Marine department

Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870. Originally published by University of London, London, 1975.

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'Marine department', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870, (London, 1975) pp. 82-84. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol4/pp82-84 [accessed 11 April 2024]

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MARINE DEPARTMENT

Clerks 1755-1809

On the formation of the Marine Department in 1755 provision was made for a clerical staff with salaries payable by the Paymaster of Marines. At first this staff consisted of a First Clerk with a salary of £100 and a Second Clerk with a salary of £70, together with two Extra Clerks. (fn. 1) The salary of the First Clerk was increased to £200 in 1756. (fn. 2) Fearne, the holder of this office, was then a junior Clerk on the ordinary establishment of the Admiralty. He remained First Clerk after his promotion to the office of Deputy Secretary to the Admiralty in 1764 until his retirement in 1766. (fn. 3) His successor as Deputy Secretary, Jackson, was also allowed the salary of £200 attached to the office of First Clerk in the Marine Department. (fn. 4)

In 1778 the salary of the Second Clerk was raised to £100 and a Third Clerk was appointed at £70 a year. (fn. 5) In 1782 the salary of £200, formerly attached to the first clerkship, was made a permanent part of the remuneration of the Deputy Secretary of the Admiralty who was given the additional title of Deputy Secretary of the Marine Department. At the same time the salaries of the three Clerks were fixed at £130, £80 and £60. (fn. 6) In 1784 the third clerkship was abolished and in 1790 the salary attached to the second clerkship was increased to £110. (fn. 7)

In 1800 the salaries of the First and Second Clerks were fixed at £300 and £150 respectively and made payable by the Treasurer of the Navy. (fn. 8) In 1807 the new salary arrangements for the Senior and Junior Clerks in the Admiralty office were applied to these posts. (fn. 9) In 1809 the separate existence of the Marine Department was brought to a close and its clerkships were incorporated into the ordinary establishment of the Admiralty. (fn. 10)

LISTS OF APPOINTMENTS
FIRST CLERK
1755 17 July Fearne, C.
1766 11 Nov. Jackson, G.
1782 30 June Madden, J.
1789 7 Oct. Coombe, G.
SECOND CLERK
1755 17 July Clevland, J.
1760 5 May Madden, J.
1782 30 June Bindley, J.
1784 10 Feb. Coombe, G.
1789 7 Oct. Maxwell, B.
1796 3 Aug. Moss, S.
THIRD CLERK
1778 10 June Bindley, J.
1782 30 June Coombe, G.

Extra Clerks 1755-82

Provision was made for there to be two Extra Clerks in the Marine Department in 1755, each with a salary of £50, payable by the Paymaster of Marines. The offices were discontinued in 1782. (fn. 11)

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
1755 17 July Rogers, B.
1755 17 July Madden, J.
1760 5 May Parker, H.
1770 26 April Forbes, D.
1778 7 July Coombe, G.

Footnotes

  • 1. Adm. 2/1152 pp. 134-5; 3rd Rept. on Fees, 116-17.
  • 2. Adm. 2/1153 pp. 271-2.
  • 3. Adm. 2/1160 p. 187.
  • 4. Adm. 2/1162 p. 202.
  • 5. Adm. 2/1170 p. 558.
  • 6. Adm. 2/1174 pp. 71, 172.
  • 7. Adm. 3/99, 12 Feb. 1784; Adm. 2/1175 p. 260; Adm. 2/1180 pp. 263-4.
  • 8. Order in council 15 Jan. 1800 (HC 138 p. 3 (1816) xiii, 171).
  • 9. Order in council 28 Oct. 1807 (PC 2/174 pp. 284-6).
  • 10. SPB, xii ff. 57-8; order in council 14 March 1811 (PC 2/192 pp. 98-100).
  • 11. Adm. 2/1152 pp. 134-5; Adm. 2/1174 p. 172; 3rd Rept. on Fees, 116-17.