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Secretary of State for War

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  Secretary of State for War

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  Secretary of State for War

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  Secretary of State for War

Secretary of State for War

Births, Marriages, Deaths

The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first applied to Henry Dundas (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854 and remained until 1 April 1964, when the cabinet position (along with that of First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for Air) was replaced by the Secretary of State for Defence - in charge of a new united Ministry of Defence.

The Secretary of State headed the War Office and was assisted by a Parliamentary Private Secretary, who was also a Member of Parliament, and a Military Secretary, who was a general.

Birth certificate
Secretaries of State for War, 1794-1801

• Henry Dundas (11 July 1794 - 17 March 1801) (also President of the Board of Control)

Birth certificate
Secretaries of State for War, 1854-1964

• Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle (12 June 1854 - 30 January 1855)
• Fox Maule, 2nd Baron Panmure (8 February 1855 - 21 February 1858)
• Jonathan Peel (26 February 1858 - 11 June 1859)
• Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea (18 June 1859 - 22 July 1861)
• Sir George Cornewall Lewis (23 July 1861 - 13 April 1863) (died in office)
• George Robinson, 3rd Earl de Grey (28 April 1863 - 16 February 1866)
• Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (16 February 1866 - 26 June 1866)
• Jonathan Peel (6 July 1866 - 8 March 1867)
• Sir John Pakington (8 March 1867 - 1 December 1868)
• Edward Cardwell (9 December 1868 - 17 February 1874)
• Gathorne Hardy (21 February 1874 - 2 April 1878)
• Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley (2 April 1878 - 21 April 1880)
• Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (28 April 1880 - 16 December 1882)
• Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (16 December 1882 - 9 June 1885)
• William Henry Smith (24 June 1885 - 21 January 1886)
• Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Viscount Cranbrook (21 January 1886 - 6 February 1886)
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (6 February 1886 - 20 July 1886)
• William Henry Smith (3 August 1886 - 14 January 1887)
• Edward Stanhope (14 January 1887 - 11 August 1892)
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (18 August 1892 - 21 June 1895)
• Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (4 July 1895 - 12 November 1900)
• William St John Brodrick (12 November 1900 - 6 October 1903)
• Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster (6 October 1903 - 4 December 1905)
• Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane (1911) (10 December 1905 - 12 June 1912)
• John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone (12 June 1912 - 30 March 1914) (resigned)
• Herbert Henry Asquith (30 March 1914 - 5 August 1914)
• Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum (5 August 1914 - 5 June 1916) (died in office)
• David Lloyd George (6 June 1916 - 5 December 1916) (resigned)
• Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (10 December 1916 - 18 April 1918)
• Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner (18 April 1918 - 10 January 1919)
• Winston Churchill (10 January 1919 - 13 February 1921)
• Sir Laming Worthington-Evans (13 February 1921 - 19 October 1922)
• Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (24 October 1922 - 22 January 1924)
• Stephen Walsh (22 January 1924 - 3 November 1924)
• Sir Laming Worthington-Evans (6 November 1924 - 4 June 1929)
• Thomas Shaw (7 June 1929 - 24 August 1931)
• Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (25 August 1931 - 5 November 1931)
• Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham (5 November 1931 - 7 June 1935)
• Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax (7 June 1935 - 22 November 1935)
• Alfred Duff Cooper (22 November 1935 - 28 May 1937)
• Leslie Hore-Belisha (28 May 1937 - 5 January 1940) (dismissed)
• Oliver Stanley (5 January 1940 - 11 May 1940)
• Anthony Eden (11 May 1940 - 22 December 1940)
• David Margesson (22 December 1940 - 22 February 1942)
• Sir P.J. Grigg (22 February 1942 - 26 July 1945)
• Jack Lawson (3 August 1945 - 4 October 1946)
• Frederick Bellenger (4 October 1946 - 7 October 1947)
• Emanuel Shinwell (7 October 1947 - 28 February 1950)
• John Strachey (28 February 1950 - 26 October 1951)
• Antony Head, 1st Viscount Head (31 October 1951 - 18 October 1956)
• John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham (18 October 1956 - 6 January 1958)
• Christopher Soames (6 January 1958 - 27 July 1960)
• John Profumo (27 July 1960 - 5 June 1963) (resigned)
• Joseph Godber (27 June 1963 - 21 October 1963)
• James Ramsden (21 October 1963 - 1 April 1964)