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Reference list

Presidents of the Board of Trade and successor offices (1696–2009)

The president (or first lord) of the Board of Trade and Plantations was the most senior member of a board of commissioners appointed in 1696 to promote trade and improve plantations in America and elsewhere. The board was abolished in 1782, but was revived in 1784 and was given a permanent standing in 1786 as a committee of the privy council. Long identified as a political appointment (sometimes with cabinet rank), the president of the Board of Trade became, in effect (and from 1970, usually, in name), the secretary of state for trade.
1696–1699John Egerton, third earl of Bridgewater (1646–1701)
1699–1702Thomas Grey, second earl of Stamford (1653/4–1720)
1702–1707Thomas Thynne, first Viscount Weymouth (bap. 1640, d. 1714)
1707–1711Thomas Grey, second earl of Stamford (1653/4–1720)
1711–1712Charles Finch, fourth earl of Winchilsea (1672–1712)
1712–1714Francis North, second Baron Guildford (1673–1729)
1714–1715William Berkeley, fourth Baron Berkeley of Stratton (d. 1741)
1715–1718Henry Howard, sixth earl of Suffolk, first earl of Bindon (1670–1718)
1718–1719Robert D'Arcy, third earl of Holdernesse (1681–1722)
1719–1735Thomas Fane, sixth earl of Westmorland (1683–1736)
1735–1737Benjamin Mildmay, first Earl Fitzwalter (1672–1756)
1737–1748John Monson, first Baron Monson (1693?–1748)
1748–1761George Montague [see Dunk, George Montagu, second earl of Halifax (1716–1771)]
1761–1763Samuel Sandys, first Baron Sandys of Ombersley (1695–1770)
1763 (March–April)Charles Townshend (1725–1767)
1763 (April–Sept)William Fitzmaurice [see Petty, William, first marquess of Lansdowne (1737–1805)]
1763–1765Wills Hill, first earl of Hillsborough [see Hill, Wills, first marquess of Downshire (1718–1793)]
1765–1766William Legge, second earl of Dartmouth (1731–1801)
1766 (Aug–Dec)Wills Hill, first earl of Hillsborough [see Hill, Wills, first marquess of Downshire (1718–1793)]
1766–1768Robert Craggs Nugent, Viscount Clare [see Nugent, Robert Craggs, Earl Nugent (1709–1788)]
1768–1772Wills Hill, first earl of Hillsborough [see Hill, Wills, first marquess of Downshire (1718–1793)]
1772–1775William Legge, second earl of Dartmouth (1731–1801)
1775–1779George Sackville Germain (1716–1785)
1779–1780Frederick Howard, fifth earl of Carlisle (1748–1825)
1780–1782Thomas Robinson, second Baron Grantham (1738–1786)
1784–1786Thomas Townshend, first Baron Sydney (1733–1800)
1786–1804Charles Jenkinson, first Baron Hawkesbury [see Jenkinson, Charles, first earl of Liverpool (1729–1808)]
1804–1806James Graham, third duke of Montrose (1755–1836)
1806–1807William Eden, first Baron Auckland (1744–1814)
1807–1812Henry Bathurst, third Earl Bathurst (1762–1834)
1812–1818Richard Le Poer Trench, second earl of Clancarty (1767–1837)
1818–1823Frederick John Robinson (1782–1859)
1823–1827William Huskisson (1770–1830)
1827–1828Charles Grant (1778–1866)
1828–1830William Vesey-Fitzgerald (1783?–1843)
1830 (Feb–Nov)John Charles Herries (1778–1855)
1830–1834George Eden, second Baron Auckland (1784–1849)
1834 (June–Dec)Charles Poulett Thomson (1799–1841)
1834–1835Alexander Baring, first Baron Ashburton (1773–1848)
1835–1839Charles Poulett Thomson (1799–1841)
1839–1841Henry Labouchere (1798–1869)
1841–1843Frederick John Robinson, first Viscount Goderich and first earl of Ripon (1782–1859)
1843–1845William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898)
1845–1846James Andrew Broun Ramsay, tenth earl of Dalhousie (1812–1860)
1846–1847George William Frederick Villiers, fourth earl of Clarendon (1800–1870)
1847–1852Henry Labouchere (1798–1869)
1852 (Feb–Dec)Joseph Warner Henley (1793–1884)
1852–1855Edward Cardwell (1813–1886)
1855–1858Edward John Stanley, second Baron Stanley of Alderley and first Baron Eddisbury (1802–1869)
1858–1859Joseph Warner Henley (1793–1884)
1859 (March–July)Richard John Hely-Hutchinson, fourth earl of Donoughmore and fourth Viscount Hutchinson (1823–1866)
1859–1866Thomas Milner Gibson (1806–1884)
1866–1867Sir Stafford Henry Northcote (1818–1887)
1867–1868Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, sixth duke of Richmond (1818–1903)
1868–1871John Bright (1811–1889)
1871–1874Chichester Samuel Parkinson-Fortescue (1823–1898)
1874–1878Charles Bowyer Adderley (1814–1905)
1878–1880Dudley Francis Stuart Ryder, Viscount Sandon [see Ryder, Dudley Francis Stuart, third earl of Harrowby (1831–1900)]
1880–1885Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914)
1885 (June–Aug)Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, sixth duke of Richmond, sixth duke of Lennox, and first duke of Gordon (1818–1903)
1885–1886Edward Stanhope (1840–1893)
1886 (Feb–Aug)Anthony John Mundella (1825–1897)
1886–1888Frederick Arthur Stanley, Baron Stanley of Preston [see Stanley, Frederick Arthur, sixteenth earl of Derby (1841–1908)]
1888–1892Sir Michael Edward Hicks Beach, ninth baronet (1837–1916)
1892–1894Anthony John Mundella (1825–1897)
1894–1895James Bryce (1838–1922)
1895–1900Charles Thomson Ritchie (1838–1906)
1900–1905Gerald William Balfour (1853–1945)
1905 (March–Dec)James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, fourth marquess of Salisbury (1861–1947)
1905–1908David Lloyd George (1863–1945)
1908–1910Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874–1965)
1910–1914Sydney Charles Buxton (1853–1934)
1914 (Feb–Aug)John Elliott Burns (1858–1943)
1914–1916Walter Runciman (1870–1949)
1916–1919Albert Henry Stanley (1874–1948)
1919–1920Auckland Campbell Geddes (1879–1954)
1920–1921Robert Stevenson Horne (1871–1940)
1921–1922Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947)
1922–1924Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame [see Lister, Philip Cunliffe-, first earl of Swinton (1884–1972)]
1924 (Jan–Nov)Sidney James Webb (1859–1947)
1924–1929Philip Cunliffe-Lister [formerly Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame] (1884–1972)
1929–1931William Graham (1887–1932)
1931 (Aug–Nov)Philip Cunliffe-Lister [formerly Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame] (1884–1972)
1931–1937Walter Runciman (1870–1949)
1937–1940Oliver Frederick George Stanley (1896–1950)
1940 (Jan–Oct)Sir Andrew Rae Duncan (1884–1952)
1940–1941Oliver Lyttelton (1893–1972)
1941–1942Sir Andrew Rae Duncan (1884–1952)
1942 (Feb)John Jestyn Llewellin (1893–1957)
1942–1945(Edward) Hugh Neale Dalton (1887–1962)
1945 (May–July)Oliver Lyttelton (1893–1972)
1945–1947Sir (Richard) Stafford Cripps (1889–1952)
1947–1951(James) Harold Wilson (1916–1995)
1951 (April–Oct)Sir Hartley William Shawcross (1902–2003)
1951–1957(George Edward) Peter Thorneycroft (1909–1994)
1957–1959David McAdam Eccles (1904–1999)
1959–1961Reginald Maudling (1917–1979)
1961–1963Frederick James Erroll (1914–2000)
1963–1964Edward Richard George Heath (1916–2005)
1964–1967Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay (1907–1996)
1967–1969(Charles) Anthony Raven Crosland (1918–1977)
1969–1970Roy Mason (b. 1924)
1970 (June–Oct)Michael Antony Cristobal Noble (1913–1984)

Secretary of state for trade and industry (1970–1974)
1970–1972John Emerson Harding Davies (1916–1979)
1972–1974Peter Edward Walker (1932–2010)

Secretary of state for trade (1974–1983)
1974–1976Peter David Shore (1924–2001)
1976–1978Edmund Emanuel Dell (1921–1999)
1978–1979John Smith (1938–1994)
1979–1982John William Frederic Nott (b. 1932)
1982 (Jan–April)(William) John Biffen (1930–2007)
1982–1983Francis Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield (1916–2007)

Secretary of state for trade and industry (1983–1992)
1983 (June–Oct)Cecil Edward Parkinson (b. 1931)
1983–1985Norman Beresford Tebbit (b. 1931)
1985–1986Leon Brittan (b. 1939)
1986–1987(Henry) Paul Guinness Channon (1935–2007)
1987–1989David Ivor Young, Baron Young of Graffham (b. 1932)
1989–1990Nicholas Ridley (1929–1993)
1990–1992Peter Bruce Lilley (b. 1943)

President of the Board of Trade (1992–1998)
1992–1995Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine (b. 1933)
1995–1997Ian Bruce Lang (b. 1940)
1997–1998Margaret Mary Beckett (b. 1943)

Secretary of state for trade and industry (1998–)
1998 (July–Dec)Peter Benjamin Mandelson (b. 1953)
1998–2001Stephen John Byers (b. 1953)
2001–2005Patricia Hope Hewitt (b. 1948)
2005–2006Alan Arthur Johnson (b. 1950)
2006–2007Alistair Maclean Darling (b. 1953)

Secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform
2007–2008John Matthew Patrick Hutton (b. 1955)
2008–2009Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (b. 1953)

Secretary of state for business, innovation and skills
2009–[2010]Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (b. 1953)