The Prime Ministers of William IV (1830-1837)

Prime Ministers of William IV
Left to right: Duke of Wellington, Earl Grey, Viscount Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel (2)
Collage © Rachel Knowles (2015)

During William IV's brief reign of just seven years, he had four different Prime Ministers—two Tories and two Whigs. The staunchly Whig Grey's period of office saw great political reform. When he resigned in 1834, his government had seen the passing of the 1832 Reform Act, significantly reforming the electoral system, and the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833.

Read about the Whigs and the Tories here.

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Tory – 1828–30

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington by Robert Home oil on canvas (1804) © NPG 1471

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
Whig – 1830–1834

Earl Grey from The Life and Times of England's Patriot King William IV by J Watkins (1831)

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Whig – 1834

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne from The History of White's by Hon Algernon Bourke (1892)

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington 
Tory – 1834 (2nd term of office)

Duke of Wellington (details as above)

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet 
Tory – 1834–5

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet by John Linnell oil on panel (1838) © NPG 772

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne 
Whig – 1835–41 (2nd term of office)

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (details as above)

Read about the Prime Ministers of George III here.

Read about the Prime Ministers of George IV here.

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Rachel Knowles writes faith-based Regency romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew, who co-writes this blog.

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Notes
1. Pictures from the NPG are displayed under a Creative Commons licence.
2. Source details of pictures in collage: Duke of Wellington from Life of the Field Marshal, his Grace the Duke of Wellington by James Edward Alexander (1840); Earl Grey from The Life and Times of England's Patriot King William IV by J Watkins (1831); Viscount Melbourne from The History of White's  by Hon Algernon Bourke (1892); Sir Robert Peel from The Georgian Era by Clarke (1832).

Sources used include:
Government website - past Prime Ministers
National Portrait Gallery website