This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries for Scotland in the Civil Service. It should not be confused with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.
Office The political office of Secretary for Scotland was established in 1885 along with the establishment of the Scottish Office.The office was established under the Secretary for Scotland Act 1885, section 2. In line with the secretaryship, a permanent under-secretaryship was created, to be occupied by a civil servant. The first office-holder was Francis Sandford.W. H. G. Armytage, "Francis Richard John Sandford, first Baron Sanford", The Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, vol. 31 (1948), p. 114. When the political office became the Secretary of State for Scotland in 1926, the permanent secretary also became Permanent Under-Secretary of State.David Milne, The Scottish Office (London: Allen and Unwin, 1957), p. 217.
Permanent Under-Secretaries (of State) for Scotland The following were Permanent Under-Secretaries (of State) for Scotland:Names and dates are based on the individuals' Who's Who entries, unless cited otherwise. 1885–1887: Sir Francis Sandford (later Baron Sandford). 1888–1892: Robert Cochran-Patrick. 1892–1902: Colonel Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff 1902–1908: Sir Reginald Macleod of Macleod 1909–1921: Sir James Miller Dodds 1921–1933: Sir John Lamb (Under-Secretary of State after 1926) 1933–1937: Sir John Jeffrey 1937: John Elborn Highton 1937–1946: Sir Horace Hamilton 1946–1959: Sir David Milne 1959–1964: Sir William Murrie 1965–1973: Sir Thomas Douglas Haddow 1973–1978: Sir Nicholas Godfrey Morrison 1978–1988: Sir William Kerr Fraser 1988–1998: Sir Robert Hillhouse 1998–1999: Alastair Muir Russell
Heads of the Scottish departments (Secretary grade) The Scottish Office was unusual in that it was federal in arrangement; the Secretary of State oversaw several separate Scottish departments via the Scottish Office; those departments were headed by a Secretary who was responsible directly to the Secretary of State, but would meet with the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office regularly.James G. Kellas, The Scottish Political System, 4th ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p. 77. The following is a list of those secretaries.
Secretary, Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department The Board of Agriculture for Scotland, which had been founded in 1912,"Chronology of Devolution, 1885–1979", Scottish Government Yearbook (1979), p. 204. was replaced in 1928 by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland with a new permanent secretary."The Reorganization of Scottish Offices", The Times (London), 18 October 1928, p. 16. Responsibility for fisheries was added in 1960 from the Scottish Home Department, and the department was then renamed the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. In 1991, it was renamed the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department. In 1995, it was again renamed to the Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department.
As Board of Agriculture for Scotland 1912–1918: Hugh Morison Conacher.The London Gazette, 3 May 1912 (no. 28604), p. 3196.Sixth report of the Board of Agriculture for Scotland being for the year ended 31st December 1917 (Cd. 9069, 1918), p. vii. 1918–1928: Charles Weatherill
As Department of Agriculture for Scotland
1928–1934: Sir Robert Blyth Greig 1934–1953: Sir Patrick Ramsay Laird 1953–1958: Sir Alexander Glen 1958–1960: Sir Matthew Campbell
As Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (from 1991 Scottish Office Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)
1960–1968: Sir Matthew Campbell 1968–1971: Harry Whitby 1971: William George Pottinger 1972–1984: James Ian Smith 1984–1992: Loudon Pearson Hamilton 1992–1995: Kenneth John Mackenzie
As Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department
1995–1998: Alastair Muir Russell 1998–1999: John Strathie Graham
Secretary, Scottish Office Development Department (1962–1999) Created in 1962 as the Scottish Development Department, it was renamed in 1991, becoming the Scottish Office Environment Department,Richard Parry, "The structure of the Scottish Office 1991", in The Scottish Government Yearbook 1992, p. 247. but reverted to being the Scottish Office Development Department in 1995."New Scottish Office structure announced", The Local Government Chronicle, 7 August 1995. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
As Scottish Development Department
1962–1964: Thomas Douglas Haddow 1965–1973: Sir Alan Blythe Hume 1973–1976: Kenneth Newis 1976–1980: Eric Gillett 1980–1987: Tony Richard Hillier Godden 1987–1990: Robert Gavin Loudon McCrone
As Scottish (Office) Environment Department
1991–1992: Robert Gavin Loudon McCrone 1992–1995: Harold Hernshaw Mills
As Scottish Office Development Department
1995–1998: Harold Hernshaw Mills 1998–1999: Kenneth John Mackenzie
Secretary, Scottish Office Industry Department (1973–1995) Created in 1973 as the Scottish Economic Planning Department. It was renamed the Scottish Industry Department in 1983,Arthur F. Midwinter, Michael Keating and James Mitchell, Politics and Public Policy in Scotland (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1991), p. 55. and, like all departments it was prefixed with "Scottish Office" in 1991. The department's portfolio was merged with the Education Department in 1995."Threat to Scottish Industry Department", The Scotsman, 1 February 1995. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
1973–1980: Tony Richard Hillier Godden 1980–1983: Robert Gavin Loudon McCrone
As Scottish (Office) Industry Department
1983–1987: Robert Gavin Loudon McCrone 1987–1990: James Archibald Scott 1990–1995: Peter Mackay
Secretary, Scottish Office Education and Industry Department Formed in 1872 as the Scotch Education Department, renamed Scottish Education Department in 1918, Scottish Office Education Department in 1991 and Scottish Office Education and Industry Department in 1995.John P. Wilson, The Routledge Encyclopaedia of UK Education, Training and Employment (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011), p. 273.
1872–1884: Francis Sandford (later Baron Sandford). 1884–1885: Patrick Cumin. 1885–1904: Sir Henry Craik 1904–1921: Sir John Struthers 1922–1928: Sir George Macdonald 1928–1936: Sir William Wallace McKechnieHis obituary in The Times ("Sir W. W. Mckechnie", The Times, 26 August 1947, p. 6) states 1922 to 1936, but this is contradicted by Sir George Macdonald's Who's Who entry which states that he (Macdonald) was secretary between 1922 and 1928. The University of Edinburgh Journal (1937, p. 55) states that McKechnie was secretary between 1928 and 1936. 1936–1940: Sir James Wallace Peck 1940–1952: Sir John Mackay Thomson (acting 1939) 1952–1957: Sir William Stuart Murrie 1964–1973: Sir Norman Graham 1973–1976: John Martin Fearn 1976–1984: John Angus Macbeth Mitchell 1984–1987: James Archibald Scott 1988–1999: Gerald Robertson Wilson
Secretary, Department of Health for Scotland (1929–1962) The Board of Health was established in 1919. In 1928, it became the Department of Health for Scotland,By the Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act 1928. and merged with the Department of Health for Scotland in 1962 to form the Scottish Home and Health Department (see below).
As Scottish Board of Health 1919–1928: John Jeffrey As Department of Health for ScotlandFor the office-holders down to 1957, see Milne, p. 218. 1929–1933: John Jeffrey 1933–1937: John Elborn Highton 1937–1939: William Scott Douglas 1939–1943: William Robert Fraser 1943–1953: Sir George Henry Henderson 1953–1956: Harold Ross Smith 1956–1959: Sir John Anderson 1959–1962: Thomas Douglas Haddow
Secretary, Scottish Home Department (1939–1962) Established in 1939 to take over functions of the Scottish Office, the Fishery Board for Scotland, and the Prisons Department for Scotland."New Scottish Home Department", The Times (London), 23 June 1939, p.10. Merged with the Department of Health for Scotland in 1962 to form the Scottish Home and Health Department (see below).
1939–1942: Robert Norman Duke (on secondment with the Scottish Civil Defence Regional Office from September 1939) 1942–1946: Sir David Milne 1946–1948: Robert Norman Duke 1948–1957: Sir Charles Cunningham 1957–1959: Sir William Stuart Murrie 1959–1962: Sir John Anderson
Secretary, Scottish Office Home and Health Department Formed by merger of the Scottish Home Department and the Department of Health for Scotland in 1962.Mary Macdonald and Adam Redpath, "The Scottish Office, 1954–1979", Scottish Government Yearbook 1980 (1980), p. 101–102. It was renamed the Scottish Office Home and Health Department in 1991, and split up into the Scottish Office Health Department and the Scottish Office Home Department in 1995.
1963–1972: Sir Ronald Ernest Charles Johnson 1972–1977: Ronald Petrie Fraser 1977–1984: Archibald Louden Rennie 1984–1990: William Reid 1990–1992: Graham Allan Hart 1992–1995: James HamillHamill was Secretary in 1992 (The Scottish Office Home and Health Department. Her Majesty's chief inspector of fire services for Scotland. Report for 1992 (Cm 2271, 1992-93), p. 45).
In 1995, the department was subsequently split into the Scottish Office Home Department and the Scottish Office Health Department. Hamill remained Secretary and Head of the Home Department, and was appointed CB in 1997. He was still in the office in 1999, when it was abolished on the formation of the devolved Scottish Executive.Hamill was appointed CB in 1997 (see London Gazette, 30 December 1997 (supplement, no. 54993), p. 3); the Civil Service Yearbook for 1998 and 1999 show him to be in office (31st ed., p. 359; 32nd ed., 365).Hamill was also known as Hamish (see, for instance, "Man the money's on", Herald Scotland, 12 June 1999), the Gaelic equivalent of "James".
After 1995, the new Health Department had no secretary, but comprised several branches: the Management Executive for NHS in Scotland (the Chief Executive from 1993 to 1999 was Geoffrey Richard Scaife, CB), the Office of the Chief Scientist, the Public Health Policy Unit (the head of which was the Chief Medical Officer), Medical Services (also headed by the Chief Medical Officer) and Nursing Services (headed by the Chief Nursing Officer).The Civil Service Yearbook: 31st Edition, 1998–1999, pp. 353–354, 359.
Secretary, Prisons Department for Scotland (1929–1939) The Prisons Department was established by the Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act 1928; it was abolished by the Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act 1939, and its functions were transferred to the newly established Scottish Home Department.
1929–1935: Lt-Col. Randolph BairdThe Edinburgh Gazette, 12 April 1929 (no. 14538), p. 390."Lieut.-Col. Baird", The Times, 3 December 1935, p. 19. 1936–1939: Lt-Col. William Leith-RossThe London Gazette, 7 April 1936 (no. 34272), p. 2297.Andrew Coyle, Inside: Rethinking Scotland's Prisons (Scottish Child, 1981), p. 187. Leith-Ross was subsequently appointed Director of Prison and Borstal Services in the new Scottish Home Department, serving in that office until 1950 when he retired and was succeeded by Kingsley Montague Hancock, who served until 1961 (see Scottish Home Department: Report on Prisons in Scotland for the Year 1950 (Cmd. 8261), p. 6, which gives a brief account of Leith-Ross's career, and Hancock's entry in Who's Who for his career).
Deputy Secretary, Central Services (1974–1991) The Deputy Secretary, Central Services, ranked equally with the Secretaries of each of the Departments, and formed part of the Scottish Office's management group (along with the Secretaries and Permanent Under-Secretary). The office-holder was responsible for matters of devolution, as well as the financial management of the Office and local authority finance.Scottish Government Yearbook 1979, p. 208.