List of Chief Secretaries for Ireland

The Chief Secretary's office in Dublin Castle.
The Chief Secretary's residence was the Chief Secretary's Lodge in the Phoenix Park, next to the Viceregal Lodge.

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] Exceptions were the periods from 29 June 1895 to 8 August 1902, when the Lord Lieutenant Lord Cadogan sat in the Cabinet and the Chief Secretaries Gerald Balfour until 9 November 1900 did not sit there and George Wyndham from that date also sat there,[2] and from 28 October 1918 to 2 April 1921, when both the Lord Lieutenant Lord French and the Chief Secretaries Edward Shortt, Ian Macpherson and Sir Hamar Greenwood sat in the Cabinet.[3]

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

1566–1660

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Served under
Edward Waterhouse[4] 20 January 1566 9 October 1567 Sir Henry Sidney
Edward Waterhouse
(second time)[4]		 28 October 1568 Sir Henry Sidney
Edmund Tremayne 15 July 1569 31 March 1571 Sir Henry Sidney
Philip Williams post March 1571 17 September 1575 Sir William Fitzwilliam
Edmund Molyneux 18 September 1575 Sir Henry Sidney
Edmund Spenser 7 September 1580 30 August 1582 The Lord Grey de Wilton
Philip Williams 21 June 1584 10 August 1594 Sir John Perrot
Sir William FitzWilliam
Richard Cooke[5] 11 August 1594 21 May 1597 Sir William Russell
Philip Williams 22 May 1597 13 October 1597 The Lord Burgh
Henry Wotton 15 April 1599 4 September 1599 The Earl of Essex
Francis Mitchell 28 February 1600 March 1600 The Lord Mountjoy
George Cranmer March 1600 Died 16 July 1600 The Lord Mountjoy
Fynes Moryson 14 November 1600 31 May 1603 The Lord Mountjoy
John Bingley 1 June 1603 2 February 1605 Sir George Carey
Henry Piers 3 February 1605 10 February 1616 Sir Arthur Chichester
Henry Holcroft[6] 30 August 1616 3 May 1622 Sir Oliver St John
Sir John Veele 8 September 1622 25 October 1629 The Viscount Falkland
George Lane 21 January 1644 April 1646 The Marquess of Ormonde

1660–1701

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Served under
Matthew Locke 1660 1660 The Lord Robartes
Sir Thomas Page 1662 1669 The Duke of Ormonde:
The Earl of Ossory
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[7] The Earl of Tyrconnell
Bishop Patrick Tyrrell 1688 1689 The Earl of Tyrconnell
John Davis 1690 1692
Sir Cyril Wyche 1692 1693[8] The Viscount Sydney
Sir Richard Aldworth 1693 1696 The Lord Capell
William Palmer 1696 1697
Matthew Prior 1697 1699
Humphrey May 1699 1701

1701–1750

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Served under
Francis Gwyn 1701 1703 The Earl of Rochester
Edward Southwell 1703 1707 The Duke of Ormonde
George Dodington 1707 1708 The Earl of Pembroke
Joseph Addison 1708 1710 The Earl of Wharton
Edward Southwell 1710 1713 The Duke of Ormonde
Sir John Stanley, Bt 1713 1714 The Duke of Shrewsbury
Joseph Addison 1714 1715 The Earl of Sunderland
Martin Bladen and
Charles Delafaye		 1715 1717
Edward Webster 1717 1720 The Duke of Bolton
Horatio Walpole 1720 1721 The Duke of Grafton
Edward Hopkins 1721 1724 The Duke of Grafton
Thomas Clutterbuck 1724 1730 The Lord Carteret
Walter Cary
(also spelt 'Carey')		 1730 1737 The Duke of Dorset
Sir Edward Walpole 1737 1739 The Duke of Devonshire
Thomas Townshend 1739 1739 The Duke of Devonshire
Hon. Henry Bilson Legge 1739 1741 The Duke of Devonshire
Viscount Duncannon 1741 1745 The Duke of Devonshire
Richard Liddell 1745 1746 The Earl of Chesterfield
Sewallis Shirley 1746 1746 The Earl of Chesterfield
Edward Weston 1746 1750 The Earl of Harrington

1750–1801

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Served under
Lord George Sackville 1750 1755 The Duke of Dorset
Hon. Henry Seymour Conway 1755 1757 The Duke of Devonshire
Richard Rigby 1757 1761 The Duke of Bedford
William Gerard Hamilton 1761 1764 The Earl of Halifax;
The Earl of Northumberland
The Earl of Drogheda 1764 1765 The Earl of Northumberland
Sir Charles Bunbury 1765 1765 The Viscount Weymouth
Viscount Conway 1765 1766 The Earl of Hertford
Hon. Augustus Hervey 1766 1767[9] The Earl of Bristol
Theophilus Jones 1767 1767 The Earl of Bristol
Lord Frederick Campbell 1767 1768 The Viscount Townshend
Sir George Macartney 1769 1772 The Viscount Townshend
Sir John Blaquiere 1772 1776 The Earl Harcourt
Sir Richard Heron 1776 1780 The Earl of Buckinghamshire
William Eden 1780 1782 The Earl of Carlisle
Hon. Richard FitzPatrick 1782 1782 The Duke of Portland
William Grenville 1782 1783 The Earl Temple
William Windham 1783 1783 The Earl of Northington
Hon. Thomas Pelham 1783 1784 The Earl of Northington
Thomas Orde 1784 1787 The Duke of Rutland
Alleyne FitzHerbert 1787 1789 The Marquess of Buckingham
Hon. Robert Hobart 1789 1793 The Marquess of Buckingham;
The Earl of Westmorland
Sylvester Douglas 1793 1794 The Earl of Westmorland
Viscount Milton 1794 1795 The Earl FitzWilliam
Thomas Pelham 1795 1798 The Earl Camden
Viscount Castlereagh 1798 1801 The Marquess Cornwallis

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
Sir Arthur Wellesley 1807 1809 Tory
Robert Dundas 1809 1809 Tory
William Wellesley-Pole 1809 1812 Tory
Robert Peel 1812 1818 Tory
Charles Grant 1818 1821 Tory
Henry Goulburn 1821 1827 Tory
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
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

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

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

  1. ↑ Quinlan, Tom. "The Registered Papers of the Chief Secretary's Office". National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, British Historical Facts 1830–1900, Macmillan, 1975, pages 45–46
  3. ↑ British Political Facts 1900–1994, by David Butler and Gareth Butler (Macmillan Press, 7th edition 1994) Page7.
  4. 1 2 Handbook of British Chronology calls him 'Sir Edward Waterhouse', but he was not knighted until 1584
  5. ↑ Handbook of British Chronology calls him 'Sir Richard Cooke', but he was not knighted until 1603 – see History of Parliament – Member Biographies
  6. ↑ knighted 1 May 1622 – see History of Parliament – Member Biographies
  7. ↑ '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
  8. ↑ '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
  9. ↑ 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
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