During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the office of Lord Admiral (later Lord High Admiral) was responsible for policy direction, operational control and maritime jurisdiction of the British navy, although administrative affairs concerning the Naval Service were overseen by a Navy Board created by Henry VIII in 1546. Originally, this office was maintained by a single person until 1628 when Charles I effectively established the first Board of Admiralty, consisting of Lords Commissioners, whose head was the First Lord, the minister who was the political master of the Navy. The Board of Admiralty and the Navy Board administered the Navy until 1832, when the Board of Admiralty was invested with all the powers and duties of the Navy Board. The Board of Admiralty continued to exercise its duties until 1964, when it was amalgamated with two other departments of state into the Ministry of Defence.
From the guide to the Great Britain, Admiralty collection, 1796-1929, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
