Admiralty
It evolved from *Admiralty Navy War Council, (1909–1912) which in turn became the Admiralty War Staff, (1912–1917) before finally becoming the Admiralty Naval Staff in 1917. It was the former senior command, operational planning, policy and strategy department within the British Admiralty. It was established in 1917 and existed until 1964 when the department of the Admiralty was abolished, and the staff departments function continued within the Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence until 1971 when its functions became part of the new Naval Staff, Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence.
Admiralty in the 16th century
England's Admiralty courts date to at least the 1340s, during the reign of Edward III. At that time there were three such courts, appointed by Admirals responsible for waters to the Admiral of the North, Admiral of the South and Admiral of the West of England. In 1483 it absorbed the jurisdiction of the deputies and courts these regional courts eventiually amalgamated into a single High Court of Admiralty, administered by the Lord High Admiral of England. The Lord High Admiral directly appointed judges to the court, and could remove them at will.From its inception in 1483 until 1657 the Court sat in a disused church in Southwark, and from then until 1665 in Montjoy House, a private premises leased from the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. The function of an admiralty court initially in the 14th century was to deal with piracy and other offences committed upon the high seas. However, it did not take long for those early courts to seek to manifest control over all things to do with shipping, such as mercantile matters. This led to a running battle between the admiralty courts and the common law courts as to which court had jurisdiction over particular issues.