| Great Britain Office of the Secretary of State for the Northern Department | |
|---|---|
.svg) Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Great Britain Government | |
| TheNorthern Department | |
| Style | The Right Honourable (formal prefix) |
| Member of | British Cabinet |
| Seat | Westminster,London |
| Appointer | TheBritish Monarch on advice of thePrime Minister |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Formation | 1660–1782 |
| First holder | Sir William Morice |
| Final holder | David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont |
Thesecretary of state for the Northern Department was a position in theCabinet of the government ofGreat Britain up to 1782. Following this, theNorthern Department became theForeign Office, and the position evolved into theforeign secretary.[1][2]
Before theAct of Union, 1707, the Secretary of State's responsibilities were in relation to theEnglish government. Even after the Union, there was still a separatesecretary of state for Scotland until 1746, though the post was sometimes vacant. This continued the previous Scottish government post ofSecretary of State.
Before 1782, the responsibilities of the twosecretaries of state for the Northern and theSouthern Departments were not divided up in terms of area of authority, but rather geographically. The secretary of state for the Northern Department was responsible for relations with theNetherlands,Scandinavia,Poland,Russia, and theHoly Roman Empire. Thesecretary of state for the Southern Department was responsible forIreland, theChannel Islands,France,Spain,Portugal,Switzerland, theItalian states, and theOttoman Empire. Domestic responsibilities inEngland andWales were shared between the two Secretaries. After the union withScotland in 1707, the two secretaries also took responsibility for Scotland when there was nosecretary of state for Scotland in office.[3]
Until 1706, the practice was generally for the senior official to lead the Southern Department, and the junior the Northern Department, with the Northern Secretary being transferred to the Southern Department when a vacancy arose at the latter.[3] During the reigns ofGeorge I andGeorge II, however, the Northern Department began to be seen as the more important, since its responsibilities included the monarchs' ancestral home ofHanover.[4] During the reign ofGeorge III, the two departments were of approximately equal importance.[5]
In 1782, the two secretaries of state were reformed as thesecretary of state for the Home Department and thesecretary of state for foreign affairs.[6]During the 18th century, secretaries of state for the Northern Department, ifpeers, were oftenLeaders of the House of Lords as well.
Included:[7]
At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments. ... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.
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