Secretary of State for the Colonies

British Cabinet minister

Secretary of State for the Colonies

Royal arms of His Majesty's Government

Longest serving
Joseph Chamberlain
29 June 1895–16 September 1903

Colonial Office
Style| The Right Honourable
Type| Secretary of state
Member of|

* Cabinet
* Privy Council

Reports to| Prime Minister
Nominator| Prime Minister
Appointer| The Monarch
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length| At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation|

* 27 February 1768 (1st time)
* 12 June 1854 (2nd time)

First holder|

* The Earl of Hillsborough (1st time)
* Sir George Grey (2nd time)

Final holder|

* Welbore Ellis (1st time)
* Frederick Lee (2nd time)

Abolished|

* 8 March 1782 (1st time)
* 1 August 1966 (2nd time)

Superseded by| Foreign Secretary
Deputy| Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies

The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire.

The colonial secretary never had responsibility for the provinces and princely states of India, which had its own secretary of state.

From 1768 until 1966, the secretary of state was supported by an under-secretary of state for the colonies (at times an under-secretary of state for war and the colonies), and latterly by a minister of state.

## History

[edit]

Colonial responsibilities were previously held jointly by the lords of trade and plantations (board) and the secretary of state for the Southern Department,[1] who was responsible for Ireland, the American colonies, and relations with the Catholic and Muslim states of Europe, as well as being jointly responsible for domestic affairs with the Secretary of State for the Northern Department.[2]

### Colonial Secretary 1768–1782

[edit]

The Colonial Secretary position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increasingly troublesome North American colonies, following passage of the Townsend Acts. Joint responsibility between the secretary and board first continued at this time, but subsequent diminution of the board's status led it to became an adjunct to the new secretary's department.[3]

Following the loss of the American colonies, both the board and the short-lived secretaryship were dismissed by the king on 2 May 1782; both were abolished later by the Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 (22 Geo. 3, c 82).[4] Following this, colonial duties were given to the Home Secretary, then Lord Sydney.

### 1782–1854

[edit]

Responsibility for the Colonies in the years between 1782 and 1854 included:

* Home Secretary 1782–1801
* Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1801–1854
* Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1854

Following the Treaty of Paris 1783, a new board, named the Committee of Council on Trade and Plantations (later known as 'the First Committee') was established under William Pitt the Younger, by an Order in Council in 1784.[3] In 1794, a new office was created for Henry Dundas – the secretary of state for war, which now took responsibility for the Colonies. The office was renamed the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in 1801.

### 1854–present

[edit]

In 1854, military reforms led to the colonial and military responsibilities of this secretary of state being split into two separate offices, with Sir George Grey becoming the first secretary of state for the colonies under the new arrangement.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Britain gained control over a number of territories with the status of "protectorate". The ministerial responsibility for these territories was initially held by the Foreign Secretary.

Oliver Stanley inspects the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps at the Imperial Fortress of Bermuda, 30th December, 1944.[5]

By the early years of the twentieth century the responsibility for each of the protectorate territories had been transferred to the colonial secretary as well. The League of Nations mandated territories acquired as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 became a further responsibility of the Colonial Office in the aftermath of the First World War.

In 1925, part of the Colonial Office was separated out as the Dominions Office, with its own secretary of state. The new office was responsible for dealing with the Dominions together with a small number of other territories (most notably Southern Rhodesia).

In the twenty years following the end of the Second World War, much of the British Empire was dismantled as its various territories gained independence. In consequence, the Colonial Office was merged in 1966 with the Commonwealth Relations Office (which until 1947 had been the Dominions Office) to form the Commonwealth Office, while ministerial responsibility was transferred to the secretary of state for Commonwealth affairs (previously known as the secretary of state for Commonwealth relations). In 1968, the Commonwealth Office was subsumed into the Foreign Office, which was renamed the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

## List of secretaries of state for the colonies

[edit]

### Secretaries of State for the Colonies (1768–1782)

[edit]

Sometimes referred to as Secretary of State for the American Colonies.

Secretary of State for the Colonies[6] Secretary  | Term of office  | Ministry  | Monarch
(Reign)

|
|
|

|  | Wills Hill
1st Earl of Hillsborough | 27 February
1768  | 27 August
1772  |
Grafton
| George III

(1760–1820)
North
|  | William Legge
2nd Earl of Dartmouth | 27 August
1772  | 10 November
1775
|  | Lord George Germain
MP for East Grinstead | 10 November
1775  | February
1782
|  | Welbore Ellis
MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis | February
1782  | 8 March
1782

Office abolished in 1782 after the loss of the American Colonies.[7]

### Secretaries of State for the Colonies (1854–1966)

[edit]

Secretary of State for the Colonies  | Term of office  | Party  | Ministry  | Monarch
(Reign)

|
|
|
|

|  | Sir George Grey, Bt.
MP for Morpeth | 12 June
1854  | 8 February
1855  | Whig | Aberdeen
(Peelite–Whig) | Victoria

(1837–1901)
|  | Sidney Herbert
MP for South Wiltshire | 8 February
1855  | 23 February
1855  | Whig | Palmerston I
|  | Lord John Russell
MP for City of London | 23 February
1855  | 21 July
1855  | Whig
|  | Sir William Molesworth, Bt.
MP for Southwark | 21 July
1855  | 21 November
1855  | Radical
|  | Henry Labouchere
MP for Taunton | 21 November
1855  | 21 February
1858  | Whig
|  | Edward Stanley
Lord Stanley
MP for King's Lynn | 26 February
1858  | 5 June
1858  | Conservative | Derby–Disraeli II
|  | Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton
MP for Hertfordshire | 5 June
1858  | 11 June
1859  | Conservative
|  |
Henry Pelham-Clinton
5th Duke of Newcastle
(1811–1864) | 18 June
1859  | 7 April
1864  | Liberal | Palmerston II
|  | Edward Cardwell
MP for Oxford | 7 April
1864  | 26 June
1866  | Liberal
Russell II
|  | Henry Herbert
4th Earl of Carnarvon
(1831–1890) | 6 July
1866  | 8 March
1867  | Conservative | Derby–Disraeli III
|  |
Richard Temple-Grenville
3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
(1823–1889) | 8 March
1867  | 1 December
1868  | Conservative
|  | Granville Leveson-Gower
2nd Earl Granville
(1815–1891) | 9 December
1868  | 6 July
1870  | Liberal | Gladstone I
|  | John Wodehouse
1st Earl of Kimberley
(1826–1902) | 6 July
1870  | 17 February
1874  | Liberal
|  | Henry Herbert
4th Earl of Carnarvon | 21 February
1874  | 4 February
1878  | Conservative | Disraeli II
|  | Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt.
MP for Gloucestershire East | 4 February
1878  | 21 April
1880  | Conservative
|  | John Wodehouse
1st Earl of Kimberley
(1826–1902) | 21 April
1880  | 16 December
1882  | Liberal | Gladstone II
|  | Edward Stanley
15th Earl of Derby
(1826–1893) | 16 December
1882  | 9 June
1885  | Liberal
|  | Frederick Stanley
MP for Blackpool | 24 June
1885  | 28 January
1886  | Conservative | Salisbury I
|  | Granville Leveson-Gower
2nd Earl Granville
(1815–1891) | 6 February
1886  | 20 July
1886  | Liberal | Gladstone III
|  | Edward Stanhope
MP for Horncastle | 3 August
1886  | 14 January
1887  | Conservative | Salisbury II
|  | Henry Holland
1st Baron Knutsford
| 14 January
1887  | 11 August
1892  | Conservative
|  | George Robinson
1st Marquess of Ripon
(1827–1909) | 18 August
1892  | 21 June
1895  | Liberal | Gladstone IV
Rosebery
|  | Joseph Chamberlain
MP for Birmingham West | 29 June
1895  | 16 September
1903  | Liberal Unionist | Salisbury
(III & IV)
(Con.–Lib.U.)
Edward VII

(1901–1910)
Balfour
(Con.–Lib.U.)
|  | Alfred Lyttelton
MP for Warwick and Leamington | 11 October
1903  | 4 December
1905  | Liberal Unionist
|  | Victor Bruce
9th Earl of Elgin
(1849–1917) | 10 December
1905  | 12 April
1908  | Liberal | Campbell-Bannerman
|  | Robert Crewe-Milnes
1st Marquess of Crewe
(1858–1945) | 12 April
1908  | 3 November
1910  | Liberal | Asquith
(I–III)
George V

(1910–1936)
|  | Lewis Vernon Harcourt
MP for Rossendale | 3 November
1910  | 25 May
1915  | Liberal
|  | Bonar Law
MP for Bootle | 25 May
1915  | 10 December
1916  | Conservative | Asquith Coalition
(Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
|  | Walter Long
MP for Westminster St George's[nb 1]
(1854–1924) | 10 December
1916  | 10 January
1919  | Conservative | Lloyd George
(I & II)
(Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
|  | Alfred Milner
1st Viscount Milner
(1854–1925) | 10 January
1919  | 13 February
1921  | Liberal
|  | Winston Churchill
MP for Dundee | 13 February
1921  | 19 October
1922  | Liberal
|  |
Victor Cavendish
9th Duke of Devonshire
(1868–1938) | 24 October
1922  | 22 January
1924  | Conservative | Law
Baldwin I
|  | James Henry Thomas
MP for Derby | 22 January
1924  | 3 November
1924  | Labour | MacDonald I
|  | Leo Amery
MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook | 6 November
1924  | 4 June
1929  | Conservative | Baldwin II
|  | Sidney Webb
1st Baron Passfield
(1859–1947) | 7 June
1929  | 24 August
1931  | Labour | MacDonald II
|  | James Henry Thomas
MP for Derby | 25 August
1931  | 5 November
1931  | National Labour | National I
(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
|  | Philip Cunliffe-Lister
MP for Hendon | 5 November
1931  | 7 June
1935  | Conservative | National II
(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
|  | Malcolm MacDonald
MP for Bassetlaw | 7 June
1935  | 22 November
1935  | National Labour | National III
(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
|  | James Henry Thomas
MP for Derby | 22 November
1935  | 22 May
1936  | National Labour
Edward VIII

(1936)
|  | William Ormsby-Gore
MP for Stafford | 28 May
1936  | 16 May
1938  | Conservative
George VI

(1936–1952)
National IV
(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
|  | Malcolm MacDonald
MP for Ross and Cromarty | 16 May
1938  | 12 May
1940  | National Labour
Chamberlain War
(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
|  | George Lloyd
1st Baron Lloyd
(1879–1941) | 12 May
1940  | 4 February
1941  | Conservative | Churchill War
(All parties)
|  | Walter Guinness
1st Baron Moyne
(1880–1944) | 8 February
1941  | 22 February
1942  | Conservative
|  | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
Viscount Cranborne
MP for South Dorset | 22 February
1942  | 22 November
1942  | Conservative
|  | Oliver Stanley
MP for Westmorland | 22 November
1942  | 26 July
1945  | Conservative
Churchill Caretaker
(Con.–N.Lib.)
|  | George Henry Hall
MP for Aberdare | 3 August
1945  | 4 October
1946  | Labour | Attlee
(I & II)
|  | Arthur Creech Jones
MP for Shipley | 4 October
1946  | 28 February
1950  | Labour
|  | Jim Griffiths
MP for Llanelli | 28 February
1950  | 26 October
1951  | Labour
|  | Oliver Lyttelton
MP for Aldershot | 28 October
1951  | 28 July
1954  | Conservative | Churchill III
Elizabeth II

(1952–2022)
|  | Alan Lennox-Boyd
MP for Mid Bedfordshire | 28 July
1954  | 14 October
1959  | Conservative
Eden
Macmillan
(I & II)
|  | Iain Macleod
MP for Enfield West | 14 October
1959  | 9 October
1961  | Conservative
|  | Reginald Maudling
MP for Barnet | 9 October
1961  | 13 July
1962  | Conservative
|  | Duncan Sandys
MP for Streatham | 13 July
1962  | 16 October
1964  | Conservative
Douglas-Home
|  | Anthony Greenwood
MP for Rossendale | 18 October
1964  | 23 December
1965  | Labour | Wilson
(I & II)
|  | Frank Pakenham
7th Earl of Longford
(1905–2001) | 23 December
1965  | 6 April
1966  | Labour
|  | Frederick Lee
MP for Newton | 6 April
1966  | 1 August
1966  | Labour

Responsibility for the colonies held by:

* Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs 1966–1968
* Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 1968–present

Following the British Nationality Act 1981, the term "colony" ceased to be used; Britain's rule over Hong Kong, the last significant colony, ceased in 1997. Britain retains certain overseas territories.

Notes

1. ^ MP for Strand until 1918; thereafter MP for Westminster St George's.

## Secretaries from the Colonies

[edit]

A few title holders were born in colonies under their portfolio and some beyond:

* Bonar Law – born in pre-Canada colony of New Brunswick and later moved to the United Kingdom
* Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin – born in Canada during his father's, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, term as Governor General of Canada and a British appointee
* Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner – born in Grand Duchy of Hesse (now in Germany) to Charles Milner (who had English roots from his father)
* Leo Amery – born in British India to an English father serving in India

## See also

[edit]

* Colonial Land and Emigration Commission

## References

[edit]

1. ^ American and West Indian colonies before 1782, National Archives
2. ^ Thomson, Mark A. (1932). The Secretaries of State: 1681–1782. London: Frank Cass. p. 2.
3. ^ a b Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies, Department code BT, The National Archives
4. ^ Council of trade and plantations 1696–1782, in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 3, Officials of the Boards of Trade 1660–1870, pp. 28–37. University of London, London, 1974.
5. ^ "SECRETARY FOR COLONIES VISITS TRAINING CENTRE". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 1 January 1945. p. 2\. "Colonel the Right Hon. Oliver Stanley, Secretary of State for the Colonies, visited Warwick Battery on Saturday morning where he inspected the Vocational Training Centre. Accompanied by Mr T.I.K. Lloyd, an Assistant Under-Secretary of State at the Colonial Office, by his private secretary, Mr. C. H. Thornley, and by Brigadier the Hon. H. D. Maconochie, Officer Commanding British Troops, Colonel Stanley inspected a guard of honour commanded by Captain A. L. Flitcroft, Adjutant, Bermuda Militia. Shortly after 1 o'clock. Colonel Stanley and his entourage arrived at Prospect where they were greeted by Brigadier Maconochie and Lieut.-Col. J. C. Astwood, O.C, B.V.R.C Colonel Stanley inspected a guard of honour provided by the B.V.R.C. under the command of Captain W. J. Williams, following which he visited the Garrison Officers' Mess where he was introduced to the Officers of the Bermuda Command and refreshments wen served. The Colonial Secretary's visit to Prospect marked the first formal parade attended by the newly reorganised B.V.R.C. Band."
6. ^ Chris Cook and John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1830–1900 (Macmillan Press 1980) 29.
7. ^ E.B. Fryde and others, Handbook of British Chronology (3rd edn, Cambridge University Press 1986) 125.

History of English and British government departments with responsibility for foreign affairs and those with responsibility for the colonies, dominions and the Commonwealth  Northern Department
1660–1782
Secretaries — Undersecretaries | Southern Department
1660–1768
Secretaries — Undersecretaries | —

|
|

Southern Department
1768–1782
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
1782: diplomatic responsibilities transferred to new Foreign Office | Colonial Office
1768–1782
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
Foreign Office
1782–1968
Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Home Office
1782–1794
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
War Office
1794–1801
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
War and Colonial Office
1801–1854
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
Colonial Office
1854–1925
Secretaries — Undersecretaries | India Office
1858–1937
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
Colonial Office
1925–1966
Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Dominions Office
1925–1947
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
India Office and Burma Office
1937–1947
Secretaries — Undersecretaries
Commonwealth Relations Office
1947–1966
Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
Commonwealth Office
1966–1968
Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1968–2020
Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Since 2020
Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries

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