The History of the Office of Chief Clerk

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

The History of the Office of Chief Clerk

Hi torian , RHD eptember 2002

THE HISTORY OF THE OFFICE OF CHIEF CLERK merging from its cloudy beginning in the late sevent enth century and ab lish d only at the dawn of the twenty-flrst, the title of hi f Clerk is one of the oldest in the history of the oreign Office. Th origins of th p st are b cure but probably volved from the nt ring r Writing 1 rks int th ' it t' or 'Chief lerks in each f the Offlces of the Secretari of tate for th North rn and Southern Departments (the institutional antec dents f th r ign and H me Offlces respectively). The' hier lerks ranked imm diat 1 aft r th Under ecretaries, but app ar to hav acquit d their di tinctive p siti n at th head of each office about 1689, with the alt rnativ title' irst 1 rk' appearing in 17 When th orthern D partm nt was transt rmed int th reign March 1782, its irst lerk, Jer my [ r J er miah] neyd, who had be in 1769, retain d hi p t. He thus appear d a ' it t lerk' in th submitt d by harles James ox, the first reign ecr tary, t th en ral, so that they c uld njoy th privileg of free postag c rr p nd nc .

ffice n 27 n app int d li t f taff P t Ma ter t r official

hief lerk, unlike th ther lerks n the tabli hm nt, ri ina11 d n salary fr m the Secretary f tat. He r c iv d in t ad a fix d prop rti n f th Office fe ,£25 ach from th Iri h nc rdatum und and the a t India mpany, an annual allowance f £3 fr rn P t ffic fund and vari u th r perqui ites and all wanc . In 1795, h rernunerati n wa c nv rt dint a fix d alary f £1 rec mmendati n in the R p rt f he mtn1 1 n r nqwrlng In r c iv d by Public Department. In 1822 th cal wa fix d at £1 , ri ing b annual incr m nts f £5 t £125 .

The

mmi Wh n J rerny neyd gave id nce t the d scrib d the w rk f th hi f lerk a being:

1

r

In 17 5, h

ignatur , 't pr pare all warrant which may aris in the Hic £ r Hi Maj e that th y ar c rrecdy nt r d in th r pecti b k; t and wh n ign d, t tak care that th public de patch ar punctually transmitt d; t k -p th acc unts f the f£ice; tree iv the cr tary f tate' app intm nt all th £ and gratuiti s, and t distribut them t wh m th rna bel ng; t pay all th lerk alarie and c ntingenci f Hic, and t pr par uch bill £ r th cretary f tat' igning, f extra rdinari sand xtra- xtra rdinari ,a Hi Maje ty may allow.' tatu wh n app int d lth ugh t ph n R 11 t n was hief Clerk in 18 4, hi duti s (a nd r cr tari s) w r irst 1 rk, r ain d all r sp n ibility p litical, whil Th mas Bidw 11, th hi for the stabli hm nt and financial bu in s . R 11 st n th n b cam Cl rk n Bidw 11' s r tit m nt, but his unu ual r t nti n f h P liti al and

financial matters did not last long. The duties f Rolleston' succ or '\v re c nfined to establishment and financial busine ,s that fr m 1 24, the hi f Clerk play d virtually no part in th p litical busine of the ffic.

By 1836, th Chief lerk had cust dy of the ee, onting nt and M ngers' aled unds, record d grants of mon y and app intments, prepared and c nsular c mmissions and exequaturs, and i su d pa sp rt. H als d alt with the Treasury ov r Diplomatic and C nsular expenditur , with correspond nce cr tary and r gar ding f, reign orders, and wa generally r sp n ible, und r th Under cretarie f tate, for th int rnal arrangem nts and eli ciplin f th Office.

Palm rst n c n idered aboli hing th p t f hief Clerk in 1839, but the vigor u defence mounted by Mr L n x- onyngham and th Under cr tarie pr ved successful. L nox-Conyngham bridg d th i ht nth and nin t nth centuries, but his acc unt of th het r gnu natur f hi duti - 'in sh rt, everything c nnect d with the financial busin f the ffice b longs t my D partment" - strikes a m d rn n te, as do his trictur s that h n d d mor than 'raw youth n wly app int d t the ffic, ntir 1 ign rant f fficial d with th nec ssity of accuracy and r gularity in th k ping habits, unimpr f acc unts, and, m st pr bably (wh n the acad mical ducation f th tim i considered), n t nIy totally unacquainted with b k-k pio, but 0 with th c mm n rules f arithm tick.'

Qu tion s r latin t dipl matic ace unts, ÂŁ r igo minist r ' pri il and to birth ,marriag and d ath r gi t red at Briti h mi i ns w r lat r add d t beam r sp n ibl f, r the dutie f the hi f I rk and in 1854 h al ng r . Th raft r hi duti w r irtuall sup rint nding the u en's M uochang d f, r th r t f th c ntury until c n ular c mnUssi 0 , quatur and pas p rt busine wer tran ÂŁ rr d to Treaty D partm nt in 1 91 and ther rutin functi ns w r tak n v r fr m frican D partment in 1 99. th titl f the D partm nt b partm ot' and th 1 rk was d m ted t the rank f ni r 1 rk and styl d ' hi f 1 rk f th inancial D partm nt'. Thi c ntinu d until 1 13, wh n th departmental title was r t r d and the hi f 1 rk f th ntt 11 r f given rank immediat Iy aft r th ffair .

Th int r-war p ri d aw a number chang ,includin th f a eparate I<in' n rand mmuni ati n stabli hment Departm nt in 1921 and the app intment fa ' inane ffic r' in 1 22 tact as th ace unting ffic r f, r th r ign ffic. n th r nam chan ,thi time t th ' tabli hment and inance Departm nt' f, 11 w d in 1933, with h Chi f I rk b c ming th 'Principal tabli hm nt ffic r'. In 19 hi P t wa m r ed with that of 'Finane ffic r' and it att ndant rank r initi l1y fr m i tant cr tary t i tant Und r cr tar and Iat r t D puty Und r ecr tary.

The ph n menal expansion of the oreign Office over the tw ntieth c ntury, and its absorption of the Commonwealth R lations Office (it lf an amalgamation of the Colonial, India and Dominions Offices) in 1968 mad the challeng s of administration far greater than those faced in the ninet enth century. The use of the title 'Chief lerk' fluctuated after 1945, but was most recently r vived by Oliver Wright in 1970. ince then the r le of th bief lerk has c ntinued to v lye, incr a ingl picking up responsibilities and tasks for which ther is n bvi us ( wn r' in th ffice. s the infrastructur r quired to supp rt Briti h f reign policy objectiv has grown, and the processes of Governm nt hay b com more complex, the role of the Chief Clerk could in some sens b c mpar d t that of a modern hief Operating Officer in the privat ector.

With n flXed b undari s round th dministrati n, the j b f Chi f lerk in thi p ri d has been described as a tricky ne: partly b cau f th inh r nt v rlap b tw n the tw p sts f PU and Chief Clerk; and partly becaus f the t nsi ns in urces at a tim f gr wing d mand and rising managing constrained r expectati ns of staff and thers. o

De pite the wid ning remit f th hi f 1 rk ov r the last 3 year (ranging from difficult d cision in disciplinary ma t rs t th curity implicati ns f mod rn t chn I gy or th intricaci s of Data Pr tecti n 1 gislati n), the c r f the job remain looking after m n y and p opl . Incr a ingly, thi ha m ant managing chang , in th ffic 's structur , in th wa p r nn 1 and r urc s are managed, in the tat ,in the way w c mmunicat - and ab all in how the CO d es its j b, and h w it taff r late teach th r. hr u all, m d rn hi f Clerks have b n s nsitiv t th fact that, in th w rds n £ rmer incumbent, ir John B yd, th is 'an intens ly human community' and the hief 1 rk had a sp cial r sp nsibility 't mak ur that colleagues continue t tr at ach ther ... and all th ir taff right d wn th lin , in a civilis d way'. Thi 1 d an ther f rm r hi f 1 rk it urti I bl, t consid r resignati n ver a eni r app intm nt wh n 'I fel tha m 1 yalty t th rvice utw igh d my 1 yalty t the Mini t r.'

In Oct ber 2 2, h wever, th titl of hi f 1 rk wa r plac d by hat f Direct r en ral (D ) f rp rat ffair. hi "va partly £ r r a ns f tyl : the v ry n ti n fa' hi f 1 rk' app ared t many t , at th anachr nistic. ew rand £ wer p pIe in id r ut id th what the j b wa . But th re wer also m r sub tanti r a The admini trati n f th urc s c uld n 1 n r s n ibly rc d from p liey ius, and a much m r h listie appr ach wa n cary. id with Th - establi hm nt in May 2 2 f a unifi d Bard t Mini t rs, 1 ad rship and strat gic dir cti n £ r th 'vV expr ssi n of thi philos phy. The r -branding afE rd d an pportunity t red fine, mor p cifically, the purvi wand Bard and resp n ibilities of th j b. With the e tabli hm nt f the n w

DGs a more completely integrated strategy for the FCO's administration and p licy had been achieved than perhaps at any other time in the Office's hist ry. s it Chri topher Hum aid in his Valedictory a Chief Cl rk: 'The administration is not something separate, uncomprehending [or] even un ympathetic to the n d of the wider Office. It is not U and Th m: Ware You'. Most Chief Clerks would undoubtedly have agreed.

Historians, Records and Historical Department September 2002

CHIEF CLERKS 1782-2002 Mar 1782-Apr 1792

Sneyd, Jeremiah

Apr 1792-Sep 1817

Bidwell, Thomas

Aug 1804-Sep 1817

Rolleston, Stephen (Second Chief Clerk)

Sep 1817 Jan 1824

Rolleston, Stephen

Feb 1824-Apr 1841

Bidwell, Thomas

Jul 1841-Nov 1866

Lenox Conyngham, George

Dec 1866-Nov 1890 Alston, Francis Beilby Dec 1890-Feb 1896

Hervey, Henry

Feb 1896-Mar 1900

Dallas, Sir George

Jun 1900-0ct 1913

Cartwright, Sir W. Chauncey (ChiefCl rk of Financial Dept. only)

Oct 1913 Jan 1919

Tilley, John (later Sir)

Jan 1919-Aug 1933

Montgomery, Sir Sep 1919.

Aug 1933-0ct 1939

Smith, harles (Principal Establishment Officer)

Sep 1939-Aug 1940

Butler, Sir Frederick

Sep 1940 Jul 1944

Ashton-Gwatkin, Frank

Oct 1944-Aug 1946

Crombie, James (later Sir)

Aug 1946-Dec 1949 Caccia, Harold (later Sir, then Lord) Dec 1949-Aug 1953 Clarke, H. Ashley (later Sir) Oct 1953-Aug 1956

Barclay, Sir Roderick

Aug 1956-Sep 1959

Allen, Sir D nis

Oct 1959-Sep 1963

Rundall, Sir rancis

Sep 1963-1965

Coulson, Sir John

1965-Sep 1968

Crowe, Sir olin

hi f

lerk

Sep 1968-Apr 1970

Wilkinson, Peter (later Sir)

May 1970-Dec 1972 Wright, Oliver (later Sir) Jan 1973 Jan 1976

Tebbit, Sir Donald

Feb 1976-Mar 1978

Keeble, Curtis (later Sir)

Apr 1978-Feb 1982

Youde, Sir Edward

Mar 1982-Mar 1984 Day, Derek (later Sir) Jun 1984-Sep 1986

Whitehead, John (later Sir)

Oct 1986 Jun 1989

Russell, Sir Mark

Jul 1989-Feb 1992

Boyd, John (later Sir)

Apr 1992-Feb 1995

Wood, Andrew (later Sir)

Feb 1995-0ct 1998

Young, Rob (later Sir)

Oct 1998-Sep 2001

Hum, Christopher (later Sir)

Oct 200 1-Sep 2002

Collecott, Peter