Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty
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The Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty was the
permanent secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...
at the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
, the department of state in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
responsible for the administration of the Royal Navy. He was head of the Admiralty Secretariat, later known as the '' Department of the Permanent Secretary''. Although he was not a
Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...
, he was as a member of the Board, and did attend all meetings. The post existed from 1702 to 1964.


History

The office originally evolved from the Assistants to the
Secretary of the Admiralty The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually ...
(later called the First Secretary) who were initially only intermittently appointed, being sometimes designated "joint secretary" and sometimes "deputy secretary". Appointments became regular from 1756, and the title of the office was established as Second Secretary to the Admiralty on 13 January 1783. In the 19th century, it increasingly became the case that the First Secretary of the Admiralty was a member of the Government, while the Second Secretary was a civil servant, and the titles of the offices were changed to reflect this in 1869, the First Secretary becoming the
Parliamentary Secretary of the Admiralty A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
and the Second Secretary the Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty. When the Admiralty Department was abolished in 1964 and its functions merged within a new
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
the post holder became formally known as the Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Navy.


Duties

He was primarily responsible for the interrelationships and office organization of the various departments that serve the Royal Navy. He assumed the role Secretary to the Board, his chief responsibility was to examine thoroughly all questions involving expenditures and to advise the Board as to the possibility of savings where possible.


Office-holders


Assistant Secretary

*
George Clarke George Clarke (7 May 1661 – 22 October 1736), of All Souls, Oxford, was an English architect, print collector and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1702 and 1736. Life The son of Sir William Clarke ...
, joint secretary, 20 May 1702 to 25 October 1705.


Deputy Secretary

Included: * John Fawler, 15 November 1705 to 11 November 1714 * Thomas Corbett, 25 June 1728 to 13 October 1742 * Robert Osborn, 17 November 1744 to 1 August 1746 * John Clevland, 4 August 1746 to 1 May 1751 * John Milnes, 15 June 1756 to 16 October 1759 * Philip Stephens, 16 October 1759 to 18 June 1763. * Charles Fearne, 28 June 1764 to 10 November 1766. * George Jackson, 11 November 1766 to 12 June 1782. * John Ibbetson, from 12 June 1782 to 13 January 1783.


Second Secretary

Title established as Second Secretary in January 1783. * John Ibbetson, from 31 January 1783 * William Marsden, from 3 March 1795 *
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...
, from 21 January 1804 * John Barrow, from 22 May 1804 *
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...
, from 10 February 1806 *
Sir John Barrow Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1764 – 23 November 1848) was an English geographer, linguist, writer and civil servant best known for term as the Second Secretary to the Admiralty from 1804 until 1845. Early life Barrow was born ...
, from 9 April 1807 *
William Baillie-Hamilton Admiral William Alexander Baillie-Hamilton (6 June 1803 – 1 October 1881) was a Scottish naval commander who served on the Arctic Council when it was searching for Sir John Franklin. Biography A member of the Baillie-Hamilton family ...
, from 28 April 1845 *
Thomas Phinn Thomas Phinn, QC ( – 31 October 1866) was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician. He held various positions in the Admiralty of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Life Born in Bath, Somerset, Phinn was educa ...
, from 22 May 1855 * William Govett Romaine, from 7 May 1857 to 19 June 1869


Permanent Secretary

In 1869 the office was renamed Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty. *
Vernon Lushington Vernon Lushington KC, (8 March 1832 – 24 January 1912), was a Positivist, Deputy Judge Advocate General, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, and was associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was a Cambridge Apostle. Lushington was born in Westm ...
, from 1869 to 1877. The office was abolished in 1877 and the duties merged with those of the Naval Secretary.


Naval Secretary

New post established in 1872. * Rear-Admiral Robert Hall, from 1872 to 1882. The post was abolished in 1882 when that of Permanent Secretary was re-established.


Permanent Secretary

*
Robert George Crookshank Hamilton Sir Robert George Crookshank Hamilton KCB, (30 August 1836 – 22 April 1895) was the sixth Governor, and the Commander-in-Chief of the then British colony of Tasmania from 11 March 1887, until 30 November 1892, during which time he oversaw t ...
, from May 1882 * Vice-Admiral Robert Hall, acting during Hamilton's absence in Ireland, 1882 * Captain
George Tryon Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon (4 January 1832 – 22 June 1893) was a Great Britain, British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria (1887), HMS ''Victoria'' collided with HMS Camperdown (1885), HMS ''Camperdown'' during manoeuvres of ...
, from 13 June 1882. * Sir Evan Macgregor, from 2 April 1884 * Sir Inigo Thomas, from 1 April 1907. * Sir
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
, 1911–1917David Butler and Gareth Butler, ''Twentieth Century British Political Facts'' (Macmillan, 2000) p. 301. * Sir
Oswyn Murray Oswyn Murray (born 26 March 1937) is a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford University and a distinguished classical scholar. Murray is joint editor with John Boardman and Jasper Griffin of the ''Oxford History of the Classical World''. Boris Jo ...
, 1917–1936 * Sir Richard Carter, 1936–1940 * Sir
Henry Markham Henry Harrison Markham (November 16, 1840October 9, 1923) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was the 18th governor of California (1891–1895), and represented California's 6th congressional district during the 49th Un ...
, 1940–1946 * Sir John Lang, 1947–1961 * Sir
Clifford Jarrett Sir Clifford George Jarrett KBE CB (10 December 1909 – 9 July 1995), was a British civil servant who held the position of Permanent Secretary in various Government departments in the 1960s.''The Daily Telegraph'', Obituary of Sir Clifford Georg ...
, 1961–1964


See also

*
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually ...
*
Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...
*
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...


References


Sources

*
"Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty."
''The Dreadnought Project''. {{Admiralty Department, state=collapsed Secretaries of the Royal Navy Civil service positions in the United Kingdom Admiralty during World War II