The Navy Office was the government office responsible for the civil administration of the British Royal Navy from 1576 to 1832. It contained all the members of the Navy Board and various other departments and offices. The day-to-day business of the Navy Office was headed by the Clerk of the Acts from 1660 until 1796. When this position was abolished duties were assumed by separate committees for Accounts, Correspondence, Stores, Transports and Victualling presided over by the Comptroller of the Navy. The Navy Office was one of two government offices (the other being the Department of Admiralty) that were jointly responsible for directing naval affairs. In 1832 following reforms of the naval service the Navy Office was abolished and its functions and staff taken over by the Admiralty.
Based at Deptford for most of the sixteenth century, the Navy Office later moved to the Tower Hill area of London.[1] In 1655 it relocated to a site at the crossroad of Crutched Friars and Seething Lane but in 1673 the office building was destroyed by fire. A new building designed by Christopher Wren was opened on the site in 1684.[2] The Navy Office continued to be based in Tower Hill until its move in 1786 to Somerset House.
Until 1628 the Navy Office was an independent advisory office to the Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office but upon the creation of the Board of Admiralty it became a subsidiary yet autonomous component of that office.[3] The primary organisation within the office was the Navy Board and the various offices of its principal commissioners. However, the Treasurer of the Navy although a principal member of the board administered a separate Navy Pay Office. From 1567 until 1660 the office was administered by the Comptroller of the Navy. In 1660 the Clerk of the Acts became responsible for the organisation of the Navy Office. In 1796 administration of the Navy Office was placed under the supervision of three Committees, of Correspondence, Accounts and Stores. Throughout its history its clerical supporting staff consisting of chief clerks then first, second and third class clerks were assigned to the various offices and departments within the Navy Office. In 1808 the Naval Works Department was relocated from the Admiralty to the Navy Office. A Ticket and Wages Branch was formed in 1829. In 1832 the Navy Office and subsequently the Navy Board were abolished and its functions transferred to the Department of Admiralty under supervision of the Board of Admiralty.[4]
Organisation and structure of the Navy Office
The Navy Office provided accommodation for the Commissioners of the Navy Board and senior clerical and secretarial staff, as well as office space. Different branches, departments and offices were located within different parts of the Navy Office in London, England. Royal Navy Dockyards both in the United Kingdom and overseas were also part of this office.
Components of the Navy Office
The Navy Office consisted of a number of specific component parts that included:[5][6]
Boards
The Navy Board and formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes was the organisation with responsibility for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. Its principal officers and commissioners were headquartered in the Navy Office.
Oversight of all Royal Navy Dockyards that were part of the Navy Office were normally supervised by a resident commissioner of the navy board at their respective yards, these commissioners did not normally attend Navy Board meetings in London; nevertheless, they were full members of the Navy Board. After the abolition of the Navy Board and subsequently the Navy Office in 1832 responsibility for the management of the dockyards passed to the Board of Admiralty.
Other minor yards (with some permanent staff and minor repair/storage facilities, but without dry docks etc.) were established in a number of locations over time, usually to serve a nearby anchorage used by naval vessels.
↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (2004). "Administration 1509 to 1574". The safeguard of the sea: a naval history of Britain. Vol 1., 660-1649. London, England: Penguin. p.230. ISBN9780140297249.
↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (2004). "Administration 1509 to 1574". The safeguard of the sea: a naval history of Britain. Vol 1., 660-1649. London, England: Penguin. p.228. ISBN9780140297249.
↑ Collinge, J.M. (1978). "Index of offices: British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Institute of Historical Research, University of London. p.153. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
1 2 3 4 Office, Admiralty (1814). "Navy Office". The Navy List. London, England: John Murray. p.131.
↑ Collinge, John Michael (1978). Navy Board officials, 1660-1832. London: University of London, Institute of Historical Research. p.29. ISBN9780901179531.
↑ Collinge, John Michael (1978). Navy Board officials, 1660-1832. London: University of London, Institute of Historical Research. p.80. ISBN9780901179531.
↑ Collinge, John Michael (1978). Navy Board officials, 1660-1832. London: University of London, Institute of Historical Research. p.77. ISBN9780901179531.
Collinge, J. M. (1978). "Index of offices: British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Institute of Historical Research, University of London.
"Index of offices," in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 7, Navy Board Officials 1660–1832, ed. J M Collinge (London: University of London, 1978), 153. British History Online, accessed January 2, 2019, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol7/p153.
Rodger, N. A. M. (2004). "Administration 1509 to 1574". The safeguard of the sea: a naval history of Britain. Vol 1., 660–1649. London, England: Penguin. ISBN9780140297249.
The Navy Board was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the Navy Office.
The Commissioners for the Victualling of the Navy, often called the Victualling Commissioners or Victualling Board, was the body responsible under the Navy Board for victualling ships of the British Royal Navy. It oversaw the vast operation of providing naval personnel with enough food, drink and supplies to keep them fighting fit, sometimes for months at a time, in whatever part of the globe they might be stationed. It existed from 1683 until 1832 when its function was first replaced by the Department of the Comptroller of Victualling and Transport Services until 1869 then that office was also abolished and replaced by the Victualling Department.
During the early 17th century, England's relative naval power deteriorated, In the course of the rest of the 17th century, The office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs steered the Navy's transition from a semi-amateur Navy Royal fighting in conjunction with private vessels into a fully professional institution, a Royal Navy. Its financial provisions were gradually regularised, it came to rely on dedicated warships only, and it developed a professional officer corps with a defined career structure, superseding an earlier mix of sailors and socially prominent former soldiers.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 rearranged the political map of Europe, and led to a series of wars with France that lasted well over a century. This was the classic age of sail; while the ships themselves evolved in only minor ways, technique and tactics were honed to a high degree, and the battles of the Napoleonic Wars entailed feats that would have been impossible for the fleets of the 17th century. Because of parliamentary opposition, James II fled the country. The landing of William III and the Glorious Revolution itself was a gigantic effort involving 100 warships and 400 transports carrying 11,000 infantry and 4,000 horses. It was not opposed by the English or Scottish fleets.
The Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy also known as Accountant-General's Department was the department charged by the British Government with reviewing all naval estimates, conducting naval audits and processing payments. from 1829-1932.
The Clerk of the Acts, originally known as the Keeper of the King's Ports and Galleys, was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy and a principal member of the Navy Board. The office was created by King Charles II in 1660 and succeeded the earlier position of Clerk of the Navy(1546 to 1660). The Clerk was responsible for the organisation of Navy Office, processing naval contracts and coordinating the administrative and secretarial side of the Navy Board's work. The post lasted until 1796, when its duties were merged with that of the Second Secretary to the Admiralty later known as the Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty.
The Controller of Victualling Accounts also called Comptroller of Victualling Accounts was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy who was also a principal member of the Navy Board from 1667 until 1796, he was responsible for examining the accounts of bills made out by the Victualling Board on behalf of the Navy Board. He was based at the Navy Office. He superintended the Office for Examining Victualling Accounts
The Controller of Treasurer Accounts also called Comptroller of Treasurer Accounts was the civilian officer in the Royal Navy who was a principal member of the Navy Board initially from 1667 to 1679 and then again from 1691 until 1796, he was responsible for inspecting the accounts of the money received by and paid out of the Treasurer of the Navy's department on behalf of the Navy Board. He was based in the Navy Office
The Comptroller of the Navy originally called the Clerk Comptroller of the Navy was originally a principal member of the English Navy Royal, and later the British Royal Navy, Navy Board. From 1512 until 1832, the Comptroller was mainly responsible for all British naval spending and directing the business of the Navy Board from 1660 as its chairman. The position was abolished in 1832 when the Navy Board was merged into the Board of Admiralty. The comptroller was based at the Navy Office.
The Deputy Comptroller of the Navy was a principal member of the Navy Board of the Royal Navy who was responsible for chairing the Committee of Correspondence and managing all internal and external communications of the Navy Board from 1793 to 1816 and then again from 1829 to 1832. He was based at the Navy Office.
The Surveyor of Buildings also known as the Department of the Surveyor of Buildings was the civil officer initially a member of the Navy Board then later the Board of Admiralty responsible for superintending, maintaining and improving the British Royal Navy Dockyards, Naval Buildings, and Architectural Works of the Admiralty from 1812 to 1837.
The Naval Works Department was the department of the Inspector-General of Naval Works, Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Bentham, who in 1796 had been given responsibility for modernising and mechanising the Royal Navy dockyards. The Department was established under the direct authority of the Board of Admiralty on 25 March 1796. In 1808 Bentham's job title was changed to Civil Architect and Engineer of the Navy, and he and his department were placed under the oversight of the Navy Board. In 1812 Bentham was dismissed and the department dissolved; most of its responsibilities were taken over by a new Department of the Surveyor of Buildings.
The Naval Stores Department also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Stores was initially a subsidiary department of the British Department of Admiralty, then later the Navy Department responsible for managing and maintaining naval stores and the issuing of materials at naval dockyards and establishments for the building, fitting and repairing of Royal Navy warships from 1869 to 1966.
The Victualling Department originally known as the Department of the Comptroller of Victualling and Transport Services or the Victualling Office, also known as the Department of the Director of Victualling was the British Admiralty department responsible for civil administration of Victualling Yards and the storing and supply of Naval Victuals for the Royal Navy from 1832 to 1964.
The Navy Pay Office also known as the Navy Treasury was established in 1546. The office was administered by the Treasurer of the Navy, and was semi-autonomous of the Navy Office. It existed until 1835 when all offices and accounting departments of the Royal Navy were unified into the Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy. The Navy Pay Office received money directly from HM Treasury.
The Ticket Office was established in 1660 as part of the Navy Office. It administered the payment of naval wages in conjunction with the Navy Pay Office until 1829, when it was merged with the Office for Seamen's Wages where it became the Ticket and Wages Branch.
The Paymaster of the Marines was established in 1831 following the abolition of Marine Pay Department within the Admiralty that had its own paymaster for the marines. This office holder was part of the Navy Pay Office under the Treasurer of the Navy. The post holder was responsible for processing payments to the Corps of the Royal Marines until the Navy Pay Office was abolished in 1832 as part of reforms of HM Naval Service.
The Sea Transport Branch of the British Board of Trade, originally established as the Transport Department or Naval Transport Department, was a logistical branch of the Department of Admiralty responsible for the provision of naval transportation services. It underwent numerous name changes throughout its complicated history with responsibility for sea transportation, known as the Department of the Director of Transports from 1890.
The Department of the Storekeeper-General of the Navy was initially the Navy Office department responsible for the storing and supply of naval stores to the Royal Navy established in 1829. In 1832 the Navy Board and subsequently Navy Office was abolished, and their duties were absorbed into the Department of Admiralty.
The Storekeeper-General of the Navy was initially a senior appointment and principal commissioner of the British Navy Board created in 1829. In 1832 the navy board was abolished and this office holder then became a member of the Board of Admiralty until 1869, when his office was abolished and his responsibilities were assumed by the Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy.
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