Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
Encyclopedia
In the Government of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery is a senior civil servant who is the head of the Crown Office. The Crown Office, a section of the Ministry of Justice, has custody of the Great Seal of the Realm
Great Seal of the Realm
The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...

, and has certain administrative functions in connection with the courts and the judicial process, as well as functions relating to the electoral process for House of Commons elections, to the keeping of the Roll of the Peerage, and to the preparation of royal documents such as warrants required to pass under the Royal Sign Manual, fiats, letters patent, etc.

Since 1885 the office of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery has been combined with that of Permanent Secretary
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...

 to the Lord Chancellor's Department
Lord Chancellor's Department
The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales....

 (now the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for improvements to the justice system so that it better serves the public...

).

All formal royal documents (such as warrants to be signed by the monarch; letters patent, both those that are signed by the Queen herself and those that are approved by warrant; and royal charters) are prepared by the Crown Office.

The Crown office is also responsible for sealing with the Great Seal of the Realm all documents that need to pass under that seal, once the authority for the use of the seal is signified by the Sovereign (authorization to use the Seal is granted either by the monarch signing a warrant that approves the draft text of letters patent, directs that they be prepared and authorizes them to be sealed and issued; or by the Sovereign directly signing the letters patent that are to pass under the great seal, as is necessary in some cases, such in the case letters patent that grant Royal Assent to bills passed by Parliament and in the cases of instruments of consent relating to royal marriages).

The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery discharges his functions regarding the use of the Great Seal and the preparation of royal warrants, letters patent, etc., under the direction of the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

, who is the keeper of the Great Seal of the Realm.

The Crown Office is also responsible for maintaining and updating the Roll of the Peerage
Roll of the Peerage
The Roll of the Peerage is a public record registering peers in the peerages of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...

. The Secretary of State for Justice is the keeper of the Peerage Roll, and his duties in that regard are daily discharged by a Registrar of the Peerage and a Deputy Registrar, who work within the Crown Office and are therefore under the supervision of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. The duties of the Ministry of Justice regarding the keeping and maintenance of the Roll of the Peerage are discharged in collaboration with the Garter King of Arms and Lord Lyon King of Arms
Lord Lyon King of Arms
The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest...

, regarding their respective heraldic jurisdictions. The Crown Office also compiles the Official Roll of the Baronetage
Official Roll of the Baronetage
The Official Roll of the Baronetage is an official list of baronets compiled by the Crown Office, a section of the Ministry of Justice, and published by the Standing Council of the Baronetage. It was first published 23 February 1914...

.

The Crown Office also has duties relating to the elections for the House of Commons. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery initiates a parliamentary election in a constituency by sending an Election Writ
Writ of election
A writ of election is a writ issued by the government ordering the holding of a special election for a political office.In the United Kingdom and in Canada, this is the only way of holding an election for the House of Commons...

 to the Returning Officer
Returning Officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.-Australia:In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a State Electoral Commission who heads the local divisional office...

 of the constituency, and receives all ballot papers and ballot stubs after the election is complete; these are retained for a year.

The Clerk isssues Election Writs to all constituencies whenever the Queen makes a proclamation summoning a new Parliament; and he issues an Election Writ to an specific constituency whenever that constituency's seat is certified as vacant. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery also prepares a Return Book, listing the names of all those who are returned as members of the House of Commons in a general election, and delivers that book to the Clerk of the House of Commons on the first day of a new Parliament. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery also formally aquaints the Clerk of the House of Commons of the name of MPs returned in a by-election.

List of Clerks of the Crown in Chancery (incomplete)

(Names in parentheses are those of individuals granted the office of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery in reversion after a previous holder of that office or fellow grantee, but did not in fact hold the office; dates overlap because at various points there was more than one holder of the office at a certain time.)
  • Benedict Normanton 1331-1350
  • John Tamworth 1350-1376
  • Geoffrey Martin 1376-1396
  • Edmund Brudenell 1380-1385
  • James Billingford 1385-1409
  • John Clerk 1396-1415
  • William Champneys 1409-1415
  • Richard Sturgeon 1415-1449
  • Thomas Haseley 1415-1449
  • Thomas Ive 1448-1481
  • William Rous 1449-1470
  • [William Swerendon; grant in reversion after William Rous, 1461]
  • John Bagot 1470-1499
  • Richard Ive 1481-1487
  • Gilbert Bacheler 1485-1500
  • Clement Clerk 1487-1504
  • William Porter 1504-1522
  • Ralph Pexall 1522-1537
  • Sir Thomas Pope 1537-1544
  • John Lucas 1538-1544
  • Edmund Martin 1544-1568
  • Thomas Powle (I) 1546-1601
  • [Thomas Powle (II); grant in reversion after Thomas Powle I, 1579]
  • [Rowland Watson; grant in reversion after Thomas Powle I and II, 1589]
  • Sir George Coppin 1597-1620
  • [Miles Raynsford; grant in reversion after Sir George Coppin, 1603]
  • Sir Thomas Edmondes
    Thomas Edmondes
    Sir Thomas Edmonds was a diplomat and politician.Edmonds was the fifth son of another Thomas Edmonds, who was the Customer of the ports of Plymouth and Fowey, and of Joan daughter of Anthony Delbere of Sherborne in Dorset...

     1620-1629
  • [Anthony Luther; grant in reversion after Sir George Coppin and Sir Thomas Edmondes, 1610]
  • [Thomas Luther; grant in reversion after Sir George Coppin and Sir Thomas Edmondes, 1610]
  • Thomas Willis
    Thomas Willis (Clerk of the Crown in Chancery)
    Thomas Willis was a member of the English landed gentry and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery at the outbreak of the English Civil War, owing to which he suffered the loss of his position and some of his estates...

     (I) 1629-1656
  • [Richard Beringer; grant in reversion after Thomas Willis I, 1629]
  • [Sir Arthur Mainwaring; grant in reversion after Thomas Willis I, 1636]
  • [Andrew Pitcairn; grant in reversion after Thomas Willis I and Richard Beringer, 1636]
  • [ Thomas Willis
    Thomas Willis (Clerk of the Crown in Chancery)
    Thomas Willis was a member of the English landed gentry and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery at the outbreak of the English Civil War, owing to which he suffered the loss of his position and some of his estates...

     (II); grant in reversion after Thomas Willis I, 1641]
  • John Bolles 1643-1654
  • Nathaniel Taylor 1655-1659
  • Valentine Willis
    Thomas Willis (Clerk of the Crown in Chancery)
    Thomas Willis was a member of the English landed gentry and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery at the outbreak of the English Civil War, owing to which he suffered the loss of his position and some of his estates...

     1660 (Feb-Jun; grant in reversion after Thomas Willis I and II, 1641)
  • Henry Barker 1660-1692
  • [Sir Peter Apsley
    Earl Bathurst
    Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1772 for Allen Bathurst, 1st Baron Bathurst. He was a politician and an opponent of Sir Robert Walpole...

    ; grant in reversion after Henry Barker, 1667]
  • Thomas Chute 1692-1701
  • George Wright 1701-1725
  • Stephen Bisse 1725-1746
  • Thomas Bray 1725-1737
  • Charles Yorke
    Charles Yorke
    Charles Yorke was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Life:The second son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, he was born in London, and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His literary abilities were shown at an early age by his collaboration with his brother Philip in the...

     1746-1770
  • John Yorke
    Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
    Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke PC was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 1756 and 1757 until 1762....

     1746-1801
  • The Earl Bathurst
    Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst
    Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst KG PC was a British politician.-Background and education:Lord Bathurst was the elder son of Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, by his wife Tryphena, daughter of Thomas Scawen...

     1801-1834
  • Apsley Bathurst 1801-1805
  • William Scott; grant in reversion after Henry, 3rd Earl Bathurst and Hon. Apsley Bathurst, 1805
  • Denis Le Marchant
    Sir Denis Le Marchant, 1st Baronet
    Sir Denis Le Marchant, 1st Baronet , was a British barrister, civil servant, writer and Whig politician.-Background and education:...

     1834
  • Leonard Edmunds 1834-1848
  • Charles Edward Pepys 1848-1851
  • Charles Romilly 1851-1880
  • Ralph Charlton Palmer 1880-1885
  • Sir Kenneth Muir Mackenzie
    Kenneth Muir Mackenzie, 1st Baron Muir-Mackenzie
    Kenneth Augustus Muir Mackenzie, 1st Baron Muir Mackenzie GCB, PC, QC , was a British barrister, civil servant and Labour politician.-Background and education:...

     1885-1915
  • Sir Claud Schuster
    Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster
    Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, GCB, CVO, KC was a British barrister and civil servant noted for his long tenure as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office. Born to a middle-class Mancunian family, Schuster was educated at St. George's School, Ascot and Winchester College before...

     1915-1944
  • Sir Albert Napier
    Albert Napier
    Sir Albert Edward Alexander Napier KCB KCVO QC was a British civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department between 1944 and 1954...

     1944-1954
  • Sir George Coldstream
    George Coldstream
    Sir George Phillips Coldstream was a British barrister and civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from 4 June 1954 to 5 April 1968. Born to an upper-middle-class family, Coldstream was educated at Rugby School and...

     1954-1968
  • Sir Denis Dobson
    Denis Dobson
    Sir Denis William Dobson QC KCB OBE was a British solicitor, barrister and civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from 5 April 1968 to 15 April 1977.-Life:Dobson was born on 17 October 1908 to William Dobson, a...

     1968-1977
  • Sir Wilfrid Bourne 1977-1982
  • Sir Derek Oulton
    Derek Oulton
    Sir Antony Derek Maxwell Oulton, GCB, QC, PhD , M.A. is a retired British senior civil servant, was Permanent Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, United Kingdom, 1982–1989....

     1982-1989
  • Sir Thomas Legg
    Thomas Legg
    Sir Thomas Stuart Legg, KCB, QC , is a senior former British civil servant, who was Permanent Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, United Kingdom, 1989-1998.-Biography:...

     1989-1998
  • Sir Hayden Phillips 1998-2004
  • Sir Alexander Allan
    Alex Allan
    Alexander Allan is the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the United Kingdom and Head of Intelligence Assessment. He is the son of Robert Allan, Baron Allan of Kilmahew.- Early life :...

     2004-2007
  • Sir Suma Chakrabarti
    Suma Chakrabarti
    Sir Suma Chakrabarti, KCB is Permanent Secretary at the UK's Ministry of Justice. He holds office as Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, and, as such, is responsible for the running of the Crown Office, under the directions of the Lord Chancellor.He was appointed on 15 November 2007...

    2007-present

External links

https://www.history.ac.uk/resources/office/chancery-appt (Full list of office-holders and grantees as above)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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