Aberdeen ministry

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1852–1855.

The Coalition Ministry of 1854 as painted by Sir John Gilbert (1855)

After the collapse of Lord Derby's minority government, the Whigs and Peelites formed a coalition under the Peelite leader Lord Aberdeen. The government resigned in early 1855 after a large parliamentary majority voted for a select committee to enquire into the incompetent management of the Crimean War. The former Home Secretary, Lord Palmerston, then formed his first government.

Cabinet

December 1852 - February 1855

OFFICE	NAME	PARTY	TERM
First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl of Aberdeen	Peelite	December 1852–February 1855
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Cranworth	Whig	December 1852–February 1855
Lord President of the Council	The Earl Granville	Whig	December 1852–June 1854
	The Lord John Russell	Whig	June 1854–February 1855
Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Argyll	Peelite	January 1853–February 1855
Home Secretary	The Viscount Palmerston	Whig	December 1852–February 1855
Foreign Secretary	The Lord John Russell	Whig	December 1852–February 1853
	The Earl of Clarendon	Whig	February 1853–February 1855
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Sir George Grey, Bt	Whig	June 1854–February 1855
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies†	The Duke of Newcastle	Peelite	December 1852–February 1855
Chancellor of the Exchequer	William Ewart Gladstone	Peelite	December 1852–February 1855
First Lord of the Admiralty	Sir James Graham, Bt	Peelite	December 1852–February 1855
President of the Board of Control	Sir Charles Wood, Bt	Whig	December 1852–February 1855
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Earl Granville	Whig	June 1854–February 1855
First Commissioner of Works	Sir William Molesworth, Bt	Radical	January 1853–February 1855
Secretary at War	Sidney Herbert	Peelite	December 1852–February 1855
Minister without Portfolio	The Marquess of Lansdowne	Whig	December 1852–February 1855
	The Lord John Russell	Whig	February 1853–June 1854

† After June 1854 office became Secretary of State for War.

Notes

• Lord John Russell served as Leader of the House of Commons from December 1852 to February 1855.

Changes

• February, 1853: Lord John Russell becomes Minister without Portfolio, remaining Leader of the Commons. Lord Clarendon succeeds him as Foreign Secretary.
• June, 1854: Lord Granville becomes Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Lord John Russell succeeds him as Lord President, remaining also Leader of the Commons. The Secretaryship of State for War and the Colonies is split up. The Duke of Newcastle stays on as Secretary of State for War, while Sir George Grey becomes Secretary of State for the Colonies.

List of Ministers

Members of the Cabinet are indicated by bold face.

Office	Name	Party	Date	Notes
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl of Aberdeen	Peelite	19 December 1852 – 30 January 1855
Chancellor of the Exchequer	William Ewart Gladstone	Peelite	30 December 1852
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	William Goodenough Hayter	Whig	5 January 1853
Financial Secretary to the Treasury	James Wilson	Whig	5 January 1853
Junior Lords of the Treasury	Lord Alfred Hervey	Peelite	1 January 1853 – 7 March 1855
	Lord Elcho		1 January 1853 – 7 March 1855
	John Sadleir		1 January 1853 – 6 March 1854
	Chichester Fortescue		6 March 1854 – 16 April 1855
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Cranworth	Whig	28 December 1852
Lord President of the Council	The Earl Granville	Whig	28 December 1852
	Lord John Russell	Whig	12 June 1854	also Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Privy Seal	The Duke of Argyll		4 January 1853
Secretary of State for the Home Department	The Viscount Palmerston	Whig	28 December 1852
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Henry Fitzroy	Peelite	28 December 1852
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Lord John Russell	Whig	28 December 1852	also Leader of the House of Commons
	The Earl of Clarendon	Whig	21 February 1853
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Lord Wodehouse		28 December 1852
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	The Duke of Newcastle	Peelite	28 December 1852	department abolished 10 June 1854
Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	Frederick Peel	Peelite	28 December 1852
Secretary of State for War	The Duke of Newcastle	Peelite	12 June 1854
Under-Secretary of State for War	Henry Roberts		12 June 1854
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Sir George Grey, Bt	Whig	12 June 1854
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	Frederick Peel	Whig	12 June 1854
First Lord of the Admiralty	Sir James Graham, Bt	Peelite	30 December 1852
First Secretary of the Admiralty	Ralph Bernal Osborne		6 January 1853
Civil Lord of the Admiralty	William Francis Cowper	Whig	30 December 1852
President of the Board of Control	Sir Charles Wood, Bt	Whig	30 December 1852
Joint Secretaries to the Board of Control	Robert Lowe		30 December 1852
	Sir Thomas Redington		30 December 1852	(permanent)
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Edward Strutt	Radical	3 January 1853
	The Earl Granville	Whig	21 June 1854
Minister without Portfolio	The Marquess of Lansdowne	Whig	28 December 1852 – 21 February 1858
	Lord John Russell	Whig	26 February 1853 – 8 June 1854	also Leader of the House of Commons
Secretary at War	Sidney Herbert	Peelite	30 December 1852
First Commissioner of Works	Sir William Molesworth, Bt	Radical	5 January 1853
President of the Board of Health	Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt	Whig	14 January 1854
Chief Secretary for Ireland	Sir John Young, Bt	Peelite	6 January 1853
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	The Earl of St Germans	Peelite	5 January 1853
Master-General of the Ordnance	The Lord Raglan	non-party	30 September 1852	continued in office
Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance	Sir Hew Dalrymple Ross	non-party	6 May 1854
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance	Lauderdale Maule	Whig	5 January 1853	died 1 August 1854
Clerk of the Ordnance	William Monsell	Whig	13 January 1853
Storekeeper of the Ordnance	Sir Thomas Hastings	non-party	25 July 1845	continued in office
Paymaster-General	The Lord Stanley of Alderley	Whig	5 January 1853
Postmaster-General	The Viscount Canning	Peelite	5 January 1853
President of the Poor Law Board	Matthew Talbot Baines	Whig	30 December 1852
Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board	Grenville Berkeley		7 January 1853
President of the Board of Trade	Edward Cardwell	Peelite	28 December 1852
Vice-President of the Board of Trade	The Lord Stanley of Alderley	Whig	4 January 1853
Attorney General	Sir Alexander Cockburn, Bt	Whig	28 December 1852
Solicitor General	Sir Richard Bethell		28 December 1852
Judge Advocate General	Charles Pelham Villiers		30 December 1852
Lord Advocate	James Moncreiff		30 December 1852
Solicitor General for Scotland	Robert Handyside		17 January 1853
	James Craufurd		16 November 1853
	Thomas Mackenzie		11 January 1855
Attorney General for Ireland	Abraham Brewster	Peelite	April 1853
Solicitor General for Ireland	William Keogh		April 1853
Lord Steward of the Household	The Duke of Norfolk	Whig	4 January 1853
	The Earl Spencer	Whig	10 January 1854
Lord Chamberlain of the Household	The Marquess of Breadalbane	Whig	15 January 1853
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Lord Ernest Bruce	Peelite	30 December 1852
Master of the Horse	The Duke of Wellington		21 January 1853
Treasurer of the Household	Earl of Mulgrave	Whig	4 January 1853
Comptroller of the Household	Viscount Drumlanrig		4 January 1853
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Lord Foley	Whig	30 December 1852
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Viscount Sydney		30 December 1852
Master of the Buckhounds	The Earl of Bessborough	Whig	30 December 1852
Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal	Lord Alfred Paget	Whig	30 December 1852
Mistress of the Robes	The Duchess of Sutherland	Whig	15 January 1853
Lords in Waiting	The Marquess of Ormonde	Whig	11 January 1853 – 25 September 1854
	The Earl Somers		13 January 1853 – 22 February 1857
	The Lord Camoys	Whig	13 January 1853 – 21 February 1858
	The Lord Elphinstone	Whig	13 January 1853 – 1 October 1853
	The Lord Rivers	Peelite	13 January 1853 – 21 February 1858
	The Lord Waterpark	Whig	13 January 1853 – 21 February 1858
	The Lord de Tabley		13 January 1853 – 21 February 1858
	The Earl of Listowel	Whig	1 October 1853 – 21 February 1856
	The Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye	Whig	28 November 1854 – 21 February 1858

References

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

Preceded by Who? Who? Ministry

Government of the United Kingdom 1852–1855

Succeeded by First Palmerston Ministry