First Commissioner of Works

Lord John Manners, later 7th Duke of Rutland, who served thrice as First Commissioner of Works in the 1850s and 1860s

The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It took over some of the functions of the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851 when the portfolio of Crown holdings was divided into the public and the commercial. The position was frequently of cabinet level. The office was renamed Minister of Works and Buildings and First Commissioner of Works in 1940, Minister of Works and Planning in 1942, Minister of Works in 1943 and finally Minister of Public Buildings and Works in 1962. On 15 October 1970 the Ministry was amalgamated in the Department of the Environment.

List of Works Commissioners and Ministers

First Commissioners of Works (1851–1940)

First Commissioner of Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
style="background-color:Template:Whigs (British political party)/meta/color" |		Edward Seymour Lord Seymour MP for Totnes (1804–1885)	1 August 1851	21 February 1852	Whig	Russell I
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Lord John Manners MP for Colchester (1818–1906)	4 March 1852	17 December 1852	Conservative	Who? Who?
style="background-color: Template:Radicals (UK)/meta/color" |		Sir William Molesworth, Bt MP for Southwark (1810–1855)	5 January 1853	21 July 1855	Radical	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)
style="background-color:Template:Whigs (British political party)/meta/color" |		Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt MP for Marylebone (1802–1867)	21 July 1855	21 February 1858	Whig	Palmerston I
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Lord John Manners MP for Leicestershire North (1818–1906)	26 February 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Henry FitzRoy MP for Lewes (1807–1859)	18 June 1859	17 December 1859	Liberal	Palmerston II
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		William Cowper MP for Hertford (1811–1888)	9 February 1860	26 June 1866	Liberal
Russell II
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Lord John Manners MP for Leicestershire North (1818–1906)	6 July 1866	1 December 1868	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Austen Henry Layard MP for Southwark (1817–1894)	9 December 1868	26 October 1869	Liberal	Gladstone I
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Acton Smee Ayrton MP for Tower Hamlets (1816–1886)	26 October 1869	11 August 1873	Liberal
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		William Patrick Adam MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire (1823–1881)	11 August 1873	17 February 1874	Liberal
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Lord Henry Lennox MP for Chichester (1821–1886)	21 March 1874	14 August 1876	Conservative	Disraeli II
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Gerard Noel MP for Rutland (1823–1911)	14 August 1876	21 April 1880	Conservative
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		William Patrick Adam MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire (1823–1881)	3 May 1880	1880	Liberal	Gladstone II
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		George Shaw-Lefevre MP for Reading (1831–1928)	29 November 1881	13 February 1885	Liberal
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Archibald Primrose 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847–1929)	13 February 1885	9 June 1885	Liberal
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		David Plunket MP for Dublin University (1838–1919)	24 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	Salisbury I
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Albert Parker 3rd Earl of Morley (1843–1905)	17 February 1886	16 April 1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Victor Bruce 9th Earl of Elgin (1849–1917)	16 April 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		David Plunket MP for Dublin University (1838–1919)	5 August 1886	11 August 1892	Conservative	Salisbury II
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		George Shaw-Lefevre MP for Bradford Central (1831–1928)	18 August 1892	10 March 1894	Liberal	Gladstone IV
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Herbert Gladstone MP for Leeds West (1854–1930)	10 March 1894	21 June 1895	Liberal	Rosebery
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Aretas Akers-Douglas MP for St Augustine's (1851–1926)	4 July 1895	11 August 1902	Conservative	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Robert Windsor-Clive 14th Baron Windsor (1857–1923)	11 August 1902	4 December 1905	Conservative	Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP for Rossendale (1863–1922)	10 December 1905	3 November 1910	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
Asquith (I–III)
	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		William Lygon 7th Earl Beauchamp (1872–1938)	3 November 1910	6 August 1914	Liberal
	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Alfred Emmott 1st Baron Emmott (1858–1926)	6 August 1914	25 May 1915	Liberal
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP for Rossendale (1863–1922)	25 May 1915	10 December 1916	Liberal	Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
style="background-color:Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Sir Alfred Mond, Bt MP for Swansea West (1868–1930)	10 December 1916	1 April 1921	Liberal	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		David Lindsay 27th Earl of Crawford (1871–1940)	1 April 1921	19 October 1922	Conservative
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Sir John Baird, Bt MP for Ayr Burghs (1874–1941)	31 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Law
Baldwin I
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Fred Jowett MP for Bradford East (1864–1944)	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		William Wellesley Peel 2nd Viscount Peel (1867–1937)	10 November 1924	18 October 1928	Conservative	Baldwin II
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878–1949)	18 October 1928	4 June 1929	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		George Lansbury MP for Bow and Bromley (1859–1940)	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	MacDonald II
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878–1949)	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	Conservative	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		William Ormsby-Gore MP for Stafford (1885–1964)	5 November 1931	16 June 1936	Conservative	National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		James Stanhope 7th Earl Stanhope (1880–1967)	16 June 1936	27 May 1937	Conservative
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt MP for Hythe (1888–1939)	27 May 1937	7 June 1939	Conservative	National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Herwald Ramsbotham MP for Lancaster (1887–1971)	7 June 1939	3 April 1940	Conservative
Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
	style="background-color: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" |		Herbrand Sackville 9th Earl De La Warr (1900–1976)	3 April 1940	18 May 1940	National Labour
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		George Tryon 1st Baron Tryon (1871–1940)	18 May 1940	3 October 1940	Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)

Ministers of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works (1940–1942)

Minister of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
style="background-color:Template:National Government (United Kingdom)/meta/color" |		John Reith 1st Baron Reith (1889–1971)	3 October 1940	11 February 1942	Independent (National)	Churchill War (All parties)

Ministers of Works and Planning (1942–1943)

Minister of Works and Planning

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
style="background-color:Template:National Government (United Kingdom)/meta/color" |		John Reith 1st Baron Reith (1889–1971)	3 October 1940	11 February 1942	Independent (National)	Churchill War (All parties)
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Wyndham Portal 1st Baron Portal (1885–1949)	22 February 1942	February 1943	Conservative

Ministers of Works (1943–1962)

Minister of Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Wyndham Portal 1st Baron Portal (1885–1949)	February 1943	21 November 1944	Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Duncan Sandys MP for Norwood (1908–1987)	21 November 1944	26 July 1945	Conservative
Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		George Tomlinson MP for Farnworth (1890–1952)	4 August 1945	10 February 1947	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Charles Key MP for Bow and Bromley (1883–1964)	10 February 1947	28 February 1950	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Richard Stokes MP for Ipswich (1897–1957)	28 February 1950	26 April 1951	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		George Brown MP for Belper (1914–1985)	26 April 1951	26 October 1951	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Sir David Eccles MP for Chippenham (1904–1999)	1 November 1951	18 October 1954	Conservative	Churchill III
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Nigel Birch MP for West Flintshire (1906–1981)	18 October 1954	20 December 1955	Conservative
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Patrick Buchan-Hepburn MP for Beckenham (1901–1974)	20 December 1955	16 January 1957	Conservative	Eden
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Hugh Molson MP for High Peak (1903–1991)	16 January 1957	22 October 1959	Conservative	Macmillan (I & II)
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Lord John Hope MP for Edinburgh Pentlands (1912–1996)	22 October 1959	16 July 1962	Conservative

Ministers of Public Buildings and Works (1962–1970)

Minister of Public Buildings and Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Geoffrey Rippon MP for Norwich South (1924–1997)	16 July 1962	10 October 1964	Conservative	Macmillan (I & II)
Douglas-Home
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Charles Pannell MP for Leeds West (1902–1980)	19 October 1964	6 April 1966	Labour	Wilson (I & II)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Reg Prentice MP for East Ham North (1923–2001)	6 April 1966	29 August 1967	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Bob Mellish MP for Bermondsey (1913–1998)	29 August 1967	30 April 1969	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |		John Silkin MP for Deptford (1923–1987)	30 April 1969	19 June 1970	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |		Julian Amery MP for Brighton Pavilion (1919–1996)	23 June 1970	15 October 1970	Conservative	Heath