Navy Pay Office (Royal Navy)

The Navy Pay Office also known as the Navy Treasury was established in 1546. The office was administered by the Treasurer of the Navy, and was semi-autonomous of the Navy Office. It existed until 1835 when all offices and accounting departments of the Royal Navy were unified into the Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy. The Navy Pay Office received money directly from HM Treasury.

History
The Navy Pay Office (NPO) was established in 1546, it was administered by the Treasurer of the Navy and existed until 1835 when all finance and accounting offices and departments of the Royal Navy were centralized into a single department under the Accountant-General of the Navy. The office was responsible processing naval finance including payments to flag officers, other commissioned officers and non-commissioned naval personnel and including the Victualling Office. The work of its staff was divided into a number of branches with specific areas of responsibility, these were overseen by the paymaster of the navy, the inspector of seamen's wills and the captains comptrolling payments of ships at Portsmouth, Plymouth and the Nore.

The Navy Pay Office (domain of the Treasurer of the Navy and the Paymaster of the Navy) was independent of the Navy Board; though the board's commissioners were required to authorize payments, all funds transferred from HM Treasury were held and issued by the Navy Pay Office (which was also known as the Naval Treasury).

Organisation and structure of the Navy Pay Office
The Navy Pay Office consisted of a number of specific departments and offices that included:

Branches
Each branch within the Navy Pay Office was administered by a Chief Clerk each had a head cashier together with other supporting staff.


 * 1) Accountants Branch
 * 2) Allotment Branch
 * 3) Bill and Remittance Branch
 * 4) Navy Branch
 * 5) Navy Bills Branch
 * 6) Prize Branch
 * 7) Stores Branch
 * 8) Ticket Branch
 * 9) Ticket and Wages Branch
 * 10) Treasurers Branch
 * 11) Victualling Branch
 * 12) Wages Branch
 * 13) Wills Branch

Offices

 * 1) Office of the Assistant to the Treasurer of the Navy
 * 2) Office of the Captains Controlling the Payment of Ships
 * 3) Office of the Paymaster of the Marines (Navy Board)
 * 4) Office of the Paymaster of the Navy
 * 5) Office of the Inspector of Seaman's Wills