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 reign of George III, the two departments were of approximately equal importance.
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
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; white-space: nowrap;"
|+Secretary of State for the Southern Department
! Portrait
! Name<br><small>(Birth–Death)</small>
! colspan=2 | Term of office
! Monarch<br><small>(Reign)</small>
! <abbr title="Reference">Ref.</abbr>
|-
| 75px
| Sir Edward Nicholas<br><small>(1593–1669)</small>
| <small>1 June</small><br>1660
| <small>20 October</small><br>1662
| rowspan=6 style="background:#eaecf0" | Charles II<br>60px<br><small>(1660–1685)</small>
|
|-
| 75px
| Henry Bennet<br>1st Earl of Arlington<br><small>(1618–1685)</small>
| <small>20 October</small><br>1662
| <small>11 September</small><br>1674
|
|-
| 75px
| Henry Coventry<br><small>MP for Droitwich<br>(<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> 1618–1686)</small>
| <small>11 September</small><br>1674
| <small>26 April</small><br>1680
|
|-<!-- Sources don't agree as to whether Sunderland was Secretary from 1680 to 1681. He's kept in here because the sources that include him are slightly more reliable. -->
| 75px
| Robert Spencer<br>2nd Earl of Sunderland<br><small>(1641–1702)</small>
| <small>26 April</small><br>1680
| <small>2 February</small><br>1681
|
|-
| 75px
| Sir Leoline Jenkins<br><small>MP for Oxford University<br>(<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> 1625–1685)</small>
| <small>2 February</small><br>1681
| <small>14 April</small><br>1684
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Robert Spencer<br>2nd Earl of Sunderland<br><small>(1641–1702)</small>
| rowspan=2 | <small>14 April</small><br>1684
| rowspan=2 | <small>28 October</small><br>1688
| rowspan=2 |
|-
| rowspan=2 style="background:#eaecf0" | James II<br>60px<br><small>(1685–1688)</small>
|-
| 75px
| Charles Middleton<br>2nd Earl of Middleton<br><small>(<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> 1650–1719)</small>
| <small>28 October</small><br>1688
| <small>2 December</small><br>1688
|
|-
| 75px
| Charles Talbot<br>12th Earl of Shrewsbury<br><small>(1660–1718)</small>
| <small>14 February</small><br>1689
| <small>2 June</small><br>1690
| rowspan=8 style="background:#eaecf0" | Mary II<br>60px<br><small>(1689–1694)</small><br>&<br>William III<br>60px<br><small>(1689–1702)</small>
|
|-
| 75px
| Daniel Finch<br>2nd Earl of Nottingham<br><small>(1647–1730)</small>
| <small>2 June</small><br>1690
| <small>November</small><br>1693
|
|-
| 75px
| Sir John Trenchard<br><small>MP for Poole<br>(1649–1695)</small>
| <small>November</small><br>1693
| <small>27 April</small><br>1695
|
|-
| 75px
| Charles Talbot<br>1st Duke of Shrewsbury<br><small>(1660–1718)</small>
| <small>27 April</small><br>1695
| <small>12 December</small><br>1698
|
|-
| 75px
| James Vernon<br><small>MP for Westminster<br>(1646–1727)</small>
| <small>12 December</small><br>1698
| <small>14 May</small><br>1699
|
|-
| 75px
| Edward Villiers<br>1st Earl of Jersey<br><small>(<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> 1656–1711)</small>
| <small>14 May</small><br>1699
| <small>27 June</small><br>1700
|
|-
| 75px
| James Vernon<br><small>MP for Westminster<br>(1646–1727)</small>
| <small>27 June</small><br>1700
| <small>4 January</small><br>1702
|
|-
| 75px
| Charles Spencer<br>3rd Earl of Sunderland<br><small>(1675–1722)</small>
| <small>3 December</small><br>1706
| <small>13 June</small><br>1710
|
|-
| 75px
| William Legge<br>1st Earl of Dartmouth<br><small>(1672–1750)</small>
| <small>15 June</small><br>1710
| <small>6 August</small><br>1713
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Henry St John<br>1st Viscount Bolingbroke<br><small>(1678–1751)</small>
| rowspan=2 | <small>17 August</small><br>1713
| rowspan=2 | <small>31 August</small><br>1714
| rowspan=2 |
|-
| rowspan=7 style="background:#eaecf0" | George I<br>60px<br><small>(1714–1727)</small>
|-
| 75px
| James Stanhope<br><small>MP for Cockermouth<br>(1673–1721)</small>
| <small>27 September</small><br>1714
| <small>22 June</small><br>1716
|
|-
| 75px
| Sir Paul Methuen<br><small>MP for Brackley<br>(<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> 1672–1757)</small>
| <small>22 June</small><br>1716
| <small>10 April</small><br>1717
|
|-
| 75px
| Joseph Addison<br><small>MP for Malmesbury<br>(1672–1719)</small>
| <small>12 April</small><br>1717
| <small>14 March</small><br>1718
|
|-
| 75px
| James Craggs 'the Younger'<br><small>MP for Tregony<br>(1686–1721)</small>
| <small>16 March</small><br>1718
| <small>16 February</small><br>1721
|
|-
| 75px
| John Carteret<br>2nd Baron Carteret<br><small>(1690–1763)</small>
| <small>4 March</small><br>1721
| <small>31 March</small><br>1724
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Thomas Pelham-Holles<br>1st Duke of Newcastle<br><small>(1693–1768)</small>
| rowspan=2 | <small>6 April</small><br>1724
| rowspan=2 | <small>12 February</small><br>1748
| rowspan=2 |
|-
| rowspan=8 style="background:#eaecf0" | George II<br>60px<br><small>(1727–1760)</small>
|-
| 75px
| John Russell<br>4th Duke of Bedford<br><small>(1710–1771)</small>
| <small>12 February</small><br>1748
| <small>13 June</small><br>1751
|
|-
| 75px
| Robert Darcy<br>4th Earl of Holderness<br><small>(1718–1778)</small>
| <small>18 June</small><br>1751
| <small>23 March</small><br>1754
|
|-
| 75px
| Sir Thomas Robinson<br><small>MP for Christchurch<br>(1695–1770)</small>
| <small>24 March</small><br>1754
| <small>October</small><br>1755
|
|-
| 75px
| Henry Fox<br><small>MP for Windsor<br>(1705–1774)</small>
| <small>14 November</small><br>1755
| <small>13 November</small><br>1756
|
|-
| 75px
| William Pitt 'the Elder'<br><small>MP for Okehampton<br>(1708–1778)</small>
| <small>4 December</small><br>1756
| <small>6 April</small><br>1757
|
|-<!-- Some sources omit Holderness as he was part of the brief 1757 caretaker ministry. -->
| 75px
| Robert Darcy<br>4th Earl of Holderness<br><small>(1718–1778)</small>
| <small>6 April</small><br>1757
| <small>27 June</small><br>1757
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | William Pitt 'the Elder'<br><small>MP for Bath<br>(1708–1778)</small>
| rowspan=2 | <small>27 June</small><br>1757
| rowspan=2 | <small>5 October</small><br>1761
| rowspan=2 |
|-
| 75px
| George Montagu-Dunk<br>2nd Earl of Halifax<br><small>(1716–1771)</small>
| <small>9 September</small><br>1763
| <small>10 July</small><br>1765
|
|-
| 75px
| Henry Seymour Conway<br><small>MP for Thetford<br>(1719–1795)</small>
| <small>12 July</small><br>1765
| <small>23 May</small><br>1766
|
|-
| 75px
| Charles Lennox<br>3rd Duke of Richmond<br><small>(1735–1806)</small>
| <small>23 May</small><br>1766
| <small>29 July</small><br>1766
|
|-
| 75px
| William Petty<br>2nd Earl of Shelburne<br><small>(1737–1805)</small>
| <small>30 July</small><br>1766
| <small>20 October</small><br>1768
|
|-
| 75px
| Thomas Thynne<br>3rd Viscount Weymouth<br><small>(1734–1796)</small>
| <small>21 October</small><br>1768
| <small>12 December</small><br>1770
|
|-
| 75px
| William de Zuylestein<br>4th Earl of Rochford<br><small>(1717–1781)</small>
| <small>19 December</small><br>1770
| <small>9 November</small><br>1775
|
|-
| 75px
| Thomas Thynne<br>3rd Viscount Weymouth<br><small>(1734–1796)</small>
| <small>9 November</small><br>1775
| <small>November</small><br>1779
|
|-
| 75px
| Wills Hill<br>1st Earl of Hillsborough<br><small>(1718–1793)</small>
| <small>25 November</small><br>1779
| <small>27 March</small><br>1782
|
|-
|}
See also
- Secretary of State (England)