Originally published in 1973, this book provides an account of the Treasury’s early evolution within a clearly defined period, from its emergence as a department in the reign of Charles II to the point in 1870 when its powers and internal organization were comparatively mature. By taking this broad span of two centuries it is possible to set the Treasury’s development in perspective and concentrate on three main themes: the foundation of its unchallenged authority in the late 17th Century, the construction of a working relationship with Parliament, and its internal development as an efficient, professional organization. The documents, drawn from manuscript and at the time of original publication, little known printed sources, provide the first compact record of the landmarks in the Treasury’s early history.
Part 1: Introduction 1. The Treasury Commission of 1667 and its Legacy 2. Parliament and the Treasury: The Problem of Accountability 3. The Treasury Establishment: The Problem of Professionalism Part 2: Documents 1. Treasury Control Asserted: Treasury Minutes, 1667-8 2. Treasury Control confirmed: Orders in Council, 1667-89 3. The rule of ‘Specific Sanction’: The Order in Council of 17 June 1667 4. Treasury Control of Departmental Estimates: The Navy, 1676 5. The Treasury on revenue and expenditure: the report of 20 October 1668 6. Public credit: the Treasury advertises ‘payment in course’ 7. The Treasury board at work: a day's business, 22 July 1667 8. The inauguration of Treasury records: Treasury minutes 1667-9 9. The ‘ancient course’ Of the exchequer: the duties of the Kings Remembrancer 10. Treasury chivvies the exchequer: Treasury minutes 1667-8 11. Exchequer Negligence Denounced: A: The Parliamentary Accounts Commission of 1702-3 12. Exchequer Negligence Denounced: B: The Parliamentary Accounts Commission of 1713 13. The Treasury and ‘Corruption’: The Committee of Secrecy, 1742 14. The Principles of ‘Economical Reform’: The Reports of the Commissioners of Accounts, 1781-4 15. Parliament Demands the Enforcement of Treasury Control: a) 1810: Fifth Report of the Select Committee on Public Expenditure b) 1817: Reports of the Select Committee on Finance c) 1828: Report of the Select Committee on Income and Expenditure 16. The Treasure Appeals for Departmental Economy: The Treasury Minutes of 10 August 1821 17. Treasury Control of Estimates and Audit 18. The Exchequer and Audit Departments Act of 21866 19. Treasury Control Re-Defined: The Treasury Minute of April 1868 20. The Treasury and the City: A Proposal to Create An Assistant (Financial) Secretary, 1710 21. The Eighteenth-Century Treasury Establishment: Minutes on Organization and Reform, 1714-82 22. The Duties of Treasury Officials 23. ‘What’s Wrong with the Treasury’ : A Treasury Clerk Proposes Reforms, 1828 24. Gentlemen or Experts? Qualifications for Clerkships in the Treasury, 1831 25. Trevelyan on the Treasury, 1848 26. The Reorganization of 1856 27. The Reorganization of 1870.
Biography
Henry Roseveare was Professor of History at King's College, London.
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