Ordnance Office

A public department of the English government, consisting of six officers, called respectively the master-general, the surveyor-general, the clerk of the ordnance, the principal storekeeper, the secretary to the mastergeneral, the secretary to the board. The surveyor-general, clerk of the ordnance, and principal storekeeper, constituted, together, what was called the board of ordnance. The department was under the control of the master-general and the board. It was the duty of the master-general to direct personally all matters relating to the corps of artillery and engineers. It was the duty of the board to superintend the construction and repair of fortifications, barracks, and military buildings in the United Kingdom and in the colonies, and of the colonial government buildings; also the supply of arms, ammunition, and military stores for the army and navy, and the contract and issue of fuel, lights, and the various military supplies, both at home and abroad, and of provisions and forage for the army in Great Britain; also the surveys, both civil and military, required at home and abroad, and the direction of the scientific works pertaining to the corps of engineers. By Stat. 18 & 19 Vict. ch. 117, passed in 1855, the estates and powers of the officers of ordnance are transferred to one of her majesty's principal secretaries of state. Mozley If W.