Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty explained
The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty [1] also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty [2] was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually filled by a Member of Parliament. Although he attended Board of Admiralty meetings informally he was not made a full member of that Board until 1929.[3] He served as the deputy to the First Lord of the Admiralty in Parliament and was mainly responsible for all naval finance and spending proposals from 1625 until 1959.
History
The office was originally created in 1625 with the post holders holding titles under various names such as Secretaries to the Lords Admiral, Admiralty, Committees and Commissions. In July 1660 the post of Secretary to the Admiralty was formally created which lasted until 18 June 1763 when the office was then restyled First Secretary to the Admiralty this remained in place until 1870 when the First Secretary was renamed Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty,[4] 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. In 1929 the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary is made a full member of the Board of Admiralty. In 1930, the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary served as Civil Lord to the Board of Admiralty. In 1959 the office of Parliamentary and Financial Secretary was abolished with the approval of parliament. In 1964 the Admiralty and thus Board of Admiralty was also abolished and merged into a new larger Ministry of Defence under the control of the Minister of State and Under-Secretary of State for the Navy.
Responsibilities
His duties have included at various times[5]
- All proposals for new and unusual expenditure
- All questions involving reference to the treasury financially
- Accounts cash, store, and dockyard expense.
- Contract business except as dealt with by the controller
- Finance
- Estimates
- Exchequer and audit department—questions with
- Expenditure generally
- General labour questions, including annual petitions
- Payment of hire of ships
- Purchases and sales of naval and victualling stores
- Purchase and sale of ships
- Purchase and sale of stores generally.
- Questions involving reference to the treasury financially, except as provided for under civil lord
Office holders
Secretaries to the Lords Admiral, Admiralty, Committees and Commissions
Included:[6] [7] [8]
Notes: From 1645 until 1652 there were two joint secretaries.
- Sir Edward Nicholas, 1625–1638
- Sir Thomas Smith, 1638–1645
- William Jessop and Robert Coytmore, (jointly), 1645–1652
- Robert Blackborne, 1652– July 1660[9]
Secretaries to the Admiralty
Included:[10] [11] [12]
- Sir William Coventry, July 1660 – September 1667
- Matthew Wren, September 1667 – July 1672
- Sir John Werden, July 1672 1667 – June 1673
- Samuel Pepys, June 1673 – May 1679
- Thomas Hayter May 1679 – February 1680
- John Brisbane, February 1680 – May 1684
- Samuel Pepys, May 1684 – March 1689
- Phineas Bowles, March 1689 – January 1690
- James Southerne, January 1690 – August 1694
- William Bridgeman, August 1694–26 September 1698 joint with Josiah Burchett until 24 June 1698
- Josiah Burchett, 26 September 1698 – 20 May 1702
- George Clarke, 20 May 1702 – 25 October 1705 joint with Josiah Burchett
- Josiah Burchett, 25 October 1705 – 29 April 1741
- Thomas Corbett, 1741–1751 joint with Josiah Burchett until 14 October 1742
- John Clevland, 30 April 1751 – 18 June 1763
First Secretaries to the Admiralty
Included:[13] [14]
Notes: The Board of Admiralty commission ceased and came under the control of the Lord High Admirals Council from 1827 to 1828.
- Hon. George Elliot, 1828–1834
- George Robert Dawson, 1834–1835
- Charles Wood, 1835–1839
- Richard More O'Ferrall, 1839–1841
- John Parker, 1841
- Hon. Sidney Herbert, 1841–1845
- Hon. Henry Lowry-Corry, 1845–1846
- Henry George Ward, 1846–1849
- John Parker, 1849–1852
- Augustus Stafford, 1852
- Ralph Bernal Osborne, 1853–1858
- Hon. Henry Lowry-Corry, 1858–1859
- Lord Clarence Paget, 1859–1866
- Hon. Thomas Baring, 1866
- Lord Henry Lennox, 1866–1868
- William Edward Baxter, 1868–1871
Parliamentary Secretaries to the Admiralty
Parliamentary and Financial Secretaries to the Admiralty
office abolished on 16 October 1959
Departments under the office
See also
General and cited sources
- Book: Joseph . Haydn . Horace . Ockerby . The Book of Dignities; containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire, Civil, Diplomatic, Heraldic, Judicial, Ecclesiastical, Municipal, Naval, and Military, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time . W. H. Allen & Co. . London . 1890 . 186–187 .
- Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: Terence Dalton Ltd, Suffolk, England, .
Notes and References
- Book: Hamilton. C. I.. The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805–1927. 2011. Cambridge University Press. 9781139496544. 125. en.
- Book: O'Brien. Phillips Payson. British and American Naval Power: Politics and Policy, 1900–1936. 1998. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780275958985. 12–13. en.
- Book: O'Brien. Phillips Payson. British and American Naval Power: Politics and Policy, 1900–1936. 1998. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780275958985. 13. en.
- Book: Historical Table of Changes in Government Organisation. 1957. Organisation and Methods Division, H.M. Treasury. 15.
- Web site: Harley. Simon. Lovell. Tony. Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty – The Dreadnought Project. dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley & Lovell, 14 November 2016. 26 November 2017. en.
- Book: Rodger. N.A.M.. The Admiralty. 1979. T. Dalton. Lavenham. 0900963948. 2.
- Book: Lords. Great Britain House of. Journals of the House of Lords. 1642. H.M. Stationery Office. 357. en.
- Book: Winfield. Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. 2010. Seaforth Publishing. 9781783469246. xxiii. en.
- Book: Tomalin, Claire . Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self . Alfred A. Knopf . New York . 2002 . 9780307427595 .
- Book: Rodger. N.A.M.. The Admiralty. 1979. T. Dalton. Lavenham. 0900963948. 18.
- Book: Rodger. N.A.M.. The Admiralty. 1979. T. Dalton. Lavenham. 0900963948. 34.
- Book: Rodger. N.A.M.. The Admiralty. 1979. T. Dalton. Lavenham. 0900963948. 52.
- Book: Rodger. N.A.M.. The Admiralty. 1979. T. Dalton. Lavenham. 0900963948. 69.
- Book: Rodger. N.A.M.. The Admiralty. 1979. T. Dalton. Lavenham. 0900963948. 91.
