Vernon Lushington KC,, was a Positivist, Deputy Judge Advocate General, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, and was associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was a Cambridge Apostle.

The Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty was the permanent secretary at the Admiralty, the department of state in Great Britain and subsequently the United Kingdom responsible for the administration of the Royal Navy. He was head of the Admiralty Secretariat, later known as the Department of the Permanent Secretary. Although he was not a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, he was as a member of the Board, and did attend all meetings. The post existed from 1702 to 1964.