Secretary of State for the Northern Department

Great Britain
Office of the Secretary of State for the Northern Department
Great Britain; Office of the Secretary of State for the Northern Department
	Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Great Britain Government
	Longest serving; William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington; 19 June 1730 – 12 February 1742
	TheNorthern Department
Style	The Right Honourable; (Formal prefix)
Member of	British Cabinet
Seat	Westminster,London
Appointer	TheBritish Monarch; on advice of thePrime Minister
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	1660-1782
First holder	Sir William Morice
Final holder	David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont

TheSecretary of State for the Northern Departmentwas a position in theCabinetof the government ofGreat Britainup to 1782. Then theNorthern Departmentbecame theForeign Officeand the position evolved into theForeign Secretary.^[1]^[2]

History

Before theAct of Union, 1707,the Secretary of State's responsibilities were in relation to theEnglishgovernment, not theBritish.Even after the Union, there was still a separateSecretary of State for Scotlanduntil 1746, though the post was sometimes vacant. This continued the previous Scottish government post ofSecretary of State.

Before 1782, the responsibilities of the twoSecretaries of Statefor the Northern and the Southern Departments were not divided up in terms of area of authority, but rather geographically. The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was responsible for relations with theNetherlands,Scandinavia,Poland,Russia,and theHoly Roman Empire.The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was responsible forIreland,theChannel Islands,France,Spain,Portugal,Switzerland,theItalian states,and theOttoman Empire.He was also responsible for theAmerican coloniesuntil 1768, when the charge was given to theSecretary of State for the Colonies.Domestic responsibilities inEnglandandWaleswere shared between the two Secretaries. After the union withScotlandin 1707, the two secretaries also took responsibility forScotlandwhen there was noSecretary of State for Scotlandin office.^[3]

Until 1706, the practice was generally for the senior official to lead the Southern Department, and the junior the Northern Department, with the Northern Secretary being transferred to the Southern Department when a vacancy arose at the latter.^[3]During the reigns ofGeorge IandGeorge II,however, the Northern Department began to be seen as the more important, since its responsibilities included the monarchs' ancestral home ofHanover.^[4]During the reign ofGeorge III,the two departments were of approximately equal importance.^[5]

In 1782, the two Secretaries of State were reformed as theSecretary of State for the Home Departmentand theSecretary of State for Foreign Affairs.^[6] During the 18th century, Secretaries of State for the Northern Department, ifpeers,were oftenLeaders of the House of Lordsas well.

Secretaries of State for the Northern Department, 1660–1782

Included:^[7]

Name Constituency	Term of office		Notes
SirWilliam Morice MP forPlymouth	27 May 1660	29 September 1668
SirJohn Trevor MP forArundeluntil 1661 MP forGreat Bedwynafter 1661	29 September 1668	8 July 1672
Henry Coventry MP forDroitwich	3 July 1672	11 September 1674
SirJoseph Williamson MP forThetford	11 September 1674	20 February 1679
Robert Spencer The Earl of Sunderland	10 February 1679	26 April 1680
SirLeoline Jenkins MP forOxford University	26 April 1680	2 February 1681
Edward Conway The Earl of Conway	2 February 1681	January 1683
Robert Spencer The Earl of Sunderland	28 January 1683	1684
Sidney Godolphin MP forHelston	17 April 1684	24 August 1684
Charles Middleton The Earl of Middleton MP forWinchelseaafter 1685	24 August 1684	28 October 1688
Richard Graham The Viscount Preston MP forCumberland	29 October 1688	2 December 1688
Daniel Finch The Earl of Nottingham	5 March 1689	26 December 1690
Henry Sydney The Viscount Sydney	26 December 1690	3 March 1692
SirJohn Trenchard MP forPoole	23 March 1693	2 March 1694
Charles Talbot The Duke of Shrewsbury	2 March 1694	3 May 1695
SirWilliam Trumbull MP forOxford University	3 May 1695	2 December 1697
James Vernon MP forPenrynuntil 1699 MP forWestminsterafter 1699	2 December 1697	5 November 1700
SirCharles Hedges MP forMalmesbury	5 November 1700	29 December 1701
James Vernon MP forWestminster	4 January 1702	1 May 1702
SirCharles Hedges MP forMalmesburyuntil 1702 MP forCalneafter 1702	2 May 1702	18 May 1704
Robert Harley MP forRadnor	16 May 1704	13 February 1708
Henry Boyle MP forWestminster	13 February 1708	21 September 1710
Henry St John The Viscount Bolingbroke MP forBerkshireuntil 1712 Viscount Bolingbrokeafter 1712	21 September 1710	17 August 1713
SirWilliam Bromley MP forOxford University	17 August 1713	17 September 1714
Charles Townshend The Viscount Townshend	17 September 1714	12 December 1716
James Stanhope	12 December 1716	12 April 1717
Charles Spencer The Earl of Sunderland	12 April 1717	2 March 1718
James Stanhope The Earl Stanhope	19 March 1718	4 February 1721
John Carteret The Lord Carteret	5 February 1721	21 February 1721
Charles Townshend 2ndViscount Townshend	21 February 1721	16 May 1730
William Stanhope The Lord Harrington	19 June 1730	12 February 1742
John Carteret The Lord Carteret	12 February 1742	24 November 1744
William Stanhope The Earl of Harrington	24 November 1744	January 1746
John Carteret The Earl Granville	12 February 1746	March 1746	as sole Secretary
William Stanhope The Earl of Harrington	March 1746	19 October 1746
Philip Dormer Stanhope The Earl of Chesterfield	29 October 1746	6 February 1748
Thomas Pelham-Holles The Duke of Newcastle	6 February 1748	23 March 1754
Robert Darcy The Earl of Holdernesse	April 1757	June 1757	as sole Secretary
John Stuart The Earl of Bute	25 March 1761	27 May 1762
George Grenville MP forBuckingham	5 June 1762	9 October 1762
George Montagu-Dunk The Earl of Halifax	14 October 1762	9 September 1763
John Montagu The Earl of Sandwich	9 September 1763	10 July 1765
George Montagu-Dunk The Earl of Halifax	September 1763	July 1765
Augustus Henry Fitzroy The Duke of Grafton	12 July 1765	14 May 1766
Henry Seymour Conway MP forThetford	23 May 1766	20 January 1768
Thomas Thynne The Viscount Weymouth	20 January 1768	21 October 1768
William Nassau de Zuylestein The Earl of Rochford	21 October 1768	19 December 1770
John Montagu The Earl of Sandwich	19 December 1770	12 January 1771
George Montagu-Dunk The Earl of Halifax	22 January 1771	6 June 1771
Henry Howard The Earl of Suffolk	12 June 1771	7 March 1779
David Murray The Viscount Stormont	27 October 1779	27 March 1782

References

^"The FCO: Policy, People and Places (1782-1995)".FCO Historians.History Notes (2). Foreign and Commonwealth Office: 1. April 1991.
^"The National Archives' catalogue: Records assembled by the State Paper Office, including papers of the Secretaries of State up to 1782".The National Archives.
^^a ^bThomson, Mark A. (1932).The Secretaries of State: 1681-1782.London: Frank Cass. pp. 2–3.
^Cass (1932), pp. 21-22
^Cass (1932), p. 4
^Sainty, J. C. (1973). "Introduction".Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782.University of London. pp. 1–21 – via British History Online.At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments.... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.
^Sainty, J. C."Lists of appointments British History Online".www.british-history.ac.uk.Originally published by University of London, London, 1973.Retrieved12 March2017.

Sources

Anson, Sir William Reynell(1892).The Law and Custom of the Constitution.Clarendon Press. pp.157–158.Retrieved18 August2007.
Sainty, J.C.(1973).Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782.pp. 22–58.Retrieved19 August2007.

[1] "The FCO: Policy, People and Places (1782-1995)".FCO Historians.History Notes (2). Foreign and Commonwealth Office: 1. April 1991.

[2] "The National Archives' catalogue: Records assembled by the State Paper Office, including papers of the Secretaries of State up to 1782".The National Archives.

[thomson_2_3-3] Thomson, Mark A. (1932).The Secretaries of State: 1681-1782.London: Frank Cass. pp. 2–3.

[4] Cass (1932), pp. 21-22

[5] Cass (1932), p. 4

[:4-6] Sainty, J. C. (1973). "Introduction".Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782.University of London. pp. 1–21 – via British History Online.At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments.... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.

[7] Sainty, J. C."Lists of appointments British History Online".www.british-history.ac.uk.Originally published by University of London, London, 1973.Retrieved12 March2017.

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History

Secretaries of State for the Northern Department, 1660–1782

See also

References

Sources