Clerks attached to Chief Clerk's Department 1814-70

Clerks attached to Chief Clerk's Department 1814-70

In 1814 a salary of £80 was made available to H. D. Scott, a Clerk attached exclusively to the Chief Clerk's Department. (fn. 1) After he had completed five years' service his salary was increased to £160. (fn. 2) In 1822 it was provided that the office should be abolished on a vacancy when its duties would be performed by one of the established Clerks. The salary, transferred from the contingent fund to the fee fund, was to remain fixed at £160. (fn. 3) In 1823, however, this decision was reversed and Scott's salary was assimilated to that of the Junior Clerks: £150 rising by annual increments of £15 to £300. (fn. 4) In 1827 the salary was raised to £350 rising by annual increments of £15 to £545. (fn. 5) An additional personal allowance of £100 was made available to Scott in 1845. (fn. 6) In 1854 the number of Clerks was increased to three. Future holders of the office of First Clerk, which was still filled by Scott, were to receive a salary of £200 rising by annual increments of £15 to £400. The salaries of the Second and Third Clerks were fixed at £100 rising by annual increments of £10 to £200. (fn. 7) In 1865 the Second and Third Clerks were placed in the new grade of Third Class Supplementary Clerk with salaries of £100 rising by annual increments of £10 to £240. The regrading of the office of First Clerk was delayed until Scott's retirement in 1866 when his successor, Ayers, was placed in the grade of First Class Supplementary Clerk with a salary of £400 rising by annual increments of £15 to £500. (fn. 8) The Department was reorganised in 1868 when reforms in accounting procedure, required under the terms of the Exchequer and Audit Act, came into effect. The number of Clerks was increased to seven, consisting of two First Class, two Second Class and three Third Class Supplementary Clerks. The First Clerk then serving in the Chief Clerk's Department and the Supplementary Clerk then serving in the Consular Department were appointed to the two first class clerkships and were designated respectively 'Auditor and Examiner' and 'Bookkeeper and Accountant'. (fn. 9) The appointment of an additional Third Class Supplementary Clerk was authorised in 1869. (fn. 10)

One or occasionally two Extra Clerks were employed in the years 1825-65. (fn. 11) The Clerks of the Passport Office, created in 1855 and placed under the superintendence of the Chief Clerk, have not been included in these lists.