The office of Secretary to the Admiralty or (from the mid-18th century) First Secretary to the Admiralty was formerly an important position within the Admiralty of the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the government of the Royal Navy.
In 1870, the office of First Secretary was renamed Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, while the office of Second Secretary to the Admiralty was renamed Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty. In 1886, the Parliamentary Secretary was renamed Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty.
From 1930, the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary was also a Civil Lord of the Admiralty. The office became vacant in 1959, and ministerial offices were reorganised when the Admiralty was merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1964, with the creation of a Minister of State and Under-Secretary of State for the Navy.
Famous quotes containing the word secretary:
“... the wife of an executive would be a better wife had she been a secretary first. As a secretary, you learn to adjust to the boss’s moods. Many marriages would be happier if the wife would do that.”
—Anne Bogan, U.S. executive secretary. As quoted in Working, book 1, by Studs Terkel (1973)