Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer

The Right Honourable The Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer KG PC FRS
Portrait by Godfrey Kneller, 1714
Chief Minister of Great Britain Lord High Treasurer
In office 30 May 1711 – 30 July 1714
Monarch	Anne
Preceded by	Commission of the Treasury
Succeeded by	The Duke of Shrewsbury
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 11 August 1710 – 4 June 1711
Monarch	Anne
Preceded by	John Smith
Succeeded by	Robert Benson
Secretary of State for the Northern Department
In office 18 May 1704 – 13 February 1708
Monarch	Anne
Preceded by	Sir Charles Hedges
Succeeded by	Henry Boyle
Speaker of the House of Commons
In office February 1701 – 25 October 1705
Monarchs	William III Anne
Preceded by	Sir Thomas Littleton
Succeeded by	John Smith
Personal details
Born	(1661-12-05)5 December 1661 Covent Garden, Middlesex, Kingdom of England
Died	21 May 1724(1724-05-21) (aged 62) Westminster, Middlesex, England, Kingdom of Great Britain
Resting place	Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire
Political party	Country
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Foley Sarah Middleton
Children	4, including Edward
Parent(s)	Sir Edward Harley Abigail Stephens

Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, KG PC FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tory ministry. He was raised to the peerage of Great Britain as an earl in 1711. Between 1711 and 1714 he served as Lord High Treasurer, effectively Queen Anne's chief minister. He has been called a prime minister,^[1] although it is generally accepted that the de facto first minister to be a prime minister was Robert Walpole in 1721.

The central achievement of Harley's government was the negotiation of the Treaty of Utrecht with France in 1713, which brought an end to twelve years of English and Scottish involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1714 Harley fell from favour following the accession of the first monarch of the House of Hanover, George I, and was for a time imprisoned in the Tower of London by his political enemies.

He was also a noted literary figure, serving as a patron of both the October Club and the Scriblerus Club. Harley Street is sometimes said to be named after him, although it was his son Edward Harley who actually developed the area.