Lord Steward

The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is one of the three Great Officers of the Household of the British monarch. Historically the Lord Steward presided over the Household Below Stairs, and by tradition he takes precedence over all other officers of the household. Holders of the office are always peers; until 1924 they were always members of the Government, and until 1782 the office was one of considerable political importance and carried Cabinet rank. Lord Stewards presided at the Board of Green Cloth, until the Board of Green Cloth disappeared in the reform of local government licensing in 2004 (brought about by the Licensing Act 2003 (section 195)).

In the Royal Household reforms of the 1920s, Lord Steward became a largely titular office; most of his one-time executive responsibilities are now carried out by the Master of the Household, who is a permanent officer and resides in the palace. The Lord Steward, however, continues to be in regular attendance on State and other occasions (including State visits, State banquets, the State Opening of Parliament, State Funerals and Coronations).

Each Lord Steward receives his appointment from the Sovereign in person and bears a white staff as the emblem and warrant of his authority. The incumbent Lord Steward (appointed in 2023) is the Earl of Rosslyn.

History


"'[The] Steward of Household receiveth his charge of the King's high and proper person, and the staff of Household, by these words following: Seneschall tenez le baton de notre hostiell ' (The Black Book of the Household, 1471–72)."

Within the Curia Regis, the office of Steward of the King's Household was indistinguishable from that of Lord (High) Steward of England (which had first been introduced to the realm under William the Conqueror). In the latter part of the reign of King Edward I, however, the Household duties were separated from those of the aforementioned Great Officer of State and vested in a separate individual: Lord Steward of the Household.

During the minority of King Richard II, the Crown assented to a proposal that the Chancellor and Treasurer of England, the Keeper of the Privy Seal and the Steward and Chamberlain of the Household should be chosen by Parliament 'from the ablest persons in the Realm', and remain in office until the next Parliament.

During the reign of King Edward IV, the duties, privileges and precedence of the Lord Steward were comprehensively enumerated in the Black Book of the Household (compiled in the early 1470s). In it he is described as having, under the King, the 'secondary estate and rule' of the Royal Household, which is 'wholly committed to be ruled and guided by his reason'.

In 1540 the Lord Steward was redesignated Great Master of the King's Household by the King's Household Act 1540 (32 Hen. 8. c. 39), but that office was discontinued and the office of Lord Steward revived by the Lord Steward Act 1554 (which remains on the statute book).

The Lord Steward's Department (Board of Green Cloth)
"'...they sit with him at the Board of Doom within the Household, that is, at the Green Cloth in the Counting-house, as recorders and witnesses to the truth' (The Black Book of the Household, 1471-72)."

The officers under the Lord Steward were listed in the 15th century as: the Treasurer of the Household and the Comptroller of the Household (both of whom would deputise for the Lord Steward in his absence), the Cofferer of the Household, two Clerks of the Green Cloth and the Chief Clerk of the Controlment. Added to their number in the Tudor period was the Master of the Household (who took precedence after the Cofferer).

By the time of the Restoration, the administration of the Lord Steward's Department was for the most part delegated to the Board of Green Cloth, which served as the central accounting and organisational facility. Apart from the Lord Steward, the Board consisted of the Treasurer, the Comptroller and the Master of the Household (all of which were sinecure positions in the 17th and 18th centuries), the Cofferer (who had executive financial and accounting responsibilities), and a number of clerks and clerk comptrollers (who, in consultation with the Lord Steward, managed the day-to-day running of the household below stairs). The office of Cofferer was replaced by that of Paymaster of the Household in 1782; at the same time the Master of the Household was made responsible for the management of the Lord Steward's Department.

The sub-departments below stairs were mostly concerned with catering, including the royal kitchens and cellars, and various provisioning departments such as the buttery, spicery, confectionery, bakehouse, scalding house and so forth. Each was managed by its own staff of yeomen and grooms, and headed by a gentleman or sergeant. Over time (particularly in the late 18th and early 19th centuries) the number of sub-departments was significantly reduced as items began to be sourced from outside vendors.

Judicial functions
"'...by which he is also forthwith Steward of the whole Court of Marshalsea, that is, the Court of Household, in which he is Judge of life and limb' (The Black Book of the Household, 1471-72)."

The Lord Steward acted as principal judge for all offences committed within the Verge of the Royal Court, having both civil and (in earlier years) criminal jurisdiction. As such he sat in the Marshalsea Court and the Palace Court (while the Board of Green Cloth itself functioned as a lower court of law for the Verge). In this regard he was assisted by the Knight Marshal and his men, by the Steward of the Marshalsea and by the Coroner of the Verge. (By virtue of the Coroners Act 1988, the lord steward continued to appoint the Coroner of the Queen's Household until the office was abolished in 2013 by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.)

Edward Coke observed that 'of ancient time the steward and marshal had general authority, as justices in eyre, and as viceregents of the Chief Justice of England within the verge, at what time they held plea of all felonies within the verge, which power is now vanished'; he dated the final suppression of the criminal jurisdiction of the Marshalsea court to the passing of the Offences within the Court Act 1541.

Parliamentary functions
"'He hath the office to call the names of Knights, Citizens and Burgesses, at the Parliament door, the first day of commencement, and to amerce such as fail by the certificate' (The Black Book of the Household, 1471-72)."

Until 1831, the Lord Steward or his deputies presided over the swearing of oaths by members of the House of Commons. (These oaths were sworn in the lobby of the house, or another convenient room designated for the purpose, and were the same as, but sworn separately from, the oaths taken in the chamber itself.) In the Tudor period he was responsible for taking the roll call of all the Knights and Burgesses who had been elected to represent the Commons in Parliament, prior to each State Opening.

In the 1720s it was said of the Lord Steward that 'at the Beginning of Parliaments he attends the King's Person, and administers the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to the several Members of the House of Commons, and at the Ends of Parliaments, he adjudgeth the Parliamentary Expenses &c.'.

In certain cases (messages from the sovereign under the sign-manual) the lords with white staves are the proper persons to bear communications between the Sovereign and the Houses of Parliament.

15th century

 * Sir Thomas Rempston 1399–1401
 * Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester 1401–1402
 * William Heron, Lord Say 1402–1404
 * Sir Thomas Erpingham 1404
 * Sir John Stanley 1405–1412
 * Sir Thomas Erpingham 1413–1417
 * Sir Walter Hungerford 1413–1421
 * Robert Babthorp 1421–1424
 * Sir Walter Hungerford 1424–1426
 * Sir John Tiptoft 1426–1432
 * Robert Babthorp 1432–1433
 * William de la Pole, 1st Marquess of Suffolk 1433–1446
 * Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley 1447–1457
 * John Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp 1457–1461
 * William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent 1461–1463
 * John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester 1463–1467
 * Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex 1467–1471
 * Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley 1471–1483
 * Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey 1483–1485
 * John Radcliffe, Baron FitzWalter 1486–1496
 * Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke 1496–1502

16th century
Office of Lord Steward discontinued and replaced by the Lord Great Master Office of Lord Steward restored
 * George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury 1502–1538
 * Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex 1538–1540
 * Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk 1540–1545
 * William Paulet, Lord St John 1545–1550
 * John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick 1550–1553
 * Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel 1553–1564
 * Vacant 1564–1567
 * William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke 1567–1570
 * Vacant 1570–1572
 * Edward Fiennes, Earl of Lincoln 1572–1584
 * Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester 1584–1588
 * Henry Stanley, Earl of Derby 1588–1593
 * Vacant 1593–1597

17th century

 * The Earl of Nottingham 1603–1618
 * The Duke of Richmond 1618–1623
 * The Marquess of Hamilton 1623–1625
 * The Earl of Pembroke 1625–1630
 * Vacant 1630–1640
 * The Earl of Arundel and Surrey 1640–1644
 * The Duke of Richmond 1644–1655
 * Vacant 1655–1660
 * The Duke of Ormonde 1660–1688
 * The Duke of Devonshire 1689–1707

18th century

 * The Duke of Devonshire 1707–1710
 * The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby 1710–1711
 * The Earl Poulett 1711–1714
 * The Duke of Devonshire 1714–1716
 * The Duke of Kent 1716–1718
 * The Duke of Argyll 1718–1725
 * The Duke of Dorset 1725–1730
 * The Earl of Chesterfield 1730–1733
 * The Duke of Devonshire 1733–1737
 * The Duke of Dorset 1737–1744
 * The Duke of Devonshire 1744–1749
 * The Duke of Marlborough 1749–1755
 * The Duke of Rutland 1755–1761
 * The Earl Talbot 1761–1782
 * The Earl of Carlisle 1782–1783
 * The Duke of Rutland 1783
 * The Earl of Dartmouth 1783
 * The Duke of Chandos 1783–1789
 * The Duke of Dorset 1789–1799
 * The Earl of Leicester 1799–1802

19th century

 * The Earl of Dartmouth 1802–1804
 * The Earl of Aylesford 1804–1812
 * The Marquess of Cholmondeley 1812–1821
 * The Marquess Conyngham 1821–1830
 * The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos 1830
 * The Marquess Wellesley 1830–1833
 * The Duke of Argyll 1833–1834
 * The Earl of Wilton 1835
 * The Duke of Argyll 1835–1839
 * The Earl of Erroll 1839–1841
 * The Earl of Liverpool 1841–1846
 * The Earl Fortescue 1846–1850
 * The Marquess of Westminster 1850–1852
 * The Duke of Montrose 1852–1853
 * The Duke of Norfolk 1853–1854
 * The Earl Spencer 1854–1857
 * The Earl of St Germans 1857–1858
 * The Marquess of Exeter 1858–1859
 * The Earl of St Germans 1859–1866
 * The Earl of Bessborough 1866
 * The Duke of Marlborough 1866–1867
 * The Earl of Tankerville 1867–1868
 * The Earl of Bessborough 1868–1874
 * The Earl Beauchamp 1874–1880
 * The Earl Sydney 1880–1885
 * The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 1885–1886
 * The Earl Sydney 1886
 * The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 1886–1892
 * The Marquess of Breadalbane 1892–1895
 * The Earl of Pembroke 1895–1905

20th century

 * The Earl of Liverpool 1905–1907
 * The Earl Beauchamp 1907–1910
 * The Earl of Chesterfield 1910–1915
 * The Viscount Farquhar 1915–1922
 * The Earl of Shaftesbury 1922–1936
 * The Duke of Sutherland 1936–1937
 * The Duke of Buccleuch 1937–1940
 * The Duke of Hamilton 1940–1964
 * The Duke of Westminster 1964–1967
 * The Viscount Cobham 1967–1972
 * The Duke of Northumberland 1973–1988
 * The Viscount Ridley 1989–2001

21st century

 * The Duke of Abercorn 2001–2009
 * The Earl of Dalhousie 2009–2023
 * The Earl of Rosslyn 2023–present