Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty

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The Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (widely referred to as the "Secretary of the Admiralty") was the senior civil servant at the Admiralty, the department of state responsible for the administration of the Royal Navy. He was the head of the department's permanent staff. Although not a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, he functioned as a member of the Board, and attended all its meetings.

History

The position was abolished on 1 November, 1877.[1] It was replaced by that of Naval Secretary to the Board of Admiralty,[2] which it had run parallel to since 1872, but was re-introduced by Order in Council in 1882.[3] The office of Naval Secretary was abolished on 8 May.[4] Mr. Robert G. C. Hamilton, Accountant-General of the Navy, was appointed Permanent Secretary on the same day, but was appointed Under-Secretary to the Chief Secretary for Ireland immediately following the Phoenix Park Murders on 6 May. Vice-Admiral Robert Hall, who had just relinquished the office of Naval Secretary, was temporarily appointed Permanent Secretary on 15 May.[5] Admiral Hall died on 11 June, and Captain George Tryon was appointed Permanent Secretary on 13 June, also in a temporary capacity. However, he held the post until succeeded by Evan MacGregor on 2 April, 1884.[6]

Duties

Secretary's Department

The Permanent Secretary was assisted by an Assistant Secretary (not a Deputy Secretary,[8] which post didn't exist until 1920), whose duties were defined in March, 1913, as:

The Assistant Secretary acts for the Permanent Secretary in his absence and relieves him of such part of his ordinary duties as the Permanent Secretary may assign to him, the Permanent Secretary continuing to be responsible to the Board. He is responsible for the detailed supervision of the departmental organisation for war, and in this capacity is connected with the Admiralty War Staff, and attends and acts as Secretary at the periodical Staff Meetings. He exercises a general supervision over the Secretary's Department, under the direction of the Permanent Secretary. He also has general charge of office arrangements, including the allocation of accommodation and the superintendence of the Messenger Staff.[9]

Permanent Secretaries

Assistant Secretaries

Assistant Secretary for Finance Duties

Acting Assistant Secretary (C)

Acting Staff Assistant Secretary

Temporary and Additional Secretary

Footnotes

  1. A List of the Lords High Admiral and Commissioners for executing that Office, which have been from time to time appointed, since the year 1660. p. 39. Tudor Papers. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. King's College London. Tudor 1.
  2. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 13.
  3. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 22.
  4. A List of the Lords High Admiral and Commissioners for executing that Office, which have been from time to time appointed, since the year 1660. p. 40. Tudor Papers. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. King's College London. Tudor 1.
  5. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 22.
  6. A List of the Lords High Admiral and Commissioners for executing that Office, which have been from time to time appointed, since the year 1660. p. 41. Tudor Papers. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. King's College London. Tudor 1.
  7. H.C. 84, 1869. p. 2.
  8. Rodger. The Admiralty. p. 138.
  9. Official Rules and Procedure. p. 2. Copy in Greene Papers. National Maritime Museum. GEE/2.
  10. A List of the Lords High Admiral and Commissioners for executing that Office, which have been from time to time appointed, since the year 1660. p. 41. Tudor Papers. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. King's College London. Tudor 1.
  11. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 120.
  12. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 120.
  13. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 120.
  14. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 81.

Bibliography

  • Admiralty. Return "of the Distribution of Business under the Lords of the Admiralty under the Old and New Arrangement for conducting the business of the Department." H.C. 84, 1869. Copy in Greene Papers. National Maritime Museum. GEE/2.
  • Black, Nicholas (2009). The British Naval Staff in the First World War. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843834427.
  • 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 at The National Archives. ADM 234/434.
  • Rodger, N. A. M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: Terence Dalton Limited. ISBN 0900963948.


Admiralty Seal.jpg
Board of Admiralty
Political Lords Commissioners
 • First Lord of the Admiralty
 • Civil Lord of the Admiralty
 • Fourth Civil Lord (1918 – 1919)
Naval Lords Commissioners
 • First Naval Lord (– 1904) • First Sea Lord (1904 – 1917) • First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff (1917 –)
 • Second Naval Lord (– 1869, 1872 – 1904) • Second Sea Lord (1904 – 1917) • Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel (1917 –)
 • Third Naval Lord (– 1869) • Third Lord and Controller (1869 – 1872) • Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy (1882 – 1904) • Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy (1904 – 1912) • Third Sea Lord (1912 – 1917) • Third Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Matériel (1917 – 1918) • Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy (1918 –)
 • Junior Naval Lord (– 1904) • Fourth Sea Lord (1907 – 1917) • Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Supplies and Transport (1917 –)
 • Fifth Sea Lord (1917) • Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Service (1917 – 1918)
 • Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (1917 –)
 • Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (1917 –)
 • Deputy First Sea Lord (1917 – 1919)
Civil Lords Commissioners
 • Additional Civil Lord of the Admiralty (1882 – 1885, 1912 – 1919)
 • Third Civil Lord (1918 – 1919)
 • Controller (1917 – 1918)
Secretaries to the Board
 • First Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (– 1869) • Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1869 – 1904) • Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1904 –)
 • Additional Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1917 – 1918)
 • Second Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (– 1869) • Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1869 – 1877, 1880 –)
 • Naval Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1872 – 1882)