First Commissioner of Works

Lord John Manners, later 7th Duke of Rutland, who served thrice as First Commissioner of Works in the 1850s and 1860s

The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It took over some of the functions of the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851 when the portfolio of Crown holdings was divided into the public and the commercial. The position was frequently of cabinet level. The office was renamed Minister of Works and Buildings and First Commissioner of Works in 1940, Minister of Works and Planning in 1942, Minister of Works in 1943 and finally Minister of Public Buildings and Works in 1962. On 15 October 1970 the Ministry was amalgamated in the Department of the Environment.

First Commissioners of Works, 1851–1940

Name	Entered office	Left office
Lord Seymour	1 August 1851	21 February 1852
Lord John Manners	4 March 1852	17 December 1852
Sir William Molesworth, Bt	5 January 1853	21 July 1855
Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt	21 July 1855	21 February 1858
Lord John Manners	26 February 1858	11 June 1859
Henry FitzRoy	18 June 1859	9 February 1860
Hon. William Cowper	9 February 1860	26 June 1866
Lord John Manners	6 July 1866	1 December 1868
Austen Henry Layard	9 December 1868	26 October 1869
Acton Smee Ayrton	26 October 1869	11 August 1873
William Patrick Adam	11 August 1873	17 February 1874
Lord Henry Lennox	21 March 1874	14 August 1876
Gerard Noel	14 August 1876	21 April 1880
William Patrick Adam	3 May 1880	1880
George Shaw-Lefevre	29 November 1881	13 February 1885
The Earl of Rosebery	13 February 1885	9 June 1885
Hon. David Plunket	24 June 1885	28 January 1886
The Earl of Morley	17 February 1886	16 April 1886
The Earl of Elgin	16 April 1886	20 July 1886
Hon. David Plunket	5 August 1886	11 August 1892
George Shaw-Lefevre	18 August 1892	10 March 1894
Herbert Gladstone	10 March 1894	21 June 1895
Aretas Akers-Douglas	4 July 1895	8 August 1902
The Lord Windsor	8 August 1902	4 December 1905
Lewis Vernon Harcourt	10 December 1905	3 November 1910
The Earl Beauchamp	3 November 1910	6 August 1914
The Lord Emmott	6 August 1914	25 May 1915
Lewis Vernon Harcourt	25 May 1915	10 December 1916
Sir Alfred Mond, Bt	10 December 1916	1 April 1921
The Earl of Crawford	1 April 1921	19 October 1922
Sir John Baird, Bt	31 October 1922	22 January 1924
Fred Jowett	22 January 1924	3 November 1924
The Viscount Peel	10 November 1924	18 October 1928
The Marquess of Londonderry	18 October 1928	4 June 1929
George Lansbury	7 June 1929	24 August 1931
The Marquess of Londonderry	25 August 1931	5 November 1931
Hon. William Ormsby-Gore	5 November 1931	16 June 1936
The Earl Stanhope	16 June 1936	27 May 1937
Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt	27 May 1937	7 June 1939
Herwald Ramsbotham	7 June 1939	3 April 1940
The Earl De La Warr	3 April 1940	18 May 1940
The Lord Tryon	18 May 1940	3 October 1940

Minister of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works, 1940–1942

Name	Entered office	Left office
Sir John Reith (Baron Reith from 21 October 1940)	3 October 1940	11 February 1942

Minister of Works and Planning, 1942–1943

Name	Entered office	Left office
The Lord Reith	11 February 1942	22 February 1942
The Lord Portal	22 February 1942	February 1943

Minister of Works, 1943–1962

Name	Entered office	Left office
The Lord Portal	February 1943	21 November 1944
Duncan Sandys	21 November 1944	26 July 1945
George Tomlinson	4 August 1945	10 February 1947
Charles Key	10 February 1947	28 February 1950
Richard Stokes	28 February 1950	26 April 1951
George Brown	26 April 1951	26 October 1951
David Eccles	1 November 1951	18 October 1954
Nigel Birch	18 October 1954	20 December 1955
Patrick Buchan-Hepburn	20 December 1955	16 January 1957
Hugh Molson	16 January 1957	22 October 1959
Lord John Hope	22 October 1959	16 July 1962

Minister of Public Buildings and Works, 1962–1970

Name	Entered office	Left office
Geoffrey Rippon	16 July 1962	10 October 1964
Charles Pannell	19 October 1964	6 April 1966
Reginald Prentice	6 April 1966	29 August 1967
Bob Mellish	29 August 1967	30 April 1969
Hon. John Silkin	30 April 1969	19 June 1970
Julian Amery	23 June 1970	15 October 1970