Paymaster of the Forces
The Paymaster of the Forces was a British government position. It was occasionally a cabinet-level post in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and many future prime ministers served as Paymaster. The office was responsible for part of the financing of the army, and was noted as one of the most lucrative positions in the British government. It was abolished in 1836.
Paymasters of the Forces, 1661-1836
- Stephen Fox 1661-1676
- Sir Henry Puckering Newton 1676-1679
- Sir Stephen Fox 1679-1680
- Nicholas Johnson and William Fox 1680-1682
- Charles Fox 1682-1685
- Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh 1685-1702
- John Howe 1702-1714
- Robert Walpole 1714-1715
- Henry Clinton, 7th Earl of Lincoln 1715-1720
- Robert Walpole 1720-1721
- Charles Cornwallis, 4th Baron Cornwallis 1721-1722
- Spencer Compton, 1st Lord Wilmington 1722-1730
- Henry Pelham 1730-1743
- Thomas Winnington 1743-1746
- William Pitt the Elder 1746-1755
- Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington and Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin 1755-1756
- Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin and Thomas Potter 1756-1757
- Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland 1757-1765
- Charles Townshend 1765-1766
- Frederick North, Lord North and George Cooke 1766-1767
- George Cooke and Thomas Townshend 1767-1768
- Richard Rigby 1768-1782
- Edmund Burke 1782
- Isaac Barré 1782-1783
- Edmund Burke 1783-1784
- William Wyndham Grenville 1784-1789
- Constantine John Phipps, 1st Lord Mulgrave, and James Graham, Marquess of Graham 1789-1791
- Dudley Ryder and Thomas Steele 1791-1800
- Thomas Steele and George Canning 1800-1801
- Thomas Steele and Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie 1801-1803
- George Rose and Lord Charles Henry Somerset 1804-1806
- Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, Earl Temple, and Lord John Townshend 1806-1807
- Charles Long and Lord Charles Henry Somerset 1807-1813
- Charles Long and Frederick John Robinson 1813-1817
- Charles Long 1817-1826
- William Vesey Fitzgerald 1826-1828
- John Calcraft 1828-1830
- Lord John Russell 1830-1834
- Sir Edward Knatchbull, bt. 1834-1835
- Sir Henry Parnell, bt. 1835-1836