Under Clerks of the Revenue c. 1715-1805

Under Clerks of the Revenue c. 1715-1805

The nature of the evidence is such that it is impossible to establish with precision the number and identity of the Under Clerks working in the Revenue Department until the latter part of the eighteenth century. In 1712 they were two in number. (fn. 1) In the establishment list of 1715, when they were named for the first time, they were three. (fn. 2) The number had fallen to two by 1725. (fn. 3) For the next twenty years the position is obscure. It is possible that, following a direction of the Board in 1726, the work of the department was undertaken by Under Clerks on the establishment. (fn. 4) In 1745, however, there were three distinct Under Clerks of the Revenue. (fn. 5) The number was reduced to two in 1752 and to one in 1757 when a further arrangement was made for Under Clerks on the establishment to work in the department. (fn. 6)

After 1758 there was a rapid increase in the number of distinct Under Clerks of the Revenue. It reached six in 1767 at which level it remained fixed until 1805 when the then Under Clerks were divided into Senior and Assistant Clerks and linked in point of rank and salary with the corresponding grades of the ordinary establishment. (fn. 7)

In 1715 one of the three Under Clerks of the Revenue received a salary of £60 and the other two salaries of £50. (fn. 8) In 1725 the two remaining Under Clerks received £50. (fn. 9) The details of remuneration are obscure between that date and 1776. In the latter year the salaries of the six Under Clerks were fixed in order of seniority at £450, £400' £350, £300, £250 and £200. In 1798 they were fixed at £600, £500, £400, £350' £300 and £200. (fn. 10) The bulk of these salaries was provided out of the customs but between 1762 and 1793 it was the rule for each Under Clerk to receive £100 a year from the civil list.

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS