Secretary of State for India

The seat of the chairman of the court of directors of the East India Company, and subsequently that of the Secretary of State for India

John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Secretary of State for India from 1905 to 1910 and again briefly, as acting Secretary, in 1911

The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of Aden, British India and Burma. The post was created in 1858 when the East India Company's rule in Bengal ended and British India was brought under the direct administration of the government in London, beginning the official colonial period under the British Empire.

In 1937, the India Office was reorganised which separated Burma and Aden under a new Burma Office, but the same Secretary of State headed both Departments and a new title was established as the Secretary of State for India and Burma. The India Office and its Secretary of State were abolished in August 1947, when the United Kingdom granted independence to British India resulting in the creation of two new independent dominions, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. Myanmar (Burma) soon achieved independence separately in early 1948.

Secretaries of State for India, 1858–1937

Prior to the establishment of the British Empire on 2 August 1858, Lord Stanley had served as President of the Board of Control.

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	Lord Stanley (subsequently 15th Earl of Derby)		2 August 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative		The 14th Earl of Derby
	Sir Charles Wood, Bt		18 June 1859	16 February 1866[1]	Liberal		Viscount Palmerston The Earl Russell
	The Earl de Grey		16 February 1866	26 June 1866	Liberal
	Viscount Cranborne (subsequently Marquess of Salisbury)		6 July 1866	8 March 1867	Conservative		The 14th Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli
	Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt (subsequently Earl of Iddesleigh)		8 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative
	The Duke of Argyll		9 December 1868	17 February 1874	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	The Marquess of Salisbury		21 February 1874	2 April 1878	Conservative		Benjamin Disraeli
	The Viscount Cranbrook		2 April 1878	21 April 1880	Conservative
	Marquess of Hartington		28 April 1880	16 December 1882	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	The Earl of Kimberley		16 December 1882	9 June 1885	Liberal
	Lord Randolph Churchill		24 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative		The Marquess of Salisbury
	The Earl of Kimberley		6 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	Sir R. A. Cross (Viscount Cross from 19 August 1886)		3 August 1886	11 August 1892	Conservative		The Marquess of Salisbury
	The Earl of Kimberley		18 August 1892	10 March 1894	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	Henry Fowler		10 March 1894	21 June 1895	Liberal		The Earl of Rosebery
	Lord George Hamilton		4 July 1895	9 October 1903[2]	Conservative		The Marquess of Salisbury (Unionist Coalition) Arthur Balfour (Unionist Coalition)
	St John Brodrick		9 October 1903	4 December 1905	Conservative
	John Morley (Viscount Morley of Blackburn from 1908)		10 December 1905	3 November 1910	Liberal		Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
							H. H. Asquith
	The Earl of Crewe		3 November 1910	7 March 1911	Liberal
	The Viscount Morley of Blackburn		7 March 1911	25 May 1911	Liberal
	The Earl of Crewe (Marquess of Crewe from July 1911)		25 May 1911	25 May 1915	Liberal
	Austen Chamberlain		25 May 1915	17 July 1917[3]	Conservative		H. H. Asquith (Coalition) David Lloyd George (Coalition)
	Edwin Samuel Montagu		17 July 1917	19 March 1922	Liberal
	The Viscount Peel		19 March 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative		Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin
	The Lord Olivier		22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	The Earl of Birkenhead		6 November 1924	18 October 1928	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin
	The Viscount Peel		18 October 1928	4 June 1929	Conservative
	William Wedgwood Benn		7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	Sir Samuel Hoare		25 August 1931	7 June 1935	Conservative		Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
	The Marquess of Zetland		7 June 1935	28 May 1937	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.)

Secretaries of State for India and Burma, 1937–1947

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	The Marquess of Zetland		28 May 1937	13 May 1940	Conservative		Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min.; War Coalition)
	Leo Amery		13 May 1940	26 July 1945	Conservative		Winston Churchill (War Coalition; Caretaker Min.)
	The Lord Pethick-Lawrence		3 August 1945	17 April 1947	Labour		Clement Attlee
	The Earl of Listowel		17 April 1947	14 August 1947	Labour

Secretaries of State for Burma, 1947–1948

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	The Earl of Listowel		14 August 1947	4 January 1948	Labour		Clement Attlee

See also

• India Office
• British India
• British rule in Burma
• Governor-General of India
• Imperial Civil Service
• Government of India Act

History of United Kingdom government departments with responsibility for foreign affairs
Colonial Office 1768–1782 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Home Office 1782–1794 Secretaries Undersecretaries	War Office 1794–1801 Secretaries Undersecretaries	War and Colonial Office 1801–1854 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Colonial Office 1854–1925 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Colonial Office 1925–1966 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries		Commonwealth Office 1966–1968 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries	Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1968–present Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries
					Dominions Office 1925–1947 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Commonwealth Relations Office 1947–1966 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries
.				India Office 1858–1937 Secretaries Undersecretaries	India Office and Burma Office 1937–1947 Secretaries Undersecretaries
.	Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries

Notes

1. Resigned after being injured in a hunting accident.
2. Resigned.
3. Resigned.

External links