List of ministers to Elizabeth I

This is a list of the principal government ministers during the reign of Elizabeth I of England, 1558 to 1603. From the outset of her reign, her chief minister was Sir William Cecil, later Lord Burghley. He died in 1598 and was succeeded by his son Sir Robert Cecil.

Lord Burghley was the longest-serving minister to Queen Elizabeth I.

Office	Name	Date	Notes
Lord Chancellor Lord Keeper of the Great Seal	Sir Nicholas Bacon	1558
	Sir Thomas Bromley	1579
	Sir Christopher Hatton	1587
	in commission	1591
	Sir John Puckering	1592
	Sir Thomas Egerton	1596
Lord Treasurer	The Marquess of Winchester	continued in office
	The Lord Burghley	1572
	The Lord Buckhurst	1599
Lord Privy Seal	Sir Nicholas Bacon	1558
	The Lord Burghley	1571
	The Lord Howard of Effingham	1572
	Sir Thomas Smith	1573
	Francis Walsingham	1576	knighted in 1577
	The Lord Burghley	1590
	Sir Robert Cecil	1598
Secretary of State	Sir William Cecil	1558
	Sir Thomas Smith	1572
	Sir Thomas Smith Francis Walsingham	1573
	Sir Francis Walsingham Thomas Wilson	1577
	Sir Francis Walsingham	1581
	Sir Francis Walsingham William Davison	1586
	Sir Francis Walsingham	1587
	vacant	1590
	Sir Robert Cecil	1596
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Sir Richard Sackville
	Sir Walter Mildmay	1566
	Sir John Fortescue	1589
Lord High Admiral	The Lord Clinton	1558	created Earl of Lincoln in 1572
	The Lord Howard of Effingham	1585	created Earl of Nottingham in 1596
Master-General of the Ordnance	Sir Richard Southwell	continued in office
	The Earl of Warwick	1560
	The Earl of Warwick Sir Philip Sidney	1585
	The Earl of Warwick	1586
	vacant	1590
	Sir Robert Cecil	1598
	The Earl of Essex	1597
	vacant	1601
Lord Steward	The Earl of Arundel	continued in office
	The Earl of Pembroke	1568
	vacant	1570
	The Earl of Leicester	1587
	Lord St John of Basing	1588
Lord Chamberlain	The Lord Howard of Effingham	continued in office
	The Earl of Sussex	1572
	The 1st Lord Hunsdon	1585
	The 2nd Lord Cobham	1596
	The 2nd Lord Hunsdon	1597
Cofferer of the Household	Sir Henry Cocke	by 1572
Master of the Horse	Lord Robert Dudley	1558	created Earl of Leicester in 1564
	The Earl of Essex	1588
	The Earl of Worcester	1602

Other important ministers were Sir Francis Knollys and James Windebank.

Sources

• Haydn's Book of Dignities, 1894