Secretary of State for War

The position of Secretary of State for War, a British cabinet-level position, first applied to Henry Dundas (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854 and remained until 1 April 1964, when the cabinet position (along with that of First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for Air) was replaced by the Secretary of State for Defence - in charge of a new united Ministry of Defence. The former office of the Secretary of State for War became the that of the new Minister of Defence for the Army.

Secretaries of State for War, 1794-1801

Henry Dundas 1794 - 1801

Secretaries of State for War, 1854-1966

Henry Pelham-Clinton, Duke of Newcastle 1854 - 1855
Fox Maule-Ramsey, Lord Panmure 1855 - 1858
Jonathan Peel 1858 - 1859
Sidney Herbert 1859 - 1861
Sir George Cornewall Lewis 1861 - 1863
George Robinson, 2nd Earl of Ripon 1865 - 1866
Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington 1866
Jonathan Peel 1866 - 1867
Sir John Pakington 1867 - 1868
Edward Cardwell 1868 - 1874
Gathorne Hardy 1874 - 1878
Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley 1878 - 1880
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers 1880 - 1882
Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington 1882 - 1885
William Henry Smith 1885 - 1886
Gathorne Hardy, Viscount Cranbrook 1886
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1886
William Henry Smith 1886 - 1887
Edward Stanhope 1887 - 1892
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1892 - 1895
Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne 1895 - 1900
William St. John Brodrick 1900 - 1903
Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster 1903 - 1905
Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane (1911) 1905 - 1912
John Edward Seely 1912 - 1914
Herbert Henry Asquith 1914
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum 1914 - 1916
David Lloyd George 1916
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby 1916 - 1918
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner 1918 - 1919
Winston Churchill 1919 - 1921
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans 1921 - 1922
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby 1922 - 1924
Stephen Walsh 1924
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans 1924 - 1929
Thomas Shaw 1929 - 1931
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe 1931
Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham 1931 - 1935
Edward Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax 1935 - 1937
Leslie Hore-Belisha 1937 - 1940
Oliver Frederick Stanley 1940
Anthony Eden 1940
Henry Reginald Margesson 1940 - 1942
Sir Percy James Grigg 1942 - 1945
John Lawson 1945 - 1946
Frederick Bellenger 1946 - 1947
Emanuel Shinwell 1947 - 1950
John Strachey 1950 - 1951
Anthony Henry Head 1951 - 1956
John Hugh Hare 1956 - 1958
Christopher Soames 1958 - 1960
John Profumo 1960 - 1963
James Ramsden 1963 - 1964