The Surveyor of the Navy also known as Department of the Surveyor of the Navy and originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy was a former principal commissioner and member of both the
Navy Board
The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...
from the inauguration of that body in 1546 until its abolition in 1832 and then a member
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 ...
from 1848-1859. In 1860 the office was renamed ''Controller of The Navy'' until 1869 when the office was merged with that of the Third Naval Lord's the post holder held overall responsibility for the design of British warships.
History
The office was established in 1546 under
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
when the post holder was styled as ''Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy'' until 1611. Although until 1745 the actual design work for warships built at each
Royal Dockyard
Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...
was primarily the responsibility of the individual Master Shipwright at that Royal Dockyard. For vessels built by commercial contract (limited to wartime periods, when the Royal Dockyards could not cope with the volume of work), the Surveyor's office drew the designs to which the private shipbuilders were required to build the vessels. From 1745 design responsibility was centred in the Surveyor's office, with the Master Shipwrights in the Dockyard responsible for implementation. In 1832 the Navy Board was abolished and all of its functions were brought under the sole control of the Board of Admiralty.
Before 1832 the building, fitting out and repairing of HM ships were the responsibility of the Navy Board. Originally the principal officer most concerned was the Surveyor of the Navy, who estimated annual stores requirements, inspected ships' stores and kept the Fleet's store-books and repair-bills. In the eighteenth century his duties passed increasingly to the Comptroller of the Navy.
The office of Surveyor did not disappear, however, and after 1832, when the office of Comptroller was abolished, the Surveyor was made the officer responsible under the First Sea Lord for the material departments, and became a permanent member of the Board of Admiralty in 1848. In 1859 the name of the office was changed to Controller of the Navy until 1869 when the office was amalgamated with the office of the Third Naval Lord.
Office holders
Surveyor and Riggers of the Navy (1546–1611)
In date order (note that the post of Surveyor was frequently shared, which enabled the Admiralty to have competitive designs prepared for evaluation):
:''Surveyors and Riggers of the Navy''
*Vice-Admiral, Sir Thomas Spert, 1524-1541
*
Benjamin Gonson
Benjamin Gonson (c. 1525–1577) was an English Naval Administrator, and the first Surveyor of the Royal Navy. He was a founding member of England's Navy Board during the Tudor period.
Career
Benjamin Gonson began his career as a private shipw ...
24 April 1546 - June 1549.
* Admiral Sir William Wynter 8 July 1549.
* Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Palmer 11 July 1589.
* Sir John Trevor 20 December 1598 -1611.
Surveyors of the Navy (1611-1859)
* Sir
Richard Bingley
Richard Bingley was an Irish soldier originally from Wales. In 1610 Bingley was appointed Constable of Doe Castle. He was granted a significant estate as part of the Plantation of Ulster. Along with his elder brother Sir Ralph Bingley
Sir Ral ...
Kenrick Edisbury
Kenrick Edisbury (1670?–1736), of Deptford, Kent and Gresford, Denbighshire, was an English Member of Parliament.
He was a Member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an ...
Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...
25 November 1667.
* Sir
John Tippetts John Tippetts (1622–1692) was a British shipbuilder and harbour designer who rose to be Surveyor of the Navy, the highest position in British naval architecture.
Life
He was born in Dursley in Gloucestershire in 1622 the son of Richard Tippet ...
Daniel Furzer
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
22 September 1699.
* Daniel Furzer and William Lee (jointly) 19 October 1706.
* Daniel Furzer (alone) 16 November 1714.
*
Jacob Ackworth
Sir Jacob Ackworth or Acworth (1668–1748) was an English shipbuilder and ship designer employed by the Royal Navy. As a designer he adopted Newtonian theories to create lighter and faster ships but this approach marginalised him with the ver ...
6 April 1715.
* Sir Jacob Ackworth and
Joseph Allin
Joseph Allin was an 18th century shipbuilder to the Royal Navy. His works merge with those of his namesake son who was also a Master Shipwright at Portsmouth Dockyard and later Surveyor to the Navy at which point he became Sir Joseph Allin.
J ...
(jointly) 11 July 1745.
* Joseph Allin (alone) 16 March 1749.
*
Thomas Slade
Sir Thomas Slade (1703/4–1771) was an English naval architect, most famous for designing HMS ''Victory'', Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Early life
He was the son of Arthur Slade (1682–1746) and his wife Hannah ...
and William Bately (jointly) 4 September 1755.
* Thomas Slade and
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
(jointly) 28 June 1765.Lavery, ''The Ship of the Line'', p106 and p124
*
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
(alone) 22 February 1771.
* Sir
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
and Edward Hunt (jointly) 11 April 1778.
* Edward Hunt and John Henslow (jointly) 13 December 1784.Lambert, ''The Last Sailing Battlefleet'', p59
* John Henslow (alone) 7 December 1786.
* John Henslow and William Rule (jointly) 11 February 1793.
* Sir William Rule and Henry Peake (jointly) 20 June 1806.
* Joseph Tucker and Robert Seppings (jointly) 14 June 1813. (Seppings became Sir Robert Seppings from 20 February 1822.
*
Sir Robert Seppings
Sir Robert Seppings, FRS (11 December 176725 April 1840) was an English naval architect. His experiments with diagonal trusses in the construction of ships led to his appointment as Surveyor of the Navy in 1813, a position he held until 1835.
Bi ...
(alone) 1 March 1831.
* Sir
William Symonds
Sir William Symonds CB FRS (24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship ''Nil'', Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia)Baldwin Wake Walker 5 February 1848 – 1859.Lambert, ''The Last Sailing Battlefleet'', p56
* Navy Board, Surveyor of the Navy, 1546-1832
* Board of Admiralty, Surveyor of the Navy, 1832-1859
* Board of Admiralty, Controller of the Navy, 1859-1912
* Board of Admiralty, Directorate of Naval Construction, 1913-1958
* Board of Admiralty, Ship Department, Naval Construction Division, 1959-1964
References
Sources
* Lambert, Andrew ''The Last Sailing Battlefleet, Maintaining Naval Mastery 1815-1850'', published Conway Maritime Press, 1991. .
*Childs, David (2009). Tudor Sea Power: The Foundation of Greatness. Seaforth Publishing. .
*Hamilton, Sir Richard Vesey (1896). Naval Administration: The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, and of the Civil Departments it Directs. G. Bell and Sons. London.
*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .
*''Principal officers and commissioners'', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 7: Navy Board Officials 1660-1832 (1978), pp. 18–25. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16833.