Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

The position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was created in the United Kingdom's governmental reorganization of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departmentss became the Home and Foreign Office. In 1968, the Foreign Office merged with the Commonwealth Office, to form the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. For holders of this Secretaryship of State, see Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1782-1968)

• Charles James Fox 1782
• Thomas Robinson, 2nd Lord Grantham 1782 - 1783
• Charles James Fox 1783
• George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple 1783
• Francis Godolphin Osborne, Marquess of Carmarthen, 5th Duke of Leeds (1789) 1783 - 1791
• William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Lord Grenville 1791 - 1801
• Robert Banks Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury 1801 - 1804
• Dudley Ryder, 2nd Lord Harrowby 1804
• Henry Phipps, 3rd Lord Mulgrave 1805 - 1806
• Charles James Fox 1806
• Charles Grey, Viscount Howick 1806 - 1807
• George Canning 1807 - 1809
• Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst 1809
• Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley 1809 - 1812
• Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (1821) 1812 - 1822
• George Canning 1822 - 1827
• John William Ward, 4th Viscount Dudley and Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (1827) 1827 - 1828
• George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen 1828 - 1830
• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1830 - 1834
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 1834 - 1835
• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1835 - 1841
• George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen 1841 - 1846
• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1846 - 1851
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1851 - 1852
• James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury 1852
• Lord John Russell 1852 - 1853
• George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon 1853 - 1858
• James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury 1858 - 1859
• Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1861) 1859 - 1865
• George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon 1865 - 1866
• Edward Henry Stanley, Lord Stanley 1866 - 1868
• George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon 1868 - 1870
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1870 - 1874
• Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby 1874 - 1878
• Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1878 - 1880
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1880 - 1885
• Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1885 - 1886
• Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery 1886
• Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh 1886 - 1887
• Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1887 - 1892
• Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery 1892 - 1894
• John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley 1894 - 1895
• Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1895 - 1900
• Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne 1900 - 1905
• Sir Edward Grey 1905 - 1916
• Arthur James Balfour 1916 - 1919
• George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1921) 1919 - 1924
• Ramsay MacDonald 1924
• Sir Austen Chamberlain 1924 - 1929
• Arthur Henderson 1929 - 1931
• Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading 1931
• Sir John Allsebrooke Simon 1931 - 1935
• Sir Samuel John Gurney Hoare, 2nd Bt. 1935
• Anthony Eden 1935 - 1938
• Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax 1938 - 1940
• Anthony Eden 1940 - 1945
• Ernest Bevin 1945 - 1951
• Herbert Stanley Morrison 1951
• Sir Anthony Eden 1951 - 1955
• Harold Macmillan 1955
• Selwyn Lloyd 1955 - 1960
• Alexander Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Derby 1960 - 1963
• Richard Austen Butler 1963 - 1964
• Patrick Gordon Walker 1964 - 1965
• Michael Stewart 1965 - 1966
• George Brown 1966 - 1968

See also: foreign minister