First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty,[1] or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty,[2] was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the direction and control of the Admiralty, and also of general administration of the Naval Service of the Kingdom of England, Great Britain in the 18th century, and then the United Kingdom, including the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, and other services. It was one of the earliest known permanent government posts. Apart from being the political head of the Naval Service the post holder was simultaneously the pre-eminent member of the Board of Admiralty. The office of First Lord of the Admiralty existed from 1628 until it was abolished when the Admiralty, Air Ministry, Ministry of Defence and War Office were all merged to form the new Ministry of Defence in 1964. Its modern-day equivalent is the Secretary of State for Defence.
| First Lord of the Admiralty | |
|---|---|
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| Department of the Admiralty | |
| Status | Abolished |
| Member of | Board of Admiralty Cabinet |
| Reports to | Prime Minister |
| Nominator | Prime Minister |
| Appointer | Prime Minister Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council |
| Term length | Not fixed typically 3–7 years |
| Formation | 1628 |
| First holder | Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland |
| Final holder | George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe |
| Abolished | 1964 |
| Superseded by | Secretary of State for Defence |
History
In 1628, during the reign of Charles I, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral of England, was assassinated and the office was placed in commission, under the control of a Board of Commissioners.
The first such First Lord of the Admiralty was Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, who was appointed in 1628. The First Lord was not always a permanent member of the board until the Admiralty Department was established as an official government department in 1709[3] with the First Lord as its head; it replaced the earlier Office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs.[4] During most of the 17th century and the early 18th century, it was not invariable for the Admiralty to be in commission, so there are gaps in the list of First Lords, and a small number of First Lords were for a time Lord High Admiral.
After the Revolution, in 1690, a declaratory Act was passed, during the reign of William and Mary. Parliament passed the Admiralty Act, vesting in the Commissioners the powers formerly held by the Lord High Admiral of England.[5] and at this point became a permanent Cabinet position.
The Admiralty Commission was dissolved in 1701, but was reconstituted in 1709 on the death of Prince George of Denmark,[3] who had been appointed Lord High Admiral. The office has been held in commission from that time onwards, however, except for a short period (1827–28) when the Duke of Clarence was Lord High Admiral. The Board of the Admiralty comprised a number of "Lords Commissioners" headed by a First Lord.[5]
From the early 1800s the post was always held by a civilian[6] (previously flag officers of the Royal Navy also held the post). In 1832 First Lord Sir James Graham instituted reforms and amalgamated the Board of Admiralty and the Navy Board. By the provisions of the Admiralty Act of 1832, two Lords in committee could legalise any action of the Board.[7]
In 1868 Prime Minister, William Gladstone appointed Hugh Childers First Lord, who would introduce a new system at the Admiralty. However these changes restricted communication between the board members who were affected by these new regulations, and the sittings of the Board were discontinued altogether. This situation described was further exacerbated by the disaster of HMS Captain in 1870, a poorly-designed new vessel for the navy.
The responsibility and powers of the First Lord of the Admiralty were laid down by an Order in Council dated 14 January 1869,[8] and a later Order (19 March 1872) made the First Lord responsible to the Sovereign and to Parliament for all the business of the Admiralty. However, by describing the Lords of the Admiralty as the "assistants" of the First Lord,[9] and by specifically defining their duties, this had, in fact, partially disabled the collective power of the Board.
In 1931, for the first time since 1709, the First Lord was not a member of the cabinet.[10]
In 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for Air became formally subordinated to that of Minister of Defence, which had itself been created in 1940 for the co-ordination of defence and security issues.
In 1964, the office of First Lord of the Admiralty was abolished, the last holder being the second Earl Jellicoe, whose father, Admiral of the Fleet the first Earl Jellicoe, had served as First Sea Lord nearly 50 years earlier. The functions of the Lords Commissioners were then transferred to an Admiralty Board, which forms part of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom.
| Royal Navy | British Army | Royal Air Force | Co-ordination | |
| 1628 | First Lord of the Admiralty (1628–1964) |
|||
| 1794 | Secretary of State for War (1794–1801) |
|||
| 1801 | Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1801–1854) |
|||
| 1854 | Secretary of State for War (1854–1964) |
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| 1919 | Secretary of State for Air (1919–1964) |
|||
| 1936 | Minister for Co-ordination of Defence (1936–1940) | |||
| 1940 | Minister of Defence (1940–1964) | |||
| 1964 | Secretary of State for Defence (1964–present) | |||
List of First Lords of the Admiralty
First Lords of the Admiralty of England (1628–1701)
| First Lord of the Admiralty | Term of office | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Richard Weston 1st Earl of Portland[Note 1][11] |
1628 | 1635 |
 |
Robert Bertie 1st Earl of Lindsey[12] |
1635 | 1636 |
 |
William Juxon Bishop of London (1582–1663)[13] |
1636 | 1638 |
 |
Algernon Percy 10th Earl of Northumberland[Note 2][13] |
1642 | 1643 |
 |
Francis Cottington 1st Baron Cottington[13] |
1643 | 1646 |
 |
Prince Rupert of the Rhine[14] | 1673 | 1679 |
 |
Sir Henry Capell MP for Tewkesbury[15] |
1679 | 1681 |
 |
Daniel Finch 2nd Earl of Nottingham[16] |
1681 | 1684 |
 |
Arthur Herbert 1st Earl of Torrington[Note 3][17] |
1689 | 1690 |
 |
Thomas Herbert 8th Earl of Pembroke[18] |
1690 | 1692 |
 |
Charles Cornwallis 3rd Baron Cornwallis[19] |
1692 | 1693 |
|
Anthony Cary 5th Viscount Falkland[20] |
1693 | 1694 |
 |
Edward Russell 1st Earl of Orford[21] |
1694 | 1699 |
 |
John Egerton 3rd Earl of Bridgewater[22] |
1699 | 1701 |
|
Thomas Herbert 8th Earl of Pembroke[23] |
1701 | 1702 |
Senior Members of the Lord High Admiral's Council (1702–1709)
| Senior Member | Term of office | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Sir George Rooke[24] | 1702 | 1705 |
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Sir David Mitchell[25] | 1705 | 1708 |
|
David Wemyss 4th Earl of Wemyss[26] |
1708 | 1709 |
First Lords of the Admiralty of Great Britain (1709–1801)
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First Lords of the Admiralty of the United Kingdom (1801–1964)
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From 1 April 1964 Elizabeth II assumed the title of Lord High Admiral. Ministerial responsibility for the Royal Navy was transferred to the newly created Secretary of State for Defence.[51]
Notes:
- Baron Weston from 1628, created Earl of Portland in 1633.
- Lord High Admiral 1638–1642.
- Lord High Admiral 1689.
- MP for Portsmouth until 1734; MP for Westminster from 1734.
- As Lord High Admiral .
- MP for Cumberland until 1832; MP for East Cumberland from 1832
- MP for Oswestry
- MP for Evesham until 1935; thereafter created Viscount Monsell.
- MP for Hereford until 1955; thereafter created Viscount Cilcennin.
Boards, departments and offices under the First Lord
- Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office, (1628–1709)
- Admiralty Department, (1709–1964)
- Board of Admiralty, (1628–1964)
- Navy Board, (1628–1832)
- Sick and Hurt Board, (1653–1806)
- Transport Board, (1690–1724, 1794–1817)
- Victualling Board, (1683–1832)
- Office of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty
- Office of the Senior Naval Lord, (1689–1771)
- Office of the First Naval Lord, (1771–1904)
- Office of the First Sea Lord, (1904–1917)
- Office of the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, (1917–1964)
- Office of the Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, (1800–1910)
- Office of the Naval Secretary, (1910–1964)
- Office of the Secretary to the Admiralty, (1660–1763)
- Office of the First Secretary to the Admiralty, (1763–1871)
- Office of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, (1871–1886)
- Office of the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty, (1886–1959)
- Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty, (1882–1964)
Fictional First Lords
The "Radical" First Lord, and a major character, in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), is Sir Joseph Henry Porter, KCB. W. S. Gilbert wrote to Arthur Sullivan he did not intend to portray the real-life then First Lord, the bookseller and newsagent W. H. Smith, a Conservative,[52] although some of the public, including Prime Minister Disraeli (who later referred to Smith as "Pinafore Smith"), identified Porter with him.[53] The counterparts shared a known lack of naval background. It has been suggested the character was drawn on Smith's actual "Radical" predecessor of 1868–71, Hugh Childers.[54]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660–1870
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Attribution
- This article contains some text from: Vesey, Richard Sir, Admiral, (1896), Naval Administration: The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, and of the Civil Departments it Directs, George Bell and Sons, London.
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- Rodger, N. A. M., The Admiralty (Lavenham, 1979)
- Sainty, J. C. Admiralty Officials, 1660–1870 (London, 1975)
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