First Secretary of the Admiralty
Encyclopedia
The office of Secretary to the Admiralty or (from the mid-18th century) First Secretary to the Admiralty was formerly an important position within the Admiralty
of the United Kingdom
, which was responsible for the government of the Royal Navy
.
In 1870, the office of First Secretary was renamed Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, while the office of Second Secretary to the Admiralty
was renamed Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty. In 1886, the Parliamentary Secretary was renamed Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty.
From 1930, the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary was also a Civil Lord of the Admiralty. The office became vacant in 1959, and ministerial offices were reorganised when the Admiralty
was merged into the Ministry of Defence
in 1964, with the creation of a Minister of State
and Under-Secretary of State for the Navy.
office vacant from 16 October 1959
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, which was responsible for the government of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.
In 1870, the office of First Secretary was renamed Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, while the office of Second Secretary to the Admiralty
Second Secretary to the Admiralty
The office of Second Secretary to the Admiralty was a former government position in the Admiralty of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Assistants to the Secretary of the Admiralty were initially only intermittently appointed, being sometimes designated...
was renamed Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty. In 1886, the Parliamentary Secretary was renamed Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty.
From 1930, the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary was also a Civil Lord of the Admiralty. The office became vacant in 1959, and ministerial offices were reorganised when the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
was merged into the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
in 1964, with the creation of a Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
and Under-Secretary of State for the Navy.
(First) Secretary to the Admiralty
- Robert Blackborne, 1652–1660
- Samuel PepysSamuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, 1673–1679 - Thomas HayterThomas HayterThomas Hayter was an English divine, who served as a Church of England bishop for 13 years.He was born in Chagdord, Devon , officially the son of George Hayter. It has often been claimed that Lancelot Blackburne was his father, but there is no conclusive evidence either way...
1679–1680 - John BrisbaneJohn BrisbaneJohn Brisbane , was a Scottish physician.Brisbane graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1750, and was admitted licentiate of the College of Physicians in 1766. He held the post of physician to the Middlesex Hospital from 1758 till 1773, when he was superseded for being absent without leave. His name...
, 1680–1684 - Samuel PepysSamuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, 1684–1689 - Phineas Bowles, 1689–1690
- James Southerne, 1690–1694
- William Bridgeman, 1694–1698 joint with Burchett
- Josiah BurchettJosiah BurchettJosiah Burchett was Secretary of the Admiralty in England, a position he held for almost fifty years . He was first a clerk to Samuel Pepys, the English civil servant famous for his diary...
, 1694–1742 joint with Bridgeman - George ClarkeGeorge ClarkeGeorge Clarke , the son of Sir William Clarke, enrolled at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1676. He was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1680. He became Judge Advocate to the Army and was William III of England's Secretary at War from 1690 to 1704...
, 1702–1705 joint with Bridgeman - Thomas Corbett, 1741–1751 joint with Bridgeman
- John Clevland, 1751–1763 (First Secretary from 1759)
- Philip Stephens, 1763–1795
- Evan NepeanEvan NepeanSir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet PC was a British politician and colonial administrator.-Early career:...
, 1795–1804 - William Marsden, 1804–1807
- Hon. William Wellesley PoleWilliam Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of MorningtonWilliam Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington GCH, PC, PC , known as The Lord Maryborough between 1821 and 1842, was a British politician and an elder brother of the Duke of Wellington....
, 1807–1809 - John Wilson CrokerJohn Wilson CrokerJohn Wilson Croker was an Irish statesman and author.He was born at Galway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated in 1800...
, 1809–1830 - Hon. George ElliotGeorge Elliot (1784–1863)Admiral Sir George Elliot, KCB , was a Royal Navy officer who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the First Opium War....
, 1830–1834 - George Robert DawsonGeorge Robert DawsonGeorge Robert Dawson PC , was an Anglo-Irish Tory politician.-Background and education:Dawson was born at Castledawson, County Londonderry, Ireland, the son of Arthur Dawson, who represented Banagher, Midleton and Newtownards in the Irish Parliament, and Catherine Tyrone...
, 1834–1835 - Charles WoodCharles Wood, 1st Viscount HalifaxCharles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax GCB PC , known as Sir Charles Wood, 3rd Bt between 1846 and 1866, was a British Whig politician and Member of Parliament. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846 to 1852....
, 1835–1839 - Richard More O'FerrallRichard More O'FerrallRichard More O'Ferrall was an Irish politician.He was born in Balyna, Moyvalley, County Kildare, Ireland, the eldest son of Major Ambrose O'Ferrall and his first wife, Anne Bagot....
, 1839–1841 - John Parker, 1841
- Hon. Sidney HerbertSidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of LeaSidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea PC was an English statesman and a close ally and confidante of Florence Nightingale.-Early life:...
, 1841–1845 - Hon. Henry Lowry-Corry, 1845–1846
- Henry George WardHenry George WardSir Henry George Ward GCMG was an English diplomat and politician. The son of politician and, in his retirement, writer Robert Ward and his first wife Catherine Julia Maling, and the cousin of William Ward and William George Ward, he entered the diplomatic service in 1816...
, 1846–1849 - John Parker, 1849–1852
- Augustus StaffordAugustus StaffordAugustus Stafford , also known as Augustus Stafford O'Brien-Stafford, was a British landowner and Conservative Party politician....
, 1852 - Ralph Bernal OsborneRalph Bernal OsborneRalph Bernal Osborne, MP , born and baptised with the name of Ralph Bernal, Jr., was a British Liberal politician.-Life:...
, 1853–1858 - Hon. Henry Lowry-Corry, 1858–1859
- Lord Clarence Paget, 1859–1866
- Hon. Thomas BaringThomas Baring, 1st Earl of NorthbrookThomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook PC, GCSI, FRS , was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
, 1866 - Lord Henry LennoxLord Henry LennoxLord Henry George Charles Gordon-Lennox PC , known as Lord Henry Lennox, was a British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1846 to 1885 and was a close friend of Benjamin Disraeli....
, 1866–1868 - William Edward BaxterWilliam Edward BaxterWilliam Edward Baxter was a Scottish businessman, Liberal politician and travel writer.-Background and education:...
, 1868–1871
Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty
- George Shaw-LefevreGeorge Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Baron EversleyGeorge John Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Baron Eversley PC, DL was a British Liberal Party politician. In a ministerial career that spanned thirty years, he was twice First Commissioner of Works and also served as Postmaster General and President of the Local Government Board.-Background and...
, 1871–1874 - Hon. Algernon EgertonAlgernon EgertonThe Honourable Algernon Fulke Egerton , known as Algernon Leveson-Gower until 1833, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:...
, 1874–1880 - George Shaw-LefevreGeorge Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Baron EversleyGeorge John Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Baron Eversley PC, DL was a British Liberal Party politician. In a ministerial career that spanned thirty years, he was twice First Commissioner of Works and also served as Postmaster General and President of the Local Government Board.-Background and...
, 1880 - George TrevelyanSir George Trevelyan, 2nd BaronetSir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet OM, PC was a British statesman and author. In a ministerial career stretching almost 30 years, he was most notably twice Secretary of State for Scotland under William Ewart Gladstone and the Earl of Rosebery...
, 1880–1882 - Henry Campbell-BannermanHenry Campbell-BannermanSir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as Secretary of State for War twice, in the Cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery...
, 1882–1884 - Thomas BrasseyThomas Brassey, 1st Earl BrasseyThomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey GCB, JP, DL, TD , was a British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria and founder of The Naval Annual.-Background and education:...
, 1884–1885 - Charles Ritchie, 1885–1886
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty
- J. T. Hibbert 1886
- Arthur ForwoodSir Arthur Forwood, 1st BaronetSir Arthur Bower Forwood, 1st Baronet PC MP was an English merchant, shipowner, and politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1885 until his death, and in 1895 he was created a baronet....
1886–1892 - Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, BtUghtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron ShuttleworthUghtred James Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth PC , known as Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, Bt, between 1872 and 1902, was a British landowner and Liberal politician...
, 1892–1895 - William Ellison-MacartneyWilliam Ellison-MacartneySir William Grey Ellison-Macartney, KCMG was a British politician, who also served as the Governor of the Australian states of Tasmania and Western Australia.-Early life:...
1895–1900 - H. O. Arnold-Forster 1900–1903
- E. G. Pretyman 1903–1905
- Edmund RobertsonEdmund Robertson, 1st Baron LocheeEdmund Robertson, 1st Baron Lochee PC, QC, LLD, DL , was a Scottish barrister, academic and Liberal politician.-Background and education:Robertson was the son of Edmund Robertson, of Kinnaird, Inchture, Perthshire...
1905–1908 - Thomas Macnamara 1908–1920
- Sir James Craig, BtJames Craig, 1st Viscount CraigavonJames Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, PC, PC , was a prominent Irish unionist politician, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland...
1920–1921 - Leo Amery 1921–1922
- Bolton Eyres-Monsell 1922–1923
- Archibald Boyd-Carpenter 1923–1924
- Charles AmmonCharles Ammon, 1st Baron AmmonCharles George Ammon, 1st Baron Ammon PC DL JP was a British Labour Party politician.-Background and education:The son of Charles George and Mary Ammon, he was educated at Public Elementary schools.-Career:...
1924 - J. C. C. DavidsonJ. C. C. Davidson, 1st Viscount DavidsonJohn Colin Campbell Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson GCVO CH, CB, PC , known before his elevation to the peerage as J. C. C. Davidson, was a British civil servant and Conservative Party politician, best known for his close alliance with Stanley Baldwin...
1924–1926 - Cuthbert HeadlamCuthbert HeadlamSir Cuthbert Morley Headlam, 1st Baronet, DSO, OBE, TD, DL was a British Conservative politician.Born in Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, Headlam was educated at King's School, Canterbury and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a Clerk in the House of Lords 1897-1924 and became a barrister, Inner...
1926–1929 - Charles AmmonCharles Ammon, 1st Baron AmmonCharles George Ammon, 1st Baron Ammon PC DL JP was a British Labour Party politician.-Background and education:The son of Charles George and Mary Ammon, he was educated at Public Elementary schools.-Career:...
1929–1931 - The Earl StanhopeJames Stanhope, 7th Earl StanhopeJames Richard Stanhope, 13th Earl of Chesterfield and 7th Earl Stanhope KG, DSO, MC, PC , styled Viscount Mahon until 1905, and known as The Earl Stanhope from 1905 until 1967, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:Stanhope was the eldest son of Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope, and...
1931 - Lord Stanley 1931–1935
- Sir Victor Warrender, BtVictor Warrender, 1st Baron BruntisfieldVictor Alexander George Anthony Warrender, 1st Baron Bruntisfield MC , known as Sir Victor Warrender, Bt, between 1917 and 1942, was a British Conservative politician...
1935 - Lord Stanley 1935–1937
- Geoffrey ShakespeareSir Geoffrey Shakespeare, 1st BaronetSir Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare, 1st Baronet PC was a British Liberal Party politician.Born in Norwich, the second son of Rev. J. H. Shakespeare, he was educated at Highgate School. He served in World War I. He studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he graduated with an MA and an LLB degree...
1937–1940 - Sir Victor Warrender, BtVictor Warrender, 1st Baron BruntisfieldVictor Alexander George Anthony Warrender, 1st Baron Bruntisfield MC , known as Sir Victor Warrender, Bt, between 1917 and 1942, was a British Conservative politician...
1940–1945 - John DugdaleJohn Dugdale (Labour politician)John Dugdale was a British newspaper journalist and politician. Well-connected with the Labour Party establishment, he worked as Private Secretary to Clement Attlee and was appointed a Minister in his post-war government....
1945–1950 - James CallaghanJames CallaghanLeonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
1950–1951 - Allan NobleAllan NobleSir Allan Herbert Percy Noble, DSO, DSC was an English naval commander, politician, and diplomat.-Career:Noble was the only son of Admiral Sir Percy Noble. He joined the Royal Navy in 1926 and was a destroyer commander during World War II, earning a DSO and a DSC...
1951–1955 - George WardGeorge Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of WitleyGeorge Reginald Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley, PC , styled The Honourable George Ward until 1960, was a British Conservative politician...
1955–1957 - Christopher Soames 1957–1958
- Robert AllanRobert Allan, Baron Allan of KilmahewRobert Alexander Allan, Baron Allan of Kilmahew DSO, OBE was a British Conservative politician.Allan was Member of Parliament for Paddington South between 1951 and 1966...
1958–1959 - Charles Ian Orr-Ewing 1959
office vacant from 16 October 1959