# Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies

The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and, from 1948, also to a Minister of State.

## Under-Secretaries of State for the Colonies, 1768–1782

| Name | Entered office | Left office |
| Richard Phelps | 1768 | 1768 |
| John Pownall | 1768 | 1770 |
| John Pownall and William Knox | 1770 | 1776 |
| William Knox and Christopher D'Oyly | 1776 | 1778 |
| William Knox and Thomas De Grey | 1778 | 1780 |
| William Knox and Benjamin Thompson | 1780 | 1781 |
| William Knox and John Fisher | 1781 | 1782 |
In 1782, following the loss of the American colonies, the office was abolished, and its duties given to the Home Secretary. From there it passed to the War Office, which was later renamed the War and Colonial Office. In 1854 this office was split, and the Colonial Office reestablished.

## Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for the Colonies, 1854–1966

For earlier office-holders see Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.
| Name | Entered office | Left office |
| Frederick Peel | 1854 | 1855 |
| John Ball | 1855 | 1857 |
| Chichester Fortescue | 1857 | 1858 |
| The Earl of Carnarvon | 1858 | 1859 |
| Chichester Fortescue | 1859 | 1865 |
| William Edward Forster | 1865 | 1866 |
| Charles Adderley | 1866 | 1868 |
| William Monsell | 1868 | 1871 |
| Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen | 1871 | 1874 |
| James Lowther | 1874 | 1878 |
| The Earl Cadogan | 1878 | 1880 |
| M. E. Grant Duff | 1880 | 1881 |
| Leonard Courtney | 1881 | 1882 |
| Hon. Evelyn Ashley | 1882 | 1885 |
| The Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl | 1885 | 1886 |
| George Osborne Morgan | 1886 | 1886 |
| The Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl | 1886 | 1887 |
| The Earl of Onslow | 1887 | 1888 |
| Baron Henry de Worms | 1888 | 1892 |
| Sydney Buxton | 1892 | 1895 |
| The Earl of Selborne | 1895 | 1900 |
| The Earl of Onslow | 1900 | 1903 |
| The Duke of Marlborough | 1903 | 1905 |
| Winston Churchill | 1905 | 1908 |
| J. E. B. Seely | 1908 | 1911 |
| The Lord Lucas of Crudwell | 1911 | 1911 |
| The Lord Emmott | 1911 | 1914 |
| The Lord Islington | 1914 | 1915 |
| Arthur Steel-Maitland | 1915 | 1917 |
| William Hewins | 1917 | 1919 |
| Leo Amery | 1919 | 1921 |
| Hon. E. F. L. Wood | 1921 | 1922 |
| Hon. William Ormsby-Gore | 1922 | 1924 |
| The Lord Arnold | 1924 | 1924 |
| Hon. William Ormsby-Gore | 1924 | 1929 |
| William Lunn | 1929 | 1929 |
| Drummond Shiels | 1929 | 1931 |
| Robert William Hamilton | 1931 | 1932 |
| The Earl of Plymouth | 1932 | 1936 |
| The Earl De La Warr | 1936 | 1937 |
| The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava | 1937 | 1940 |
| George Hall | 1940 | 1942 |
| Harold Macmillan | 1942 | 1943 |
| The Duke of Devonshire | 1943 | 1945 |
| Arthur Creech Jones | 1945 | 1946 |
| Ivor Thomas | 1946 | 1947 |
| David Rees-Williams | 1947 | 1950 |
| Thomas Fotheringham-Cook | 1950 | 1951 |
| The Earl of Munster | 1951 | 1951 |
| The Lord Lloyd | 1951 | 1957 |
| John Profumo | 1957 | 1958 |
| Julian Amery | 1958 | 1960 |
| Hon. Hugh Fraser | 1960 | 1962 |
| Nigel Fisher | 16 July 1962 | 24 October 1963 |
| Nigel Fisher and Richard Hornby | 24 October 1963 | 16 October 1964 |
| Eirene White and The Lord Taylor | 20 October 1964 | 11 October 1965 |
| The Lord Taylor and The Lord Beswick | 11 October 1965 | 11 April 1966 |
| The Lord Beswick | 11 April 1966 | 1 August 1966 |
Abolished 1966. Thereafter, see Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs.

## Minister of State for the Colonies, 1948–1964

| Name | Entered office | Left office |
| The Earl of Listowel | 1948 | 1950 |
| John Dugdale | 1950 | 1951 |
| Alan Lennox-Boyd | 1951 | 1952 |
| Henry Hopkinson | 1952 | 1955 |
| Hon. John Hare | 1955 | 1956 |
| Hon. John Maclay | 1956 | 1957 |
| The Earl of Perth | 1957 | 1962 |
| The Marquess of Lansdowne | 1962 | 1964 |
Abolished 1964. Thereafter, see Minister of State for Commonwealth Affairs.

## Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Colonies, 1825 and 1854–1966

| Name | Entered office | Left office |
| Sir Robert Hay | 1825 | 1836 |
| Sir James Stephen | 1836 | 1847 |
| Herman Merivale | 1848 | 1859 |
| Sir Frederic Rogers | 1859 | 1871 |
| Sir Robert Wyndham Herbert | 1871 | 1892 |
| Sir Robert Henry Meade | 1892 | 1897 |
| Edward Wingfield | 1897 | 1900 |
| Montagu Ommanney | 1900 | 1907 |
| Sir Francis Hopwood | 1907 | 1911 |
| Sir John Anderson | 1911 | 1916 |
| Sir George Fiddes | 1916 | 1921 |
| Sir James Masterton-Smith | 1921 | 1925 |
| Sir Samuel Wilson | 1925 | 1933 |
| Sir John Maffey | 1933 | 1937 |
| Sir Cosmo Parkinson | 1937 | 1940 |
| Sir George Gater | 1940 | 1940 |
| Sir Cosmo Parkinson | 1940 | 1942 |
| Sir George Gater | 1942 | 1947 |
| Sir Thomas Lloyd | 1947 | 1956 |
| Sir John Macpherson | 1956 | 1959 |
| Sir Hilton Poynton | 1959 | 1966 |
History of English and British government departments with responsibility for foreign affairs and those with responsibility for the colonies, dominions and the Commonwealth :
| Northern Department 1660–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | Southern Department 1660–1768 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | Southern Department 1660–1768 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | — |
| Northern Department 1660–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | Southern Department 1768–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries 1782: diplomatic responsibilities transferred to new Foreign Office | Colonial Office 1768–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | — |
| Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Home Office 1782–1794 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | Home Office 1782–1794 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | | — |
| Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Colonial Office 1854–1925 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | Colonial Office 1854–1925 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | India Office 1858–1937 Secretaries — Undersecretaries |
| Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Colonial Office 1925–1966 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Dominions Office 1925–1947 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | India Office 1858–1937 Secretaries — Undersecretaries |
| Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Colonial Office 1925–1966 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries | Dominions Office 1925–1947 Secretaries — Undersecretaries | India Office and Burma Office 1937–1947 Secretaries — Undersecretaries |
| Commonwealth Relations Office 1947–1966 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries ||
| Commonwealth Office 1966–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries |||
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1968–2020 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries ||||
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Since 2020 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries ||||