Naval Secretary
The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy officer who advises the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on naval officer appointing (and General Officers).[1] His counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary. The Royal Air Force equivalent is the Air Secretary. The Director People and Training has taken over the role, combining the responsibilities of Flag Officer Sea Training.[2]
Office of the Naval Secretary | |
---|---|
Ensign of the Royal Navy | |
Ministry of Defence | |
Member of | Navy Command |
Nominator | Secretary of State for Defence |
Appointer | Monarch of the United Kingdom |
Term length | Not fixed (typically 1–3 years) |
Inaugural holder | Captain John Harrison |
Formation | 1800-current |
Website | royalnavy.mod.uk |
History
The Office of the Naval Secretary was originally established in 1800 when the appointment was styled Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty[3] and remained so styled until 1911. In 1912 it was re-titled Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty.[4] The post-holder assisted the political head of the navy on senior appointments.
When the Admiralty department was abolished in 1964 the post was renamed Naval Secretary and he now advised the Royal Navy's military head. From 2010 to 2015 he simultaneously held additional titles of Naval Secretary, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Personnel) and Chief Naval Logistics Officer (as head the Naval Logistics Branch).[5] In 2015 the post holder assumed new additional responsibilities for the Royal Naval Reserve and another additional title of Flag Officer, Maritime Reserves.[6]
In this capacity he is currently responsible for advising the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on all matters relating to Flag and General Officers’ appointing. He is supported in the fulfillment of these duties by the Office of Assistant to the Naval Secretary who currently holds the rank of Commodore.[7] A March 2020 edition of Navy News noted that the Director People and Training took over the people-related policies and career management from the Naval Secretary.[8]
Secretaries
Post holders included:[9]
Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty
- 1800 – 1801 Captain John Harrison
- 1801 – 1802 Captain Benjamin Tucker
- 1802 – 1804 Captain George Parker
- 1804 – 1805 Captain William Budge [10]
- 1805 – 1806 Captain John Deas Thomson [11]
- 1806 – 1807 Captain Henry Grant [12]
- 1807 – 1808 Captain Edward Golding [13]
- 1808 – 1809 Captain Robert Moorsom [14]
- 1809 – 1810 Captain Lord Edward O'Brien [15]
- 1810 – 1812 Captain Frederick Edgcumbe [16]
- 1812 – 1823 Captain Robert William Hay[17][18]
- 1823 – 1827 Captain George Baillie Hamilton [19]
- 1827 – 1828 Captain Hon. Robert Cavendish Spencer
- 1828 – 1830 Captain Richard Saunders Dundas
- 1830 – Captain John Thomas Briggs
- 1830 – 1831 Captain Edward Stewart [20]
- 1831 – 1834 Major George Graham (RM) [21]
- 1834 Captain George Gipps [22]
- 1834 – Captain John George Cole
- 1835 – Captain George Gipps [23]
- 1835 – Captain Hon. Frederick William Grey
- 1835 – 1839 Captain Henry Tufnell
- 1839 – 1841 Viscount Melgund (acting) [24]
- 1841 – 1845 Captain William Baillie-Hamilton [25]
- 1845 – 1846 Captain Richard Saunders Dundas
- 1846 – Captain Hon. Henry Spencer Law
- 1846 – 1848 Captain Henry Eden
- 1848 – 1852 Captain Charles Eden
- 1852 – 1853 Captain Frederick Thomas Pelham
- 1853 – 1855 Captain Henry Higgins Donatus O'Brien
- 1855 – 1857 Captain Thomas George Baring
- 1857 – 1858 Captain Hon. James Robert Drummond
- 1858 – 1859 Captain Herbert Harley Murray
- 1859 – 1862 Captain John Moore
- 1862 – 1863 Captain Alfred Phillips Ryder
- 1863 – 1866 Captain Robert Hall
- 1866 – Captain Frederick Archibald Campbell
- 1866 – 1867 Captain John Slaney Pakington
- 1867 – 1868 Captain Thomas Brandreth
- 1868 – 1870 Captain Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour
- 1870 – 1871 Captain Chandos S. Scudamore Stanhope
- 1871 – 1873 Captain George Tryon
- 1874 – 1876 Captain Michael Culme-Seymour
- 1876 – 1881 Captain William Codrington
- 1881 – 1883 Captain John O. Hopkins
- 1883 – 1885 Captain Lewis A. Beaumont
- 1885 – 1888 Rear-Admiral The Rt. Hon. Lord Walter Kerr
- 1889 – 1892 Rear-Admiral Alfred T. Dale
- 1892 – 1894 Captain Richard H. Hamond
- 1894 – 1897 Captain Hedworth Lambton
- 1897 – 1899 Captain Wilmot Fawkes
- 1899 – 1900 Captain Maurice Bourke
- 1900 – 1902 Captain Wilmot Fawkes
- 1902 – 1905 Captain Hugh Tyrwhitt
- 1905 – 1908 Captain Hugh Evan-Thomas
- 1908 – 1910 Captain Charles Madden
Naval Secretaries to the First Lord of the Admiralty
Post holders included [26]
- 1911 – 1912 Rear-Admiral Ernest Troubridge
- 1912 – 1913 Rear-Admiral David Beatty
- 1913 – 1914 Rear-Admiral Dudley de Chair
- Aug – Oct 1914 Rear-Admiral Horace Hood
- Oct – Nov 1914 Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver
- 1914 – 1916 Commodore Charles de Bartolomé
- 1916 – 1918 Rear-Admiral Allan Everett
- 1918 – 1921 Rear-Admiral Sir Rudolph Bentinck
- 1921 – 1923 Rear-Admiral Hugh Watson
- 1923 – 1925 Vice-Admiral Michael Hodges
- Apr 1925 Vice-Admiral Sir Hubert Brand
- 1925 – 1927 Rear-Admiral Frank Larken
- 1927 – 1929 Rear-Admiral Eric Fullerton
- 1929 – 1932 Rear-Admiral George Chetwode
- 1932 – 1934 Rear-Admiral Sidney Meyrick
- 1934 – 1937 Rear-Admiral Guy Royle
- 1937 – 1939 Rear-Admiral William Whitworth
- May – Nov 1939 Rear-Admiral Stuart Bonham Carter
- 1939 – 1941 Rear-Admiral Edward Syfret
- 1941 – 1942 Rear-Admiral Arthur Peters
- 1942 – 1944 Rear-Admiral Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton
- 1944 – 1945 Rear-Admiral Cecil Harcourt
- 1945 – 1946 Rear-Admiral Claud Barry
- 1948 – 1948 Rear-Admiral Maurice Mansergh
- 1948 – 1950 Rear-Admiral Peveril William-Powlett
- 1950 – 1952 Rear-Admiral William Davis
- 1952 – 1954 Rear-Admiral Richard Onslow
- 1954 – 1956 Rear-Admiral David Luce
- 1956 – 1958 Rear-Admiral Alastair Ewing
- 1958 – 1960 Rear-Admiral John Hamilton
- 1960 – 1962 Rear-Admiral Frank Twiss
Naval Secretaries
Post holders included
- 1962 – 1964 Rear-Admiral John Hayes
- 1964 – 1966 Rear-Admiral William O'Brien
- Jan – Mar 1966 Rear-Admiral Anthony Griffin
- 1966 – 1967 Rear-Admiral Gervaise Cooke
- 1967 – 1970 Rear-Admiral David Dunbar-Nasmith
- 1970 – 1972 Rear-Admiral Iwan Raikes
- 1972 – 1974 Rear-Admiral Gordon Tait
- 1974 – 1976 Rear-Admiral John Forbes
- 1976 – 1978 Rear-Admiral Peter Buchanan
- 1978 – 1980 Rear-Admiral Paul Greening
- 1980 – 1983 Rear-Admiral Richard Fitch
- 1983 – 1985 Rear-Admiral Richard Thomas
- 1985 – 1987 Rear-Admiral Roger Dimmock
- 1987 – 1988 Rear-Admiral Norman King
- 1988 – 1990 Rear-Admiral David Dobson
- 1990 – 1992 Rear-Admiral Christopher Morgan
- 1992 – 1994 Rear-Admiral Malcolm Rutherford
- 1994 – 1996 Rear-Admiral Alan West
- 1996 – 1998 Rear-Admiral Fabian Malbon
- 1998 – 2002 Rear-Admiral Jeremy de Halpert
- 2002 – 2004 Rear-Admiral Mark Kerr
- 2004 – 2005 Rear-Admiral Peter Wilkinson
- 2005 – 2007 Rear-Admiral Richard Ibbotson
- 2007 – 2010 Rear-Admiral Charles Montgomery
- 2010 – 2012 Rear-Admiral David Steel
- 2012 – 2015 Vice-Admiral Jonathan Woodcock
- 2015 – 2018 Rear-Admiral Simon Williams
- 2018 – 2020 Rear-Admiral Michael Bath
- 2020 – Present Rear-Admiral Philip Hally
References
- Office, Cabinet (2016–2017). Civil Service Year Book (53 ed.). London, England: The Stationery Office:Dandy Book Sellers Ltd. pp. 194–195. ISBN 9781787320345.
- "Integrating the way we work". Navy News. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- Sainty, J. C. "Private Secretary to First Lord and Lord High Admiral 1800–70 | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. University of London, London, 1975. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- Lambert, Andrew (2008). Admirals : the naval commanders who made Britain great. p. 345. ISBN 9780571265688.
- Office, Cabinet (2012–2013). Civil service yearbook (49 ed.). London, England: The Stationery Office: Dandy Booksellers Ltd. p. 104. ISBN 9781905262878.
- "Forward by Flag Officer Reserves" (PDF). The Maritime Reservist. Spring 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- Office, Cabinet (2016–2017). Civil Service Year Book (53 ed.). London, England: The Stationery Office:Dandy Book Sellers Ltd. pp. 194–195. ISBN 9781787320345.
- "Integrating the way we work". Navy News. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- Senior Royal Navy Appointments Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
- MacDonald, Janet (2010). The British Navy's victualling board, 1793–1815 : management competence and incompetence (1. publ. ed.). Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. p. 228. ISBN 9781843835530.
- Nelson, Horatio (10 November 2011). The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. Cambridge University Press, pp. 28. ISBN 9781108035477. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- "The Scots Magazine". Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran, pp.317, 1805. 1 January 1806. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- Craig, Hardin (1 January 1970). "The First Lord Opens His Mail: Thomas Grenville and Personnel Problems at the Admiralty, 1806–1807". Huntington Library Quarterly. 33 (2): 175–186. doi:10.2307/3816720. JSTOR 3816720.
- Nichols, John (1 January 1835). "The Gentleman's Magazine". E. Cave, pp. 322. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- "The Gentleman's Magazine". The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 109, pp. 183, 1811. 1 January 1811. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- MacDonald, Janet (1 January 2010). The British Navy's Victualling Board, 1793–1815: Management Competence and Incompetence. Boydell & Brewer, pp. 229, 2010. ISBN 9781843835530. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- Wade, John (1 January 1823). "The Black Book: Or, Corruption Unmasked!". J. Fairburn, pp. 394. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- MacDonald, Janet (2010). The British Navy's Victualling Board, 1793–1815: Management Competence and Incompetence. Boydell & Brewer. p. 230. ISBN 9781843835530.
- Marshall, John (1 January 1832). "Royal Naval Biography; Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-officers, Superannuated Rear-admirals, Retired-captains, Post-captains, and commanders, Whose Names Appeared on the Admiralty List of Sea Officers at the Commencement of the Present Year, Or who Have Since Been Promoted; Illustrated by a Series of Historical and Explanatory Notes ... With Copious Addenda: Captains. Commanders". Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, pp.49. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- Campbell, Thomas; Hall, Samuel Carter; Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron; Hook, Theodore Edward; Hood, Thomas; Ainsworth, William Harrison (1 January 1831). "New Monthly Magazine". Henry Colburn, pp.90. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- Admiralty, Great Britain (1 January 1834). "The Navy List". H.M. Stationery Office, pp. 136. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- Authors, Various (28 February 2013). The Nautical Magazine for 1834. pp.442, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108053860. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- Admiralty, Great Britain (1 January 1834). "The Navy List". H.M. Stationery Office, pp. 136. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- Force, William Quereau (1 January 1840). "Army and Navy Chronicle, and Scientific Repository". Wm. Q. Force, pp.378. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- "Medical Times". J. Angerstein Carfrae, Volume 11, pp.18. 1 January 1845. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- Hamilton, C. I. (Feb 3, 2011). The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805–1927. Cambridge University Press. p. 291. ISBN 9781139496544.
Sources
- 'Private Secretary to First Lord and Lord High Admiral 1800–70', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660–1870, ed. J C Sainty (London, 1975), pp. 65–66. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol4/pp65-66 [accessed 29 January 2017].
- Hamilton, C. I. (2003). "Expanding Naval Powers: Admiralty Private Secretaries and Private Offices, 1800–1945". War in History 10 (2): pp. 125–156.
- Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division (1929). The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. Its Work and Development. B.R. 1845 (late C.B. 3013). Copy at The National Archives. ADM 234/434.
- Sainty, J. C. (1975). Admiralty Officials, 1660–1870. London: The Athlone Press. ISBN 0-485-17144-9.