The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It took over some of the functions of the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851 when the portfolio of Crown holdings was divided into the public and the commercial. The position was frequently of cabinet level. The office was renamed Minister of Works and Buildings and First Commissioner of Works in 1940, Minister of Works and Planning upon receiving statutory planning powers from the Ministry of Health in 1942, Minister of Works when those planning powers were moved to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in 1943, and finally Minister of Public Buildings and Works in 1962. In this last form the commissioner had "additional responsibility for studying the problems of the building industry". On 15 October 1970 the role was amalgamated with the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Housing and Local Government in the Department of the Environment.
List of Works Commissioners and Ministers
First Commissioners of Works (1851–1940)
+First Commissioner of Works Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry Edward SeymourLord SeymourMP for Totnes(1804–1885) 1 August1851 21 February1852 Whig Russell I Lord John MannersMP for Colchester(1818–1906) 4 March1852 17 December1852 Conservative Who? Who? Sir William Molesworth8th BaronetMP for Southwark(1810–1855) 5 January1853 21 July1855 Radical Aberdeen(Peelite–Whig) Sir Benjamin Hall1st BaronetMP for Marylebone(1802–1867) 21 July1855 21 February1858 Whig Palmerston I Lord John MannersMP for Leicestershire North(1818–1906) 26 February1858 11 June1859 Conservative Derby–Disraeli II Henry FitzRoyMP for Lewes(1807–1859) 18 June1859 17 December1859 Liberal Palmerston II William CowperMP for Hertford(1811–1888) 9 February1860 26 June1866 Liberal Russell II Lord John MannersMP for Leicestershire North(1818–1906) 6 July1866 1 December1868 Conservative Derby–Disraeli III Austen Henry LayardMP for Southwark(1817–1894) 9 December1868 26 October1869 Liberal Gladstone I Acton Smee AyrtonMP for Tower Hamlets(1816–1886) 26 October1869 11 August1873 Liberal William Patrick AdamMP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire(1823–1881) 11 August1873 17 February1874 Liberal Lord Henry LennoxMP for Chichester(1821–1886) 21 March1874 14 August1876 Conservative Disraeli II Gerard NoelMP for Rutland(1823–1911) 14 August1876 21 April1880 Conservative William Patrick AdamMP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire(1823–1881) 3 May1880 1880 Liberal Gladstone II George Shaw LefevreMP for Reading(1831–1928) 29 November1881 13 February1885 Liberal Archibald Primrose5th Earl of Rosebery(1847–1929) 13 February1885 9 June1885 Liberal David PlunketMP for Dublin University(1838–1919) 24 June1885 28 January1886 Conservative Salisbury I Albert Parker3rd Earl of Morley(1843–1905) 17 February1886 16 April1886 Liberal Gladstone III Victor Bruce9th Earl of Elgin(1849–1917) 16 April1886 20 July1886 Liberal David PlunketMP for Dublin University(1838–1919) 5 August1886 11 August1892 Conservative Salisbury II George Shaw LefevreMP for Bradford Central(1831–1928) 18 August1892 10 March1894 Liberal Gladstone IV Herbert GladstoneMP for Leeds West(1854–1930) 10 March1894 21 June1895 Liberal Rosebery Aretas Akers-DouglasMP for St Augustine's(1851–1926) 4 July1895 11 August1902 Conservative Salisbury(Con.–Lib.U.) Robert Windsor-Clive14th Baron Windsor(1857–1923) 11 August1902 4 December1905 Conservative Balfour(Con.–Lib.U.) Lewis Vernon HarcourtMP for Rossendale(1863–1922) 10 December1905 3 November1910 Liberal Campbell-Bannerman Asquith William Lygon7th Earl Beauchamp(1872–1938) 3 November1910 6 August1914 Liberal Alfred Emmott1st Baron Emmott(1858–1926) 6 August1914 25 May1915 Liberal Lewis Vernon HarcourtMP for Rossendale(1863–1922) 25 May1915 10 December1916 Liberal Asquith Coalition(Lib.–Con.–Lab.) Sir Alfred Mond1st BaronetMP for Swansea West(1868–1930) 10 December1916 1 April1921 Liberal Lloyd George(I & II)(Lib.–Con.–Lab.) David Lindsay27th Earl of Crawford(1871–1940) 1 April1921 19 October1922 Conservative Sir John Baird2nd BaronetMP for Ayr Burghs(1874–1941) 31 October1922 22 January1924 Conservative Law Baldwin I Fred JowettMP for Bradford East(1864–1944) 22 January1924 3 November1924 Labour MacDonald I William Wellesley Peel2nd Viscount Peel(1867–1937) 10 November1924 18 October1928 Conservative Baldwin II Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart7th Marquess of Londonderry(1878–1949) 18 October1928 4 June1929 Conservative George LansburyMP for Bow and Bromley(1859–1940) 7 June1929 24 August1931 Labour MacDonald II Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart7th Marquess of Londonderry(1878–1949) 25 August1931 5 November1931 Conservative National I(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) William Ormsby-GoreMP for Stafford(1885–1964) 5 November1931 16 June1936 Conservative National II(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) National III(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) James Stanhope7th Earl Stanhope(1880–1967) 16 June1936 27 May1937 Conservative Sir Philip Sassoon3rd BaronetMP for Hythe(1888–1939) 27 May1937 7 June1939 Conservative National IV(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) Herwald RamsbothamMP for Lancaster(1887–1971) 7 June1939 3 April1940 Conservative Chamberlain War(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) Herbrand Sackville9th Earl De La Warr(1900–1976) 3 April1940 18 May1940 National Labour George Tryon1st Baron Tryon(1871–1940) 18 May1940 3 October1940 Conservative Churchill War(All parties)
Ministers of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works (1940–1942)
+Minister of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry John Reith1st Baron Reith(1889–1971) 3 October1940 11 February1942 Independent(National) Churchill War(All parties)
Ministers of Works and Planning (1942–1943)
+Minister of Works and Planning Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry John Reith1st Baron Reith(1889–1971) 3 October1940 11 February1942 Independent(National) Churchill War(All parties) Wyndham Portal1st Baron Portal(1885–1949) 22 February1942 February1943 Conservative
Ministers of Works (1943–1962)
+Minister of Works Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry Wyndham Portal1st Baron Portal(1885–1949) February1943 21 November1944 Conservative Churchill War(All parties) Duncan SandysMP for Norwood(1908–1987) 21 November1944 26 July1945 Conservative Churchill Caretaker(Con.–N.Lib.) George TomlinsonMP for Farnworth(1890–1952) 4 August1945 10 February1947 Labour Attlee(I & II) Charles KeyMP for Bow and Bromley(1883–1964) 10 February1947 28 February1950 Labour Richard StokesMP for Ipswich(1897–1957) 28 February1950 26 April1951 Labour George BrownMP for Belper(1914–1985) 26 April1951 26 October1951 Labour Sir David EcclesMP for Chippenham(1904–1999) 1 November1951 18 October1954 Conservative Churchill III Nigel BirchMP for West Flintshire(1906–1981) 18 October1954 20 December1955 Conservative Patrick Buchan-HepburnMP for Beckenham(1901–1974) 20 December1955 16 January1957 Conservative Eden Hugh MolsonMP for High Peak(1903–1991) 16 January1957 22 October1959 Conservative Macmillan(I & II) Lord John HopeMP for Edinburgh Pentlands(1912–1996) 22 October1959 16 July1962 Conservative
Ministers of Public Buildings and Works (1962–1970)
+Minister of Public Buildings and Works Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry Geoffrey RipponMP for Norwich South(1924–1997) 16 July1962 10 October1964 Conservative Macmillan(I & II) Douglas-Home Charles PannellMP for Leeds West(1902–1980) 19 October1964 6 April1966 LabourWilson(I & II) Reg PrenticeMP for East Ham North(1923–2001) 6 April1966 29 August1967 Labour Bob MellishMP for Bermondsey(1913–1998) 29 August1967 30 April1969 Labour John SilkinMP for Deptford(1923–1987) 30 April1969 19 June1970 Labour Julian AmeryMP for Brighton Pavilion(1919–1996) 23 June1970 15 October1970 Conservative Heath
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