| Date of Appointment. |
Name. |
Authority. | Lord High Admiral. |
| 1628 |
Edward Nicholas. |
Cal. Stte Papers (Domestic Series). |
In Commission. |
| Nicholas had been Secretary to Lord Zouch,
Warden of the Cinque Ports, and afterwards to
the Duke of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral.
On the assassination of the latter, in 1628, the
office of Lord High Admiral was for the first time
entrusted to a body of commissioners instead of
to an individual, and Nicholas was appointed
Secretary of the Admiralty. When the Earl of
Northumberland was appointed Lord High Admiral,
ten years later, Nicholas ceased to hold any
office immediately connected with the Navy, but
retained the post of Clerk of the Council. He
was afterwards knighted, and became Secretary
of State to Charles I., and (after the Restoration)
to Charles II. |
| 1638 |
Thomas Smith. |
Cal. St. Pap. |
Earl of Northumberland. |
| 1643 |
——? |
|
Earl of Warwick. |
| 1645 |
——? |
|
A Committee of both Houses of Parliament. |
| 1648 |
——? |
|
Earl of Warwick again. |
| I have not met with any record of the names of
the Secretaries during the period from 1643 to
1649. |
| 1649 |
Robert Coytmor. |
Cal. St. Pap. |
A Committee of the Council of State. |
| 1652 |
Robert Blackborne. |
Cal. St. Pap. |
Commissioners appointed by Act of Parliament. |
| Blackborne had previously held the office of Secretary
to the “Navy Committee,” a Committee of
the House of Commons. The precise relations
existing between the numerous committees and
commissions at this period are not very clear. |
| 1653 |
Robert Blackborne. |
Cal. St. Pap. |
Commissioners appointed by Act of the Convention. |
| 1654 |
Robert Blackborne. |
Addit. MS. 18,986, fo. 150 (Letter to Blackborne from Commissr. Pett). |
Do. by Patent of the Protector Oliver. |
| 1658 |
Robert Blackborne. |
Admiralty Orders and Instructions, 1656 to 1658 (Admiralty Library MS.). |
Do. by Patent of the Protector Richard. |
| 1659 |
Robert Blackborne. |
Addit. MS. 9,302, fo. 183 (List of Officers and Salaries of the Admiralty and Navy before the Restoration) |
Commissioners appointed by the Rump. |
| Blackborne continued to hold the office of Secretary
until the appointment of the Duke of York
as Lord High Admiral in July, 1660. He is frequently
mentioned by Pepys. |
| 1660 |
*Sir William Coventry. |
From “Mr. Hewer’s account of the Secretaries of the Admiralty from
King Charles II.’s restoration to King James II.’s withdrawing, December, 1688.
(MS. in Pepysian Collection, “Naval Minutes.”) |
Duke of York. |
| 1667 |
Matthew Wren. |
Duke of York. |
| 1672 |
Sir John Werden. |
Duke of York. |
| 1673 |
Samuel Pepys. |
King Charles II, with a Commission. |
| 1679 |
Thomas Hayter. |
In Commission. |
| 1680 |
John Brisband. |
In Commission. |
| 1684 |
Samuel Pepys. |
King Charles II. (assisted by the Duke of York). |
| 1685 |
Samuel Pepys. |
King James II. |
| 1688 |
Samuel Pepys. |
Prince of Orange. |
| 1689 |
Phineas Bowles. |
In Commission. |
| 1690 |
James Sotherne. |
Luttrell, ii p. 10. |
In Commission. |
| 1694 |
William Bridgman. |
Luttrell, iii. p. 341. |
In Commission. |
| 1695 |
William Bridgman and Josiah Burchett, joint Secretaries |
Haydn’s “Book of Dignities.” |
In Commission. |
| The date of the joint appointment is taken from
Haydn, but the fact is proved by Admiralty letters
in the Chatham Dockyard Records, which about
this time bear the signature sometimes of Bridgman
and sometimes of Burchett as Secretary. |
| 1698 |
Josiah Burchett, alone. |
Luttrell, iv. 396. |
In Commission. |
| 1702 |
Josiah Burchett. |
|
Earl of Pembroke. |
| 1702 |
Josiah Burchett, George Clark, joint. |
Luttrell, v. 176. |
Prince George of Denmark. |
| 1705 |
Josiah Burchett, alone. |
Luttrell, v. 605. |
Prince George of Denmark. |
| 1708 |
Josiah Burchett. |
|
Earl of Pembroke. |
| 1709 |
Josiah Burchett. |
|
In Commission. |
| Note.—Mr. Burchett continued to hold this
office until 1742, when he retired. (“British Chronologist,”
29th Oct., 1742.) |