Wellington caretaker ministry

Daguerreotype of Wellington, aged 74 or 75, by Antoine Claudet, 1844. This is the earliest photograph known to have been taken of any British prime minister.

King William IV had dismissed the Whig government of Lord Melbourne on 14 November 1834 and asked the Duke of Wellington to form a government but he declined, instead recommending Sir Robert Peel. Peel was in Sardinia at the time, so the Duke of Wellington took control of the government in a caretaker capacity[1] until Peel returned and was able to form his government on 10 December.

  1. ^ A Cabinet Council by John Doyle, depicting Wellington sitting alone at the Cabinet table (Metropolitan Museum of Art)