Secretary of State for the Colonies

From British Offices and Honours

[edit] Secretaries of State for the American Colonies, 1768-1782

Name	Entered office	Left office	Party	Notes
The Earl of Hillsborough	27 February 1768	27 August 1772	Tory
The Earl of Dartmouth	27 August 1772	10 November 1775	Tory
Lord George Germain	10 November 1775	February 1782	Tory
Welbore Ellis	February 1782	8 March 1782	Tory

[edit] Secretaries of State for the Colonies, 1854-1966

Name	Entered office	Left office	Party	Notes
Sir George Grey	12 June 1854	8 February 1855	Liberal
Sidney Herbert	8 February 1855	23 February 1855	Peelite
Lord John Russell	23 February 1855	21 July 1855	Liberal
Sir William Molesworth	21 July 1855	21 November 1855	Liberal
Henry Labouchere	21 November 1855	21 February 1858	Liberal
Lord Stanley	26 February 1858	5 June 1858	Conservative
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton	5 June 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative
The Duke of Newcastle	18 June 1859	7 April 1864	Liberal
Edward Cardwell	7 April 1864	26 June 1866	Liberal
The Earl of Carnarvon	6 July 1866	8 March 1867	Conservative
The Duke of Buckingham	8 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative
The Earl Granville	9 December 1868	6 July 1870	Liberal
The Earl of Kimberley	6 July 1870	17 February 1874	Liberal
The Earl of Carnarvon	21 February 1874	4 February 1878	Conservative
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach	4 February 1878	21 April 1880	Conservative
The Earl of Kimberley	21 April 1880	16 December 1882	Liberal
The Earl of Derby	16 December 1882	9 June 1885	Liberal
Sir Frederick Stanley	24 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative
The Earl Granville	6 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal
Edward Stanhope	3 August 1886	14 January 1887	Conservative
Sir Henry Holland from 1888, the Lord Knutsford	14 January 1887	11 August 1892	Conservative
The Marquess of Ripon	18 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal
Joseph Chamberlain	29 June 1895	16 September 1903	Liberal Unionist/Unionist
Alfred Lyttelton	11 October 1903	4 December 1905	Unionist
The Earl of Elgin	10 December 1905	12 April 1908	Liberal
The Earl of Crewe	12 April 1908	3 November 1910	Liberal
Lewis Harcourt	3 November 1910	25 May 1915	Liberal
Andrew Bonar Law	25 May 1915	10 December 1916	Unionist
Walter Long	10 December 1916	10 January 1919	Unionist
The Viscount Milner	10 January 1919	13 February 1921	Unionist
Winston Churchill	13 February 1921	19 October 1922	Liberal
The Duke of Devonshire	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative
James Thomas	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour
Leo Amery	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative
The Lord Passfield	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour
James Thomas	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	National Labour
Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	Conservative
Malcolm MacDonald	7 June 1935	22 November 1935	National Labour
James Thomas	22 November 1935	22 May 1936	National Labour
William Ormsby-Gore	28 May 1936	16 May 1938	Conservative
Malcolm MacDonald	16 May 1938	12 May 1940	National Labour
The Lord Lloyd	12 May 1940	8 February 1941	Conservative
The Lord Moyne	8 February 1941	22 February 1942	Conservative
Viscount Cranborne	22 February 1942	22 November 1942	Conservative
Oliver Stanley	22 November 1942	26 July 1945	Conservative
George Hall	3 August 1945	4 October 1946	Labour
Arthur Creech Jones	4 October 1946	28 February 1950	Labour
Jim Griffiths	28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour
Oliver Lyttelton	28 October 1951	28 July 1954	Conservative
Alan Lennox-Boyd	28 July 1954	14 October 1959	Conservative
Iain Macleod	14 October 1959	9 October 1961	Conservative
Reginald Maudling	9 October 1961	13 July 1962	Conservative
Duncan Sandys	13 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
Anthony Greenwood	18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour
The Earl of Longford	23 December 1965	6 April 1966	Labour
Frederick Lee	6 April 1966	1 August 1966	Labour

Merged with Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations to create the new position of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs.