{{short description, Event in British politics Robert Harley Chancellor of the Exchequer by Kneller

Harley's Dozen were twelve new

peerages A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

created in December 1711 by the British

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

government of Robert Harley which was struggling to gain a majority in the Whig-dominated

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. This came at a time when the government were negotiating peace terms to end the ongoing

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, which were unlikely to pass the Lords where opposition Whigs and some Tories had joined to block them under the slogan " No Peace Without Spain".

Creation

Two of the men, Lord Bruce and Lord Compton, were heirs to existing

earldoms Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

and were advanced to the house in their own right using their father's

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

ies. Others included Harley's son-in-law George Hay as well as George Granville, Thomas Mansel, Thomas Trevor, Thomas Foley all of whom were close political allies of the First Minister. Most controversial was that of Samuel Masham, the husband of Queen Anne's favourite Abigail Hill, a cousin and ally of Harley. While Bruce's

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

were dated 31 December 1711, the other creations all took place on the subsequent day 1 January 1712. When Parliament resumed on 2 January they took their seats. Because their numbers resembled that of a

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

, the Whig Lord Wharton mockingly asked if they were going to speak individually or elect a foreman to do so.

Aftermath

Despite the controversy Harley was able to subsequently pass the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

in 1713. However, the narrow Tory majority in the Lords disappeared in 1714 following the

Hanoverian Succession The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

when the Tory government was replaced by George I. Harley's alleged abuse of royal power and the violation of the constitution were part of the articles of

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

against him, when he was prosecuted by Parliament in 1715.Jones p.84 In 1719 partly in a response to Harley's earlier creations, the Whig government of James Stanhope proposed a Peerage Bill which would have largely limited further expansion of the House of Lords. However, this was defeated and the size of the Lords continued to grow during the eighteenth century.

Full list of the new peers

* Allen Bathurst, created Baron Bathurst * Charles Bruce, Viscount Bruce of Ampthill, created Baron Bruce by acceleration * James Compton, Lord Compton, created Baron Compton by acceleration * Thomas Foley, created Baron Foley * George Granville, created Baron Landsdowne * George Hay, Viscount Dupplin, created Baron Hay * Sir Thomas Mansel, 5th Baronet, created Baron Mansel * Samuel Masham, created Baron Masham * Henry Paget, created

Baron Burton Baron Burton, of Burton upon Trent, Burton-on-Trent and of Rangemore, Staffordshire, Rangemore in the Staffordshire, County of Stafford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1897 for the prominent brewer, philant ...

* Thomas Trevor, created

Baron Trevor Baron Trevor is a title that has been created three times. It was created first in 1662 in the Peerage of Ireland along with the viscountcy of Dungannon. For information on this creation, which became extinct in 1706, see Viscount Dungannon. Th ...

* Sir Thomas Willoughby, 2nd Baronet, created Baron Middleton * Thomas Windsor, 1st Viscount Windsor, created Baron Mountjoy (

Viscount Windsor Viscount Windsor is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in the Peerage of Ireland in 1699 when the Honourable Thomas Windsor was made ''Viscount Windsor, of Blackcastle''. He was the younger son of Thomas Hickman-Winds ...

was a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

, which did not entitle its holder to a seat in the British House of Lords.)

References

Bibliography

* Colley, Linda. ''In Defiance of Oligarchy: The Tory Party 1714-60''. Cambridge University Press, 1985. * Hill, Brian W. ''Robert Harley. Speaker, Secretary of State and Premier Minister''. Yale University Press, 1998. * Jones, Clyve. ''Pillar of the Constitution: The House of Lords in British Politics, 1640-1784''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010. * Rogers, ''The Life and Times of Thomas, Lord Coningsby: The Whig Hangman and His Victims''. A&C Black, 2011. 1711 in Great Britain