This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

(and its predecessors) since 1790. Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

Permanent Under-Secretaries at the Foreign Office, 1790 to present

These are the Permanent Secretaries or senior civil servants at the Foreign Office. *February 1790:

George Aust George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

*October 1795: George Hammond (resigned 1806) *March 1807: George Hammond *October 1809: William Richard Hamilton *July 1817: Joseph Planta *April 1827: John Backhouse *1842:

Henry Unwin Addington Henry Unwin Addington (24 March 1790 – 6 March 1870) was a British diplomat and civil servant. Background Born at Blounts Court, he was the second son of John Hiley Addington, brother of Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, and his wife Mar ...

*1854: Edmund Hammond (later Lord Hammond) *1873:

Lord Tenterden Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden (7 October 1762 – 4 November 1832), was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1818 and 1832. Born in obscure circumstances to a barber and his wife ...

*1882: Sir Julian Pauncefote (later Lord Pauncefote) *1889: Sir Philip Currie (later Lord Currie) *1894: Sir

Thomas Sanderson Thomas Sanderson may refer to: * Thomas Sanderson (poet) (1759–1829), English writer based in Cumberland * Thomas Sanderson (Saskatchewan politician) (1849–1922), Scottish-born farmer and political figure in Saskatchewan * Thomas Sanderson (Wi ...

(later Lord Sanderson) *1906: Sir

Charles Hardinge Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, (20 June 1858 – 2 August 1944) was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1910 to 1916. Background and education Hardinge was the second ...

(later Lord Hardinge of Penshurst) *1910: Sir

Arthur Nicolson Arthur Nicolson may refer to: *Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock (1849–1928), diplomat *the name of several Nicolson baronets See also *Arthur D. Nicholson Arthur D. Nicholson Jr. (7 June 1947 – 24 March 1985) was a United States Army mil ...

(later Lord Carnock) *1916: Lord Hardinge of Penshurst *1920: Sir Eyre Crowe (died in office) *1925: Sir William Tyrrell (later Lord Tyrrell) *1928: Sir Ronald Lindsay *1930: Sir Robert Vansittart (later Lord Vansittart) *1938: Sir Alexander Cadogan *1946: Sir Orme Sargent (jointly with Sir

William Strang William Strang (13 February 1859 – 12 April 1921) was a Scottish painter and printmaker, notable for illustrating the works of John Bunyan, Bunyan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Coleridge and Rudyard Kipling, Kipling. Early life Strang was bor ...

, Head of the German Section 1947–1949) *1949: Sir

(jointly with the Heads of the German Section: Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick 1949–1950, Sir D. Gainer 1950–1951) (later Lord Strang) *1953: Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick *1957: Sir Frederick Hoyer Millar (later Lord Inchyra) *1962: Sir

Harold Caccia Harold Anthony Caccia, Baron Caccia, (21 December 1905 Pachmarhi, India – 31 October 1990 Builth Wells, Wales) was a British diplomat. Caccia was the son of Major Anthony Mario Felix Caccia, Conservator of the Imperial Forest Service, and h ...

(later Lord Caccia) *1965: Sir

Paul Gore-Booth Paul Henry Gore-Booth, Baron Gore-Booth (3 February 1909 – 29 June 1984) was a British diplomat. He served with distinction in HM Diplomatic Service and in retirement held the following appointments: Director, Grindlays Bank, 1969–79, Un ...

(also Head of the Diplomatic Service from 1968; later Lord Gore-Booth) *1969: Sir

Denis Greenhill Denis Arthur Greenhill, Baron Greenhill of Harrow (7 November 1913 – 8 November 2000) was the British Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Head of the Diplomatic Service from 1969 to 1973; a respected expert on the US, E ...

(later Lord Greenhill of Harrow) *1973: Sir Thomas Brimelow (later Lord Brimelow) *1975: Sir Michael Palliser *1982: Sir Antony Acland *1986: Sir Patrick Wright (later Lord Wright of Richmond) *1991: Sir David Gillmore (later Lord Gillmore of Thamesfield) *1994: Sir

John Coles John Coles may refer to: * John David Coles, film and television director * John Coles (historian) (1930–2020), British archaeologist * John Coles (diplomat) (born 1937), former British High Commissioner to Australia *John Coles (businessman) (18 ...

*1997: Sir John Kerr (later Lord Kerr of Kinlochard) *2002: Sir Michael Jay (later Lord Jay of Ewelme) *2006: Sir Peter Ricketts (later Lord Ricketts) *2010: Sir Simon Fraser *2015: Sir Simon McDonald (later Lord McDonald of Salford) *2020: Sir Philip Barton