Secretary of State for the Colonies facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Secretary of State for the Colonies
Royal arms of His Majesty's Government
Longest serving Joseph Chamberlain 29 June 1895–16 September 1903
Colonial Office
Style	The Right Honourable
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Reports to	Prime Minister
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	27 February 1768 (1st time) 12 June 1854 (2nd time)
First holder	The Earl of Hillsborough (1st time) Sir George Grey (2nd time)
Final holder	Welbore Ellis (1st time) Frederick Lee (2nd time)
Abolished	8 March 1782 (1st time) 1 August 1966 (2nd time)
Deputy	Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies

The Secretary of State for the Colonies was a very important government minister in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. This person was in charge of managing the many lands that were part of the British Empire.

It's important to know that the Colonial Secretary was never responsible for India. India had its own special minister called the Secretary of State for India.

From 1768 until 1966, the Colonial Secretary had help from other officials. These included an Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and later a Minister of State.

History of the Colonial Secretary Role

Before this role was created, different groups shared the job of looking after the colonies. These included the Board of Trade and the Secretary of State for the Southern Department. The Southern Department Secretary handled places like Ireland and the American colonies.

First Colonial Secretary: 1768–1782

The job of Colonial Secretary was first created in 1768. This happened because the North American colonies were becoming more difficult to manage. This was especially true after the Townsend Acts were passed.

At first, the new Secretary and the Board of Trade shared the work. But soon, the Secretary's department became the main one.

After Britain lost the American colonies, the King decided to get rid of both the Board of Trade and the Colonial Secretary role. This happened on May 2, 1782. Later, a law officially ended these positions. After this, the duties for the colonies were given to the Home Secretary.

Colonial Duties: 1782–1854

Between 1782 and 1854, the responsibility for the colonies changed hands a few times:

• The Home Secretary was in charge from 1782 to 1801.
• The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies took over from 1801 to 1854.
• The Secretary of State for the Colonies was re-established in 1854.

In 1784, a new group called the Committee of Council on Trade and Plantations was set up. Then, in 1794, a new office was created for Henry Dundas. This was the Secretary of State for War, which also took on colonial responsibilities. In 1801, this office was renamed the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.

The Role from 1854 to 1966

In 1854, there were changes in how the military was organized. This led to the colonial and military duties being separated into two different jobs. Sir George Grey became the first Colonial Secretary under this new system.

Later in the 1800s, Britain gained control over many "protectorate" territories. At first, the Foreign Secretary was responsible for these lands.

Oliver Stanley inspecting the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps in Bermuda, 1944.

By the early 1900s, the Colonial Secretary also became responsible for these protectorates. After World War I, new territories were gained through the League of Nations. These also became the responsibility of the Colonial Office after 1919.

In 1925, a part of the Colonial Office was separated to form the Dominions Office. This new office had its own minister, the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs. This office dealt with the Dominions, which were self-governing parts of the British Empire.

After World War II, many parts of the British Empire became independent. Because of this, the Colonial Office was merged in 1966 with the Commonwealth Relations Office. This new office was called the Commonwealth Office. The minister in charge was then called the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs. In 1968, the Commonwealth Office joined with the Foreign Office. This created the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Secretaries of State for the Colonies (1768–1782)

This role was sometimes called the Secretary of State for the American Colonies.

Secretary of State for the Colonies

Secretary			Term of office		Ministry	Monarch (Reign)
		Wills Hill 1st Earl of Hillsborough	27 February 1768	27 August 1772	Grafton	George III (1760–1820)
					North
		William Legge 2nd Earl of Dartmouth	27 August 1772	10 November 1775
		Lord George Germain MP for East Grinstead	10 November 1775	February 1782
		Welbore Ellis MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis	February 1782	8 March 1782

This office was ended in 1782 after Britain lost the American Colonies.

Secretaries of State for the Colonies (1854–1966)

Secretary of State for the Colonies			Term of office		Party	Ministry	Monarch (Reign)
		Sir George Grey, Bt. MP for Morpeth	12 June 1854	8 February 1855	Whig	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)	Victoria (1837–1901)
		Sidney Herbert MP for South Wiltshire	8 February 1855	23 February 1855	Whig	Palmerston I
		Lord John Russell MP for City of London	23 February 1855	21 July 1855	Whig
		Sir William Molesworth, Bt. MP for Southwark	21 July 1855	21 November 1855	Radical
		Henry Labouchere MP for Taunton	21 November 1855	21 February 1858	Whig
		Edward Stanley Lord Stanley MP for King's Lynn	26 February 1858	5 June 1858	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
		Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton MP for Hertfordshire	5 June 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative
		Henry Pelham-Clinton 5th Duke of Newcastle (1811–1864)	18 June 1859	7 April 1864	Liberal	Palmerston II
		Edward Cardwell MP for Oxford	7 April 1864	26 June 1866	Liberal
						Russell II
		Henry Herbert 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890)	6 July 1866	8 March 1867	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
		Richard Temple-Grenville 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1823–1889)	8 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville (1815–1891)	9 December 1868	6 July 1870	Liberal	Gladstone I
		John Wodehouse 1st Earl of Kimberley (1826–1902)	6 July 1870	17 February 1874	Liberal
		Henry Herbert 4th Earl of Carnarvon	21 February 1874	4 February 1878	Conservative	Disraeli II
		Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt. MP for Gloucestershire East	4 February 1878	21 April 1880	Conservative
		John Wodehouse 1st Earl of Kimberley (1826–1902)	21 April 1880	16 December 1882	Liberal	Gladstone II
		Edward Stanley 15th Earl of Derby (1826–1893)	16 December 1882	9 June 1885	Liberal
		Frederick Stanley MP for Blackpool	24 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	Salisbury I
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville (1815–1891)	6 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
		Edward Stanhope MP for Horncastle	3 August 1886	14 January 1887	Conservative	Salisbury II
		Henry Holland 1st Baron Knutsford	14 January 1887	11 August 1892	Conservative
		George Robinson 1st Marquess of Ripon (1827–1909)	18 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	Gladstone IV
						Rosebery
		Joseph Chamberlain MP for Birmingham West	29 June 1895	16 September 1903	Liberal Unionist	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
							Edward VII (1901–1910)
						Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Alfred Lyttelton MP for Warwick and Leamington	11 October 1903	4 December 1905	Liberal Unionist
		Victor Bruce 9th Earl of Elgin (1849–1917)	10 December 1905	12 April 1908	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
		Robert Crewe-Milnes 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858–1945)	12 April 1908	3 November 1910	Liberal	Asquith (I–III)
							George V (1910–1936)
		Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP for Rossendale	3 November 1910	25 May 1915	Liberal
		Bonar Law MP for Bootle	25 May 1915	10 December 1916	Conservative	Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		Walter Long MP for Westminster St George's (1854–1924)	10 December 1916	10 January 1919	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		Alfred Milner 1st Viscount Milner (1854–1925)	10 January 1919	13 February 1921	Liberal
		Winston Churchill MP for Dundee	13 February 1921	19 October 1922	Liberal
		Victor Cavendish 9th Duke of Devonshire (1868–1938)	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Law
						Baldwin I
		James Henry Thomas MP for Derby	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		Leo Amery MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	Baldwin II
		Sidney Webb 1st Baron Passfield (1859–1947)	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	MacDonald II
		James Henry Thomas MP for Derby	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	National Labour	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
		Philip Cunliffe-Lister MP for Hendon	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	Conservative	National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
		Malcolm MacDonald MP for Bassetlaw	7 June 1935	22 November 1935	National Labour	National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		James Henry Thomas MP for Derby	22 November 1935	22 May 1936	National Labour
							Edward VIII (1936)
		William Ormsby-Gore MP for Stafford	28 May 1936	16 May 1938	Conservative
							George VI (1936–1952)
						National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Malcolm MacDonald MP for Ross and Cromarty	16 May 1938	12 May 1940	National Labour
						Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		George Lloyd 1st Baron Lloyd (1879–1941)	12 May 1940	4 February 1941	Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)
		Walter Guinness 1st Baron Moyne (1880–1944)	8 February 1941	22 February 1942	Conservative
		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil Viscount Cranborne MP for South Dorset	22 February 1942	22 November 1942	Conservative
		Oliver Stanley MP for Westmorland	22 November 1942	26 July 1945	Conservative
						Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.)
		George Henry Hall MP for Aberdare	3 August 1945	4 October 1946	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		Arthur Creech Jones MP for Shipley	4 October 1946	28 February 1950	Labour
		Jim Griffiths MP for Llanelli	28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour
		Oliver Lyttelton MP for Aldershot	28 October 1951	28 July 1954	Conservative	Churchill III
							Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
		Alan Lennox-Boyd MP for Mid Bedfordshire	28 July 1954	14 October 1959	Conservative
						Eden
						Macmillan (I & II)
		Iain Macleod MP for Enfield West	14 October 1959	9 October 1961	Conservative
		Reginald Maudling MP for Barnet	9 October 1961	13 July 1962	Conservative
		Duncan Sandys MP for Streatham	13 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
						Douglas-Home
		Anthony Greenwood MP for Rossendale	18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour	Wilson (I & II)
		Frank Pakenham 7th Earl of Longford (1905–2001)	23 December 1965	6 April 1966	Labour
		Frederick Lee MP for Newton	6 April 1966	1 August 1966	Labour

After 1966, the responsibilities for the colonies were handled by:

• The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs from 1966 to 1968.
• The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 1968 to the present day.

The word "colony" stopped being used after the British Nationality Act 1981. Britain's rule over Hong Kong, which was the last major colony, ended in 1997. Britain still has some overseas territories today.

Secretaries Born in Colonies

A few of the people who held this important job were actually born in the colonies they were in charge of, or in other places outside the UK:

• Bonar Law was born in New Brunswick, which was a colony that later became part of Canada. He later moved to the United Kingdom.
• Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin was born in Canada. His father, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, was the Governor General of Canada at the time.
• Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner was born in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. This area is now part of Germany.
• Leo Amery was born in British India. His father was English and serving in India.

See also

In Spanish: Secretario de Estado para las Colonias para niños

• Colonial Land and Emigration Commission