Master General of the Ordnance

Office of the Master-General of the Ordnance
Flag of a military member of the Army Board
Ministry of Defence
Member of	Board of Ordnance, Army Board
Reports to	Secretary of State for Defence
Nominator	Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	Prime Minister Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council
Term length	Not fixed (usually for life)
Inaugural holder	Nicholas Merbury
Formation	1415-2013

The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855-1895 and 1939-1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was responsible for all British artillery, engineers, fortifications, military supplies, transport, field hospitals and much else, and was not subordinate to the commander-in chief of the British military. In March 2013 the holder was titled as "Director Land Capability and Transformation", but still sat on the Army Board as Master-General of the Ordnance; in September 2013 the post was eliminated.

The Office of Armoury split away from the Privy Wardrobe of the Tower (of London) in the early 15th century. The Master of the Ordnance came into being in 1415 with the appointment of Nicholas Merbury by Henry V. The Office of Ordnance was created by Henry VIII in 1544 and became the Board of Ordnance in 1597. Its head was the Master-General of the Ordnance; his subordinates included the Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance and the Surveyor-General of the Ordnance. Before the establishment of a standing army or navy, the Ordnance Office was the only permanent military department in England. In 1764 it established the British standard ordnance weights and measurements for the artillery, one of the earliest standards in the world.

The position of Master-General was frequently a cabinet-level one, especially in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when it was normally a political appointment. In 1855 the post was discontinued and certain of the ceremonial aspects of the post were subsequently vested in the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. In 1904 the post was re-established, and until 1938 the Master-General of the Ordnance was the Fourth Military Member of the Army Board.