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The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increasingly troublesome North American colonies. Previously those responsibilities had fallen to the Secretary of State for the Southern Department, who was responsible for Southern England, Wales, Ireland, the American colonies, and relations with the Catholic and Muslim states of Europe.
The men who held office were:
- Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough (27 February, 1768 - 27 August, 1772)
- William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (27 August, 1772 - 10 November 1775)
- Lord George Germain (10 November, 1775 - February 1782
- Welbore Ellis (February - 8 March, 1782)
In 1782, following the loss of the American colonies, the office was abolished, and its duties given to the Home Secretary, then Lord Sydney. In 1794 a new office was created for Henry Dundas — the Secretary of State for War, which now took responsibility for the Colonies, and was renamed the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in 1801. In 1854, military reforms led to the Colonial and Military responsibilities of this secretary of state being split into two separate offices, with Sir George Grey becoming the first Secretary of State for the Colonies under the new arrangement.
- Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet (12 June, 1854 - 8 February, 1855)
- Sidney Herbert (8 February, 1855 - 23 February, 1855)
- Lord John Russell (23 February, 1855 - 21 July, 1855)
- Sir William Molesworth (21 July, 1855 - 21 November, 1855)
- Henry Labouchere (21 November, 1855 - 21 February, 1858)
- Edward Henry Stanley, Lord Stanley (26 February, 1858 - 5 June, 1858)
- Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton (5 June, 1858 - 11 June, 1859)
- Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle (18 June, 1859 - 7 April, 1864)
- Edward Cardwell (7 April, 1864 - 26 June, 1866)
- Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (6 July, 1866 - 8 March, 1867)
- Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (8 March, 1867 - 1 December, 1868)
- Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville (9 December, 1868 - 6 July, 1870)
- John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley (6 July, 1870 - 17 February, 1874)
- Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (21 February, 1874 - 4 February, 1878)
- Sir Michael Hicks Beach (4 February, 1878 - 21 April, 1880)
- John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley (21 April, 1880 - 16 December, 1882)
- Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby (16 December, 1882 - 9 June, 1885)
- Frederick Arthur Stanley (24 June, 1885 - 28 January, 1886)
- Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville (6 February, 1886 - 20 July, 1886)
- Edward Stanhope (3 August, 1886 - 14 January, 1887)
- Henry Thurstan Holland, 1st Baron Knutsford (14 January, 1887 - 11 August, 1892)
- George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon (18 August, 1892 - 21 June, 1895)
- Joseph Chamberlain (29 June, 1895 - 16 September, 1903) (Resigned)
- Alfred Lyttelton (11 October, 1903 - 4 December, 1905)
- Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (10 December, 1905 - 12 April, 1908)
- Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Earl of Crewe (12 April, 1908 - 3 November, 1910)
- Lewis Vernon Harcourt (3 November, 1910 - 25 May, 1915)
- Andrew Bonar Law (25 May, 1915 - 10 December, 1916)
- Walter Hume Long (10 December, 1916 - 10 January, 1919)
- Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner (10 January, 1919 - 13 February, 1921)
- Winston Churchill (13 February, 1921 - 19 October, 1922)
- Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (24 October, 1922 - 22 January, 1924)
- James Henry Thomas (22 January, 1924 - 3 November, 1924)
- Leo Amery (6 November, 1924 - 4 June, 1929)
- Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield (7 June, 1929 - 24 August, 1931)
- James Henry Thomas (25 August, 1931 - 5 November, 1931)
- Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister (5 November, 1931 - 7 June, 1935)
- Malcolm MacDonald (7 June, 1935 - 22 November, 1935)
- James Henry Thomas (22 November, 1935 - 22 May, 1936) (Resigned)
- William Ormsby-Gore (28 May, 1936 - 16 May, 1938)
- Malcolm MacDonald (16 May, 1938 - 12 May, 1940)
- George Ambrose Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd (12 May, 1940 - 8 February, 1941)
- Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne (8 February, 1941 - 22 February, 1942)
- Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne (22 February, 1942 - 22 November, 1942)
- Oliver Stanley (22 November, 1942 - 26 July, 1945)
- George Hall (3 August, 1945 - 4 October, 1946)
- Arthur Creech Jones (4 October, 1946 - 28 February, 1950)
- James Griffiths (28 February, 1950 - 26 October, 1951)
- Oliver Lyttelton (28 October, 1951 - 28 July, 1954)
- Alan Lennox-Boyd (28 July, 1954 - 14 October, 1959)
- Iain Macleod (14 October, 1959 - 9 October, 1961)
- Reginald Maudling (9 October, 1961 - 13 July, 1962)
- Duncan Sandys (13 July, 1962 - 16 October, 1964)
- Anthony Greenwood (18 October, 1964 - 23 December, 1965)
- Francis Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford (23 December, 1965 - 6 April, 1966)
- Frederick Lee (6 April, 1966 - 1 August, 1966)
Until 1925, when the office of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was created, the Colonial Office had responsibility for all British colonies and dominions besides India, which had its own Secretary of State. In 1966, with most of the colonies gone, the office was merged with that of the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations to create the new office of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs.
In 1968 the Commonwealth Office was subsumed into the Foreign Office, which became known as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
From 1768 until 1966 the Secretary of State was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (at times an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies), and latterly by a Minister of State.
| History of UK Government Departments with Responsibility for Foreign Affairs | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial Office 1768 – 1782 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
Home Office 1782 – 1794 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
War Office 1794 – 1801 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
War and Colonial Office 1801 – 1854 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
Colonial Office 1854 – 1925 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
Colonial Office 1925 – 1966 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries |
Commonwealth Office 1966 – 1968 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1968 – Present Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries |
|
| Dominions Office 1925 – 1947 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
Commonwealth Relations Office 1947 – 1966 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries |
|||||||
| . | India Office 1858 – 1937 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
India and Burma Office 1937 – 1947 Secretaries Undersecretaries |
||||||
| Foreign Office 1782 – 1968 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries |
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 12 November 2008, at 07:15.
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