Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom

The Lord High Admiral (of England, Great Britain and then the United Kingdom, beginning in the 14th century)[1] is the titular head of the Royal Navy. Most have been courtiers or members of the Royal Family, and not professional naval officers. The office of Lord High Admiral is one of the nine English Great Officers of State.

Lord High Admiral of the
United Kingdom
Flag of the Lord High Admiral
Incumbent
The Duke of Edinburgh
since 2011
AppointerMonarch
Formation22 February 1385
First holderThe Earl of Arundel
DeputyVice-Admiral of the United Kingdom

History

The office was created in England late 14th century sometime between 1405/06 and 1412 the two existing older naval commands that of the Admiral of the North and Admiral of the West were unified with this office.[2]

During the reign of Henry VIII (1509–47) the English Navy had expanded to a point where it could not be managed by a single Lord High Admiral alone, therefore day-to-day management of the navy was handed over to a committee that later became known as the Navy Board. The navy board had Samuel Pepys as one of its members during the reign of Charles II (1660–85), and it ran side-by-side with the Board of Admiralty.[3]

From the early 17th century onwards, when an individual Lord High Admiral was appointed, there was also a Council of the Lord High Admiral which assisted him to perform some of the duties of the Admiralty. When this office was not occupied by an individual, it was "put into commission" and exercised by a Board of Admiralty headed by a First Lord of the Admiralty; this was the usual arrangement from 1709 until it was merged with the Admiralty in 1832.

However, the office of Lord High Admiral, which, except for brief periods during its long history, had remained extant, and was not abolished as an official naval post until 1964.[3] In 1964, the office of First Lord of the Admiralty was also abolished and the functions of the Lords Commissioners of Admiralty were transferred to the new Admiralty Board becoming a sub-committee (Navy) of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom. At the same time, the ancient title of Lord High Admiral was then resumed by the sovereign personally.

Elizabeth II held the title for the next 47 years, until in 2011 she conferred the office upon her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh as part of the celebrations for his 90th birthday.[4] The Queen chose this title to honour her husband with as he served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and gave up a promising naval career to support her as consort.[5]

High Admirals of England, Ireland and Aquitaine 1385 to 1512
Name Term of office Ref
Richard FitzAlan
10th Earl of Arundel		 1385 1388 [6]
Edward
1st Earl of Rutland & Cork
Duke of Abermarle		 1390 1397 [7]
John Beaufort
1st Earl of Somerset		 1397 1398 [8]
Thomas Percy
1st Earl of Worcester		 1398 1400 [9]
Thomas Plantagenet
1st Duke of Clarence		 1404 1405 [10]
John Beaufort
1st Earl of Somerset		 1406 1407 [6]
Edmund Holland
4th Earl of Kent[6]		 1407 1408 [6]
Thomas Beaufort
1st Duke of Exeter		 1408 1426 [6]
John of Lancaster
1st Duke of Bedford		 1426 1435 [6]
John Holland
2nd Duke of Exeter		 1435 1447 [6]
William de la Pole
1st Duke of Suffolk		 1447 1450 [6]
Henry Holland
3rd Duke of Exeter		 1450 1460 [6]
Richard Neville
16th Earl of Warwick		 1461 1462 [6]
William Neville
1st Earl of Kent		 1462 1462 [6]
Richard Plantagenet
1st Duke of Gloucester		 1462 1470 [6]
Richard Neville
16th Earl of Warwick		 1470 1471 [6]
Richard Plantagenet
1st Duke of Gloucester		 1471 1483 [6]
John Howard
1st Duke of Norfolk		 1483 1485 [6]
John de Vere
13th Earl of Oxford		 1485 1512 [6]

Lord Admirals of England, 1512–1638
Name Term of office Ref
Sir Edward Howard 1512 1513 [6]
Thomas Howard
2nd Earl of Surrey		 1513 1525 [6]
Henry FitzRoy
1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset		 1525 1536 [6]
William FitzWilliam
1st Earl of Southampton		 1536 1540 [6]
John Russell
1st Lord Russell		 1540 1542 [6]
John Dudley
1st Viscount Lisle		 1542 1546 [6]
Thomas Seymour
1st Lord Seymour of Sudeley		 1546 1549 [6]
John Dudley
1st Earl of Warwick		 1549 1550 [6]
Edward Clinton
9th Lord Clinton		 1550 1554 [6]
William Howard
1st Lord Howard of Effingham		 1554 1558 [6]
Edward Clinton
1st Earl of Lincoln		 1558 1585 [6]
Charles Howard
1st Earl of Nottingham
Baron Howard of Effingham before 1596
Earl of Nottingham from 1596		 1585 1619 [6]
George Villiers
1st Duke of Buckingham		 1619 1628 [6]

Lord High Admirals of England, 1638–1707
Portrait Name Term of office Ref
Algernon Percy
10th Earl of Northumberland
KG
(1602–1668)		 1638 1642
Francis Cottington
1st Lord Cottington
PC
(c. 1579–1652)		 1643 1646
Prince James
The Duke of York
KG
(1633–1701)		 1660 1673 [11]
King Charles II
(1630–1685)		 1673 1673
Prince Rupert
The Duke of Cumberland
KG PC FRS
(1619–1682)		 1673 1679
In commission :[12]
William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker
Sir Thomas Lyttleton		 ?1679 ?1684
King Charles II
(1630–1685)		 1684 1685
King James II
(1633–1701)		 1685 1688
King William III
(1650–1702)		 1689 1689
Arthur Herbert
1st Earl of Torrington
(c. 1648–1716)		 1689 1689
Thomas Herbert
8th Earl of Pembroke
KG PC
(c. 1656–1733)		 1701 1702
Prince George
The Duke of Cumberland
KG PC
(1653–1708)		 1702 28 June 1707

Lord High Admirals of Great Britain

Before 1707, a separate office of Lord High Admiral existed for Scotland. Following the Act of Union 1707, all jurisdictions were placed under the office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain.

Portrait Name
(birth–death)		 Term of office Ref
Prince George
The Duke of Cumberland
KG PC
(1653–1708)		 28 June 1707 28 October 1708
Queen Anne
(1665–1714)		 23 October
1708		 1708 [11]
Thomas Herbert
The Earl of Pembroke
KG PC
(c. 1656–1733)		 1708 8 November 1709
Office in commission 8 November 1709 31 December
1800

Lord High Admirals of the United Kingdom
Portrait Name
(birth–death)		 Term of office Ref
Office in commission 1 January 1801 10 May
1827
Prince William Henry
The Duke of Clarence
(1765–1837)		 10 May
1827		 19 September
1828		 [13]
Office in commission 19 September
1828		 1 April
1964		 [14]
Queen Elizabeth II
(born 1926)		 1 April
1964		 10 June
2011		 [15]
Prince Philip
The Duke of Edinburgh
(born 1921)		 10 June
2011		 Incumbent [5]

Former command flags

Tudor Period
  • First command Flag of the Lord Admiral of England (1554–1558) under Mary I and Philip II when on board a ship.
  • First command Flag of the Lord Admiral of England under Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I (1545–1553, 1559–1603) when on board a ship.
  • First command Flag of the Lord Admiral of England (1603–1625) under James VI and I when on board a ship.
  • Second command Flag of the Lord Admiral of England (1545–1625) when on board a ship.

The earliest known instructions given to the Lord Admiral to fly command flags were given by King Henry VIII in 1545 the Lord Admiral was ordered to fly the flag of the arms of the King on the top of the main masthead with the flag of the cross of Saint George on the top of the front (fore) masthead.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Lord High Admiral's Divisions takes place at BRNC | Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. Ministry of Defence, 2 May 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. Durston, Gregory (2017). The Admiralty Sessions, 1536-1834: Maritime Crime and the Silver Oar. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 9781443873611.
  3. Dear, edited by I.C.B.; Kemp, Peter (2007). "Lord High Admiral". The Oxford companion to ships and the sea (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199205684.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. "The Duke of Edinburgh Appointed Lord High Admiral". royal.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  5. "Prince Philip receives Navy title for 90th birthday". BBC News. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  6. Houbraken, Jacobus; Thoyras, Paul de Rapin; Vertue, George (1747). The History of England, A List of Admirals of England, 1228-1745. J. and P. Knapton. p. 271.
  7. Schomberg, Isaac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace, 1802. T. Egerton. p. 188. Sir Nicholas Tamworth, Admiral of the North.
  8. Schomberg, Isaac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace, 1802. T. Egerton. p. 188. Sir Nicholas Tamworth, Admiral of the North.
  9. Schomberg, Isaac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace, 1802. T. Egerton. p. 188. Sir Nicholas Tamworth, Admiral of the North.
  10. Schomberg, Isaac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace, 1802. T. Egerton. p. 188. Sir Nicholas Tamworth, Admiral of the North.
  11. National Archives, Kew, ref. ADM 4/410 List of the Lords High Admiral and Commissioners for executing that Office, which have been appointed since the year 1660 (1915)
  12. "No. 1485". The London Gazette. 9 February 1679. p. 2.
  13. "No. 18360". The London Gazette. 11 May 1827. p. 1033.
  14. "No. 18506". The London Gazette. 19 September 1828. p. 1733.
  15. "No. 43288". The London Gazette. 3 April 1964. p. 2895.
  16. Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). "Flags of Command". British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press. p. 77.

Sources
  • Houbraken, Jacobus. Thoyras, Paul de Rapin. Vertue, George. (1747). The History of England, A List of Admirals of England (1224-1745). England. Kanpton. P and J.
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