The Comptroller General of the Exchequer was a position in the

Exchequer In the Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''Transaction account, current account'' (i.e., mon ...

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

between 1834 and 1866. The Comptroller General had responsibility for authorising the issue of public monies from the Treasury to government departments. The post was created in the ''Act to Regulate the Office of the Receipt of his Majesty's Exchequer'' of 1834, coming into effect on 11 October that year. The position merged several offices of the Exchequer together, including that of

Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer The Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer. The Tellers of the Exchequer received any money to be paid into the Exchequer, noted the amount in a book, and sent a copy of the entry, called a Teller's Bill, to ...

. The Comptroller General was given custody of all the records of the Exchequer of Receipt, including standard weights and measures and standard pieces of gold, silver, and copper. The inaugural Comptroller was

Sir John Newport, 1st Baronet Sir John Newport, 1st Baronet (24 October 1756 – 9 February 1843) was an Anglo-Irish Whig politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. Life Born on 24 October 1756, he was the son of Simon Newport, a banker at Waterford, ...

. He was replaced on 18 April 1835 by Thomas Spring Rice, later Lord Monteagle of Brandon, who also served as

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

. Lord Monteagle retained the role after he left the Cabinet in 1839, despite Lord Howick's strong opposition to the maintenance of the office. The holder of the position received the generous salary of £2,000 per year, and the office became widely seen as an extravagant and unnecessary

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

. Its retention was criticised by

Henry Liddell Henry George Liddell (; 6 February 1811– 18 January 1898) was Dean (college), dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School (where a house is n ...

in a speech in the Commons in 1840. By the 1860s Monteagle differed from the government regarding the Exchequer control over the Treasury, and the abolition of the old exchequer was already determined upon when he died in early 1866. The post was abolished by the

Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 The Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. 39) is the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom under which most of the revenue from taxation, and all other money payable to the Exchequer, must be paid into the Consolidat ...

by which its duties were merged with those of the

Commissioners of Audit The Commissioners of Audit had responsibility from 1785 to 1866 for the auditing of public accounts in the United Kingdom. History In 1785 a ''Commission for Auditing the Public Accounts'' was established by statute, replacing the Auditors of the ...

, creating the position of

Comptroller and Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. F ...

Comptrollers General of the Exchequer

References

{{English Exchequer Comptrollers General of the Exchequer Exchequer offices Government accounting officials HM Treasury