Financial Secretary to the War Office

Last updated
United Kingdom
Office of the Financial Secretary to the War Office
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
Seal of H.M. Government
War Office
Style The Right Honourable
(Formal prefix)
Financial Secretary to the War Office
Seat Westminster, London
AppointerThe British Monarch
on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length No fixed term
Formation1870-1964
First holder John Vivian
Final holder Peter Kirk

The Financial Secretary to the War Office and for certain periods known as the Finance Member of the Army Council, was a junior ministerial office of the British government established in 1870. [1] In May 1947 the office was unified with that of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for War under a new title Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Financial Secretary of the War Office. [2] The office continued until the War Office as a distinct service ministry was unified along with the Department of Admiralty and Air Ministry into the Ministry of Defence where it became known as the Army Department in April 1964. [3]

Contents

History

In 1870 a Financial Secretary to the War Office was appointed and was responsible to the Secretary of State for War, for estimates and for the appropriation, accounting and audit of funds voted for military purposes. The Audit and Accounts departments previously under a chief auditor of army accounts (office was abolished) were merged into a new Finance Department under the Accountant General now reporting to the Financial Secretary. Following organisational changes within the War Office between 1887 and 1888 he was given additional responsibilities. By the end of 1888 his department was renamed the Civil Department. At the same time the Finance Department was enlarged and renamed the Finance Division, which continued under the superintendence of the Accountant General. [4]

In 1895 Accountant General changed his title to Assistant Financial Secretary and Accountant General of the Army. In 1902 the Finance Division was renamed the Finance Branch. In 1904 the Financial Secretary was restyled as the Finance Member (FM) of the Army Council with general responsibility for the finance of the Army. In 1907 his civil department was renamed the Department of the Finance Member until 1922 when both his title and department were altered to the Department of the Financial Secretary until 1939. His office and department reverted to its previous name the Department of the Finance Member in 1942. During this period the executive duties of his office were gradually transferred to the Permanent Secretary's department. In May 1947 the Army Council was reconstituted and unified his office with that of the Parliamentary Secretary into a single appointment as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Financial Secretary to the War Office until 1964. [5]

Prior to 1947 the office holder's department consisted of numerous departments and directorates, after 1947 he was solely concerned with general political aspects of financial policy and had no further roles were assigned to him. [6]

Office Holders

DateName
1870–1871 John Vivian
1871–1874 [7] Henry Campbell-Bannerman
1874–1877 Hon. Frederick Stanley
1877–1880 [8] Robert Loyd-Lindsay
1880–1882 [9] Henry Campbell-Bannerman
1882–1885 [10] Sir Arthur Hayter, Bt
1885–1886 [11] Henry Northcote
1886–1886 [12] Herbert Gladstone
1886–1892 [13] Hon. St John Brodrick
1892–1895 [14] William Woodall
1895–1900 [15] Joseph Powell Williams
1900–1903 [16] Lord Stanley
1903–1905 [17] William Bromley-Davenport
1905–1908 [18] Thomas Buchanan
1908–1910 Francis Dyke Acland
1910–1911 [19] Charles Mallet
1911–1912 [20] Harold Tennant
1912–1915 [21] Harold Baker
1915–1915 [22] Francis Dyke Acland
1915–1919 [23] Henry Forster
1919–1921 [24] Sir Archibald Williamson, Bt
1921–1922 [25] Hon. George Frederick Stanley
1922–1923 [26] Francis Jackson
1923–1924 [27] Rupert Gwynne
Jan–Nov, 1924 Jack Lawson
Nov, 1924–1928 Douglas King
1928–1929 [28] Duff Cooper
1929–1930 Manny Shinwell
1930–1931 [29] Captain, William Sanders
1931–1934 [30] Duff Cooper
1934–1935 Douglas Hacking
1935–1940 Sir Victor Warrender, Bt
1940–1940 Sir Edward Grigg
1940–1941 [31] Richard Law
1941–1943 [32] Duncan Sandys
1943–1945 [33] Arthur Henderson
May–Aug, 1945 Maurice Petherick
Aug 1945–1946 Frederick Bellenger
1946–1947 John Freeman
1947–1951 Michael Stewart
1951–1951 [34] Woodrow Wyatt
1951–1954 James Hutchison
1954–1957 [35] Fitzroy Maclean
1957–1958 Julian Amery
1958–1960 [36] Hon. Hugh Fraser
1960–1963 James Ramsden
1963–Apr. 1964 Peter Kirk

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign Secretary</span> United Kingdom government cabinet minister

The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, also referred to as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as one of the most senior ministers in the government and a Great Office of State, the incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, fourth in the ministerial ranking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)</span> British government department responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom and its territories

The Ministry of Defence is the British government department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War Office</span>

The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). It was equivalent to the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy (RN), and the Air Ministry, which oversaw the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name 'War Office' is also given to the former home of the department, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. The landmark building was sold on 1 March 2016 by HM Government for more than £350 million, on a 250 year lease for conversion into a luxury hotel and residential apartments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Audit Office (United Kingdom)</span> UK Parliamentary auditing body

The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The NAO also carries out value for money (VFM) audits into the administration of public policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Army Service Corps</span> Former unit of the British Army

The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and domestic materials such as clothing, furniture and stationery and the supply of technical and military equipment. In 1965 its functions were divided between other Corps and the RASC ceased to exist; subsequently, in 1993, they in their turn became the "Forming Corps" of the Royal Logistic Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)</span> Federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Ministry of Defence, abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at the Hardthöhe district in Bonn and has a second office in the Bendlerblock building in Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Army Pay Corps</span> Military unit

The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty</span>

The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually filled by a Member of Parliament. Although he attended Board of Admiralty meetings informally he was not made a full member of that Board until 1929. He served as the deputy to the First Lord of the Admiralty in Parliament and was mainly responsible for all naval finance and spending proposals from 1625 until 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Defence (India)</span> Indian Executive Department

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country. The Ministry of Defence provides policy framework and resources to the armed forces to discharge their responsibility in the context of the defence of the country. The Indian Armed Forces and Indian Coast Guard under the Ministry of Defence are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of India.

Accountant general or accountant-general is, or was, the name of a government post in several countries.

The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) is the premier accounting office of the Government of Pakistan. The Office is entrusted with the task of producing accurate and timely financial statements for the federation. It was formed under an ordinance issued in 2001. The Office achieves task through dedicated human resources, immense investment in infrastructure and strict quality control checks by the Senior Officers. It is also responsible for disbursing government money in form of payments of salaries and allowances to government servants and payments to contractors. All these transactions and any other transactions by Government of Pakistan, are captured in the SAP ERP and then the information is used to generate monthly, quarterly and yearly financials. The Controller General of Accounts is appointed by the President from amongst the officers of the Accounts Group and shall hold a civil service rank of BPS 22.

The 1948 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1948 for the British Empire and New Zealand to celebrate the past year and mark the beginning of 1948. By coincidence it coincided with the nationalization of the Big Four railways into what is now known as British Railways.

The 1947 King's Birthday Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made "on the occasion of the Celebration of His Majesty's Birthday." They were announced in supplements to the London Gazette of 6 June 1947.

The 1926 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King on 3 June, but it was announced on 20 May that due to the national strike, the King had approved the Prime Minister's recommendation to delay the publication of the list until 3 July 1926. The honours were effective to 5 June 1926. Per standard practice, Sir Paul Chater, who died 27 May 1926, still received the honour of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire as he would have received the honour if he had survived.

Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy

The Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy also known as Accountant-General's Department was the department charged by the British Government with reviewing all naval estimates, conducting naval audits and processing payments from 1829 to 1932.

Civil Lord of the Admiralty

The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal Navy's supporting civilian staff, the works and buildings departments and naval lands from 1830 to 1964.

Comptrollers of Army Accounts were British public officials first appointed on 10 June 1703, by the Lord High Treasurer, Lord Godolphin; there were two Comptrollers. Initially under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief, they were instead made accountable to the Treasury in 1708.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navy Department (Ministry of Defence)</span>

The Navy Department was a former ministerial service department of the Ministry of Defence responsible for the control and direction of His Majesty's Naval Service. It was established on 1 April 1964 when the Admiralty was absorbed into a unified Ministry of Defence, where it became the Navy Department. Political oversight of the department originally lay with the Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy (1964-1967) it then passed to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy (1967-1981), then later to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (1981-1990) and finally the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (1991-1997).

Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy

The Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy was a senior ministerial appointment of the British Government established in April 1964. The office holder was the ministerial head of the Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence, and reported to the Secretary of State for Defence.

References

  1. Roper, Michael (1998). The Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964. London: Public Record Office. p. 102. ISBN   9781873162453.
  2. Roper. pp. 189–193.
  3. Joiner, J. H. (1990). One more river to cross : the story of British military bridging. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. p. 397. ISBN   9780850527889.
  4. Roper. pp. 189–193.
  5. Roper. pp. 189–193.
  6. Roper. pp. 189–193.
  7. "Financial Secretary to the War Office (Hansard)". api.parliament.uk. Hansard. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  8. Hansard.
  9. Hansard.
  10. Hansard.
  11. Hansard.
  12. Hansard.
  13. Hansard.
  14. Hansard.
  15. Hansard.
  16. Hansard.
  17. Hansard.
  18. Hansard.
  19. Hansard.
  20. Hansard.
  21. Hansard.
  22. Hansard.
  23. Hansard.
  24. Hansard.
  25. Hansard.
  26. Hansard.
  27. Hansard.
  28. Hansard.
  29. Hansard.
  30. Hansard.
  31. Hansard.
  32. Hansard.
  33. Hansard.
  34. Hansard.
  35. Hansard.
  36. Hansard.

Sources