Under-Secretary of State for War

Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854 and remained until 1947, when it was combined with that of Financial Secretary to the War Office. In 1964 the War Office, Admiralty and Air Ministry were merged to form the Ministry of Defence, and the post was abolished.

Name	Period
Evan Nepean	1794–1795
William Huskisson	1795–1801

Name	Period
Henry Roberts	1854–1855
Frederick Peel	1855–1857
Sir John Ramsden, 5th Baronet	1857–1858
Charles Hardinge, 2nd Viscount Hardinge	1858–March 1859
James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn	March 1859–June 1859
George Robinson, 3rd Earl de Grey	June 1859–January 1861
Thomas Baring	January 1861–July 1861
George Robinson, 3rd Earl de Grey	July 1861–1863
Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington	1863–February 1866
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye	February 1866–July 1866
William Lygon Pakenham, 4th Earl of Longford	July 1866–1868
Thomas Baring, 2nd Baron Northbrook	1868–1872
Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne	1872–1874
George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke	1874–1875
George Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan	1875–1878
William Keppel, Viscount Bury	1878–1880
Albert Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley	1880–1885
William Keppel, Viscount Bury	1885–February 1886
William Mansfield, 2nd Baron Sandhurst	February 1886–August 1886
Robert Harris, 4th Baron Harris	August 1886–1890
Adelbert Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow	1890–1892
William Mansfield, 2nd Baron Sandhurst	1892–January 1895
Robert Collier, 2nd Baron Monkswell	January 1895–July 1895
St John Brodrick	July 1895–1898
George Wyndham	1898–1900
George Somerset, 3rd Baron Raglan	1900–1902
Albert Yorke, 6th Earl of Hardwicke	1902–1903
Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore	1903–1905
Newton Wallop, 6th Earl of Portsmouth	1905–1908
Auberon Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas of Crudwell	1908–1911
J. E. B. Seely	1911–1912
Harold Tennant	1912–1916
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby	1916
Ian Macpherson	1916–1918
William Peel, 2nd Viscount Peel	1919–1921
Robert Sanders	1921–1922
Walter Guinness	1922–1923
Wilfrid Ashley	1923–1924
Clement Attlee	1924
Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow	1924–1928
George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland	1928–1929
Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr	1929–1930
Dudley Aman, 1st Baron Marley	1930–1931
Office vacant	1931
James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope	1931–1934
Donald Howard, 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal	1934–1939
Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster	1939
John Lyttelton, 9th Viscount Cobham	1939–1940
Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft and Sir Edward Grigg	1940–1942
Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft and Arthur Henderson	1942–1943
Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft	1943–1945
Harry Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan	1945–1946
Frank Pakenham, Baron Pakenham	1946–April 1947

Name	Period
John Freeman	1947–?
Michael Stewart	?–1951
Woodrow Wyatt	1951
James Hutchison	1951–1954
Fitzroy Maclean	1954–1957
Julian Amery	1957–1958
Hugh Fraser	1958–1960
James Ramsden	1960–1963
Peter Kirk	1963–April 1964

Name	Period
G. C. Mundy	1854–1857
Sir Benjamin Hawes	1857–1862
Sir Edward Lugard	1862–1871
John Vivian.^[1]	1871–1878
Sir Ralph Wood Thompson	1878–1895
Sir Arthur Haliburton	1895–1897
Sir Ralph Henry Knox	1897–1901
Sir Edward Ward	1901–1914
Sir Reginald Brade	1914–1920
Sir Herbert Creedy	1920–1939
Sir P. J. Grigg	1939–1942
Sir Frederick Bovenschen and Sir Eric Speed	1942–1945
Sir E. Speed	1945–1948
Sir G. Turner	1949–1956
Sir Edward Playfair	1956–1960
Sir Richard Way	1960–1963
A. Drew	1963–1964

Under-Secretary of State for War

Parliamentary under-secretaries of state for war

1794–1801

1854–1947

Financial secretaries to the War Office, 1947–1964

Permanent under-secretaries of state for war, 1854–1966

References

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