The secretary of state for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department became the Home Office.

History Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two British secretaries of state for the Northern and the Southern departments were divided not based on the principles of modern ministerial divisions, but geographically. The secretary of state for the Southern Department was responsible for Ireland, the Channel Islands, France, Spain, Portugal, the Old Swiss Confederacy, the states of Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. He was also responsible for the American colonies until 1768, when the charge was given to the secretary of state for the colonies. The secretary of state for the Northern Department was responsible for relations with the Dutch Republic, Scandinavia, Poland, Russia, and the Holy Roman Empire. Domestic responsibilities in England and Wales were shared between the two Secretaries. After the union with Scotland in 1707, the two secretaries also took responsibility for Scotland when there was no secretary of state for Scotland in office.

Until 1706, the practice was generally for the senior official to lead the Southern Department, and the junior the Northern Department, with the Northern Secretary being transferred to the Southern Department when a vacancy arose at the latter. During the reigns of George I and George II, however, the Northern Department began to be seen as the more important, since its responsibilities included the monarchs' ancestral home of Hanover.Cass (1932), pp. 21–22 During the reign of George III, the two departments were of approximately equal importance.Cass (1932), p. 4

In 1782, the two secretaries of state were reformed as the secretary of state for the Home Department and the secretary of state for foreign affairs.

List of southern secretaries

+Secretary of State for the Southern Department'Lists of appointments', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2, Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660–1782, ed. J C Sainty (London, 1973), pp. 22-58. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol2/pp22-58 [accessed 18 July 2017]. Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Monarch(Reign) Ref. Sir Edward Nicholas(1593–1669) 1 June1660 20 October1662 Charles II(1660–1685) Henry Bennet1st Earl of Arlington(1618–1685) 20 October1662 11 September1674 Henry CoventryMP for Droitwich(c. 1618–1686) 11 September1674 26 April1680 Robert Spencer2nd Earl of Sunderland(1641–1702) 26 April1680 2 February1681 Sir Leoline JenkinsMP for Oxford University(c. 1625–1685) 2 February1681 14 April1684 Robert Spencer2nd Earl of Sunderland(1641–1702) 14 April1684 28 October1688 James II(1685–1688) Charles Middleton2nd Earl of Middleton(c. 1650–1719) 28 October1688 2 December1688 Charles Talbot12th Earl of Shrewsbury(1660–1718) 14 February1689 2 June1690 Mary II(1689–1694)&William III(1689–1702) Daniel Finch2nd Earl of Nottingham(1647–1730) 2 June1690 6 November1693 Sir John TrenchardMP for Poole(1649–1695) 6 November1693 27 April1695 Charles Talbot1st Duke of Shrewsbury(1660–1718) 27 April1695 12 December1698 James VernonMP for Westminster(1646–1727) 12 December1698 14 May1699 Edward Villiers1st Earl of Jersey(c. 1656–1711) 14 May1699 27 June1700 James VernonMP for Westminster(1646–1727) 27 June1700 4 January1702 Charles Montagu4th Earl of Manchester(c. 1662–1722) 4 January1702 1 May1702 Anne(1702–1714) Daniel Finch2nd Earl of Nottingham(1647–1730) 2 May1702 22 April1704 Sir Charles HedgesMP for West Looe(1650–1714) 18 May1704 3 December1706 Charles Spencer3rd Earl of Sunderland(1675–1722) 3 December1706 13 June1710 William Legge1st Earl of Dartmouth(1672–1750) 15 June1710 6 August1713 Henry St John1st Viscount Bolingbroke(1678–1751) 17 August1713 31 August1714 George I(1714–1727) James StanhopeMP for Cockermouth(1673–1721) 27 September1714 22 June1716 Sir Paul MethuenMP for Brackley(c. 1672–1757) 22 June1716 10 April1717 Joseph AddisonMP for Malmesbury(1672–1719) 12 April1717 14 March1718 James Craggs 'the Younger'MP for Tregony(1686–1721) 16 March1718 16 February1721 John Carteret2nd Baron Carteret(1690–1763) 4 March1721 31 March1724 Thomas Pelham-Holles1st Duke of Newcastle(1693–1768) 6 April1724 12 February1748 George II(1727–1760) John Russell4th Duke of Bedford(1710–1771) 12 February1748 13 June1751 Robert Darcy4th Earl of Holderness(1718–1778) 18 June1751 23 March1754 Sir Thomas RobinsonMP for Christchurch(1695–1770) 24 March1754 October1755 Henry FoxMP for Windsor(1705–1774) 14 November1755 13 November1756 William Pitt 'the Elder'MP for Okehampton(1708–1778) 4 December1756 6 April1757 Robert Darcy4th Earl of Holderness(1718–1778) 6 April1757 27 June1757 William Pitt 'the Elder'MP for Bath(1708–1778) 27 June1757 5 October1761 George III(1760–1820) Charles Wyndham2nd Earl of Egremont(1710–1763) 9 October1761 21 August1763 George Montagu-Dunk2nd Earl of Halifax(1716–1771) 9 September1763 10 July1765 Henry Seymour ConwayMP for Thetford(1719–1795) 12 July1765 23 May1766 Charles Lennox3rd Duke of Richmond(1735–1806) 23 May1766 29 July1766 William Petty2nd Earl of Shelburne(1737–1805) 30 July1766 20 October1768 Thomas Thynne3rd Viscount Weymouth(1734–1796) 21 October1768 12 December1770 William de Zuylestein4th Earl of Rochford(1717–1781) 19 December1770 9 November1775 Thomas Thynne3rd Viscount Weymouth(1734–1796) 9 November1775 November1779 Wills Hill1st Earl of Hillsborough(1718–1793) 25 November1779 27 March1782

See also Secretary of State (England)

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