HC Deb 21 June 1883 vol 280 cc1122-4
LORD GEORGE HAMILTON

asked the Under Secretary of State for India. When Mr. Godley, the future permanent Under Secretary of State for India, entered the Civil Service, and what appointments he has since held; and, if he would state the names of those who, since the creation of that office in 1858, have been appointed to it, and the length of service and the position occupied by them at the date of their appointment?

COLONEL NOLAN

also asked the Under Secretary of State for India, If his official position is next to that of the Secretary of State for India; and, if it is superior to that of all other Indian Secretaries; and, if his present office has at any time been occupied by a gentleman who, at the date of his appointment, had not attained the age now reached by Mr. Godley?

MR. J. K. CROSS

In reply to the noble Lord, I have to say that Mr. Godley was Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Treasury from 1872 to 1874, and again from 1880 till July 1882, when he was appointed a Commissioner of Inland Revenue. On the creation of the Indian Office in 1858, Sir George Clerk, one of the Secretaries to the Board of Control, who had entered the Bengal Civil Service in 1817, was appointed Permanent Under Secretary of State. He resigned in 1860, and was succeeded by Mr. Merivale, who, without any previous experience in the Civil Service, had been appointed in 1817 Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. Upon his death, in 1874, ho was succeeded by Sir Louis Malet, who entered the Audit Office in 1839, was transferred to the Board of Trade in 1847, where he continued to serve till 1872, when he was appointed a Member of the Council of India. My hon. and gallant Friend asks me two very delicate Questions. He asks me about my own official position, and the relative ages of other gentlemen. For myself, I can only say that though my official position is, in common with that of the Permanent Under Secretary, next to the Secretary of State, it is by no means superior to that of all other Indian Secretaries. My Colleague, the Permanent Under Secretary, is absolved from the duty of answering Questions in the House of Commons. I hope my hon. and gallant Friend will not think me discourteous if I decline to enter into the delicate question of the ages of my Predecessors in title and occupation.