Chief Secretary
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The Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the Governor.
Originally the secretary to the Governor as well as secretary of the Colony this office was at first known as the Colonial Secretary or Principal Secretary outside British North America where the equivalent title was Provincial Secretary. In 1821, Governor of New South Wales Philip Gidley King wrote [1] that the Colonial Secretary:
"Has the custody of all official papers and records belonging to the colony; transcribes the public despatches; charged with making out all grants, leases and other public Colonial instruments; also the care of numerous indents or lists sent with convicts of their terms of conviction, and every other official transaction relating to the Colony and Government; and is a situation of much responsibility and confidence."
[edit] Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century
In New South Wales the function of Colonial Secretary and secretary to the Governor were separated in 1824.
After the grant of responsible government, this office like its British equivalent, the First Lord of the Treasury was frequently the formal position held by the Colonial Premier because the office of Premier was not mentioned in any legislation. The Cape Colony was unusual in giving the Colonial Secretary at the Cape responsibility for defence. [2] Several of the Australian states and territories retained the title for many decades, the Chief Secretary's Departments ultimately evolving into the modern Premier's Departments in those states. New Zealand abolished the office in 1907.
[edit] Twentieth Century
The Chief Secretary was the senior official after the Governor in the larger British Colonies and other territories and was responsible for the day-to-day running of the government.
India, Pakistan and some other independent states which were British Colonies still have Chief Secretaries in the provinces, who are next in line after the Governors.
Territories with Chief Secretaries included Nigeria, Kenya and Tanganyika. Smaller territories used the term Colonial Secretary instead. The title of Colonial Secretary in Hong Kong was changed to Chief Secretary in 1976 and is still used.
The Isle of Man also has a Chief Secretary, currently Mary Williams, who is head of the island's civil service.
