chief secretary

chief secretary. The office of chief secretary originated in the 17th century when the holder acted as personal assistant to the lord lieutenant or lord deputy. By the 18th century it had developed into one of the principal offices of state in Ireland, and by the later part of the 19th century it carried far more political weight than that of lord lieutenant. The chief secretary acted as the main exponent of government policy in the Irish house of commons, and subsequently at Westminster, and also supervised the running of the chief secretary's office, the hub from which the spokes of government radiated. As government interventionism increased over the course of the 19th century so the responsibilities of the chief secretary grew. By the end of the century he was answerable to parliament for 29 government departments, some of which, such as the Local Government Board and the Congested Districts Board, were in practice autonomous. Generally filled from the junior ranks of English politicians, the office was a notoriously stressful one, combining a heavy workload and much travelling. But if some chief secretaries such as Thomas Pelham (1795–8) or Sir Michael Hicks Beach (1886–7) buckled under the strain, others, like Robert Peel and Arthur Balfour, emerged with their career prospects enhanced and their reputations firmly established.

Virginia Crossman