| Northern Department | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Type | Government Department | |
| Country | Kingdom of Great Britain | |
| Founded | 1660 | |
| Abolished | 1782 | |
| Minister | Secretary of State,Northern Department | |
| Member of | Cabinet | |
| Preceding Dept | State Department | |
| Superseding Dept | Northern Department | |
| Affiliations | HM Government | |
The Northern Department was a department of state of the government of the Kingdom of England and later the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1660 until 1782 when its functions were merged within the new Foreign Office.
1) History
The department was responsible for dealing with government business in the northern part of Europe. This included foreign affairs concerning such northern powers as Russia, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire. It was administered by the Secretary of State for the Northern Department. The Northern Department's opposite number within government was the Southern Department, responsible (as its name suggests) for affairs in southern Europe as well as domestic and colonial affairs. In 1782, the Northern and Southern Departments were reorganized, with the Foreign Office taking over their foreign affairs responsibilities and Home Office taking over their domestic affairs responsibilities.
2) Office of Secretary of State for the Northern Department
The Secretary of State for the Northern Department*was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Northern Department became the Home Office.Before the Act of Union, 1707, the Secretary of State's responsibilities were in relation to the English government, not the British. Even after the Union, there was still a separate Secretary of State for Scotland until 1746, though the post was sometimes vacant. This continued the previous Scottish government post of Secretary of State. Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two Secretaries of State for the Northern and the Southern Departments were not divided up in terms of area of authority, but rather geographically. Both were responsible for England and Wales. The Secretary of State for the Northern Department, the more junior of the two, was responsible for foreign relations with the Protestant states of Northern Europe. The more senior Secretary of State for the Southern Department was responsible for relations with the Catholic and Muslim states of Europe. In 1782, the two Secretaries of State were reformed as the Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. During the 18th century, Secretaries of State for the Northern Department, if peers, were often Leaders of the House of Lords as well.
- Sir William Morice: 27 May 1660 – 29 September 1668
- Sir John Trevor: 29 September 1668 – 8 July 1672
- Hon.Henry Coventry 3 July 1672 – 11 September 1674
- Sir Joseph Williamson: 11 September 1674 – 20 February 1679
- Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland: 10 February 1679 – 26 April 1680
- Sir Leoline Jenkins: 26 April 1680 – 2 February 1681
- Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway: 2 February 1681 – January 1683
- Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland: 28 January 1683–1684
- Sidney Godolphin: 17 April 1684 – 24 August 1684
- Charles Middleton, 2nd Earl of Middleton: 24 August 1684 – 28 October 1688
- Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston: 29 October 1688 – 2 December 1688
- Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham: 5 March 1689 – 26 December 1690
- Henry Sydney, 1st Viscount Sydney of Sheppey: 26 December 1690 – 3 March 1692
- Sir John Trenchard: 23 March 1693 – 2 March 1694
- Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury: 2 March 1694 – 3 May 1695
- Sir William Trumbull: 3 May 1695 – 2 December 1697
- James Vernon: 2 December 1697 – 5 November 1700
- Sir Charles Hedges: 5 November 1700 – 29 December 1701
- James Vernon: 4 January 1702 – 1 May 1702
- Sir Charles Hedges: 2 May 1702 – 18 May 1704
- Robert Harley: 16 May 1704 – 13 February 1708
- Hon.Henry Boyle: 13 February 1708 – 21 September 1710
- Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke: 21 September 1710 – 17 August 1713
- William Bromley: 17 August 1713 – 17 September 1714
- Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend: 17 September 1714 – 12 December 1716
- Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland: 12 April 1717 – 2 March 1718
- James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope: 19 March 1718 – 4 February 1721
- Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend: 6 February 1721 – 16 May 1730
- William Stanhope, 1st Lord Harrington: 19 June 1730 – 12 February 1742
- John Carteret, 2nd Lord Carteret: 12 February 1742 – 24 November 1744
- William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington: 24 November 1744 – January 1746
- Earl Granville: 12 February 1746 – March 1746, created Earl Granville, as sole Secretary
- William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington: March 1746 – 19 October 1746
- Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield: 29 October 1746 – 6 February 1748
- Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle: 6 February 1748 – 23 March 1754
- Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holdernesse: April 1757 – June 1757 as sole Secretary
- John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute: 25 March 1761 – 27 May 1762
- George Grenville: 5 June 1762 – 9 October 1762
- George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax: 14 October 1762 – 9 September 1763
- John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich: 9 September 1763 – 10 July 1765
- George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax: September 1763 – July 1765
- Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton: 12 July 1765 – 14 May 1766
- Henry Seymour Conway: 23 May 1766 – 20 January 1768
- Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth 20 January 1768 – 21 October 1768
- William Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford: 21 October 1768 – 19 December 1770
- John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich: 19 December 1770 – 12 January 1771
- George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax: 22 January 1771 – 6 June 1771
- Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk: 12 June 1771 – 7 March 1779
- David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont: 27 October 1779 – 27 March 1782
3) Sources
- 'Lists of appointments', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2, Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782, ed. J C Sainty (London, 1973), pp. 22-58. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol2/pp22-58 [accessed 4 November 2018].