List of Chief Secretaries for Ireland

Contents

Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1660-1701

Name Portrait Entered office Left office
Matthew Lock 1660 1660
Sir Thomas Page 1662 1669
Sir Henry Ford 1669 1670
Sir Ellis Leighton 1670 1672
Sir Henry Ford 1672 1673
William Harbord 1673 1676
Sir Cyril Wyche 1676 1682
Sir William Ellis 1682 1685
Sir Paul Rycaut 1686 1687
Thomas Sheridan 1687 1688
Patrick Tyrrell 1688 1689
John Davis 1690 1692
Sir Cyril Wyche 1692 1693
Sir Richard Aldworth 1695 1696
William Palmer 1696 1697
Matthew Prior 1697 1699
Humphrey May 1699 1701

Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1701-1750

Name Portrait Entered office Left office
Francis Gwyn 1701 1703
Edward Southwell 1703 1707
George Dodington 1707 1708
Joseph Addison 1708 1710
Edward Southwell 1710 1713
Sir John Stanley, Bt 1713 1714
Joseph Addison 1714 1715
Martin Bladen and Charles Delafaye 1715 1717
Edward Webster 1717 1720
Horatio Walpole 1720 1721
Edward Hopkins 1721 1724
Thomas Clutterbuck 1724 1730
Walter Cary 1730 1737
Sir Edward Walpole 1737 1739
Thomas Townshend 1739 1739
Hon. Henry Bilson Legge 1739 1741
Viscount Duncannon 1741 1745
Richard Lidell 1745 1746
Sewallis Shirley 1746 1746
Edward Weston 1746 1750

Chief Secretaries for Ireland 1750-1801

Name Portrait Entered office Left office
Lord George Sackville 1750 1755
Hon. Henry Seymour Conway 1755 1757
Richard Rigby 1757 1761
William Gerard Hamilton 1761 1764
The Earl of Drogheda 1764 1765
Viscount Conway 1765 1766
Hon. Augustus Hervey 1766 1767
Theophilus Jones 1767 1767
Lord Frederick Campbell 1767 1767
Sir George Macartney 1769 1772
Sir John Blaquiere 1772 1776
Sir Richard Heron 1776 1780
William Eden 1780 1782
Hon. Richard FitzPatrick 1782 1782
William Grenville 1782 1783
William Windham 1783 1783
Hon. Thomas Pelham 1783 1784
Thomas Orde 1784 1787
Alleyne FitzHerbert 1787 1789
Hon. Robert Hobart 1789 1793
Sylvester Douglas 1793 1794
Viscount Milton 1794 1795
Hon. Thomas Pelham 1795 1798
Viscount Castlereagh 1798 1801

Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1801-1852

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Political party
Charles Abbot 1801 1802
William Wickham 1802 1804
Sir Evan Nepean, Bt 1804 1805
Nicholas Vansittart 1805 1805
Charles Long 1805 1806
William Elliot 1806 1807
Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley 1807 1809
Hon. Robert Dundas 1809 1809
Hon. William Wellesley-Pole 1809 1812
Robert Peel 1812 1818
Charles Grant 1818 1821
Henry Goulburn 1821 1827
Hon. William Lamb 29 April 1827 21 June 1828
Lord Francis Leveson-Gower 21 June 1828 30 July 1830 Tory
Sir Henry Hardinge 30 July 1830 15 November 1830 Tory
Hon. Edward Smith-Stanley 29 November 1830 29 March 1833 Whig
Sir John Hobhouse, Bt 29 March 1833 May 1833 Whig
Edward Littleton May 1833 14 November 1834 Whig
Sir Henry Hardinge 16 December 1834 8 April 1835 Tory
Viscount Morpeth 22 April 1835 30 August 1841 Whig
Lord Eliot 6 February 1841 1 February 1845 Tory
Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt 1 February 1845 14 February 1846 Tory
The Earl of Lincoln 14 February 1846 June 1846 Tory
Henry Labouchere 6 July 1846 22 July 1847 Whig
Sir William Somerville, Bt 22 July 1847 21 February 1852 Whig

Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1852-1900

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Political party
Lord Naas 1 March 1852 17 December 1852 Tory
Sir John Young, Bt 1 March 1853 30 January 1855
Edward Horsman 1 March 1855 27 May 1857 Liberal
Henry Arthur Herbert 27 May 1857 21 February 1858 Liberal
Lord Naas 4 March 1858 11 June 1859 Conservative
Edward Cardwell 24 June 1859 29 July 1861 Liberal
Sir Robert Peel, Bt 29 July 1861 7 December 1865 Liberal
Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue 7 December 1865 26 June 1866 Liberal
The Earl of Mayo 10 July 1866 29 September 1868 Conservative
John Wilson-Patten 29 September 1868 1 December 1868 Conservative
Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue 16 December 1868 12 January 1871 Liberal
Marquess of Hartington 12 January 1871 17 February 1874 Liberal
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bt 27 February 1874 15 February 1878 Conservative
James Lowther 15 February 1878 21 April 1880 Conservative
William Edward Forster 30 April 1880 6 May 1882 Liberal
Lord Frederick Cavendish 6 May 1882 6 May 1882 Liberal
George Trevelyan 9 May 1882 23 October 1884 Liberal
Henry Campbell-Bannerman 23 October 1884 9 June 1885 Liberal
Sir William Hart Dyke, Bt 25 June 1885 23 January 1886 Conservative
William Henry Smith 23 January 1886 28 January 1886 Conservative
John Morley 6 February 1886 20 July 1886 Liberal
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bt 5 August 1886 7 March 1887 Conservative
Arthur Balfour 7 March 1887 9 November 1891 Conservative
William Jackson 9 November 1891 11 August 1892 Conservative
John Morley 22 August 1892 21 June 1895 Liberal
Gerald Balfour 4 July 1895 9 November 1900 Conservative

Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1900-1922

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Political party
George Wyndham 9 November 1900 12 March 1905 Conservative
Walter Long 12 March 1905 4 December 1905 Conservative
James Bryce 10 December 1905 23 January 1907 Liberal
Augustine Birrell 23 January 1907 3 May 1916 Liberal
Henry Duke 31 July 1916 5 May 1918 Conservative
Edward Shortt 5 May 1918 10 January 1919 Liberal
Ian Macpherson 10 January 1919 2 April 1920 Liberal
Sir Hamar Greenwood, Bt 2 April 1920 19 October 1922 Liberal