First Lord of the Admiralty
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The First Lord of the Admiralty was the minister responsible to Crown and Parliament for the administration of the Naval Service of the United Kingdom, encompassing the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines and other services. By custom and design he was the pre-eminent Lord Commissioner on the Board of Admiralty.
Duties
| 1861.[1] |
|---|
| General Direction and Supervision. |
| Political Questions. |
| Navy Estimates and Financial Questions. |
| Appointments to Commands. |
| Appointment of Chaplains and Naval Instructors. |
| Civil Appointments. |
| Promotions. |
| Honours and Distinctions. |
| Foreign Navies and Intelligence. |
| Slave Trade. |
| Harbours of Refuge. |
| Railways. |
| New Works. |
| Mersey Conservancy. |
| July, 1866.[2] |
|---|
| General Direction and Supervision. |
| Political Questions. |
| Navy: Estimates and Financial Questions. Foreign Navies and Intelligence. Slave Trade. Harbours of Refuge. Railways. New Works. |
| Appointments to Commands. |
| Appointments of Chaplains and Naval Instructors. |
| Civil Appointments. |
| Promotions. |
| Honours and distinctions. |
| Mersey Conservancy. |
| December, 1868.[3] |
|---|
| General Direction and Supervision. |
| Political Questions. |
| Appointments and Promotions—Private Office. |
| April, 1875.[4] |
|---|
| 1.—General Direction and Supervision. |
| 2.—Political Questions. |
| 3.—Promotions. |
| 4.—Honours. |
| 5.—Civil Appointments. |
| 6.—Mersey Conservancy. |
| 7.—Appointments to Commands, &c. |
| 8.—Appointments [of] Commanders to Coast Guard. |
| 9.—Appointments of Chaplains. |
| 10.—Appointments of Naval Instructors. |
| 7 July, 1885.[5] |
|---|
| 1.—General Direction and Supervision. |
| 2.—Political Questions. |
| 3.—Board Questions. |
| 4.—Promotions and Removals from the Service of Naval and Marine Officers. |
| 5.—Honours and Rewards. |
| 6.—Royal Yachts, including Appointment of all Officers. |
| 7.—Civil Appointments and Promotions, except as provided under Controller and Civil Lord. |
| 8.—Mersey Conservancy. |
| 9.—Nomination to Naval Cadetships and to Assistant Clerkships, R.N. |
| 10.—Appointments of— Flag Officers. Captains. Officers Commanding Ships. Commanders to Coast Guard. Chaplains. Naval Instructors. Inspectors and Deputy Inspectors of Hospitals and holding Civil Appointments. |
| 11.—Staff Appointments of the Royal Marines. |
| August, 1912.[6] |
|---|
| General Direction and Supervision of all business relating to the Navy. Political and Board Questions. |
| Promotions and Removals from the Service of Naval and Marine Officers. Honours and Rewards. |
| Royal yachts, and Admiralty Yacht, including Appointment of all Officers. |
| Appointment of Flag Officers and Officers in Command, including Engineer Rear-Admirals, Surgeons-General, and Staff Appointments of Royal Marines. |
| Chaplain of the Fleet, appointment of, and entry of Naval Chaplains and Instructors. |
| Civil Appointments and Promotions (higher posts). |
| Naval Cadetships and Nominations to Assistant Clerkships, R.N. |
First Lords of the Admiralty, 1853 – 1919
Dates of appointment given:
- The Right Honourable Sir James Graham, Bart., M.P., 5 January, 1853.[7]
- The Right Honourable Sir Charles Wood, Bart., M.P., 8 March, 1855.[7]
- The Right Honourable Sir John Pakington, M.P., 8 March, 1858.[7]
- The Right Honourable The Duke of Somerset, 28 June, 1859.[7]
- The Right Honourable Sir John Pakington, M.P., 13 July, 1866.[7]
- The Right Honourable H. T. Lowry Corry, M.P., 8 March, 1867.[7]
- The Right Honourable H. C. Erskine Childers, M.P., 18 December, 1868.[7]
- The Right Honourable George J. Goschen, M.P., 9 March, 1871.[7]
- The Right Honourable G. Ward Hunt, M.P., 3 March, 1874.[7]
- The Right Honourable W. H. Smith, M.P., 14 August, 1877.[7]
- The Right Honourable The Earl of Northbrook, 12 May, 1880.[7]
- The Rt. Hon. Lord George Hamilton, M.P., 1 July, 1885.[7]
- The Right Honourable The Marquess of Ripon, 16 February, 1886.[8]
- The Right Honourable Lord George Hamilton, M.P., 6 August, 1886.[8]
- The Right Honourable The Earl Spencer, 23 August, 1892.[8]
- The Right Honourable George J. Goschen, M.P., 4 July, 1895.[8]
- The Right Honourable The Earl of Selborne, 20 November, 1900.[8]
- The Right Honourable The Earl Cawdor, 27 March, 1905.[8]
- The Right Honourable The Lord Tweedmouth, 21 December, 1905.[8]
- The Right Honourable Reginald McKenna, M.P., 16 April, 1908.[8]
- The Right Honourable Winston L. S. Churchill, M.P., 24 October, 1911.[8]
- The Right Honourable Arthur J. Balfour, M.P., 27 May, 1915.[8]
- The Right Honourable Sir Edward Carson, M.P., Q.C. 11 December, 1916.[8]
- The Right Honourable Sir Eric C. Geddes, M.P., 6 September, 1917.[8]
- The Right Honourable Walter H. Long, M.P., 16 January, 1919.[8]
- Arthur Hamilton Lee, First Viscount Lee of Fareham, 1921 – 1922
- Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery, 1922 – 1924
- Frederic John Napier Thesiger, First Viscount Chelmsford, 1924
- William Bridgeman, First Viscount Bridgeman, 1924 – 1929
- Albert Victor Alexander, First Earl Alexander of Hillsborough, 1929 – 1931
- Joseph Austen Chamberlain, 1931
- Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell, First Viscount Monsell, 1931 – 1936.
Footnotes
- ↑ "Appendix No. 1. Distribution of Duties." Report of the Select Committee on the Board of Admiralty (1861). p. 639.
- ↑ Greene Papers. National Maritime Museum. GEE/2.
- ↑ Greene Papers. National Maritime Museum. GEE/2.
- ↑ The National Archives. ADM 1/6316..
- ↑ The National Archives. ADM 116/3392.
- ↑ The National Archives. ADM 116/3392. The distribution of 27 June, 1917, is identical.
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 Hamilton. p. 317.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 118.
Bibliography
- Hamilton, C. I. (2011). The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805-1927. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521765183. (on Amazon.co.uk).
- Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division (1929). The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. Its Work and Development. B.R. 1845 (late C.B. 3013). Copy No. 8 at The National Archives. ADM 234/434.
