Harley ministry

"Oxford ministry" redirects here. Not to be confused with Orford ministry.
Robert Harley headed the government and has been described as Britain's first Prime Minister.
As well as commanding Allied forces as Captain General the Duke of Marlborough, served in the cabinet as Master-General of the Ordnance until his controversial dismissal.
Henry St John served as Northern and then Southern Secretary and oversaw the negotiations that led to the Peace of Utrecht. He unsuccessfully tried to secure a Jacobite succession of Queen Anne's death.
The youngest member of the government William Wyndham served briefly as Secretary at War. He then led the Tories in opposition in the House of Commons for many years after 1714.

The Harley (or Oxford–Bolingbroke) ministry was the British government that existed between 1710 and 1714 in the reign of Queen Anne. It was headed by Robert Harley (from 1711, Earl of Oxford) and composed largely of Tories. Harley was a former Whig who had changed sides, bringing down the seemingly powerful Whig Junto and their moderate Tory ally Lord Godolphin. It came during the Rage of Party when divisions between the two factions were at their height, and a "paper war" broke out between their supporters. Amongst those writers supportive of Harley's government were Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Delarivier Manley, John Arbuthnot and Alexander Pope who clashed with members of the rival Kit-Kat Club.