Clerk of the Acts


The Clerk of the Acts originally known as the Keeper of the King's Ports and Galleys was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy who was also a principal member of the Navy Board as Clerk of the Navy from 1546 to 1660 and Clerk of the Acts from 1660 until 1796, he was responsible for the organisation of Navy Office, processing naval contracts and coordinating the secretarial side of the Navy Board's work, when this post's duties were merged with that of the Second Secretary to the Admiralty later known as the Permanent Secretary to Admiralty.

History

The origins of the office, possibly in its original form though not conclusive dates from a very much earlier date, John, King of England who developed a royal fleet and the earliest known administrative structure for the English Navy, through his appointment of William of Wrotham in the early 13th century, William a naval administrator is said by modern historians to have had a "special responsibility for ports, customs, and the navy". Murray, Oppenheim reprint,, Lloyd and Runyan support the view that his office was continued down until the creation of the Navy Board in 1546 and the Clerk of the Act's and the Secretary of the Admiralty. However a clear definition of Wrothams office is not conclusive and has been viewed by other sources such as Turner to be similar to that of the First Lord of the Admiralty. King John's successor Henry III continued refining the naval administration his fleets. However it was during Edward III's reign when a formal naval administration really began to evolve. It was possibly the oldest administrative appointment in connection with the Royal Navy, at first called Keeper of the King's Ports and Galleys during the thirteenth century, later in the fourteenth century known as Clerk of the King's Ships, according to naval historian Nicholas A. M. Rodger in his book the Admiralty states "Insofar as mediaeval Kings of England possessed a permanent administrator of their navies, he was the 'Clerk of the Kings Ships'. The post first appears in a distinct form under King John with William de Wrotham was Keeper of the Kings Ports and Galleys, the Clerk of the Kings Ships was not a one man department of state but a permanent agent of the crown" this official held, sometimes really and sometimes nominally, for a period of over 300 years the control of naval organisation until the formation of the Navy Board in 1546. During the course of the following centuries the title changed its name. In the fifteenth century the post was known as the Clerk of Marine Causes and during the sixteenth century the office was known as the Clerk of the Navy, in the seventeenth century, Clerk of the Acts. Between the years 1673 and 1677 the office was held jointly by two clerks of the acts, and then again from 1702 until 1706. Between 1673 and 1680 the post was held simultaneously with the Secretary of the Admiralty. In the same year the Clerk of the Acts was appointed an assistant to alleviate him of some of his secretarial duties and thus separating those responsibilities from the office of the secretary. In 1796 the offices of Clerk of the Acts and three other offices those of Comptroller of Storekeepers Accounts, Comptroller of Treasurer Accounts and Comptroller of Victualling Accounts were abolished and the Board reconstituted, the function of the Navy Office was then supervised of three Committees, of Correspondence, Accounts and Stores.

Responsibilities

The Clerk of the Acts' official responsibility's were:
The Clerk of the Kings Ships' responsibilities were:
The Keeper of the Kings Ports and Galleys' responsibilities were:
Included:

Keeper of the King's Ports and Galleys
Clerks of the Kings Ships
Clerk of Marine Causes
Clerks of the Navy
From June 1639 to August 1706 two clerks of the acts were occasionally appointed jointly to the office
Note: Title of Clerk of the Navy is changed to Clerk of the Acts in 1660


Clerks of the Acts