Secretaries 1660-1870

Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 1, Treasury Officials 1660-1870. Originally published by University of London, London, 1972.

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'Secretaries 1660-1870', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 1, Treasury Officials 1660-1870, (London, 1972) pp. 29-31. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol1/pp29-31 [accessed 17 March 2024]

In this section

Secretaries 1660-1870

Having originated as the personal servant of the Treasurer, the Secretary of the Treasury had by the Restoration acquired functions which were essential to the conduct of the business of the office. (fn. 1) Apart from a special arrangement in 1685-6 when Gwyn acted as additional Secretary for the Irish business of the Treasury, there was only one Secretary until 1711 when a second secretaryship was created on a permanent basis. (fn. 2) The right of nomination to the offices rested formally with the Treasurer or the Board. (fn. 3) The Secretaries did not receive instruments of appointment, their entry into office being marked only by their being called in to take their seats at the Board. These events were not regularly recorded in the minutes until 1730. (fn. 4)

The tenure of the offices was never formally defined and varied considerably at different periods. Between 1660 and 1695 it was relatively insecure, new appointments usually being made whenever there was a change of Treasurer or a substantial alteration in the composition of the Board. From the time of Lowndes' appointment in 1695 until the death of Scrope in 1752 the tenure of the secretaryship which they held was in practice permanent and unaffected by political changes. The tenure of the second secretaryship, on the other hand, was from the first precarious, new appointments usually being made whenever there was a change of First Lord. After 1752 it was the general rule for both Secretaries to retire with their political patrons. Until that year the Secretary with permanent tenure enjoyed precedence over his colleague. Thereafter a new practice was introduced in accordance with which the Junior Secretary succeeded as a matter of course to the senior office when it fell vacant. (fn. 5) This practice continued to be generally observed until 1830 after which, with the development of distinct parliamentary and financial secretaryships, it ceased to operate. The adoption of the terms Parliamentary and Financial as opposed to Senior and Junior Secretaries was never specifically authorised by the Treasury and is impossible to date with precision. For the purposes of these lists the year 1830 has been selected as being less open to objection than any other. (fn. 6)

Originally the Secretary was dependent on fees for his remuneration. (fn. 7) From the time of the funding of the fees he enjoyed two thirds of the product. Gwyn received in 1685-6 two thirds of the fees arising from Irish business and from the payment of the arrears to the servants of Charles II. (fn. 8) After 1711 each Secretary received a third of the fees. (fn. 9) In 1782 they were accorded fixed salaries of £3000. These salaries were raised to £4000 in 1800. In 1821 they were reduced, for future holders of the offices, to £3500. They were further reduced to £2500 in 1831 and to £2000 in 1851. (fn. 10)

LISTS OF APPOINTMENTS

Senior (Parliamentary) Secretary

1660 June Warwick, Sir P.
1667 May Downing, Sir G.
1671 Oct. Howard, Hon. Sir R.
1673 July Bertie, Hon. C.
1679 March Guy, H.
1689 April Jephson, W.
1691 June Guy, H.
1695 March Lowndes, W.
1724 Jan. Scrope, J.
1752 9 April West, J.
1756 18 Nov. Hardinge, N.
1758 9 April West, J.
1762 29 May Martin, S.
1763 18 April Dyson, J.
1763 24 Aug. Jenkinson, C.
1765 15 July Mellish, W.
1765 30 Sept. Lowndes, C.
1767 18 Aug. Cooper, G.
1782 1 April Strachey, H.
1782 15 July Orde, T.
1783 5 April Burke, R.
1783 27 Dec. Rose, G.
1801 24 March Addington, J. H.
1802 8 July Vansittart, N.
1804 21 May Sturges Bourne, W.
1806 10 Feb. Vansittart, N.
1807 1 April Wellesley, Hon. H.
1809 5 April Arbuthnot, C.
1823 7 Feb. Lushington, S. R.
1827 19 April Planta, J.
1830 26 Nov. Ellice, E.
1832 10 Aug. Wood, C.
1834 19 Dec. Clerk, Sir G.
1835 21 April Stanley, E. J.
1841 19 June Le Marchant, D. (fn. 11)
1841 8 Sept. Fremantle, Sir T. F.
1844 21 May Young, J.
1846 7 July Tufnell, H.
1850 9 July Hayter, W. G.
1852 2 March Forbes Mackenzie, W.
1853 5 Jan. Hayter, W. G.
1858 2 March Jolliffe, Sir W. G. H.
1859 24 June Brand, Hon. H. B. W.
1866 14 July Taylor, T. E.
1868 11 Nov. Noel, Hon. G. J.
1868 21 Dec. Glyn, G. G.

Junior (Financial) Secretary

1711 11 June Harley, T.
1714 Nov. Taylor, J.
1715 12 Oct. Walpole, H.
1717 April Stanhope, C.
1721 April Walpole, H.
1730 24 June Walpole, E.
1739 1 June Fox, S.
1741 30 April Legge, Hon. H.
1742 15 July Furnese, H.
1742 30 Nov. Jeffreys, J.
1746 1 May West, J.
1752 22 April Hardinge, N.
1756 18 Nov. Martin, S.
1757 5 July West, J.
1758 31 May Martin, S.
1762 29 May Dyson, J.
1763 18 April Jenkinson, C.
1763 24 Aug. Whately, T.
1765 15 July Lowndes, C.
1765 30 Sept. Cooper, G.
1767 18 Aug. Bradshaw, T.
1770 16 Oct. Robinson, J.
1782 6 April Burke, R.
1782 15 July Rose, G.
1783 5 April Sheridan, R. B.
1783 27 Dec. Steele, T.
1791 26 Feb. Long, C.
1801 9 April Vansittart, N.
1802 8 July Sargent, J.
1804 21 May Huskisson, W.
1806 10 Feb. King, J.
1806 2 Sept. Fremantle, W. H.
1807 1 April Huskisson, W.
1809 8 Dec. Wharton, R.
1814 7 Jan. Lushington, S. R.
1823 7 Feb. Herries, J. C.
1827 4 Sept. Lewis, T. F.
1828 28 Jan. Dawson, G. R.
1830 26 Nov. Spring Rice, T.
1834 6 June Baring, F. T.
1834 20 Dec. Fremantle, Sir T. F.
1835 21 April Baring, F. T.
1839 6 Sept. Gordon, R.
1841 9 June More O'Ferrall, R. (fn. 12)
1841 8 Sept. Clerk, Sir G.
1845 4 Feb. Cardwell, E.
1846 7 July Parker, J.
1849 22 May Hayter, W. G.
1850 9 July Lewis, G. C.
1852 2 March Hamilton, G. A.
1853 5 Jan. Wilson, J.
1858 2 March Hamilton, G. A.
1859 21 Jan. Northcote, Sir S. H.
1859 24 June Laing, S.
1860 2 Nov. Peel, F.
1865 19 Aug. Childers, H. C. E.
1866 14 July Hunt, G. W.
1868 4 March Sclater Booth, G.
1868 21 Dec. Ayrton, A. S.
1869 Nov. Stansfeld, J.

Footnotes

  • 1. For the Secretaries and their functions, see Thomas, Notes of Materials, 16-17; Baxter, Treasury, 167-203; D. M. Clark, 'The Office of Secretary to the Treasury in the Eighteenth Century', American Hist. Rev., xlii (1936-7), 22-45; A. Aspinall, 'English Party Organisation in the Early Nineteenth Century', Eng. Hist. Rev., xli (1926), 396-7; The Correspondence of Charles Arbuthnot, ed. A. Aspinall (Camden 3rd ser., lxv, 1941), viii-ix; The Parliamentary Papers of John Robinson, ed. W. T. Laprade (Camden 3rd ser., xxxiii, 1922); Todd, Parliamentary Government, ii, 324, 333, 366, 368, 451-4.
  • 2. T 38/438 flyleaf. For a memorandum of 1710 recommending the creation of a second secretaryship, see BM Loan 29/45B ff. 12/253-4.
  • 3. Lowndes' statement of 24 April 1695 (CTB, x, 1369) implying that the office was in the King's gift is in conflict with other evidence including his own remarks to the Commissioners of Public Accounts in Nov. 1702 (T 64/126 p. 248). Members of the House of Commons who were appointed Secretaries were not obliged to submit themselves for re-election as would have been necessary had the appointment been a royal one.
  • 4. For dates of appointment before 1695, see Baxter, Treasury, 167-203. The only appointment apart from Lowndes' recorded in the minutes before 1730 was that of H. Walpole in 1715. From 1711 the evidence in the fee books enables the date of entry into office to be established with reasonable precision.
  • 5. The practice first received explicit endorsement in TM 29 May 1762 (T 29/34 p. 295).
  • 6. In 1850 Wood described himself as having occupied the position of 'Parliamentary Secretary' in 1832-4 (Rept. of Select Committee on Official Salaries 1850 (HC 1850, xv), 206).
  • 7. Between 1671 and 1679, however, Howard and Bertie received a salary of £250 as Secretaries (Baxter, Treasury, 177).
  • 8. T 38/436.
  • 9. T 38/438 flyleaf.
  • 10. TM 30 Nov. 1782 (T 29/52 p. 518), 3 April 1800 (T 29/76 pp. 89-92), 10 Aug. 1821 (T 29/200 p. 241), 15 April 1831 (T 29/316 pp. 259-61), 20 May 1851 (T 29/543 pp. 389-91).
  • 11. It is uncertain which of the two secretaryships Le Marchant occupied.
  • 12. It is uncertain which of the two secretaryships More O'Ferrall occupied.