List of Chief Secretaries for Ireland
The following contains a list of Chief Secretaries of Ireland.The list includes holders of a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late 18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually it was the Chief Secretary, rather than the Lord Lieutenant, who sat in the British Cabinet.[1]
British rule over much of Ireland came to an end as the result of the Irish War of Independence, which culminated in the establishment of the Irish Free State. In consequence the office of Chief Secretary was abolished, as well as that of Lord Lieutenant. Executive responsibility within the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland was effectively transferred to the President of the Executive Council (i.e. the prime minister) and the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland respectively.
Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1660-1701
Name | Portrait | Entered office | Left office | Served under |
---|---|---|---|---|
Matthew Locke | 1660 | 1660 | ||
Sir Thomas Page | 1662 | 1669 | The Duke of Ormonde: The Earl of Ossory | |
Sir Henry Ford | 1669 | 1670 | The Lord Robartes | |
Sir Ellis Leighton | 1670 | 1672 | The Lord Berkeley of Stratton | |
Sir Henry Ford | 1672 | 1673 | The Earl of Essex | |
William Harbord | 1673 | 1676 | The Earl of Essex | |
Sir Cyril Wyche | 1677 | 1682 | The Duke of Ormonde | |
Sir William Ellis | 1682 | 1685 | The Duke of Ormonde | |
Sir Paul Rycaut | 1686 | 1687 | The Earl of Clarendon | |
Thomas Sheridan | 1687 | 1688 [2] | The Earl of Tyrconnell | |
Bishop Patrick Tyrrell | 1688 | 1689 | ||
John Davis | 1690 | 1692 | ||
Sir Cyril Wyche | 1692 | 1693 [3] | The Viscount Sydney | |
Sir Richard Aldworth | 1693 | 1696 | The Lord Capell | |
William Palmer | 1696 | 1697 | ||
Matthew Prior | 1697 | 1699 | ||
Humphrey May | 1699 | 1701 |
Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1701-1750
Chief Secretaries for Ireland 1750-1801
Chief Secretaries for Ireland, 1801-1852
Name | Portrait | Entered office | Left office | Political party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charles Abbot | 1801 | 1802 | Tory | ||
William Wickham | 1802 | 1804 | Tory | ||
Sir Evan Nepean, Bt | 1804 | 1805 | Tory | ||
Nicholas Vansittart | 1805 | 1805 | Tory | ||
Charles Long | 1805 | 1806 | Tory | ||
William Elliot | 1806 | 1807 | Whig | ||
Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley | 1807 | 1809 | Tory | ||
Hon. Robert Dundas | 1809 | 1809 | Tory | ||
Hon. William Wellesley-Pole | 1809 | 1812 | Tory | ||
Robert Peel | 1812 | 1818 | Tory | ||
Charles Grant | 1818 | 1821 | Tory | ||
Henry Goulburn | 1821 | 1827 | Tory | ||
Hon. William Lamb | 29 April 1827 | 21 June 1828 | Whig | ||
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 | Conservative | ||
Viscount Morpeth | 22 April 1835 | 30 August 1841 | Whig | ||
Lord Eliot | 6 February 1841 | 1 February 1845 | Conservative | ||
Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt | 1 February 1845 | 14 February 1846 | Conservative | ||
The Earl of Lincoln | 14 February 1846 | June 1846 | Conservative | ||
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 | Conservative | ||
Sir John Young, Bt | 6 January 1853 | 30 January 1855 | |||
Edward Horsman | 1 March 1855 | 27 May 1857 | Whig | ||
Henry Arthur Herbert | 27 May 1857 | 21 February 1858 | Whig | ||
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 |
References
- ↑ Quinlan, Tom. "The Registered Papers of the Chief Secretary’s Office". National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ↑ 'removed from his offices on 20 January 1688' John Miller, ‘Sheridan, Thomas (1646–1712)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2006 , accessed 3 Aug 2014
- ↑ 'Following Sidney's removal as lord lieutenant in 1693 Wyche was appointed one of three lords justices to take over the chief governorship of Ireland.'C. I. McGrath, ‘Wyche, Sir Cyril (c.1632–1707)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 , accessed 3 Aug 2014
- ↑ In July 1767 he resigned, having quarrelled with his brother over his own continuing attachment to George Grenville. Ruddock Mackay, ‘Hervey, Augustus John, third earl of Bristol (1724–1779)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2010, accessed 3 Aug 2014
- British Historical Facts 1760-1830, by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980) ISBN 0-333-21512-5 (includes list of Chief Secretaries on page 31)
- British Historical Facts 1830-1900, by Chris Cook and Brendan Keith (The Macmillan Press 1975) ISBN 0-333-13220-3 (includes list of Chief Secretaries on pages 52–53)
- Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900-2000, by David Butler and Gareth Butler (Macmillan Press, Eighth edition 2000) ISBN 0-333-77222-9 paperback (includes list of Chief Secretaries on page 61)