First Lord of the Admiralty, formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the Naval Service from 1628 to 1964, when the Admiralty, Air Ministry, Ministry of Defence and War Office were merged to form the Ministry of Defence. The holder was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the direction and control of the Admiralty (them being the pre-eminent member of the Board of Admiralty), the Royal Navy, and the Royal Marines. It was one of the earliest known permanent government posts. The modern-day equivalent of the office is the Secretary of State for Defence.
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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 with the First Lord as its head; it replaced the earlier Office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs. 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. At this point the Admiralty became a permanent Cabinet position.
The office has been held in commission from that time onwards, except for two short periods when Prince George of Denmark (1701-1709) and the Duke of Clarence (1827–1828) served as 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 (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.
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 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, 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, 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.
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 the United Kingdom (1801–1964)
From 1 April 1964, Queen Elizabeth II assumed the title of Lord High Admiral. Ministerial responsibility for the Royal Navy was transferred to the newly created Secretary of State for Defence.
Notes:
Boards, departments and offices under the First Lord
Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office (1628–1709)
Admiralty Department (1709–1964)
Board of Admiralty (1628–1964)
Navy Board (1628–1832)
Sick and Hurt Board (1653–1806)
Transport Board (1690–1724, 1794–1817)
Victualling Board (1683–1832)
Office of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty
Office of the Senior Naval Lord (1689–1771)
Office of the First Naval Lord (1771–1904)
Office of the First Sea Lord (1904–1917)
Office of the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff (1917–1964)
Office of the Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty (1800–1910)
Office of the Naval Secretary (1910–1964)
Office of the Secretary to the Admiralty (1660–1763)
Office of the First Secretary to the Admiralty (1763–1871)
Office of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty (1871–1886)
Office of the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty (1886–1959)
Fictional First Lords
The "Radical" First Lord, and a major character, in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), is Sir Joseph Porter. W. S. Gilbert wrote to Arthur Sullivan he did not intend to portray the real-life then First Lord, the bookseller and newsagent W. H. Smith, a Conservative, although some of the public, including Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (who later referred to Smith as "Pinafore Smith"), identified Porter with him. The counterparts shared a known lack of naval background. It has been suggested the character was drawn on Smith's actual "Radical" predecessor of 1868–71, Hugh Childers.