Under-Secretary of State for India

This is a list of parliamentary under-secretaries of state and permanent under-secretaries of state at the India Office during the period of British rule between 1858 and 1937 for India (and Burma by extension), and for India and Burma from 1937 to 1948.

The parliamentary under-secretary of state was a ministerial position and the permanent under-secretary of state was a civil service position.

## List of parliamentary under-secretaries of state

[edit]

### India (1858–1937)

[edit]

Portrait  | Name  | Term of office

|
|

| Henry Baillie | 1858  | 1859
| Hon. Thomas Baring | 1859  | 1861
| The Earl de Grey | 1861  | 1861
| Hon. Thomas Baring | 1861  | 1864
| The Lord Wodehouse | 1864  | 1864
| The Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye | 1864  | 1866
| James Stansfeld | 1866  | 1866
| Sir James Fergusson, Bt | 1866  | 1867
| The Lord Clinton | 1867  | 1868
| M. E. Grant Duff | 1868  | 1874
| Lord George Hamilton | 1874  | 1878
| Hon. Edward Stanhope | 1878  | 1880
| The Marquess of Lansdowne | 1880  | 1880
| Viscount Enfield | 1880  | 1883
| John Kynaston Cross | 1883  | 1885
| The Lord Harris | 1885  | 1886
| Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, Bt | 1886  | 1886
| Stafford Howard | 1886  | 1886
| Sir John Eldon Gorst | 1886  | 1891
| Hon. George Curzon | 1891  | 1892
| George W. E. Russell | 1892  | 1894
| The Lord Reay | 1894  | 1895
| The Earl of Onslow | 1895  | 1900
| The Earl of Hardwicke | 1900  | 1902
| Earl Percy | 1902  | 1904
| Vacant | 1904  | 1904
| The Marquess of Bath | 1904  | 1905
| John Ellis | 1905  | 1907
| Charles Hobhouse | 1907  | 1908
| Thomas Buchanan | 1908  | 1909
| The Master of Elibank | 1909  | 1910
| Hon. Edwin Samuel Montagu | 1910  | 1914
| Charles Henry Roberts | 1914  | 1915
| The Lord Islington | 1915  | 1919
| The Lord Sinha | 1919  | 1920
| The Earl of Lytton | 1920  | 1922
| The Earl Winterton | 1922  | 1924
| Robert Richards | 1924  | 1924
| The Earl Winterton | 1924  | 1929
| Drummond Shiels | 1929  | 1929
| The Earl Russell | 1929  | 1931
| The Lord Snell | 1931  | 1931
| Vacant | 1931  | 1931
| The Marquess of Lothian | 1931  | 1932
| Rab Butler | 1932  | 1937

### India and Burma (1937–1948)

[edit]

Portrait  | Name  | Term of office  | Political party

|
|
|

|  | Lord Stanley
MP for Fylde | 1937  | 1938  | Conservative
|  | Anthony Muirhead
MP for Wells | 1938  | 1939†  | Conservative
|  | Hugh O'Neill
MP for Antrim | 1939  | 1940  | Ulster Unionist
|  | The Duke of Devonshire | 1940  | 1943  | Conservative
|  | The Earl of Munster | 1943  | 1944  | Conservative
|  | The Earl of Listowel | 1944  | 1945  | Labour
|  | The Earl of Scarbrough | 1945  | 1945  | Conservative
|  | Arthur Henderson
MP for Kingswinford | 1945  | 1947  | Labour

## List of permanent under-secretaries of state

[edit]

### India (1858–1937)

[edit]

Portrait  | Name  | Term of office

|
|

| Sir George Russell Clerk | 1858  | 1860
| Herman Merivale | 1860  | 1874
| Sir Louis Mallet | 1874  | 1883
| Sir Arthur Godley | 1883  | 1909
| Sir Richmond Ritchie | 1909  | 1912
| Sir Thomas Holderness | 1912  | 1920
| Sir William Duke | 1920  | 1924
| Sir Arthur Hirtzel | 1924  | 1930
| Sir Findlater Stewart | 1930  | 1937

### India and Burma (1937–1948)

[edit]

Portrait  | Name
Honorifics | Term of office

|
|

| Sir Findlater Stewart
GCIE KCB CSI | 1937  | 1941
| Sir David Monteath
KCB KCMG CVO OBE | 1941  | 1948

## See also

[edit]

* Secretary of State for India

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