First_Lord_of_the_Admiralty

First Lord of the Admiralty

First Lord of the Admiralty

Political head of the Royal Navy (1628–1964)

Not to be confused with First Sea Lord, Lord High Admiral, Admiral of the Fleet (United Kingdom), or Admiral (United Kingdom).

The First Lord of the Admiralty,[1] or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty,[2] was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the direction and control of the Admiralty, and also of general administration of the Naval Service of the Kingdom of England, Great Britain in the 18th century, and then the United Kingdom, including the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, and other services. It was one of the earliest known permanent government posts. Apart from being the political head of the Naval Service the post holder was simultaneously the pre-eminent member of the Board of Admiralty. The office of First Lord of the Admiralty existed from 1628 until it was abolished when the Admiralty, Air Ministry, Ministry of Defence and War Office were all merged to form the new Ministry of Defence in 1964. Its modern-day equivalent is the Secretary of State for Defence.

Quick Facts Status, Member of ...

History

In 1628, during the reign of Charles I, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral of England, was assassinated and the office was placed in commission, under the control of a Board of Commissioners.

The first such First Lord of the Admiralty was Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, who was appointed in 1628. The First Lord was not always a permanent member of the board until the Admiralty Department was established as an official government department in 1709[3] with the First Lord as its head; it replaced the earlier Office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs.[4] During most of the 17th century and the early 18th century, it was not invariable for the Admiralty to be in commission, so there are gaps in the list of First Lords, and a small number of First Lords were for a time Lord High Admiral.

After the Revolution, in 1690, a declaratory Act was passed, during the reign of William and Mary. Parliament passed the Admiralty Act, vesting in the Commissioners the powers formerly held by the Lord High Admiral of England.[5] and at this point became a permanent Cabinet position.

The Admiralty Commission was dissolved in 1701, but was reconstituted in 1709 on the death of Prince George of Denmark,[3] who had been appointed Lord High Admiral. The office has been held in commission from that time onwards, however, except for a short period (1827–28) when the Duke of Clarence was Lord High Admiral. The Board of the Admiralty comprised a number of "Lords Commissioners" headed by a First Lord.[5]

From the early 1800s the post was always held by a civilian[6] (previously flag officers of the Royal Navy also held the post). In 1832 First Lord Sir James Graham instituted reforms and amalgamated the Board of Admiralty and the Navy Board. By the provisions of the Admiralty Act of 1832, two Lords in committee could legalise any action of the Board.[7]

In 1868 Prime Minister, William Gladstone appointed Hugh Childers First Lord, who would introduce a new system at the Admiralty. However these changes restricted communication between the board members who were affected by these new regulations, and the sittings of the Board were discontinued altogether. This situation described was further exacerbated by the disaster of HMS Captain in 1870, a poorly-designed new vessel for the navy.

The responsibility and powers of the First Lord of the Admiralty were laid down by an Order in Council dated 14 January 1869,[8] and a later Order (19 March 1872) made the First Lord responsible to the Sovereign and to Parliament for all the business of the Admiralty. However, by describing the Lords of the Admiralty as the "assistants" of the First Lord,[9] and by specifically defining their duties, this had, in fact, partially disabled the collective power of the Board.

In 1931, for the first time since 1709, the First Lord was not a member of the cabinet.[10]

In 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for Air became formally subordinated to that of Minister of Defence, which had itself been created in 1940 for the co-ordination of defence and security issues.

In 1964, the office of First Lord of the Admiralty was abolished, the last holder being the second Earl Jellicoe, whose father, Admiral of the Fleet the first Earl Jellicoe, had served as First Sea Lord nearly 50 years earlier. The functions of the Lords Commissioners were then transferred to an Admiralty Board, which forms part of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom.

Principal political leaders of the English/British Armed Forces:
Royal Navy British Army Royal Air Force Co-ordination
1628 First Lord of the Admiralty
(1628–1964)
1794 Secretary of State for War
(1794–1801)
1801 Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
(1801–1854)
1854 Secretary of State for War
(1854–1964)
1919 Secretary of State for Air
(1919–1964)
1936 Minister for Co-ordination of Defence
(1936–1940)
1940 Minister of Defence (1940–1964)
1964 Secretary of State for Defence (1964–present)

List of First Lords of the Admiralty

First Lords of the Admiralty of England (1628–1701)

More information Term of office ...

Senior Members of the Lord High Admiral's Council (1702–1709)

More information Senior Member, Term of office ...

First Lords of the Admiralty of Great Britain (1709–1801)

More information Term of office, Ministry ...

First Lords of the Admiralty of the United Kingdom (1801–1964)

More information Term of office, Party ...

From 1 April 1964 Elizabeth II assumed the title of Lord High Admiral. Ministerial responsibility for the Royal Navy was transferred to the newly created Secretary of State for Defence.[49]

Notes:

  1. [N 1]
    Baron Weston from 1628, created Earl of Portland in 1633.
  2. [N 2]
    Lord High Admiral 1638–1642.
  3. [N 3]
    Lord High Admiral 1689.
  4. [N 4]
    MP for Portsmouth until 1734; MP for Westminster from 1734.
  5. [N 5]
    As Lord High Admiral .
  6. [N 6]
    MP for Cumberland until 1832; MP for East Cumberland from 1832
  7. [N 7]
    MP for Oswestry
  8. [N 8]
    MP for Evesham until 1935; thereafter created Viscount Monsell.
  9. [N 9]
    MP for Hereford until 1955; thereafter created Viscount Cilcennin.

Boards, departments and offices under the First Lord

Fictional First Lords

W. H. Smith portrayed in a Punch cartoon from 13 October 1877 when First Lord, saying: "I think I'll now go below." In Pinafore, Sir Joseph Porter similarly sings: "When the breezes blow / I generally go below".

The "Radical" First Lord, and a major character, in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), is Sir Joseph Henry Porter, KCB. W. S. Gilbert wrote to Arthur Sullivan he did not intend to portray the real-life then First Lord, the bookseller and newsagent W. H. Smith, a Conservative,[50] although some of the public, including Prime Minister Disraeli (who later referred to Smith as "Pinafore Smith"), identified Porter with him.[51] The counterparts shared a known lack of naval background. It has been suggested the character was drawn on Smith's actual "Radical" predecessor of 1868–71, Hugh Childers.[52]

References

  1. [1]
    Eberle, Sir James (2007). Wider horizons: naval policy & international affairs. Roundtuit Publishing. p. 1. ISBN 9781904499176.[permanent dead link]
  2. [2]
    Pryde, E. B. (23 February 1996). Handbook of British Chronology. Cambridge University Press. p. 135. ISBN 9780521563505.
  3. [3]
    Blake, Nicholas; Lawrence, Richard (2005). The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy. Stackpole Books. p. 8. ISBN 9780811732758.
  4. [4]
    Knighton, C. S.; Loades, David; Loades, Professor of History David (29 April 2016). Elizabethan Naval Administration. Routledge. p. 8. ISBN 9781317145035.
  5. [5]
    Hamilton, Admiral Sir. Richard. Vesey, G.C.B. (1896). Naval Administration: The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, and of the Civil Departments it Directs. George Bell and Sons, London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. [6]
    Constable, Archibald (1861). The Edinburgh Review, Or Critical Journal: ... To Be Continued Quarterly. Austrian National Library, 4 November 2013. p. 291.
  7. [7]
    (eISB), electronic Irish Statute Book. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB), Admiralty Act, 1832". irishstatutebook.ie. Government of Ireland, 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  8. [8]
    Hamilton, C. I. (2011). The making of the modern admiralty : British naval policy-making 1805–1927. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 153. ISBN 9780521765183.
  9. [9]
    Marder, Arthur (19 June 2014). From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: Volume II: To The Eve of Jutland 1914–1916. Seaforth Publishing. p. 268. ISBN 9781848321632.
  10. [10]
    Cannon, John; Crowcroft, Robert (2015). The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780199677832.
  11. [11]
    Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Weston, Richard (1577-1635)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 364.
  12. [12]
    "Bertie, Robert" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  13. [13]
    Thomas Mason, Serving God and Mammon: William Juxon, 1582–1663 (ISBN 0-87413-251-7)
  14. [14]
    Rodger, N. A. M. (2004). The Command of the Ocean. London: Allen Lane. p. 629. ISBN 0-713-99411-8.
  15. [15]
    N.Y.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York; Baetjer, Katharine (2009). British Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1575–1875. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 19. ISBN 9781588393487.
  16. [16]
    Phillips, G. (29 November 2012). Rutland. Cambridge University Press. p. 132. ISBN 9781107696419.
  17. [17]
    Stewart, William (28 September 2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. McFarland. p. 163. ISBN 9780786482887.
  18. [18]
    Cannon, John; Crowcroft, Robert (2015). The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. p. 714. ISBN 9780199677832.
  19. [19]
    Murray, J. (1859). Correspondence of Charles, First Marquis Cornwallis. J. Murray. p. 2.
  20. [20]
    Fieldgate, Barrie (2007). The Captain's Steward: Falklands, 1982. Melrose Press. p. 305. ISBN 9781905226467.
  21. [21]
    Aldridge, David Denis (2009). Admiral Sir John Norris and the British Naval Expeditions to the Baltic Sea 1715–1727. Nordic Academic Press. p. 286. ISBN 9789185509317.
  22. [22]
    Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1915). The History of England: From the Accession of James the Second, Volume 6. Macmillan. p. 3018.
  23. [23]
    Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660–1870
  24. [24]
    Rodger, N. A. M. (2004). The Command of the Ocean. London: Allen Lane. p. 630. ISBN 0-713-99411-8.
  25. [25]
    Childs, John (1991). The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688–1697: The Operations in the Low Countries. Manchester University Press. p. 353. ISBN 9780719034619.
  26. [26]
    Winfield, Rif (10 March 2010). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603–1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 9781783469246.
  27. [27]
    Holmes, Geoffrey (1987). British Politics in the Age of Anne. A&C Black. p. 541. ISBN 9780907628736.
  28. [28]
    Aldridge, David Denis (2009). Admiral Sir John Norris and the British Naval Expeditions to the Baltic Sea 1715–1727. Nordic Academic Press. p. 286. ISBN 9789185509317.
  29. [29]
    Stewart, William (28 September 2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. McFarland. p. 28. ISBN 9780786438099.
  30. [30]
    Howard, Joseph J.; Crisp, Frederick A. (1 September 1997). Visitation of England and Wales Notes: Volume 6 1906. Heritage Books. p. 172. ISBN 9780788407031.
  31. [31]
    Cunningham, George Godfrey (1853). A History of England in the Lives of Englishmen. A. Fullarton. p. 169. Sir Charles Wager First Lord of the Admiralty.
  32. [32]
    Sainty, J. C. "'Alphabetical list of officials: K-Z', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660–1870". british-history.ac.uk. Originally published by University of London, London, 1975, pp. 135–159. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  33. [33]
    Newman, Gerald; Brown, Leslie Ellen (1997). Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714–1837: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 619. ISBN 9780815303961.
  34. [34]
    Woodward, Bernard Bolingbroke; Cates, William Leist Readwin (1872). Encyclopedia of Chronology: Historical and Biographical. Longmans, Green and Company. p. 1246. John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich First Lord of the Admiralty 1748.
  35. [35]
    Stewart, William (28 September 2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. McFarland. p. 9. ISBN 9780786482887.
  36. [36]
    Winfield, Rif (12 December 2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. p. viii Introduction. ISBN 9781783469253.
  37. [37]
    Watson, John Steven (1960). The Reign of George III, 1760–1815. Clarendon Press. p. 613. ISBN 9780198217138.
  38. [38]
    Kane, Joseph Nathan; Aiken, Charles Curry (2005). The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950–2000. Scarecrow Press. p. 123. ISBN 9780810850361. George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax First Lord of the Admiralty 1757.
  39. [39]
    Chatham.), William Pitt (1st earl of (1838). Correspondence, ed. by [W.S. Taylor and J.H. Pringle] the executors of his son John, earl of Chatham. Oxford University. p. xxi Introduction.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  40. [40]
    Beatson, Robert (1788). A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain and Ireland: Or, A Complete Register of the Hereditary Honours, Public Offices, and Persons in Office, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. G. G. J. & J. Robinson. p. 320. Sir Charles Saunders First Lord of the Admiralty 1757.
  41. [41]
    Watson, John Steven (1960). The Reign of George III, 1760–1815. Clarendon Press. p. 623. ISBN 9780198217138.
  42. [42]
    Laurens, Henry (1980). The papers of Henry Laurens. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780872493858.
  43. [43]
    Bandhauer, Andrea; Veber, Maria (2009). Migration and Cultural Contact: Germany and Australia. Sydney University Press. p. 214. ISBN 9781920898632.
  44. [44]
    Haydn, Joseph (1851). The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain ... Longmans, Brown, Green and Longmans. p. 286. Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe First Lord of the Admiralty.
  45. [45]
    Bolton, Carol (3 June 2016). Letters from England: By Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella. Routledge. p. 508. ISBN 9781317242918.
  46. [46]
    Haydn, Joseph Timothy; Beatson, Robert (1851). Beatson's Political index modernised. The book of dignities; containing rolls of the official personages of the British empire, together with the sovereigns of Europe, the peerage of England and of Great Britain; and numerous other lists. Oxford University. p. 286.
  47. [47]
    Nichols, John (1835). The Gentleman's Magazine. E. Cave. p. 546. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham First Lord of the Admiralty 1783.
  48. [48]
    Hawkins, Anne (17 June 2016). Letters of Seamen in the Wars with France, 1793–1815. Boydell & Brewer. p. 482. ISBN 9781843838968.
  49. [49]
    "No. 43288". The London Gazette. 3 April 1964. p. 2895.
  50. [50]
    Jacobs, Arthur (1986). Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musician. Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN 0-19-282033-8.
  51. [51]
    Arthur Sullivan, A Victorian Musician. p. 115.
  52. [52]
    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 11. Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 445. Article on Childers by William Carr, rev H. C. G. Matthew.

Attribution

  • This article contains some text from: Vesey, Richard Sir, Admiral, (1896), Naval Administration: The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, and of the Civil Departments it Directs, George Bell and Sons, London.

Sources

  • Bell, Christopher M. "Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution Reconsidered: Winston Churchill at the Admiralty, 1911–1914." War in History 18.3 (2011): 333–356. online[dead link]
  • Hamilton, C. I. (2011). The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805–1927. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521765183.
  • Rodger, N. A. M., The Admiralty (Lavenham, 1979)
  • Sainty, J. C. Admiralty Officials, 1660–1870 (London, 1975)
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article First_Lord_of_the_Admiralty, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.