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Master-General of the Ordnance

 

 
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Master-General of the Ordnance
 
 
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The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 military position before 1855, when the Board of Ordnance
Board of Ordnance

The Board of Ordnance was a United Kingdom government body responsible for the supply of armaments and munitions to the Royal Navy and British Army....
 was abolished. Usually held by a serving General
General (United Kingdom)

General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is the equivalent of a 4 star rank, and is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal and the Royal Marines rank of Captain General Royal Marines....
, the Master-General of the Ordnance was responsible for all British artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
, engineer
Military engineer

A military engineer is primarily responsible for the design and construction of offensive, defensive, and logistical structures for warfare. Other duties include the layout, placement, maintenance and dismantling of defensive land mine and the clearing of enemy minefields and the construction and destruction of bridges....
s, fortifications, military supplies, transport, field hospitals and much else, and was not subordinate to the commander-in chief
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

The Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, or just the Commander-in-Chief , was the professional head of the British Army from 1660 until 1904, when the office was replaced by the Chief of the General Staff , soon to become Chief of the Imperial General Staff ....
 of the British military. In 1764 it established the British standard ordnance weights and measurements
British standard ordnance weights and measurements

The British standard ordnance weights and measurements for the artillery were established by the Master General of Ordnance in 1764, and these were not altered until 1919 when the metric system was additionally introduced....
 for the artillery, one of the earliest standards in the world.






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The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 military position before 1855, when the Board of Ordnance
Board of Ordnance

The Board of Ordnance was a United Kingdom government body responsible for the supply of armaments and munitions to the Royal Navy and British Army....
 was abolished. Usually held by a serving General
General (United Kingdom)

General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is the equivalent of a 4 star rank, and is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal and the Royal Marines rank of Captain General Royal Marines....
, the Master-General of the Ordnance was responsible for all British artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
, engineer
Military engineer

A military engineer is primarily responsible for the design and construction of offensive, defensive, and logistical structures for warfare. Other duties include the layout, placement, maintenance and dismantling of defensive land mine and the clearing of enemy minefields and the construction and destruction of bridges....
s, fortifications, military supplies, transport, field hospitals and much else, and was not subordinate to the commander-in chief
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

The Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, or just the Commander-in-Chief , was the professional head of the British Army from 1660 until 1904, when the office was replaced by the Chief of the General Staff , soon to become Chief of the Imperial General Staff ....
 of the British military. In 1764 it established the British standard ordnance weights and measurements
British standard ordnance weights and measurements

The British standard ordnance weights and measurements for the artillery were established by the Master General of Ordnance in 1764, and these were not altered until 1919 when the metric system was additionally introduced....
 for the artillery, one of the earliest standards in the world. The position was frequently a cabinet-level one, especially in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when it was normally a political appointment. The title of Master-General of the Ordnance still exists, attaching to the fourth military member of the Army Board
Army Board

The Army Board is the senior single-service management committee of the British Army:...
, who oversees procurement and research and development and usually holds the rank of Lieutenant-General.

Masters-General of the Ordnance, 1544–1855

  • Nicholas Merbury, appointed about 1415–1420 by Henry V
    Henry V of England

    Henry V was one of the most significant English warrior kings of the 15th century. He was born at Monmouth, Wales, in the tower above the gatehouse of Monmouth Castle, and reigned as King of England from 1413 to 1422....
  • Sir Thomas Seymour
    Thomas Seymour

    Thomas Seymour may refer to:*Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley , English nobleman*Thomas H. Seymour , U.S. Representative from Connecticut...
     1544–1547
  • Sir Philip Hoby
    Philip Hoby

    Sir Philip Hoby was a 16th century English people Ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire and Flanders.He was born probably at Leominster, England, the son of William Hoby of Leominster by his first wife, Katherine Forster....
     1547–1554
  • Sir Richard Southwell
    Richard Southwell

    Sir Richard Southwell Privy Council of England was an English Privy Councillor....
     1554–1559
  • Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
    Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick

    Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick , was the son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and a brother of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester....
     1560–1585
  • Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick jointly with Sir Philip Sidney
    Philip Sidney

    Sir Philip Sidney became one of the Elizabethan era most prominent figures. Famous in his day in England as a poet, courtier and soldier, he remains known as the author of Astrophel and Stella , The Defence of Poetry , and The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia ....
     1585–1586
  • Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick 1586–1590
  • Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley
    Henry Lee of Ditchley

    File:Gheeraerts Elizabeth I The Ditchley Portrait c1592.jpgSir Henry Lee Order of the Garter of Ditchley was Master of the Ordnance under Queen Elizabeth I of England....
     1590–1597
  • Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
    Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

    Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, is the best-known of the many holders of the title "Earl of Essex." He was a military hero and royal favourite, but following a poor campaign against Irish rebels during the Nine Years War in 1599, he defied the Queen and was executed for treason....
     1597–1601
  • vacant 1601–1603
  • Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire
    Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire

    Charles Blount , 8th Baron Mountjoy and 1st Earl of Devonshire was an English nobleman and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland of Ireland under Elizabeth I of England, then as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland under James I of England....
     1603–1606
  • vacant 1606–1608
  • George Carew, 1st Lord Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes
    George Carew (Ireland)

    George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes , Baron Carew of Clopton, served under Queen Elizabeth of England during the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland and was appointed President of Munster. ...
     (1626) 1608–1629
  • Horace Vere, 1st Lord Vere of Tilbury
    Horace Vere

    Horace Vere was an England military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a son of Geoffrey Vere and brother of Francis Vere....
     1629–1634
  • Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport 1634–1661
  • Sir William Compton
    William Compton

    William Compton may refer to:*William Compton , courtier to Henry VIII *William Compton, 1st Earl of Northampton *William Compton , Royalist army officer ...
     1661–1663
  • in commission 1664–1670
William Berkeley, 1st Lord Berkeley Sir John Duncombe
John Duncombe

Sir John Duncombe was an English politician.John Duncombe was the son of William Duncombe. He was educated at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge....
 Thomas Chicheley
Thomas Chicheley

Sir Thomas Chicheley was a politician in England in the seventeenth century who fell from favour in the reign of James II of England. His name is sometimes spelt as Chichele....
  • Sir Thomas Chicheley 1670–1679
  • in commission 1679–1682
Sir John Chicheley Sir William Hickman, 2nd Bt. Sir Christopher Musgrave
  • George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth
    George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth

    Admiral George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth Privy Council of England was a Royal Navy who gave distinguished service to both Charles II of England and James II of England....
     1682–1688
  • Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg
    Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg

    Friedrich Hermann , 1st Duke of Schomberg , was both a marshal of France and a General in the English Army.Descended from an old family of the Electoral Palatinate, he was born at Heidelberg, the son of Hans Meinard von Sch?nberg and Anne, daughter of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley....
     1689–1690
  • vacant 1690–1693
  • Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney
    Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney

    Henry Sydney , 1st Earl of Romney was born in Paris, a son of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, of Penshurst Place in Kent, England, by Lady Dorothy Percy, a daughter of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, a descendant of Edward III of England....
     1693–1702
  • John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
    John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

    John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough Order of the Garter was an England soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries....
     1702–1712
  • Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers
    Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers

    Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers Privy Council of Great Britain , was the second son of Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers; and after the death about 1680 of his elder brother Thomas, styled Viscount Colchester, he was designated by that title until he succeeded to the peerage....
     1712
  • James Douglas-Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton 1712
  • vacant 1712–1714
  • John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
    John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

    John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough Order of the Garter was an England soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries....
     1714–1722
  • William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan
    William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan

    William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan Order of the Thistle, Privy Council of Great Britain was a noted military officer in the army of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession....
     1722–1725
  • John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
    John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll

    Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich Knight of the Garter , known as Ian Ruaifh Cean or Red John of the Battles, was a Scotland soldier and Nobility....
     1725–1740
  • John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu
    John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu

    John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, Order of the Garter, Order of the Bath, Privy Council of Great Britain , in 1745 raised a cavalry regiment known as Montagu's Carabineers, which, however, was disbanded after the Battle of Culloden....
     1740–1742
  • John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
    John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll

    Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich Knight of the Garter , known as Ian Ruaifh Cean or Red John of the Battles, was a Scotland soldier and Nobility....
     1742
  • John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu
    John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu

    John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, Order of the Garter, Order of the Bath, Privy Council of Great Britain , in 1745 raised a cavalry regiment known as Montagu's Carabineers, which, however, was disbanded after the Battle of Culloden....
     1742–1749
  • vacant 1749–1755
  • Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
    Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough

    Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, 5th Earl of Sunderland Order of the Garter, Privy Council of Great Britain was a British politician of the 18th century....
     1755–1758
  • vacant 1758–1759
  • John Ligonier, 1st Viscount Ligonier
    John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier

    Field Marshal John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier, Order of the Bath, Privy Council of Great Britain was a Kingdom of Great Britain military officer....
     1759–1763
  • John Manners, Marquess of Granby
    John Manners, Marquess of Granby

    General John Manners, Marquess of Granby Privy Council of Great Britain, , Kingdom of Great Britain soldier, was the eldest son of the John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland....
     1763–1770
  • vacant 1770–1772
  • George Townshend, 4th Viscount Townshend 1772–1782
  • Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond
    Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond

    Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox, Order of the Garter, Fellow of the Royal Society, Privy Council of the United Kingdom is noteworthy for his advanced views on the issue of parliamentary reform....
     1782–1783
  • George Townshend, 4th Viscount Townshend 1783–1784
  • Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond 1784–1795
  • Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
    Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis

    Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, Knight of the Garter was a Kingdom of Great Britain army officer and colonial administrator. In the United States and Britain, he is best remembered as one of the leading generals in the American War of Independence....
     1795–1801
  • John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham
    John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham

    John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, Order of the Garter, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was the eldest son of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham and an elder brother of William Pitt the Younger....
     1801–1806
  • Francis Rawdon Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira 1806–1807
  • John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham 1807–1810
  • Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave
    Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave

    Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave, Order of the Bath, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a British politician.Educated at Eton College and the Middle Temple, he entered the army in 1775, and eventually rose to the rank of General....
     1810–1819
  • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
    Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

    Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Order of the Garter, Order of St Patrick, Order of the Bath, Royal Guelphic Order, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Royal Society , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
     1819–1827
  • Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey 1827–1828
  • William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford
    William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford

    William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Count of Trancoso, 1st Marquess of Campo Maior Order of the Bath Royal Guelphic Order Order of the Tower and Sword , British soldier and politician, illegitimate son of George de la Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford....
     1828–1830
  • Sir James Kempt
    James Kempt

    General Sir James Kempt, Order of the Bath was a British Army officer, who served in Holland, Egypt, and fought during the Napoleonic Wars.He was gazetted to the 101st Regiment of Foot in India in 1783, but on its disbandment two years later was placed on half-pay....
     1830–1834
  • Sir George Murray 1834–1835
  • Sir Richard Hussey Vivian, 1st Bt. 1835–1841
  • Sir George Murray 1841–1846
  • Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey 1846–1852
  • Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge
    Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge

    Field Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge of Lahore, Order of the Bath, Privy Council of the United Kingdom , was a United Kingdom field marshal and Governor-general of India....
     1852
  • Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan 1852–1855


Post-1855


  • Maj Gen Sir Stanley Brenton Von Donop (1913-1916)


Post World War

  • Col (later Gen) Sir Noel Birch
    Noel Birch

    Sir James Frederick Noel Birch Order of the Bath KCMG was a British Cavalry Officer during the Second Boer War and World War I and subsequently Master General of the Ordnance....
     (1923-1927)
  • Lt Gen Sir Hugh Elles
    Hugh Elles

    Sir Hugh Jamieson Elles Order of the Bath KCMG Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Service Order was a United Kingdom General and the first commander of the newly formed Tank Corps in the First World War....
     (1934-38)
  • Lt Gen Sir John Fullerton Evetts
    John Fullerton Evetts

    Lieutenant-General Sir John Fullerton Evetts Order of the Bath, Order of the British Empire, Military Cross was a career soldier of the British Army....
     (1944-1946)
  • Lt Gen Sir John Cowley (1960-1962)
  • Gen Sir Hugh Beach
    Hugh Beach

    General Sir Hugh Beach GBE KCB MC, is a United Kingdom soldier who, in retirement, researches and advises on defence policy, arms control and disarmament, with an active interest in promoting concerns about ethical issues of peace and war....
     (1977-1981)
  • Gen Sir Peter Leng
    Peter Leng

    Peter John Hall Leng, Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Order , was a British Army General & Master-General of the Ordnance & Counter Terrorism Expert in Northern Ireland....
     (1981-1983)
  • Gen Richard Vincent
    Richard Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill

    Field Marshal Richard Frederick Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill, Order of the British Empire, Order of the Bath, Distinguished Service Order , was Chairman of the NATO Military Committee of NATO 1993-96, a post he had held after stepping down as Chief of the Defence Staff in 1992....
     (1983-1987)
  • Gen Sir Jeremy Blacker (1991-1995)
  • Lt Gen Sir Robert Hayman-Joyce (1995-1999?)
  • Maj Gen Peter Gilchrist (c. 2001)
  • Maj Gen Andrew Figgures (c. 2004)
  • Maj Gen C C Wilson