caption monarch predecessor successor office term_start image article_title term_end
portrait by michael dahl james ii matthew locke george clarke secretary at war august 1683 williamblathwaytbydahl.jpg william blathwayt
 1704
william blathwayt

william blathwayt -lrb- or blathwayte -rrb- -lrb- 1649 -- 1717 -rrb- was a civil servant and politician who established the war office as a department of the british government and played an important part in administering the english -lrb- later british -rrb- colonies of north america .
