Matthew Locke (administrator)

Matthew Locke
Secretary at War
In office 1666–1683
Monarch	Charles II
Preceded by	Sir William Clarke
Succeeded by	William Blathwayt

Matthew Locke (fl. 1660–1683) was an English administrator, holder of the post of Secretary at War from 1666 to 1683, when he sold it.^[1]

Locke was clerk to the "Irish and Scottish Committee" set up in 1651; and later gave evidence against Henry Vane the Younger who was on it.^[2] He was a nephew of Sir Paul Davis, also concerned in Irish business as administrator, and was then private secretary to George Monck.^[3] He was related also, at some distance, to Robert Southwell.^[4]

After the death of Monck (who had become the Duke of Albemarle) in 1670, Locke transformed the role of his secretaryship. It took on a significant share of military movement and supply orders. Locke's tenure consolidated the administrative role of the post.^[5]

The secretaryship was bought from Locke in 1683 by William Blathwayt, who had royal backing.^[4]

Notes

1. Joseph Haydn (1851). The Book of Dignities: Containing Rolls of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain ... Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 190. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
2. Violet A. Rowe (1970). Sir Henry Vane the Younger. Athlone Press. pp. 141–2. ISBN 0-485-13128-5.
3. Aidan Clarke (1999). Prelude to Restoration in Ireland. Cambridge University Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-139-42628-2. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
4. Nancy L. Rhoden (9 August 2007). English Atlantics Revisited: Essays Honouring Ian K. Steele. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-7735-6040-6. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
5. Florence M. G. Evans (1923). The Principal Secretary of State. Manchester University Press. pp. 324–. GGKEY:ZKG2WRDCS5C. Retrieved 6 August 2013.