Victoria's Ministers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Viscount Melbourne

Most of Queen Victoria's ten Prime Ministers were members of the nobility and sat in the House of Lords. William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, had two periods in the office; a four month stint in 1834 - which ended in him being dismissed by Victoria's predecessor, King William IV - and then again from 1835 to 1841. His dismissal by William was due to the fact that he represented the reformist Whig party (then known for pursuing parliamentary reform, abolishing slavery and Catholic emancipation) and the King wanted to have a Tory government.

His personal life was perhaps more interesting than his political achievements. His wife, Lady Caroline Lamb, became famous for both her affair with Lord Byron in 1812 and fictionalising it in her 1816 novel 'Glenarvon'. Later, Melbourne himself caused a scandal by having an affair with the author Caroline Norton and being blackmailed by her husband as a result - surprisingly his political career survived both of these very public setbacks.

Viscount Althorp, Lord Auckland and Lord Holland all served in cabinets headed by Melbourne.

Answer: Sir Robert Peel

Peel's first ministry from 1834 to 1835 occurred during the reign of King William IV, but his second term in office, from 1841 to 1846, meant that he also qualified as a 'Victorian' Prime Minister. This five-year stint saw several achievements including factory reforms (reducing hours worked by women and children and improving safety standards) and re-introducing Income Tax in response to an economic recession. However, it was dominated by the controversy surrounding Peel's response (or lack of response) to the beginnings of the Irish Potato Famine and the repeal of the Corn Laws, which protected the price of British grown grains (not just corn). In the end the Corn Laws became Peel's political downfall - he lost control of his party and the opposition Whig party swiftly regained control of parliament.

As Home Secretary in 1829, Peel was responsible for creating the Metropolitan Police Force in London, which led to a significant reduction in crime in the city. Britain's police constables are still called 'Bobbies' in reference to Robert Peel.

The incorrect options are the other three men who served as Home Secretary during the 1820s - none of them went on to become Prime Minister.

Answer: Lord John Russell, later Earl Russell

Oddly enough, John Russell began his parliamentary career in the House of Commons despite being known as "Lord John Russell" from birth as the younger son of a duke (the 6th Duke of Bedford to be precise). As his 'lordship' was merely a courtesy title, he sat in the Commons and held three of the four great offices of state (Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister) prior to his elevation to the peerage as 1st Earl Russell of Kingston Russell and Viscount Amberley of Amberley in 1861.

The 3rd Earl Russell was the famous British philosopher Bertrand Russell, the grandson of the former Prime Minister.

The incorrect options are all British Prime Ministers who later gained titles and seats in the House of Lords. Sir Robert Walpole (PM from 1721 to 1742) received his earldom as a 'leaving present' following his forced resignation; Arthur Balfour (PM from 1902 to 1905) was created Earl of Balfour 20 years after he became Prime Minister; and Benjamin Disraeli was elevated to the House of Lords part way through his second term as Prime Minister.

Answer: Earl of Derby

The 14th Earl of Derby was Prime Minister for 10 months in 1852, 16 months from 1858 to 1859 and 20 months from 1866 to 1868. Despite this somewhat patchy record in the top office he managed to retain the leadership of the Conservative Party for nearly 22 years until his retirement from politics. The key reason behind the lack of longevity of his various ministries was that he ended up being the leader of minority governments that had failed to win enough seats in the House of Commons to govern without the support of various smaller parties such as the Irish Brigade and the Chartists.

Despite the lack of time in office, Derby did preside over some notable achievements for Britain such as passing the 1867 Reform Act which gave the vote to working class men for the first time. Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, was named after the Earl - although ice hockey's Stanley Cup is actually named after his son Frederick.

The incorrect options were all earls who held the post of Prime Minister for a short period during the 18th century. The Earl of Wilmington was Prime Minister from 1742 to 1743, the Earl of Bute served from 1762 to 1763 and the Earl of Shelburne from 1782 to 1783.

Answer: Aberdeen

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen was the Prime Minister of a coalition government featuring Whig, Peelite and Radical politicians (Peelites being breakaway 'liberal' conservatives, originally led by Sir Robert Peel, who eventually became founding members of the Liberal party). Aberdeen himself was the leader of the Peelite group and sat in the House of the Lords; the leader of the government in the House of Commons was the former Prime Minister Lord John Russell. The coalition was packed full of high profile names - including four future Prime Ministers (if you count Lord Russell who returned to the role in the 1860s).

The coalition government was formed due to the failure of the Earl of Derby's first minority government. However, Aberdeen ended up managing Britain's role in one of the bloodiest wars of the Victorian era. The Crimean War broke out in 1853 when Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire went to war against Russia, ostensibly over rights to the Holy Land but in reality to prevent Russia from annexing land from the failing Ottoman Empire. He wasn't terribly successful though - Aberdeen and his government ended up being forced to resign after an inquiry was announced into the conduct of the war following the catastrophic Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava.

The incorrect options are all Scottish cities that have earldoms associated with them.

Answer: Viscount Palmerston

Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston had three separate stints as Foreign Secretary prior to his appointment as Prime Minister and dealt with a wide range of issues including the Europe wide revolutions of 1830 and 1848 and the Opium Wars with China. As Prime Minister he continued his focus on foreign policy including the ending of the Crimean War in 1856 following the Congress of Paris and managing the British response to and role in the American Civil War.

Palmerston's death in office was sudden, but not a great surprise given the fact that he was 80 years of age at the time. He was one of Britain's oldest Prime Ministers - having accepted the role for the first time at the age of 70 - and one of its longest serving politicians. He was first elected in 1806 and spent the majority of his almost 60 years in parliament on the government benches.

The incorrect options are all well-known holders of the role of British Foreign Secretary - or Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs as it was formally known.

Answer: Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli came from much more humble origins than most of Queen Victoria's Prime Ministers. His father was a historian of Jewish-Italian extraction and writing was Disraeli's main occupation prior to entering parliament. His early novels, including 'Vivian Grey' (1826) were mainly romanticised depictions of British public life, but his later works such as 'Coningsby' (1844) and 'Sybil' (1845) had more political themes.

Disraeli had two terms of office as Prime Minister - the first lasted less than a year in 1868, but his second term was more successful, lasting from 1874 to 1880. During that time he created the title of 'Empress of India' for Queen Victoria; passed many reforms in areas such as public health, factories, the civil service and education; raised the money for Britain to buy a significant share in the Suez Canal; and won the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879. Part way through his second ministry Queen Victoria granted him the title of Earl of Beaconsfield and he was therefore elevated to the House of the Lords. He died less than a year after leaving office in 1880 - Queen Victoria sent flowers for his funeral and later visited his grave.

The incorrect options were all members of Disraeli's cabinet who were elevated to the peerage either during or after Disraeli's second term in office.

Answer: William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone's four periods in office spanned the period 1868 to 1894 and included notable events and reforms such as the First Boer War, the introduction of the secret ballot for elections and support for Irish Home Rule. He was widely known by the initials "G. O. M" standing for "Grand Old Man" (he was 82 when he began his final ministry in 1892) although his long-standing political nemesis Benjamin Disraeli rather rudely used "God's Only Mistake" instead.

Gladstone's name has been given to a wide array of parks, streets and towns in many countries worldwide including Canada, the US, Australia, Ireland and Bulgaria! Other slightly odd tributes to him include Gladstone Rock in Wales (a rock in Wales where he once gave a speech) and the Gladstone bag (a small holdall whose inventor was evidently one of his fans).

The incorrect options are all 20th century Prime Ministers who served under Queen Victoria's son King Edward VII or her grandson King George V.

Answer: Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury was the last man to be both Prime Minister and a member of the House of Lords for his full terms in office, which lasted from 1885 to January 1886, July 1886 to 1892 and 1895 to 1902. The only man to lead the government from the House of Lords after Salisbury was the Earl of Home (afterwards known as Sir Alec Douglas-Home) who did it for the grand total of four days in 1963 before he swiftly disclaimed his title and stood for election to the House of Commons.

The Marquess of Salisbury's great political interest was foreign policy, hence his decision to hang onto that job for himself after becoming Prime Minister. His interest in these matters was important as Britain was involved in various international events during his premiership including the protection of its sea routes to areas of the Empire such as India, the Partition of Africa and the Second Boer War. He was also Prime Minister at the time of Queen Victoria's death on 22 January 1901.

The incorrect options were all 18th century Prime Ministers who sat in the House of Lords.

Answer: Earl of Rosebery

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, a member of the Liberal party, became Prime Minister in 1894 following the resignation of William Gladstone. He was a compromise candidate and got the job simply because he was an acceptable choice to Queen Victoria. Unfortunately he didn't have the support of his colleagues, particularly Sir William Harcourt (the leader of the House of Commons) who was distinctly disgruntled at not being appointed Prime Minister himself. Rosebery's foreign and domestic policies were all blocked as a result of disagreements within his own party and he resigned in 1895 following the loss of yet another vote - presumably the "straw that broke the camel's back".

A lot of Rosebery's personal wealth came from his marriage to Hannah de Rothschild, heiress to the Rothschild banking empire. One building still named after Rosebery is Rosebery Villa in Naples which is now an official residence of the President of Italy.

The incorrect options are all lords who were members of Rosebery's ill-fated government.