[1] _Notes and Queries_, series 1, vol. ii.; series 4, vols. ii. ix.
x.; series 6, vols. ii. iii.; Planché, _Dictionary of Costume_, p.
126; Foss, _Lives of the Judges_, vol. vii.; Dugdale, _Orig. Jud._
fol. 102.
LORD GREAT CHAMBERLAIN, in England, a functionary who must be carefully
distinguished from the lord chamberlain; he is one of the great officers
of state, whose office dates from Norman times; and the only one who
still holds it under a creation of that period. As his name implies, he
was specially connected by his duties with the king's chamber (_camera
curie_); but this phrase was also used to denote the king's privy purse,
and the chamberlain may be considered as originally the financial
officer of the household. But as he was always a great baron, deputies
performed his financial work, and his functions became, as they are now,
mainly ceremonial, though the emblem of his office is still a key. The
office had been held by Robert Malet, son of a leading companion of the
Conqueror, but he was forfeited by Henry I., who, in 1133, gave the
great chamberlainship to Aubrey de Vere and his heirs. Aubrey's son was
created earl of Oxford, and the earls held the office, with some
intermission, till 1526, when the then earl left female heirs. His
heir-male succeeded to the earldom, but the crown, as is now
established, denied his right to the office, which was thenceforth held
under grants for life till Queen Mary and Elizabeth admitted in error
the right of the earls on the strength of their own allegation. So
matters continued till 1626, when an earl died and again left an
heir-male and an heir-female. After an historic contest the office was
adjudged to the former, Lord Willoughby d'Eresby. No further question
arose till 1779, when his heirs were two sisters. In 1781 the House of
Lords decided that it belonged to them jointly, and that they could
appoint a deputy, which they did. Under a family arrangement the heirs
of the two sisters respectively appointed deputies in alternate reigns
till the death of Queen Victoria, when Lord Ancaster, the heir of the
elder, who was then in possession, claimed that he, as such, had sole
right to the office. Lord Cholmondeley and Lord Carrington as coheirs of
the younger sister, opposed his claim, and the crown also claimed for
itself on the ground of the action taken by the king in 1526. After a
long and historic contest, the House of Lords (1902) declined to re-open
the question, and merely re-affirmed the decision of 1781, and the
office, therefore, is now vested jointly in the three peers named and
their heirs.
The lord great chamberlain has charge of the palace of Westminster,
especially of the House of Lords, in which he has an office; and when
the sovereign opens parliament in person he is responsible for the
arrangements. At the opening or closing of the session of parliament by
the sovereign in person he disposes of the sword of state to be carried
by any peer he may select, and walks himself in the procession on the
right of the sword of state, a little before it and next to the
sovereign. He issues the tickets of admission on the same occasions. He
assists at the introduction of all peers into the House of Lords on
their creation, and at the homage of all bishops after their
consecration. At coronations he emerges into special importance; he
still asserts before the court of claims his archaic right to bring the
king his "shirt, stockings and drawers" and to dress him on coronation
day and to receive his ancient fees, which include the king's bed and
"night robe." He also claims in error to serve the king ~~3 with water
before and after the banquet, which was the function of the "ewry," a
distinct office held by the earls of Oxford. At the actual coronation
ceremony he takes an active part in investing the king with the royal
insignia.
See J. H. Round, "The Lord Great Chamberlain" (_Monthly Review_, June
1902) and "Notes on the Lord Great Chamberlain Case" (_Ancestor_, No.
IV.). (J. H. R.)
LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR, one of the great officers of state of the United
Kingdom, and in England the highest judicial functionary. The history of
the office and of the growth of the importance of the lord chancellor
will be found under CHANCELLOR. The lord chancellor is in official rank
the highest civil subject in the land outside the royal family, and
takes precedence immediately after the archbishop of Canterbury. His
functions have sometimes been exercised by a lord keeper of the great
seal (see LORD KEEPER), the only real difference between the two offices
being in the appointment of the keeper by mere delivery of the seal,
while a lord chancellor receives letters patent along with it. He is by
office a privy councillor, and it has long been the practice to make him
a peer and also a cabinet minister. He is by prescription Speaker or
prolocutor of the House of Lords, and as such he sits upon the woolsack,
which is not strictly within the House. Unlike the Speaker of the House
of Commons, the lord chancellor takes part in debates, speaking from his
place in the House. He votes from the woolsack instead of going into the
division lobby. The only function which he discharges as Speaker
practically is putting the question; if two debaters rise together, he
has no power to call upon one, nor can he rule upon points of order.
Those taking part in debates address, not the lord chancellor, but the
whole House, as "My Lords." The lord chancellor always belongs to a
political party and is affected by its fluctuations. This has often been
denounced as destructive of the independence and calm deliberativeness
essential to the purity and efficiency of the bench. In defence,
however, of the ministerial connexion of the chancellor, it has been
said that, while the other judges should be permanent, the head of the
law should stand or fall with the ministry, as the best means of
securing his effective responsibility to parliament for the proper use
of his extensive powers. The transference of the judicial business of
the chancery court to the High Court of Justice removed many of the
objections to the fluctuating character of the office. As a great
officer of state, the lord chancellor acts for both England and
Scotland, and in some respects for the United Kingdom, including Ireland
(where, however, an Irish lord chancellor is at the head of the legal
system). By Article XXIV. of the Act of Union (1705) one great seal was
appointed to be kept for all public acts, and in this department the
lord chancellor's authority extends to the whole of Britain, and thus
the commissions of the peace for Scotland as well as England issue from
him.[1] As an administrative officer, as a judge and as head of the law,
he acts merely for England. His English ministerial functions are thus
briefly described by Blackstone: "He became keeper of the king's
conscience, visitor, in right of the king, of all hospitals and colleges
of the king's foundation, and patron of all the king's livings under the
value of twenty marks per annum in the king's books. He is the general
guardian of all infants, idiots and lunatics, and has the general
superintendence of all charitable uses in the kingdom." But these duties
and jurisdiction by modern statutes have been distributed for the most
part among other offices or committed to the judges of the High Court
(see CHARITY AND CHARITIES; INFANT; INSANITY). Under the Judicature Act
1873 the lord chancellor is a member of the court of appeal, and, when
he sits, its president, and he is also a judge of the High Court of
Justice. He is named as president of the chancery division of the latter
court. His judicial patronage is very extensive, and he is by usage the
adviser of the crown in the appointment of judges[2] of the High Court.
He presides over the hearing of appeals in the House of Lords. His
proper title is "Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and Ireland." His
salary is £10,000 per annum, and he is entitled to a pension of £5000
per annum.
AUTHORITIES.--_Observations concerning the Office of Lord Chancellor_
(1651), attributed to Lord Chancellor Ellesmere; Blackstone's
_Commentaries_; Campbell's _Lives of the Chancellors_; and D. M.
Kerly, _Historical Sketch of the Equitable Jurisdiction of the Court
of Chancery_ (1890).