First Lord of the Admiralty

{{Short description|Political head of the Royal Navy (1628–1964)}}

{{Distinguish|text=First Sea Lord, Lord High Admiral, Admiral of the Fleet (United Kingdom), or Admiral (United Kingdom)|}}

{{Infobox official post

| post = First Lord

| body = the Admiralty

| native_name =

| insignia = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg

| insigniasize =

| insigniacaption = Royal Arms of HM Government

| insigniaalt =

| flag =

| flagsize =

| flagalt =

| flagborder =

| flagcaption =

| image =

| imagesize =

| alt =

| imagecaption = Longest serving

xx–xx

| department = Department of the Admiralty

| style =

| type =

| status = Abolished

| abbreviation =

| member_of = Board of Admiralty
Cabinet

| reports_to = Prime Minister

| residence =

| seat =

| nominator = Prime Minister

| appointer = Prime Minister

| appointer_qualified = Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council

| termlength = Not fixed

| termlength_qualified = typically 3–7 years

| constituting_instrument =

| precursor =

| formation = 1628

| first = Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland

| last = George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe

| abolished = 1964

| superseded_by = Secretary of State for Defence

| succession =

| unofficial_names =

| deputy =

| salary =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

First Lord of the Admiralty,{{cite book|last1=Eberle|first1=Sir James|title=Wider horizons: naval policy & international affairs|date=2007|publisher=Roundtuit Publishing|isbn=9781904499176|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEAZ_wRi1_U&pg=PA1|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty,{{cite book|last1=Pryde|first1=E. B.|title=Handbook of British Chronology|date=23 February 1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521563505|page=135|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcgxEvGAK_kC&pg=PA135|language=en}} was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the direction and control of the Admiralty, and also of general administration of the Naval Service of the Kingdom of England, Great Britain in the 18th century, and then the United Kingdom, including the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, and other services. It was one of the earliest known permanent government posts. Apart from being the political head of the Naval Service the post holder was simultaneously the pre-eminent member of the Board of Admiralty. The office of First Lord of the Admiralty existed from 1628 until it was abolished when the Admiralty, Air Ministry, Ministry of Defence and War Office were all merged to form the new Ministry of Defence in 1964. Its modern-day equivalent is the Secretary of State for Defence.

History

In 1628, during the reign of Charles I, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral of England, was assassinated and the office was placed in commission, under the control of a Board of Commissioners.

The first such First Lord of the Admiralty was Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, who was appointed in 1628. The First Lord was not always a permanent member of the board until the Admiralty Department was established as an official government department in 1709{{cite book|last1=Blake|first1=Nicholas|last2=Lawrence|first2=Richard|title=The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy|date=2005|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811732758|page=8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I59v6rkg8egC&pg=PA8|language=en}} with the First Lord as its head; it replaced the earlier Office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs.{{cite book|last1=Knighton|first1=C. S.|last2=Loades|first2=David|last3=Loades|first3=Professor of History David|title=Elizabethan Naval Administration|date=29 April 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317145035|page=8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K50WDAAAQBAJ|language=en}} During most of the 17th century and the early 18th century, it was not invariable for the Admiralty to be in commission, so there are gaps in the list of First Lords, and a small number of First Lords were for a time Lord High Admiral.

After the Glorious Revolution, during the reign of William and Mary, Parliament passed the Admiralty Act 1690 (2 Will. & Mar. Sess. 2. c. 2), vesting in the commissioners the powers formerly held by the Lord High Admiral of England.{{cite book|last1=Hamilton|first1=Admiral Sir. Richard. Vesey, G.C.B.|title=Naval Administration: The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, and of the Civil Departments it Directs|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030895860|date=1896|publisher=George Bell and Sons, London}}{{PD-notice}} and at this point became a permanent Cabinet position.

The Admiralty Commission was dissolved in 1701, but was reconstituted in 1709 on the death of Prince George of Denmark, who had been appointed Lord High Admiral. The office has been held in commission from that time onwards, however, except for a short period (1827–28) when the Duke of Clarence was Lord High Admiral. The Board of the Admiralty comprised a number of "Lords Commissioners" headed by a First Lord.

From the early 1800s the post was always held by a civilian{{cite book|last1=Constable|first1=Archibald|title=The Edinburgh Review, Or Critical Journal: ... To Be Continued Quarterly|date=1861|publisher=Austrian National Library, 4 November 2013|page=291|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vbRZAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA291|language=en}} (previously flag officers of the Royal Navy also held the post). In 1832 First Lord Sir James Graham instituted reforms and amalgamated the Board of Admiralty and the Navy Board. By the provisions of the Admiralty Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 40), two lords in committee could legalise any action of the board.{{cite web|last1=(eISB)|first1=electronic Irish Statute Book|title=electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB), Admiralty Act, 1832|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1832/act/40/enacted/en/html|website=irishstatutebook.ie|publisher=Government of Ireland, 2017|access-date=9 March 2017|language=en}}

In 1868 Prime Minister, William Gladstone appointed Hugh Childers First Lord, who would introduce a new system at the Admiralty. However these changes restricted communication between the board members who were affected by these new regulations, and the sittings of the Board were discontinued altogether. This situation described was further exacerbated by the disaster of {{HMS|Captain|1869|6}} in 1870, a poorly-designed new vessel for the navy.

The responsibility and powers of the First Lord of the Admiralty were laid down by an Order in Council dated 14 January 1869,{{cite book|last1=Hamilton|first1=C. I.|title=The making of the modern admiralty : British naval policy-making 1805–1927|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, UK|isbn=9780521765183|page=153}} and a later Order (19 March 1872) made the First Lord responsible to the Sovereign and to Parliament for all the business of the Admiralty. However, by describing the Lords of the Admiralty as the "assistants" of the First Lord,{{cite book|last1=Marder|first1=Arthur|title=From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: Volume II: To The Eve of Jutland 1914–1916|date=19 June 2014|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=9781848321632|page=268|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ABtBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA268|language=en}} and by specifically defining their duties, this had, in fact, partially disabled the collective power of the Board.

In 1931, for the first time since 1709, the First Lord was not a member of the cabinet.{{cite book|last1=Cannon|first1=John|last2=Crowcroft|first2=Robert|title=The Oxford Companion to British History|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199677832|page=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PM9xCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|language=en}}

In 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for Air became formally subordinated to that of Minister of Defence, which had itself been created in 1940 for the co-ordination of defence and security issues.

In 1964, the office of First Lord of the Admiralty was abolished, the last holder being George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, whose father, Admiral of the Fleet John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, had served as First Sea Lord nearly 50 years earlier. The functions of the Lords Commissioners were then transferred to an Admiralty Board, which forms part of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom.

List of First Lords of the Admiralty

= First Lords of the Admiralty of England (1628–1701) =

class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="text-align:Center"

! colspan=2 | First Lord of the Admiralty

! colspan=2 | Term of office

style="height:1em"

First Lord of the Admiralty

History

List of First Lords of the Admiralty

= First Lords of the Admiralty of England (1628–1701) =

= Senior Members of the Lord High Admiral's Council (1702–1709) =

= First Lords of the Admiralty of Great Britain (1709–1801) =

= First Lords of the Admiralty of the United Kingdom (1801–1964) =

Boards, departments and offices under the First Lord

Fictional First Lords

References

= Attribution =

Sources