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Secretary of State for India

Former position in British government


Former position in British government

FieldValue
postSecretary of State for India
insigniaRoyal coat of arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government, 1901-1952).svg
insigniacaptionRoyal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
departmentIndia Office
member_ofBritish Cabinet
Privy Council
seatWestminster, London
appointerThe British Monarch
on advice of the Prime Minister
termlengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
constituting_instrumentGovernment of India Act
precursorPresident of the Board of Control
formation2 August 1858
firstLord Stanley
lastWilliam Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel
abolished14 August 1947
deputyUnder-Secretary of State for India

Privy Council on advice of the Prime Minister

** His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India**, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the secretary of state with responsibility for the India Office in Whitehall that oversaw relations and administration of the India subcontinent under the British Raj. The post was created in 1858 when the East India Company's rule in Bengal ended and India, except for the Princely States, was brought India officially under the British Crown from London and the officeholder was a member of the British Cabinet.

In 1937, the India Office was reorganised which separated Burma and Aden under a new Burma Office, but the same secretary of state headed both departments and a new title was established as His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India and Burma. The India Office and its secretary of state were abolished in August 1947, when the United Kingdom granted independence in the Indian Independence Act, which created two new independent dominions, India and Pakistan. Burma soon achieved independence separately in early 1948.

Secretaries of state for India, 1858–1937

PortraitNameTerm of officePolitical partyPrime Minister
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby 2.jpg75px]]Lord Stanley
MP for King's Lynn2 August
185811 June
1859
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:1stViscountHalifax.jpg75px]]Sir Charles Wood
MP for Halifax until 1865
MP for Ripon after 186518 June
185916 February
1866
Liberal Party (UK)}}"John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:George Robinson 1st Marquess of Ripon.jpg75px]]George Robinson, 3rd Earl de Grey16 February
186626 June
1866
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Robert cecil.jpg75px]]Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne
MP for Stamford6 July
18668 March
1867
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh.jpg75px]]Sir Stafford Northcote
MP for North Devonshire8 March
18671 December
1868
Conservative Party (UK)}}"
Benjamin Disraeli
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll by George Frederic Watts.jpg75px]]George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll9 December
186817 February
1874
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Robert cecil.jpg75px]]Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury21 February
18742 April
1878
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:1st Earl of Cranbrook.jpg75px]]Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Viscount Cranbrook
2 April
187821 April
1880
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Picture of Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire.jpg75px]]Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington
MP for North East Lancashire28 April
188016 December
1882
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:1st Earl of Kimberley 1897 (cropped).jpg75px]]John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley16 December
18829 June
1885
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Randolph churchill.jpg75px]]Lord Randolph Churchill
MP for Paddington South24 June
188528 January
1886
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:1st Earl of Kimberley 1897 (cropped).jpg75px]]John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley6 February
188620 July
1886
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Portrait of Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross.jpg75px]]R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross3 August
188611 August
1892
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:1st Earl of Kimberley 1897 (cropped).jpg75px]]John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley18 August
189210 March
1894
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Henry Fowler.jpg75px]]Henry Fowler
MP for Wolverhampton East10 March
189421 June
1895
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Lord George Hamilton.JPG75px]]Lord George Hamilton
MP for Ealing4 July
18959 October
1903
Conservative Party (UK)}}"
Arthur Balfour
(Unionist Coalition)
Irish Unionist Alliance}}"[[Image:St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, circa 1910s.jpg75px]]William St John Brodrick
MP for Guildford9 October
19034 December
1905
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn - Project Gutenberg eText 17976.jpg75px]]John Morley
MP for Montrose Burghs until 1908
Viscount Morley of Blackburn after 190810 December
19053 November
1910
Liberal Party (UK)}}"Liberal Party (UK)}}"H. H. Asquith
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Portrait of Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe.jpg75px]]Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Earl of Crewe3 November
19107 March
1911
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn - Project Gutenberg eText 17976.jpg75px]]John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn7 March
191125 May
1911
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Portrait of Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe.jpg75px]]Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe25 May
191125 May
1915
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Austen Chamberlain MP.jpg75px]]Austen Chamberlain
MP for Birmingham West25 May
191517 July
1917
Liberal Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Edwin Samuel Montagu.jpg75px]]Edwin Montagu
MP for Chesterton until 1918
MP for Cambridgeshire after 191817 July
191719 March
1922
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:William Peel.jpg75px]]William Peel, 2nd Viscount Peel19 March
192222 January
1924
Conservative Party (UK)}}"Stanley Baldwin
Labour Party (UK)}}"[[File:Lord Olivier GGBain.jpg75px]]Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier22 January
19243 November
1924
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:1stEarlOfBirkenhead.jpg75px]]F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead6 November
192418 October
1928
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:William Peel.jpg75px]]William Peel, 2nd Viscount Peel18 October
19284 June
1929
Labour Party (UK)}}"[[Image:William Wedgewood-Benn.jpg75px]]William Wedgwood Benn
MP for Aberdeen North7 June
192924 August
1931
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Sir Samuel Hoare GGBain.jpg75px]]Sir Samuel Hoare
MP for Chelsea25 August
19317 June
1935
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Lord Zetland.jpg75px]]Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland7 June
193528 May
1937

Secretaries of state for India and Burma, 1937–1947

PortraitNameTerm of officePolitical partyPrime Minister
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Lord Zetland.jpg75px]]Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland28 May
193713 May
1940
Conservative Party (UK)}}"[[Image:Leopold Amery MP.png75px]]Leo Amery
MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook13 May
194026 July
1945
Labour Party (UK)}}"[[File:British Political Personalities 1936-1945 HU59768.jpg75px]]Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence3 August
194517 April
1947
Labour Party (UK)}}"The Right Honourable
William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel
17 April
194714 August
1947

Secretaries of state for Burma, 1947–1948

PortraitNameTerm of officePolitical partyPrime Minister
Labour Party (UK)}}"The Right Honourable
William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel14 August
19474 January
1948

Notes

References

  1. Resigned after being injured in a hunting accident.
  2. Resigned.
  3. Resigned.
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