The principal private secretary to the secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs is the head of the private office of the foreign minister of His Majesty's Government, and is located in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Main Building.
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History
At the start of the 19th century, the foreign secretary would have had one or two private secretaries, who were often personal appointments of the office-holder. As the complexity of British foreign policy grew significantly, and consequently the size of the private office expanded to provide policy and administrative support; the chief civil servant in the private office became the principal private secretary. Today, he or she is the head of a small department, and the post is a senior and prestigious one, now typically held for a two-year term by an experienced officer from the Diplomatic Service.
The post is director grade equivalent in the Civil Service (SCS2), and also equivalent to a rear admiral in the Royal Navy and major general in the British Army. Holders of the post often go on to hold some of the most senior ambassador posts overseas, and also often honoured with a knighthood.
This list below shows holders' names as they were at the time of holding the post; details of their later careers and honours can be found in individual articles. In addition, the list includes holders of the posts of private secretary to the secretary of state for foreign affairs and then principal private secretary to the secretary of state for foreign affairs (1822–1968). The office of secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs was created in 1968, by the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office's secretary of state's offices.
Principal private secretaries
1822: George Seymour
1822–1824: Lord George Bentinck
1824–1827: Augustus Stapleton
1827–1830: Digby Wrangham
1830–1833: John Walpole
1833–1834: Stephen Sulivan
1834–1835: Algernon Greville
1835–1840: Charles Cowper
1840–1841: James Howard
1841–1846: Clinton Dawkins
1846–1852: Spencer Ponsonby
1852: George Harris
1852–1853: Arthur Russell
1853–1857: Spencer Ponsonby (Second term)
1857–1858: Villiers Lister
1858–1859: John Bidwell
1859–1865: George Elliot
1865–1866: Villiers Lister (Second term)
1866–1868: Thomas Sanderson
1868–1870: Villiers Lister (Third term)
1870–1871: Robert Meade
1871–1874: Thomas Wetherell
1874–1878: Thomas Sanderson (Second term)