COMPTROLLERS OF THE NAVY,

To the commencement of the 18th century.

Date of Appointment. Name. Authority.
circ. 1514 John Hopton. Cal. of Letters, &c., Henry VIII.
Hopton certainly held the office of Comptroller in 1514, but I have been unable to ascertain the date of his appointment. He died about 1524.
circ. 1542 John Osburne. Byng MSS. vol. x.[407] Admiralty Library (Pepys’s Naval Collections).
circ. 1546 William Brock. Harleian MS. 249, No. 1.
1562 William Holstock. Cal. St. Pap.
circ. 1585 William Holstock and William Borough, joint. Lansdowne MS. 43, No. 33.
At this period (1585) W. Borough was Clerk and Comptroller of the Ships, but as Holstock certainly retained the office of Comptroller till 1589, I presume they must have held it jointly.
circ. 1590 William Borough, alone. Cal. St. Pap.
After 1589 Holstock’s name appears no more at the foot of certificates or other papers connected with the navy recorded in the Calendars of State Papers, and it is probable that he died or retired then, leaving Borough sole Comptroller. The latter died about the end of 1598. (Cal. St. Pap.)
1598 Sir Henry Palmer. Cal. St. Pap.
1611 Sir Guilford Slingsby. Cal. St. Pap.
1631 Sir Henry Palmer, junior. Cal. St. Pap.
1639 Sir Hen. Palmer, jun., and Capt. George Carteret,[408] joint. Cal. St. Pap.
1642 In abeyance. Addit. MSS. vol. 9311, fo. 188.
In 1642 the Parliament abolished the offices of Comptroller, Surveyor, and Clerk of the Acts, and constituted instead of them a Board of equal Commissioners. The Treasurer remained, but was no longer a member of the Navy Board.
1660 *Sir Robert Slingsby. Cal. St. Pap.; Pepys’s Diary.
The Navy Board in its old form was re-established at the Restoration.
1661 Sir John Minnes. Pepys’s Diary.
1671 Sir Thomas Allen. Duke of York’s Instructions (MS. Admiralty Library).
Died in 1685. (Luttrell, i. p. 358.)
1685 Sir Richard Haddock. Addit. MS. 9322.
1686 In abeyance. Pepys’s Memoir.
The principal officers (except the Treasurer) were suspended, and the office placed temporarily under the charge of a body of equal Commissioners, as described in Pepys’s “Memoir.”
1688 Sir Richard Haddock, restored. Pepys’s Memoir.
Special Commission revoked, and former officers restored.
1715 Sir Charles Wager. Byng MSS. vol. 13 (Admiralty Library).

FOOTNOTES:

  • [407] This volume contains a transcript of part of Pepys’s Naval Collections in the Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge. It comprises some extracts from Lord Clarendon’s copy of the Council Books of King Henry VIII. from 1541 to 1543, one of which records a letter being written to Mr. Stanhopp and John Osburne, “Comptroller of the King’s H.’s Ships.” I cannot find the date of his first appointment.
  • [408] Afterwards Sir George Carteret, Treasurer of the Navy.