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Joseph Chamberlain; Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1895–1903

The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies.

History

The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increasingly troublesome North American colonies, following passage of the Townsend Acts. Previously, colonial responsibilities were held jointly by the Lords of Trade and Plantations and the Secretary of State for the Southern Department,^[1] who was responsible for Southern England, Wales, Ireland, the American colonies, and relations with the Catholic and Muslim states of Europe. Joint responsibility continued under the Secretary of State for the Colonies, but led to a diminution of the board's status, and it became an adjunct to the new Secretary's Department.^[2]

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).^[3] Following this, colonial duties given to the Home Secretary, then Lord Sydney. 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.^[2] In 1794 a new office was created for Henry Dundas — the Secretary of State for War, which now took responsibility for the Colonies, and was renamed the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in 1801. 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. However, by the early years of the twentieth century the responsibility for each of these 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 (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).

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.

List of Secretaries of State for the Colonies

Secretaries of State for the Colonies (1768–1782)

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

Secretary of State for the Colonies^[4]

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Ministry	Monarch (Reign)
		The Right Honourable Wills Hill 1st Earl of Hillsborough PC (1718–1793)	27 February 1768	27 August 1772	Grafton	George III (1760–1820)
					North
		The Right Honourable William Legge 2nd Earl of Dartmouth PC FRS (1731–1801)	27 August 1772	10 November 1775
		The Right Honourable Lord George Germain MP for East Grinstead (1716–1785)	10 November 1775	February 1782
		The Right Honourable Welbore Ellis FRS MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (1713–1802)	February 1782	8 March 1782

Office abolished in 1782 after the loss of the American Colonies.^[5]

Responsibility for the Colonies thereafter held by:

• 
  Home Secretary 1782–1801
  


• 
  Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1801–1854
  


• Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1854
  

Secretaries of State for the Colonies (1854–1966)

Secretary of State for the Colonies

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry	Monarch (Reign)
		The Right Honourable Sir George Grey Bt MP for Morpeth (1799–1882)	12 June 1854	8 February 1855	Whig	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)	Victoria (1837–1901)
		The Right Honourable Sidney Herbert MP for South Wiltshire (1810–1861)	8 February 1855	23 February 1855	Whig	Palmerston I
		The Right Honourable Lord John Russell FRS MP for City of London (1792–1878)	23 February 1855	21 July 1855	Whig
		The Right Honourable Sir William Molesworth Bt MP for Southwark (1810–1855)	21 July 1855	21 November 1855	Radical
		The Right Honourable Henry Labouchere MP for Taunton (1798–1869)	21 November 1855	21 February 1858	Whig
		The Right Honourable Edward Stanley Lord Stanley MP for King's Lynn (1826–1893)	26 February 1858	5 June 1858	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
		The Right Honourable Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton Bt MP for Hertfordshire (1803–1873)	5 June 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative
		His Grace Henry Pelham-Clinton 5th Duke of Newcastle KG PC (1811–1864)	18 June 1859	7 April 1864	Liberal	Palmerston II
		The Right Honourable Edward Cardwell MP for Oxford (1813–1886)	7 April 1864	26 June 1866	Liberal
						Russell II
		The Right Honourable Henry Herbert 4th Earl of Carnarvon PC (1831–1890)	6 July 1866	8 March 1867	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
		His Grace Richard Temple-Grenville 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos PC DL (1823–1889)	8 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville KG PC FRS (1815–1891)	9 December 1868	6 July 1870	Liberal	Gladstone I
		The Right Honourable John Wodehouse 1st Earl of Kimberley PC (1826–1902)	6 July 1870	17 February 1874	Liberal
		The Right Honourable Henry Herbert 4th Earl of Carnarvon PC FRS (1831–1890)	21 February 1874	4 February 1878	Conservative	Disraeli II
		The Right Honourable Sir Michael Hicks Beach Bt DL MP for Gloucestershire East (1837–1916)	4 February 1878	21 April 1880	Conservative
		The Right Honourable John Wodehouse 1st Earl of Kimberley PC (1826–1902)	21 April 1880	16 December 1882	Liberal	Gladstone II
		The Right Honourable Edward Stanley 15th Earl of Derby KG PC FRS (1826–1893)	16 December 1882	9 June 1885	Liberal
		The Right Honourable Frederick Stanley MP for Blackpool (1841–1908)	24 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	Salisbury I
		The Right Honourable Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville KG PC FRS (1815–1891)	6 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
		The Right Honourable Edward Stanhope MP for Horncastle (1840–1893)	3 August 1886	14 January 1887	Conservative	Salisbury II
		The Right Honourable Henry Holland 1st Baron Knutsford Bt GCMG PC (1825–1914)	14 January 1887	11 August 1892	Conservative
		The Most Honourable George Robinson 1st Marquess of Ripon GCSI CIE VS PC (1827–1909)	18 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	Gladstone IV
						Rosebery
		The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain MP for Birmingham West (1836–1914)	29 June 1895	16 September 1903	Liberal Unionist	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
							Edward VII (1901–1910)
						Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
		The Right Honourable Alfred Lyttelton QC MP for Warwick and Leamington (1857–1913)	11 October 1903	4 December 1905	Liberal Unionist
		The Right Honourable Victor Bruce 9th Earl of Elgin KG GCSI GCIE PC (1849–1917)	10 December 1905	12 April 1908	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
		The Right Honourable Robert Crewe-Milnes 1st Marquess of Crewe KG PC FSA (1858–1945)	12 April 1908	3 November 1910	Liberal	Asquith (I–III)
							George V (1910–1936)
		The Right Honourable Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP for Rossendale (1863–1922)	3 November 1910	25 May 1915	Liberal
		The Right Honourable Bonar Law MP for Bootle (1858–1923)	25 May 1915	10 December 1916	Conservative	Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		The Right Honourable Walter Long JP FRS MP for Westminster St George's [nb 1] (1854–1924)	10 December 1916	10 January 1919	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		The Right Honourable Alfred Milner 1st Viscount Milner GCB GCMG PC (1854–1925)	10 January 1919	13 February 1921	Liberal
		The Right Honourable Winston Churchill MP for Dundee (1874–1965)	13 February 1921	19 October 1922	Liberal
		His Grace Victor Cavendish 9th Duke of Devonshire KG GCMG GCVO TD KStJ PC (1868–1938)	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Law
						Baldwin I
		The Right Honourable James Henry Thomas MP for Derby (1874–1949)	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		The Right Honourable Leo Amery MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook (1873–1955)	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	Baldwin II
		The Right Honourable Sidney Webb 1st Baron Passfield PC (1859–1947)	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	MacDonald II
		The Right Honourable James Henry Thomas MP for Derby (1874–1949)	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	National Labour	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
		The Right Honourable Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister GBE MC MP for Hendon (1884–1972)	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	Conservative	National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
		The Right Honourable Malcolm MacDonald MP for Bassetlaw (1901–1981)	7 June 1935	22 November 1935	National Labour	National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		The Right Honourable James Henry Thomas MP for Derby (1874–1949)	22 November 1935	22 May 1936	National Labour
							Edward VIII (1936)
		The Right Honourable William Ormsby-Gore MP for Stafford (1885–1964)	28 May 1936	16 May 1938	Conservative
							George VI (1936–1952)
						National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		The Right Honourable Malcolm MacDonald MP for Ross and Cromarty (1901–1981)	16 May 1938	12 May 1940	National Labour
						Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		The Right Honourable George Lloyd 1st Baron Lloyd GCSI GCIE DSO PC (1879–1941)	12 May 1940	4 February 1941	Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)
		The Right Honourable Walter Guinness 1st Baron Moyne DSO PC (1880–1944)	8 February 1941	22 February 1942	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Robert Gascoyne-Cecil Viscount Cranborne MP for South Dorset (1893–1972)	22 February 1942	22 November 1942	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Oliver Stanley MP for Westmorland (1896–1950)	22 November 1942	26 July 1945	Conservative
						Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.)
		The Right Honourable George Henry Hall MP for Aberdare (1881–1965)	3 August 1945	4 October 1946	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		The Right Honourable Arthur Creech Jones MP for Shipley (1891–1964)	4 October 1946	28 February 1950	Labour
		The Right Honourable Jim Griffiths MP for Llanelli (1890–1975)	28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour
		The Right Honourable Oliver Lyttelton DSO MC MP for Aldershot (1893–1972)	28 October 1951	28 July 1954	Conservative	Churchill III
							Elizabeth II (1952–present)
		The Right Honourable Alan Lennox-Boyd MP for Mid Bedfordshire (1904–1983)	28 July 1954	14 October 1959	Conservative
						Eden
						Macmillan (I & II)
		The Right Honourable Iain Macleod MP for Enfield West (1913–1970)	14 October 1959	9 October 1961	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Reginald Maudling MP for Barnet (1917–1979)	9 October 1961	13 July 1962	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Duncan Sandys MP for Streatham (1908–1987)	13 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
						Douglas-Home
		The Right Honourable Anthony Greenwood MP for Rossendale (1911–1982)	18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour	Wilson (I & II)
		The Right Honourable Frank Pakenham 7th Earl of Longford PC (1905–2001)	23 December 1965	6 April 1966	Labour
		The Right Honourable Frederick Lee MP for Newton (1906–1984)	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

Secretaries from the Colonies

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

• Andrew 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

References