Treasurer of the Navy

The Treasurer of the Navy,^[1] originally called Treasurer of Marine Causes^[2] or Paymaster of the Navy,^[3] was a civilian officer of the Royal Navy, one of the principal commissioners of the Navy Board responsible for naval finance^[4] from 1524 to 1832. The treasurer was based at the Navy Pay Office.

Office of the Treasurer of the Navy
Navy Board flag
Department of the Admiralty
Member of	Navy Board (1546–1832)
Reports to	First Lord of the Admiralty
Nominator	First Lord of the Admiralty
Appointer	Prime Minister Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council
Term length	Not fixed (typically 3–7 years)
Inaugural holder	William Gonson
Formation	1524–1836

Sir Henry Parnell was the last Treasurer of the Navy

History

Originally established in 1524, the first holder of the post was William Gonson; he held the office for twenty years until 1544.^[5] Although a member of the board, his office was semi-autonomous. The office-holder was responsible for the direction and control of the finance of the Royal Navy. The office was a political appointment and frequently was held by up-and-coming young politicians who would later go on to hold more important positions. Before 1832 all accounts were dealt with by a number of different offices and officials. The Treasurer of the Navy originated during the reign of Henry VIII. He was the senior member of the Navy Board responsible for all Navy accounts; he gradually withdrew during the seventeenth century from the board's day-to-day affairs and his office, and the Navy Pay Office, came to be regarded as entirely separate from the Navy Office. The Treasurer of the Navy survived the re-organisational changes of 1832, but the office was abolished in 1835 and its duties were transferred to the Paymaster General's' Office.

Treasurers of the Navy 1524–1836

Notable holders of this post included:^[6]

Service	Name	Notes
1524–October 1544	Vice-Admiral, Sir William Gonson	[7][8]
October 1544–December 1545	Captain John Wynter	merchant and sea-captain of Bristol[9]
25 Apr 1546–8 Jul 1549	Robert Legge
8 Jul 1549–18 Nov 1577	Benjamin Gonson[10]
18 Nov 1577–26 Nov 1577	Benjamin Gonson and John Hawkins
26 Nov 1577–12 Nov 1595	John Hawkins	Knighted 26 July 1588
22 Dec 1598–26 Apr 1604	Fulk Greville[11]
26 Apr 1604–11 May 1618	Sir Robert Mansell
11 May 1618–5 Apr 1627	Sir William Russell	created baronet 12 March 1627
5 Apr 1627–21 Jan 1630	Sackville Crowe	created baronet 8 July 1627
1630–1639	Sir William Russell
1639–1642	Sir William Russell and Henry Vane
1642–1646	Sir William Russell and Sir John Penington (Royalist)
1646–1654	Sir William Russell (Royalist)
1645–1650	Sir Henry Vane (Parliamentary)
1648–1650	Richard Fanshawe (Royalist)
1651–1660	Richard Hutchinson (Parliamentary)
1660–1667	Sir George Carteret
1667–1668	Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey
1668–1671	Sir Thomas Osborne and Sir Thomas de Littelton, Bt
1671–1673	Sir Thomas Osborne
1673–1681	Edward Seymour
1681–1689	Anthony Carey, 5th Viscount Falkland
1689–1699	Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
1699–1710	Sir Thomas de Littleton
1710–1711	Robert Walpole
1711–1714	Charles Caesar
1714–1718	John Aislabie
1718–1720	Richard Hampden
1720–1724	George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington
1724–1734	Pattee Byng, 2nd Viscount Torrington
1734–1742	Arthur Onslow
1742	Thomas Clutterbuck
1742–1743	Sir Charles Wager
1743–1744	Sir John Rushout, 4th Baronet
1744–1749	George Bubb Dodington
1749–1754	Henry Legge
1754–1756	George Grenville
1756	George Bubb Dodington
1756–1762	George Grenville
1762–1765	William Wildman Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington
1765–1770	Richard Howe, 4th Viscount Howe
1770–1777	Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Bt
1777–1782	Welbore Ellis
1782	Isaac Barré
1782–1783	Henry Dundas
1783–1784	Charles Townshend
1784–1800	Henry Dundas	Except 1 January 1786 – 18 August 1802
1800–1801	Dudley Ryder
1801–1803	Charles Bragge
1803–1804	George Tierney
1804–1806	George Canning
1806–1807	Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1807–1818	George Rose
1818–1823	Frederick John Robinson
1823–1827	William Huskisson
1827–1828	Charles Grant
1828–1830	William Vesey Fitzgerald
1830	Thomas Frankland Lewis
1830–1834	Charles Poulett Thomson
1834–1835	William Lowther, Viscount Lowther
1835–1836	Sir Henry Parnell

Departments and offices under Treasurer

Included:

• Navy Pay Office (1546–1832) This was in effect the larger part of the Treasurer of the Navy’s Department.^[12]
• Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy (1829–1832)

References

1. Mackenzie, Sir George (1 January 1821). "The Royal naval and military calendar: and national record for 1821". Google Books. Printed for the author. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
2. Knighton, C. S.; Loades, David (2016). Elizabethan Naval Administration. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 9781317145035.
3. Knighton, C. S.; Loades, D. M. (2011). The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 570. ISBN 9781409418474.
4. "Navy Board: Navy Pay Office: Treasurer's Out-Letters". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives, 1807–1830, ADM 15. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
5. Hill Miller, Helen (1985). Captains from Devon: the great Elizabethan seafarers who won the oceans for England. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. p. 33. ISBN 9780912697277.
6. Sainty, J. C. (January 2003). "Navy Treasurer c. 1546–1836". www.history.ac.uk. Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018.
7. Knighton, C. S.; Loades, D. M. (2011). The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 570. ISBN 9781409418474.
8. Miller, Helen Hill (1985). Captains from Devon : the great Elizabethan seafarers who won the oceans for England. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. p. 33. ISBN 9780912697277.
9. Knighton, C. S.; Loades, D. M. (2011). The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 570. ISBN 9781409418474.
10. Bennell, John (2004). "Gonson, William (d. 1544)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47400. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
11. "Greville, Fulke (GRVL568F)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
12. Cock, Randolph; Rodger, N. A. M. "A Guide to the Naval Records in the National Archives" (PDF). humanities.exeter.ac.uk. University of London. p. 221. Retrieved 8 January 2019.

Sources

• Sainty, J. C. (2003), A provisional list: Navy Treasurer c. 1546–1836, The Institute of Historical Research (IHR), School of Advanced Study at the University of London

External links

• Office-Holders: Navy Treasurer