Admiral Sir Charles Wager was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1733 to 1742. Despite heroic active service and steadfast administration and diplomatic service, Wager can be criticized for his failure to deal with an acute manning problem.
Portrait of Admiral Sir Charles Wager by Thomas Gibson
Britannia under sail with other men-of-war, in a 1683 painting by Isaac Sailmaker
Sketch of Gibraltar by an officer of Admiral Rooke's fleet on 1 August 1704
Wager's Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708
First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the direction and control of the Admiralty, and also of general administration of the Naval Service of the Kingdom of England, Great Britain in the 18th century, and then the United Kingdom, including the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, and other services. It was one of the earliest known permanent government posts. Apart from being the political head of the Naval Service the post holder was simultaneously the pre-eminent member of the Board of Admiralty. The office of First Lord of the Admiralty existed from 1628 until it was abolished when the Admiralty, Air Ministry, Ministry of Defence and War Office were all merged to form the new Ministry of Defence in 1964. Its modern-day equivalent is the Secretary of State for Defence.
Image: Richard Weston
Image: Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey, by circle of Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt
Image: William Juxon from NPG
Image: Algernon Percy