Somerset House - Government Use

Government Use

The main government department in the early days was the Admiralty, leading to the legend that Nelson worked in the building for a time. It is almost certain there is no foundation for this story, although his elder brother Maurice was employed there. There is still a conference room known as the "Nelson Room", a graceful apartment which has a copy of the Probate of Nelson's will framed on the wall.

Other departments in Somerset House during the first half of the 19th century were the Poor Law Commissioners and the Tithe Commissioners; in 1837 the Registrar General of Births, Marriages and Deaths set up his office in the North Wing, establishing a connection that lasted for almost 150 years. This office held all Birth, Marriage and Death certificates in England and Wales; indexes to these are now at The National Archives. From its foundation in 1837 the Government School of Design, which was much later to become the Royal College of Art, was housed in the complex, until in 1853 the Registry needed to expand its space.

Somerset House Laboratory, the laboratory originally established in 1842 for the prevention of the adulteration of tobacco products, started as basically a one-man operation by George Phillips. The laboratory was run by Inland Revenue and enhanced by the 1875 Sale of Food and Drugs Law. Phillips retired as principal chemist in 1874. Dr. James Bell was then the principal chemist of Somerset House Laboratory until his retirement in 1894. He was replaced as principal chemist by Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe, who in 1897 closed the laboratory within Somerset House and transferred the activities of the Government Laboratory to a new building of his own design.

From the beginning of the new Somerset House there was a fiscal presence in the shape of the Stamp Office and the Tax Office. These two Offices proved more tenacious than the others, going on to help form what became the Inland Revenue. This department became the largest occupier of the building, although the North Wing became available for public purposes in the 1970s.

Somerset House continued in use by the Inland Revenue after it was created by a merger of the Stamp and Taxes Offices and the Excise Department in 1849. The Inland Revenue was eventually merged in 2005 with HM Customs and Excise and its successor HM Revenue & Customs continued to occupy the building, although its executive and senior management moved to 100 Parliament St. shortly after the merger. Various divisions and directorates of HMRC previously occupied the East, West and New Wings of Somerset House until early 2009 when almost all staff relocated with most moving across the street to Bush House. In 2004 it was proposed that the newly proposed Supreme Court of the United Kingdom be housed in the New Wing, but a decision was made to use Middlesex Guildhall instead.