33-701: Brocks may refer to: Brocks Fireworks , English manufacturer of fireworks Brocks Gap , water gap in Rockingham County, Virginia Brocks Peak , the sharp rocky peak in Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica People [ edit ] Hendrik Brocks (born 1942), Indonesian cyclist Karl Brocks (1912–1972), German meteorologist and Hauptmann during World War II See also [ edit ] Broks , surname Brock (disambiguation) Townes–Brocks syndrome , rare genetic disease Topics referred to by
66-610: A Cabinet job. He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army; the Commander-in-Chief had a virtually equal degree of responsibility. This was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell in 1870, which subordinated the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. In practice, however, a large influence was retained by the conservative Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge , who held
99-420: A newspaper report at the time "there was a terrific explosion which was heard ten miles way". Fire-fighters were led by Alan Brock, a director, and three people were injured. In the early 1970s, the company moved manufacturing from Hemel Hempstead to Sanquhar , Scotland. This followed the sale of the freehold in 1971 to Fairview Estates. The property was to be sold in lots of 34 acres and was expected to fetch
132-641: A separate Minister of Defence for the first time in 1947. In 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry. As early as 1718 letters from the Secretary at War were addressed from "The War Office". His department had several headquarters in London until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722. It remained there until 1858. Then, following
165-506: A total of £3.5 million. Also in the 1970s, the company opened an additional factory at Swaffham in Norfolk. Brock's Fireworks was bought by Standard Fireworks in 1988, and Standard Fireworks were bought by China-based Black Cat Fireworks, bringing an end to production in the UK. War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations in history, all relating to
198-458: Is also given to the former home of the department, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. The landmark building was sold on 1 March 2016 by HM Government for more than £ 350 million, on a 250 year lease for conversion into a luxury hotel and residential apartments. Prior to 1855, 'War Office' signified the office of the Secretary at War . In
231-470: Is buried at St James's Church, Clerkenwell , London. In 1825 the factory was located in a residential area in Baker's Row (now Vallance Road), Whitechapel , London : it was destroyed when a boy who was ramming gunpowder into a firework accidentally created a spark which ignited it, and threw it aside as he ran out in fright. Fifty pounds of gunpowder and a large amount of saltpetre exploded immediately, blowing
264-594: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Brocks Fireworks Brock's Fireworks Ltd is a manufacturer of fireworks , founded in London and subsequently based in Hemel Hempstead , Dumfriesshire and Norfolk . Brock's was founded in 1698 in Islington by John Brock, and is the oldest British firework manufacturer. John Brock died on 5 November 1720 aged 43 and
297-674: The Crimean War . This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had been directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance , usually a very senior military officer who (unlike the Secretary at War) was often a member of the Cabinet. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all administrative duties in 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War,
330-714: The East India Company and then the India Office ) was divided by the War and Colonial Office into the following administrative departments: NORTH AMERICA WEST INDIES MEDITERRANEAN AND AFRICA EASTERN COLONIES The War Office, after 1854 and until the 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada , was to split the military administration of the British Empire much as the War and Colonial Office had: In February 1855,
363-530: The Secretary at War , whose role had originated during the reign of King Charles II as the secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army . In the latter part of the 17th century, the office of Commander-in-Chief was vacant for several periods, which left the Secretary at War answering directly to the Sovereign; and thereafter, even when the office of Commander-in-Chief was restored on a more permanent basis,
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#1733094179706396-564: The Secretary of State for War after the creation of that more senior post in 1794 (though the latter was also responsible for Britain's colonies from 1801, and renamed Secretary of State for War and the Colonies , an arrangement which only ceased with the establishment of the Colonial Office in 1854). From 1824, the British Empire (excepting India , which was administered separately by
429-944: The controller of army accounts, the Army Medical Board , the Commissariat Department, the Board of General Officers, the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces , the Commissary General of Muster , the Paymaster General of the forces , and (particularly with regard to the Militia ) the Home Office . The term War Department was initially used for the separate office of the Secretary of State for War; in 1855,
462-512: The 17th and 18th centuries, a number of independent offices and individuals were responsible for various aspects of Army administration. The most important were the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces , the Secretary at War , and the twin Secretaries of State ; most of whose military responsibilities were passed to a new Secretary of State for War in 1794. Others who performed specialist functions were
495-600: The Army. After Blathwayt's retirement in 1704, Secretary at War became a political office. In political terms, it was a fairly minor government job (despite retaining a continued right of access to the monarch) which dealt with the minutiae of administration, rather than grand strategy. The Secretary, who was usually a member of the House of Commons, routinely presented the House with the Army Estimates, and occasionally spoke on other military matters as required. In symbolic terms, he
528-654: The First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. Its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. In 1936, the government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, who was not part of the War Office. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether, and appointed himself Minister of Defence (though there was, curiously, no ministry of defence until 1947). Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power in 1945, but appointed
561-490: The Secretary at War retained his independence. The department of the Secretary at War was referred to as the 'Warr Office' (sic) from as early as 1694; its foundation has traditionally been ascribed to William Blathwayt , who had accompanied King William III during the Nine Years' War and who, from his appointment as Secretary in 1684, had greatly expanded the remit of his office to cover general day-to-day administration of
594-668: The War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H.H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War. During his tenure, the Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence , which debated broader military issues. The War Office decreased greatly in importance after
627-739: The army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). It was at that time, equivalent to the Admiralty , responsible for the Royal Navy (RN), and (much later) the Air Ministry , which oversaw the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name 'War Office'
660-430: The building required five years to complete, at a cost of more than 1.2 million pounds. The building is somewhat oddly shaped, forming a trapezoid in order to maximise the use of the irregularly shaped plot of land on which it was built: its four distinctive domes were designed as a decorative means of disguising the shape. It has around 1,100 rooms on seven floors. After 1964 the building continued to be used, under
693-762: The dissolution of the Board of Ordnance, the War Office moved into the Board's former offices in Cumberland House , Pall Mall . Over the ensuing years it expanded into adjacent properties on Pall Mall before it was relocated to purpose-built accommodation, in what is now known as the Old War Office Building, in 1906. Between 1906 and its abolition in 1964 the War Office was based in a large neo-Baroque building designed by William Young , completed during 1906, and located on Horse Guards Avenue at its junction with Whitehall in Central London. The construction of
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#1733094179706726-489: The name The Old War Office, by the Ministry of Defence . On 1 June 2007 the building, other than the steps that give access to it, was designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 . The effect was to make it a specific criminal offence for a person to trespass on the building. In August 2013 it was announced that the building would be sold on
759-465: The new Secretary of State for War was additionally commissioned as Secretary at War, thus giving the Secretary of State oversight of the War Office in addition to his own department. The same procedure was followed for each of his successors, until the office of Secretary at War was abolished altogether in 1863. In 1855, the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during
792-559: The offices of Secretary at War and Secretary of State for War were amalgamated, and thereafter the terms War Office and War Department were used somewhat interchangeably. The War Office developed from the Council of War , an ad hoc grouping of the King and his senior military commanders which managed the Kingdom of England 's wars and campaigns. The management of the War Office was directed initially by
825-605: The open market, with a goal of realising offers above 100 million pounds. On 13 December 2014 the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the building would be sold to the Hinduja Group for an undisclosed amount. The building was sold on 1 March 2016 for more than 350 million pounds, on a 250-year lease, to the Hinduja Group and OHL Developments for conversion to a luxury hotel and residential apartments. Hinduja and Raffles plan to open
858-662: The post between 1856 and 1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britain's rivals, a problem that became obvious during the Second Boer War . The situation was only remedied in 1904, when the job of Commander-in-Chief was abolished, and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff , which was replaced by the job of Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1908. An Army Council
891-674: The roof off, setting fire to the building, and smashing every pane of glass in most of the adjoining streets. The company established a presence in south London, in South Norwood and Sutton and developed an association with the Crystal Palace , devising public displays (known as "Brock's Benefits"), from 1826, and adopting "Crystal Palace" as a brand name. In 1868, the company built a firework "manufactory" in Nunhead , south-east London, not far from where The Pyrotechnists Arms still exists. It
924-463: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Brocks . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brocks&oldid=1234553643 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description
957-416: Was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Leverstock Green . The company moved to Hemel Hempstead in the early 1930s. In the 1930s, Brock's built homes and a sports club. for its workers near to its 207-acre (0.84 km ) site on the north eastern side of Hemel Hempstead. The street names (Ranelagh Road and Vauxhall Road) reflected earlier associations with the 18th-century London Pleasure Gardens where Brock's
990-612: Was contracted to display fireworks. During the Second World War the company made the famous "target markers" used by the RAF's Pathfinder Force (PFF). These guided the bombers so they could drop their ordnance more accurately. In August of 1946, several buildings at the Hemel Hempstead site were damaged and destroyed in a fire and explosion. The fire had broken out in the chemical stores and quickly spread to other buildings. According to
1023-481: Was created with a format similar to that of the Board of Admiralty , directed by the Secretary of State for War, and an Imperial General Staff was established to coordinate Army administration. The creation of the Army Council was recommended by the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee, and formally appointed by Letters Patent dated 8 February 1904, and by Royal Warrant dated 12 February 1904. The management of
Brocks - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-482: Was seen as signifying parliamentary control over the Army. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and Home Office ). From 1704 to 1855, the job of Secretary remained occupied by a minister of the second rank (although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet after 1794). Many of his responsibilities were transferred to
1089-574: Was then referred to as C. T. Brock & Co, "Crystal Palace" Fireworks. Brock Street, was built on a closed section of nearby Tappesfield Road, commemorating the factory. The 1887 edition and several subsequent editions of Whitaker's Almanack included advertisements for Brock's: the company provided fireworks for the Crystal Palace company, the UK War Office , the Government of India and other bodies. Henry Brock died on 4 October 1901 at age 53, and
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