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List of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty

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The office of Lord High Admiral had been created in about 1400 to oversee the Royal Navy. It was one of the Great Offices of State. The office could be exercised by an individual (as was invariably the case until 1628), by the Crown directly (as was the case between 1684 and 1689), or by a Board of Commissioners. After the serving Lord High Admiral, the Duke of York, had been disqualified from the office as a Roman Catholic following the Test Act of 1673, the Board of Commissioners consisted of between twelve and sixteen Privy Councillors, who served without salaries. In 1679 this was changed, and the number of Commissioners was reduced to seven, who were to receive salaries and need not be members of the Privy Council. This remained the case (although the number of Commissioners varied) until the Admiralty became part of the Ministry of Defence in 1964, with the exception of the years 1702 to 1709 and 1827 to 1828, when an individual Lord High Admiral was appointed. During these periods the Council of the Lord High Admiral effectively performed the duties of the Board of Commissioners. The Lords Commissioners could be serving naval officers, called Naval Lords, or Civil Lords. From 1805 the Naval Lords were assigned specific duties; see First Sea Lord, Second Sea Lord, Third Sea Lord, etc.

List of persons executing the office of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660):

Contents

[edit] 1661 to 1681

[edit] 1681 to 1701

[edit] 1701 to 1721

[edit] 1721 to 1741

[edit] 1741 to 1761

[edit] 1761 to 1782

[edit] 1782 to 1801