earl Spencer	5 February 1806
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn	February 1806
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Leader of the House of Commons	Charles James Fox	7 February 1806 – 13 September 1806
	Viscount Howick	24 September 1806
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	George Walpole	February 1806 – March 1807
	Sir Francis Vincent	February 1806 – March 1807
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	William Windham	February 1806
Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	Sir George Shee, Bt	February 1806 – March 1807
	Sir James Cockburn, Bt	February 1806 – March 1807
First Lord of the Admiralty	Charles Grey	10 February 1806	known as Viscount Howick from 11 April 1806
	Thomas Grenville	29 September 1806
First Secretary to the Admiralty	William Marsden	continued in office
Civil Lords of the Admiralty	Sir Philip Stephens, Bt	10 February–23 October 1806
	Lord William Russell	10 February 1806 – 31 March 1807
	The Lord Kensington	10 February 1806 – 31 March 1807
	William Frankland	23 October 1806 – 31 March 1807
President of the Board of Trade	The Lord Auckland	5 February 1806
Vice-President of the Board of Trade	Earl Temple	5 February 1806	also Treasurer of the Navy
President of the Board of Control	Thomas Grenville	February 1806
	George Tierney	September 1806
Secretary to the Board of Control	Thomas Creevey	14 February 1806
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Earl of Derby	12 February 1806
Master-General of the Ordnance	The Earl of Moira	February 1806
Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance	Sir Thomas Trigge	continued in office
Treasurer of the Ordnance	Alexander Davison	20 February 1806
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance	James Murray Hadden	continued in office
Clerk of the Ordnance	John Calcraft	22 February 1806
Clerk of the Deliveries of the Ordnance	James Martin Lloyd	12 March 1806
Storekeeper of the Ordnance	John McMahon	22 February 1806
Treasurer of the Navy	Richard Brinsley Sheridan	February 1806
Secretary at War	Richard Fitzpatrick	February 1806
Master of the Mint	Lord Charles Spencer	February 1806
	Charles Bathurst	October 1806
Paymaster of the Forces	Earl Temple	February 1806 – March 1807	also Vice-President of the Board of Trade
	Lord John Townshend	February 1806 – March 1807
Postmaster General	The Earl of Carysfort	February 1806 – March 1807
	The Earl of Buckinghamshire	February 1806 – March 1807
Minister without Portfolio	The Earl Fitzwilliam	October 1806 – March 1807
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford	12 March 1806
	The Duke of Richmond	11 April 1807
Chief Secretary for Ireland	William Elliot	February 1806
Chief Justice, King's Bench	The Lord Ellenborough	continued in office
Attorney General	Sir Arthur Piggott	12 February 1806
Solicitor General	Sir Samuel Romilly	12 February 1806
Judge Advocate General	Nathaniel Bond	8 March 1806
Lord Advocate	Henry Erskine	February 1806
Solicitor General for Scotland	John Clerk	February 1806
Attorney General for Ireland	William Conyngham Plunket	continued in office
Solicitor General for Ireland	Charles Kendal Bushe	continued in office
Lord Steward of the Household	The Earl of Aylesford	continued in office
Treasurer of the Household	Lord Ossulston	12 February 1806
Comptroller of the Household	Lord George Thynne	continued in office
Lord Chamberlain of the Household	The Earl of Dartmouth	continued in office
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Lord John Thynne	continued in office
Master of the Horse	The Earl of Carnarvon	8 February 1806
Master of the Buckhounds	The Earl of Albemarle	12 February 1806
Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners	The Lord St John of Bletso	12 February 1806
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Earl of Macclesfield	continued in office

References

1. Lord William Wyndham Grenville
2. John Holland Rose (1929). The Cambridge history of the British Empire: The Growth of the new Empire (Google books). Cambridge University Press. p. 511.