Great Officer Of State

Information about Great Officer Of State

For other uses of "Great Officer of State", see Great Officer of State (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Great Offices of State.

In the United Kingdom, the Great Officers of State are traditional Crown ministers, who either inherit their positions or are appointed to exercise certain largely ceremonial functions. Separate Great Officers exist for England and Scotland, and formerly for Ireland. Many of the Great Offices became largely ceremonial because historically they were so influential that their powers had to be resumed by the Crown or dissipated.

England

The Great Officers of England are:

Some officers are appointed, while others inherit their positions. The Lord High Stewardship was held by the Earls of Leicester until 1399 when the holder became the Sovereign; and since 1421, a Lord High Steward has generally only been appointed temporarily either for the day of a coronation or for the trials of peers (before 1948). The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is also hereditary, originally being held by the Earls of Oxford. Later, however, the Chamberlainship came to be inherited by multiple heirs, each holding a fraction of the office. One of the holders, chosen by rotation, exercises the office as a Deputy. The post of Lord High Constable was originally inherited by the Earls of Hereford, but when one holder was attainted and executed in 1521, the office reverted to the Crown, only to be reinstated for the day of a coronation. The final inheritable office is that of Earl Marshal, held by the Dukes of Norfolk. During the many periods in which the Dukes were attainted, another individual was appointed to the post. Furthermore, prior to 1824, the Earl Marshal had to appoint a Protestant Deputy if he was a Roman Catholic.

Some offices are put into "commission"; that is, multiple commissioners are appointed to collectively exercise the office. The office of Lord High Treasurer has been in commission since 1714: the First Lord of the Treasury is the Prime Minister, the Second Lord is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the remaining Lords Commissioners are Government Whips. The office of Lord High Admiral was for many years also in commission, and is now vested in the Sovereign. The remaining officers — Lord Chancellor, Lord President and Lord Privy Seal — are appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Prime Minister. The posts of Lord President and Lord Privy Seal are normally combined with that of Leader of the House of Commons and Leader of the House of Lords, respectively, though the current Government has the posts reversed.

The Great Officers had and have varying duties. The Lord High Steward was originally a holder of significant political power, but gradually became a ceremonial officer, as have become the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal. The Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Constable, and Lord High Admiral were originally responsible for monetary, military, and naval matters respectively. The Lord President of the Council is responsible for presiding over the meetings of the Privy Council. The office of Lord Privy Seal is a sinecure, though he is technically the Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lord Chancellor is the most important of the Great Officers: he is the cabinet minister responsible for the Ministry of Justice, formerly the Lord Chancellor's Department and the Department for Constitutional Affairs) and formally Keeper of the Great Seal. The Queen assumed the title of Lord High Admiral in 1964 when the Admiralty was incorporated into the Ministry of Defence.

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that the Lord Great Chamberlain and Earl Marshal be exempt from such a rule, so that they may continue to carry out their ceremonial functions in the House of Lords.

The current Great Officers are:

Lord High Steward - (vacant)
Lord High Chancellor - The Rt Hon. Jack Straw
Lord High Treasurer - (In Commission) The Lords Commissioners of the Treasury
Lord President of the Council - The Baroness Ashton of Upholland
Lord Privy Seal - The Rt Hon. Harriet Harman
Lord Great Chamberlain (Deputy) - The Marquess of Cholmondeley
Lord High Constable - (vacant)
Earl Marshal - The Duke of Norfolk
Lord High Admiral - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Scotland

The term "officer of state" is sometimes used loosely of any great office under the Crown. A number of historical offices ended at or soon after the Acts of Union 1707. There are also a number of Officers of the Crown and Great Officers of the Royal Household.

Officers of State

Present Officers of State are:

Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland (now under the possession of the First Minister)
Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland
Lord Clerk Register
Lord Advocate
Lord Justice Clerk
Lord Justice General or Lord President of the College of Justice
Lord Lyon King of Arms

Officers of the Crown

Officers of the Crown are:

Great Officers of the Royal Household

The Great Officers of the Royal Household are:

The Royal Household in Scotland also includes a number of other hereditary and non-hereditary offices, now including The Master Carver, Hereditary Keepers of Palaces and Castles, the Lord Lyon and his heralds and pursuivants, the Governor of Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Company of Archers (Queen's Bodyguard), the Dean of the Thistle, the Dean of the Chapel Royal, chaplains, physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, the Historiographer Royal, the Botanist, the Painter and Limner, the Sculptor and the Astronomer Royal for Scotland.

History

A number of offices ended at or soon after the Union of 1707. These include the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, the Treasurer of Scotland, the Treasurer-depute of Scotland, the Secretary of State, Scotland, the Master of Requests and the President of the Privy Council.

As in England, many offices are hereditary. The post of High Constable is held by the Earls of Erroll. Originally, the heads of the Keith family held the office of Earl Marischal, but in 1716, the holder was attainted for treason, and the office has not been regranted. The Dukes of Argyll are the Hereditary Masters of the Household. All other officers are Crown appointees. Many of these offices, though originally associated with political power, are only ceremonial now.

The remaining officers are related to Scotland's judiciary. The Lord Justice General was originally an important noble, though in the 19th century, the office was combined with that of Lord President of the Court of Session. Now, the Lord Justice General is the head of Scotland's judiciary. The Lord Clerk Register is an officer with miscellaneous functions that included conducting the elections of representative peers and registering births and deaths. The Lord Advocate is at the head of the law offices of Scotland; all prosecutors act in his name. The Lord Justice Clerk serves as a deputy of the Lord Justice General. Finally, the Lord Lyon King of Arms is the sole judge in the Lyon Court, which determines cases relating to heraldry.

Current Great Officers

The current Great Officers are:

Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland - The Rt. Hon. Alex Salmond
Keeper of the Privy Seal - office unfilled since death of the 1st Marquess of Breadalbane in 1922
Lord Clerk Register - James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern
Lord Advocate - The Rt Hon. Elish Angioloni
Lord Justice Clerk - The Rt Hon. Lord Gill
Lord Justice General - The Rt Hon. Lord Hamilton
Lord Lyon King of Arms of Scotland - The Rt Hon. Robin Orr Blair
Lord High Constable - The Rt Hon. The Earl of Erroll
Hereditary Master of the Household in Scotland - His Grace The Duke of Argyll

England

The Earl Marshal of England
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Naval Service

Components
Royal Navy

Surface Fleet
Fleet Air Arm
Submarine Service
Royal Navy Regulating Branch
Royal Naval Reserve
Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service

Royal Marines

(includes Royal Marines Reserve)

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Earl of Leicester (pronounced "Lester") was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England (now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.
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Coronation of the British Monarch is a ceremony (specifically, initiation rite) in which the monarch of the United Kingdom and of the other Commonwealth Realms is formally crowned and invested with regalia.
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For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation).

The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s
1945 1946 1947 - 1948 - 1949 1950 1951

Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII
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Earl of Oxford was one of the older titles in the English peerage, and was held for several centuries by the de Vere family from 1141. It finally became dormant in 1703 with the death of the 20th Earl.
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The title of Earl of Hereford was created several times in the Peerage of England. See also Duke of Hereford, Viscount Hereford.

Earl of Herefordshire, Preconquest

Swegen Godwinson (c.

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In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the stain or corruption of blood which arises from being condemned for any crime.

Definition

After a person has been condemned of a crime or any other questionable act, property and title of influence are taken
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Duke of Norfolk is the Premier Duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the Premier Earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of England.
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17th century - 18th century - 19th century
1680s 1690s 1700s - 1710s - 1720s 1730s 1740s
1711 1712 1713 - 1714 - 1715 1716 1717

:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called The Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of
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In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. The term originated in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and derives from the "whipper-in" at a fox hunt.
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The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. Although at one time the position was usually held by the Prime Minister, in recent years, the post has usually been
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Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
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A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically in a monarchy.

The word "privy" means "private" or "secret" thus a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on affairs of state.
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Great Officer Of State

Information about Great Officer Of State

England

Scotland

Officers of State

Officers of the Crown

Great Officers of the Royal Household

History

Current Great Officers

See also

England

Earl of Herefordshire, Preconquest

Definition