Office of the Comptroller General of the Exchequer: Records

E 408

1833-1867

This series contains the records of the office which was set up to replace the receipt side of the Exchequer of Receipt in 1834. They consist of Exchequer bills, interest-bearing government issues designed to fund specific loans, and associated account books. The bills in this series were issued for various purposes, including loans for public works in Ireland and the improvement of the River Shannon navigation, for Irish tithes charged on supplies, and loans for the relief of West Indian plantation owners following the abolition of slavery in 1833.

The series also comprises treasury warrants and royal orders; treasury letters; credit books; and weekly, quarterly and yearly account books, both for Great Britain and Ireland. These provide details of the monies paid into and out of the Exchequer.

Records formerly in the Office of the Comptroller General are now in the following series of the Exchequer and Audit Department:

In-Letters:

AO 9

Various Accounts:

AO 3

Registers of Papers Received:

AO 5

Establishments and Registers:

AO 11

Absorbed Departments:

AO 17

Public Record(s)

English

292 volume(s)

Topics

Tithes

Slavery

Ireland

Construction industries

In 1834 all functions of the Exchequer of Receipt were transferred to a Comptroller General. Thenceforward all public monies payable into the Exchequer were paid instead into the Bank of England on the account of the Exchequer, and the Treasury had general authority for making the arrangements whereby credits and debits were transferred between accounts held at the Bank. The Comptroller General was given custody of all the records of the Exchequer of Receipt, including standard weights and measures and standard pieces of gold, silver, and copper. The post of Comptroller General of the Exchequer was itself abolished in 1867 (29 & 30 Victoria c39) and the duties amalgamated with those of the Audit Office.