Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty

The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a de facto political member of the Board of Admiralty. The position was normally filled by a Member of Parliament who, although not a member of the Board, served as the second to the First Lord of the Admiralty in Parliament instead of the second political member of the Board, the Civil Lord.

History

Sir Thomas Baring, Bart. (later Lord Northbrook), First Lord from 1849 to 1852, told the Commons Select Committee on Official Salaries in 1850 that:

When the First Lord is in the House of Lords, the Secretary takes a good deal of the Estimate business; when the First Lord is in the House of Commons, the Secretary is in constant communication with the First Lord, and does a great deal of that duty; but he has not that entire superintendence of of it which he has when he represents the department in the House of Commons.

By the provisions of the Order in Council of 14 January, 1869, the duties of the Parliamentary Secretary were broadly defined as:

The Parliamentary Secretary to be responsible to the First Lord of the Admiralty for the "Finance" of the Department, and the Civil Lord to act as an Assistant to the Secretary.

Under the provisions of the Order in Council of 19 March, 1872, the duties of the Parliamentary Secretary were:

The Parliamentary Secretary to be responsible to the First Lord for the Finance of the Department, and for so much of the other business of the Admiralty as may be assigned to him.

On 8 February, 1917, it was announced that the Earl of Lytton had been appointed Additional Parliamentary Secretary to the Board in the House of Lords. He first attended a meeting of the Board on 19 February.

The office of Parliamentary and Financial Secretary was abolished in 1959 in favour of retaining the post of Civil Lord on the disingenuous grounds that, "The position of Civil Lord on the board goes back more than 250 years, while a Parliamentary and Financial Secretary was first appointed in this century."

Duties

21 June, 1844.
The Principal Secretary chiefly directs his attention to all matters of a Political, Parliamentary, & Financial Character.

7 July, 1885.
1. Finance.
2. Estimates.
3. Expenditure generally.
4. Accounts.
5. Purchases and sales of Naval and Victualling stores.

December, 1888.
1. Finance.
2. Estimates.
3. Expenditure generally.
4. All proposals for new and unusual Expenditure.
5. Accounts—Cash, Store, and Dockyard Expense.
6. Purchase and Sale of Ships.
7. Purchase and Sale of Stores generally.
8. Payment of Hire of Ships as Armed Cruisers, Troop Ships, Colliers, Freight Ships, &c.
9. All questions involving reference to the Treasury financially.
10. Exchequer and Audit Department—Questions with.

1 January, 1904.
1.—Finance.
2.—Estimates.
3.—Expenditure generally.
4.—All proposals for new and unusual Expenditure.
5.—Accounts—Cash, Store and Dockyard Expense.
6.—Purchase and Sale of Ships.
7.—Purchase and Sale of Stores generally.
8.—Payment of Hire of Ships as Armed Merchant Cruisers, Troop Ships, Colliers, Freight Ships, &c.
9.—Questions involving reference to the Treasury financially, except as provided for in the Note under CIVIL LORD.
10.—Exchequer and Audit Department—Questions connected with.

20 October.
1.—Finance, Estimates and Expenditure generally, and all proposals for new and unusual Expenditure.
2.—Accounts—Cash, Store, and Dockyard Expense.
3.—Purchase and Sale of Ships, and of Stores generally.
4.—Payment of Hire of Ships as Armed Merchant Cruisers, Troop Ships, Colliers, Freight Ships, &c.
5.—Questions involving reference to the Treasury financially, except as provided for under Civil Lord.
6.—Exchequer and Audit Department—Questions connected with.

27 September, 1912.
1. Finance, Estimates and Expenditure generally, and all proposals for new and unusual Expenditure.
2. Accounts—Cash, Store, and Dockyard Expense.
3. Purchase and Sale of Ships, and of Stores generally.
4. Payment of Hire of Ships as Armed Merchant Cruisers, Troop Ships, Colliers, Freight Ships, &c.
5. Questions involving reference to the Treasury financially, except the less important Works questions dealt with finally by the Civil Lord.
6. Exchequer and Audit Department—Questions connected with.
7. General Labour Questions, including Annual Petitions.

27 June, 1917.
Finance, Estimates and Expenditure and Accounts, and proposals for new and unusual Expenditure generally.
Contract business except as dealt with by the Controller.
Sale of Ships and Stores.
Payment of Hire of Ships.
Questions involving reference to the Treasury financially, except the less important Works questions dealt with finally by the Civil Lord.
Exchequer and Audit Department—Questions connected with.
General Labour Questions, including Annual Petitions. (See Note under Controller.)

Parliamentary and Financial Secretaries to the Board of Admiralty

Dates of appointment given:

• The Right Hon. Henry T. L. Lowry Corry, M.P., 9 March, 1858.
• Vice-Admiral The Right Hon. Lord Clarence Paget, M.P., 30 June, 1859.
• The Hon. Thomas G. Baring, M.P., 30 April, 1866.
• The Right Hon. Lord Henry G. C. Lennox, M.P., 16 July, 1866.
• The Hon. William E. Baxter, M.P., 18 December, 1868.
• The Hon. George J. Shaw-Lefevre, 17 March, 1871.
• The Hon. Algernon Fulke Egerton, M.P., 6 March, 1874.
• The Hon. George J. Shaw-Lefevre, M.P., 15 May, 1880.
• The Hon. George O. Trevelyan, M.P., 1 December, 1880.
• The Honourable Henry Campbell-Bannerman, M.P., 13 May, 1882.
• The Hon. Sir Thomas Brassey, M.P., 20 November, 1884.
• The Hon. Charles T. Ritchie, M.P., 3 July, 1885.
• The Right Hon. John T. Hibbert, M.P., 17 February, 1886.
• The Right Hon. Arthur B. Forwood, M.P., 6 August, 1886.
• The Right Hon. Sir Ughtred James Kay-Shuttleworth, Bart., M.P., 24 August, 1892.
• The Hon. William G. Ellison-Macartney, M.P., 4 July, 1895.
• The Hon. Hugh O. Arnold-Forster, M.P., 20 December, 1900.
• The Hon. Ernest G. Pretyman, M.P., 13 October, 1903.
• The Right Hon. Edmund Robertson, K.C., M.P., 21 December, 1905.
• The Right Hon. Thomas J. Macnamara, L.L.D., M.P., 16 April, 1908.

Additional Parliamentary Secretary

• The Right Honourable The Earl of Lytton, February, 1917.