Lord High Admiral
 Lord High Admiral  | |
|---|---|
| Nowadays a British ceremonial position, close to the royal family |
Lord High Admiral is an office in the United Kingdom that is part of the nine Great Officers of State. The function is now only of a purely ceremonial character, but was once responsible within the British Admiralty for the command of the Royal Navy. From the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century, the official business of the Lord High Admiral was led by a committee chaired by the First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1964, the Admiralty was incorporated into the newly created Department of Defense of the United Kingdom, with the title of First Lord of the Admiralty disappearing. The historic title of Lord High Admiral, on the other hand, still exists today as the ceremonial office of the Great Officers of State.
History
The history of this office is closely linked to the history of the British Admiralty: the position of Admiral of England (or Lord Admiral, later Lord High Admiral) was created around 1400 under King Henry IV, although there were already admirals in the northern and western regions before that.
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.[1]
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.
The office of Lord High Admiral lost its importance, but remained as a ceremonial office. Well-known First Lords of the Admiralty included: Lord Tweedmouth (1906–1908), Reginald McKenna (1908–1911), Winston Churchill (1911–1915 and 1939–1940), Arthur Balfour (1915–1916), Sir Austen Chamberlain (1931), Alfred Cooper (1937–1938) and Brendan Bracken (1945).
The office of Lord High Admiral, which—except for brief periods during its long history—had remained extant, was not abolished as an official naval post until 1964.[2] 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. The ancient title of Lord High Admiral was 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, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to celebrate his 90th birthday.[3] Philip had served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, but gave up a promising naval career to support Elizabeth as her consort.[4]
References
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ https://www.royal.uk/duke-edinburgh-appointed-lord-high-admira
- ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-15860155
