Northern Department

Northern Department
Department overview
Formed	1660
Dissolved	1782
Superseding agency	Foreign Office, Home Office ;
Jurisdiction	Kingdom of Great Britain
Minister responsible	Secretary of State for the Northern Department ;

Last updated April 12, 2024

The Northern Department was a department of the government of the Kingdom of England from 1660 to 1707 and later the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 until 1782 when its functions were reorganised into the new Home Office and Foreign Office.^[1]

History

The Northern Department was, together with the Southern Department, responsible for both foreign and domestic affairs. Foreign affairs were split between the two departments on a geographical basis, with the Northern Department taking responsibility for Russia, Sweden, Denmark-Norway, Poland, the Netherlands, and the German Holy Roman Empire. Responsibility for domestic affairs was shared between the two departments. After England united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the two departments also split responsibility for Scottish affairs, except during those times when there was an appointed Secretary of State for Scotland.^[2] Responsibility for overseas military strategy was also shared between the two departments.

It was administered by the Secretary of State for the Northern Department.

In 1782, the Northern and Southern Departments were reorganized, with the Foreign Office taking over their foreign responsibilities and the Home Office taking over their domestic responsibilities (including colonies).

History of English and British government departments with responsibility for foreign affairs and those with responsibility for the colonies, dominions and the Commonwealth
Northern Department 1660–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries	Southern Department 1660–1768 Secretaries — Undersecretaries		—
	Southern Department 1768–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries 1782: diplomatic responsibilities transferred to new Foreign Office	Colonial Office 1768–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries	Home Office 1782–1794 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	War Office 1794–1801 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	War and Colonial Office 1801–1854 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	Colonial Office 1854–1925 Secretaries — Undersecretaries		India Office 1858–1937 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	Colonial Office 1925–1966 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries	Dominions Office 1925–1947 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
			India Office and Burma Office 1937–1947 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
		Commonwealth Relations Office 1947–1966 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
	Commonwealth Office 1966–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1968–2020 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Since 2020 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries

Related Research Articles

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO was itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office. The department in its various forms is responsible for representing and promoting British interests worldwide.

The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the foreign secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The role is seen as one of the most senior ministers in the UK Government and is a Great Office of State. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and National Security Council, and reports directly to the prime minister.

The United Kingdom has three distinctly different legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English law, Scots law, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, calls for a fourth type, that of purely Welsh law as a result of Welsh devolution, with further calls for a Welsh justice system.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, more commonly known as the Home Secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, making the home secretary one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council.

Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs. This would subsequently extend to telecommunications and broadcasting.

The secretary of state for Northern Ireland, also referred to as the Northern Ireland secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, Virginia, and more substantially with the founding of the Thirteen Colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America.

The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's minister in charge of managing the British Empire.

The Home Office (HO), also known as the Home Department, is a ministerial department of the British Government, responsible for immigration, security, and law and order. As such, it is responsible for policing in England and Wales, fire and rescue services in England, Border Force, visas and immigration, and the Security Service (MI5). It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counterterrorism, and immigration. It was formerly responsible for His Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service, but these have been transferred to the Ministry of Justice.

The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782. Then the Northern Department became the Foreign Office and the position evolved into the Foreign Secretary.

The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department became the Home Office.

The secretary of state for Scotland, also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Much of the Secretary of State for Scotland's responsibility transferred to the office of the First Minister of Scotland upon the re–establishment of both the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament in 1999 following the Scotland Act 1998.

The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations, but is commonly known as the Board of Trade, and formerly known as the Lords of Trade and Plantations or Lords of Trade, and it has been a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. The board has gone through several evolutions, beginning with extensive involvement in colonial matters in the 17th century, to powerful regulatory functions in the Victorian Era and early 20th century. It was virtually dormant in the last third of the 20th century. In 2017, it was revitalised as an advisory board headed by the International Trade Secretary who has nominally held the title of President of the Board of Trade, and who at present is the only privy counsellor of the board, the other members of the present board filling roles as advisors.

The Southern Department was a department of the government of the Kingdom of England and later the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1660 until 1782 when its functions were reorganised into the new Home Office and Foreign Office. The department was tasked with home affairs, foreign affairs in parts of Southern Europe, and with governing the English and later British colonies, among other matters.

His Majesty's principal secretaries of state, or secretaries of state, are senior ministers of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. Secretaries of state head most major government departments and make up the majority of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of His Majesty's Government, headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to provide access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system, and to uphold people's civil liberties. The Secretary of State is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system, prisons, and probation in England and Wales, with some additional UK-wide responsibilities, e.g., the UK Supreme Court and judicial appointments by the Crown. The department is also responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law, and information rights law across the UK.

The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America, until merged into the new Home Office in 1782. In 1801, colonial affairs were transferred to the War Office in the lead up to the Napoleonic Wars, which became the War and Colonial Office to oversee and protect the colonies of the British Empire. The Colonial Office was re-created as a separate department 1854, under the colonial secretary. It was finally merged into the Commonwealth Office in 1966.

In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary.

The title secretary of state or state's secretary is commonly used for senior or mid-level posts in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple secretaries of state in the country's system of governing the country.

References

↑ Sainty, J. C. "Lists of appointments British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Originally published by University of London, London, 1973. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
↑ Thomson, Mark A. (1932). The Secretaries of State: 1681-1782. London: Frank Cass. pp. 2–3.

This article related to government in the United Kingdom or its constituent countries is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Sainty, J. C. "Lists of appointments British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Originally published by University of London, London, 1973. Retrieved 12 March 2017.

[thomson_2_3-2] Thomson, Mark A. (1932). The Secretaries of State: 1681-1782. London: Frank Cass. pp. 2–3.

[1]

[2]

Northern Department

Contents

History

See also

Related Research Articles

References