The Chatham ministry was a British government led by William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham that ruled between 1766 and 1768. Because of Pitt's former prominence before his title, it is sometimes referred to as the Pitt ministry. Unusually for a politician considered to be Prime Minister, Pitt was not First Lord of the Treasury during the administration, but instead held the post of Lord Privy Seal.
Chatham (circa 1754)
The Duke of Grafton served as First Lord of the Treasury and succeeded Chatham as Prime Minister in 1768.
Anglo-Irish politician and future Prime Minister Lord Shelburne, a close ally of Chatham, served as Southern Secretary.
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, its holder was responsible for the monarch's personal (privy) seal until the use of such a seal became obsolete. Though one of the oldest offices in European governments, it has no particular function today because the use of a privy seal has been obsolete for centuries; it may be regarded as a traditional sinecure, but today, the holder of the office is invariably given a seat in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, and is sometimes referred to as a minister without portfolio.
Lord Privy Seal
Image: Charles Spencer 3rd Earl of Sunderland
Image: 1st Duke of Kingston upon Hull
Image: Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, by Charles Jervas