Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty

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.

United Kingdom
Office of the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty
Royal Arms as used by Her Majesty's Government
Flag of the Secretary to the Admiralty
Ministry of Defence
StyleThe Right Honourable
(Formal prefix)
Secretary to the Admiralty
Member ofBritish Cabinet
Board of Admiralty
SeatWestminster, London
AppointerThe British Monarch
on advice of the Prime Minister
Term lengthNo fixed term
Formation1625–1959
First holderSir Edward Nicholas
Final holderCharles Ian Orr-Ewing
Websitewww.gov.uk

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]

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.

Parliamentary Secretaries to the Admiralty

Parliamentary and Financial Secretaries to the Admiralty

office abolished on 16 October 1959

Departments under the office

See also

Citations
  1. Hamilton, C. I. (2011). The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805–1927. Cambridge University Press. p. 125. ISBN 9781139496544.
  2. O'Brien, Phillips Payson (1998). British and American Naval Power: Politics and Policy, 1900–1936. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 12–13. ISBN 9780275958985.
  3. O'Brien, Phillips Payson (1998). British and American Naval Power: Politics and Policy, 1900–1936. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 13. ISBN 9780275958985.
  4. Historical Table of Changes in Government Organisation. Organisation and Methods Division, H.M. Treasury. 1957. p. 15.
  5. Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty – The Dreadnought Project". dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley & Lovell, 14 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  6. Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: T. Dalton. p. 2. ISBN 0900963948.
  7. Lords, Great Britain House of (1642). Journals of the House of Lords. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 357.
  8. Winfield, Rif (2010). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. p. xxiii. ISBN 9781783469246.
  9. Tomalin, Claire (2002). Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780307427595.
  10. Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: T. Dalton. p. 18. ISBN 0900963948.
  11. Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: T. Dalton. p. 34. ISBN 0900963948.
  12. Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: T. Dalton. p. 52. ISBN 0900963948.
  13. Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: T. Dalton. p. 69. ISBN 0900963948.
  14. Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: T. Dalton. p. 91. ISBN 0900963948.

General and cited sources
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