Lord Admiral of England

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Office of the Lord Admiral of England
Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of England from 1603 to 1649.png
Coat of Arms Government of the Kingdom of England from 1603 to 1649
Admiralty Office, Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office
Member ofPrivy Council of England
Reports toMonarch of England
NominatorMonarch of England
AppointerMonarch of England
Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council
Term lengthNot fixed
Inaugural holderSir Edward Howard
Formation1513–1613

The Lord Admiral of England informally known as the Minister for the Marine[1] was first created in 1513 as a new appointment replacing the earlier office of High Admiral of England. Various English monarchs appointed officers with different titles in official documents of the time. Additionally the appointment been called the Lord Admiral of England, Wales and Ireland.[2] and the Lord Admiral of England, Wales and Ireland, Normandy, Gascogne and Aquitaine.[3] The office existed until 1610 when it was replaced by the office of the Lord High Admiral of England.

History

Flag of the Lord Admiral when ashore
Standard of the Lord Admiral at Sea

Between 1222 and 1360 only 4 men were conferred upon responsibility for the administration of the English Navy though each of them were styled differently as Admiral of England, (1223-1331). The first office High Admiral of England was constituted in 1360 when John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick was appointed High Admiral of England by Edward III as well as the first commission of Admiral of the Fleet, Admiral of the South, North and West.[4][5]

In 1386 Richard II appointed Richard FitzAlan,10th Earl of Arundel the first High Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine by letters patent this title by name was conferred by different monarchs to eighteen other men until 1513 when Henry VIII ceased his claim on the French throne. Between 1405/06 and 1412 the two remaining regional naval commands under the Admiral of the North and Admiral of the West were unified with this office. to create a single Admiralty of England.[6]

During the reign of Henry VIII of England (1509–47) the Navy Royal had expanded to a point where it could not be to be managed by a single High/Lord Admiral of England alone, therefore day-today civil management of the navy was handed over to a committee called the Council of the Marine that later became known as the Navy Board that was headquartered at the Navy Office.

Officer Holders

Lord Admiral's of England [7]
Style Flag Name Term Ref
1 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Sir Edward Howard 17 March 1513 - 4 May 1513 [7]
2 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Surrey 4 May 1513 - 16 July 1525 [7]
3 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset 16 July 1525 - 16 August 1536 [7]
4 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png William FitzWilliam - 1st Earl of Southampton 16 August 1536 - 28 July 1540 [7]
5 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png John Russell- 1st Lord Russell 28 July 1540 - December 1542 [7]
6 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford December 1542 - 26 January 1543 [7]
7 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png John Dudley - 1st Viscount Lisle 26 January 1543 - 17 February 1547 [7]
8 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Thomas Seymour - 1st Lord Seymour of Sudeley 17 February 1547 - 28 October 1549 [7]
9 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png John Dudley - 1st Earl of Warwick 28 October 1549 -14 May 1550 [7]
10 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Edward Clinton - 9th Lord Clinton 14 May 1550 - 20 March 1554 [7]
11 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png William Howard - 1st Lord Howard of Effingham 20 March 1554 - 10 February 1558 [7]
12 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Edward Clinton - 1st Earl of Lincoln 10 February 1558 - 8 July 1585 [7]
13 Lord Admiral Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg.png Charles Howard - 1st Earl of Nottingham- 8 July 1558 - 28 January 1610 [7]

Notes: Royal Standard of England 1411-1553 and 1559-1603 was the command flag of the monarch or their deputy the lord admiral when on board ship at sea.[8]

Role and Responsibilities

The Lord Admiral was a high officer of state, and traditionally a soldier rather than a seaman and administrator. His main responsibility was the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Admiralty, which acted in his name. Henry VIII of England signaled a change in policy with the appointment of Sir Edward Howard to succeed the Earl of Oxford in August 1512, in that later Lord Admirals had considerable experience of the sea.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Corbett, Sir Julian Stafford (1917). Drake and the Tudor Navy. London, England.: Longmans. p. 139.
  2. ↑ Collins, Arthur (1812). Peerage of England. ... London: Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington. p. 266.
  3. ↑ Paul), Rapin de Thoyras (M (1732). "Henry VIII". The History of England. London: James, John and Paul Knapton. p. 721.
  4. ↑ Perrin, William Gordon (1922). British Flags; Their Early History and their Developement at Sea, with an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National Device. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 82.
  5. ↑ Higgins, Alexander Pearce; Colombos, Constantine John (1954). The International Law of the Sea. London, England: Longmans, Green. p. 13.
  6. ↑ Durston, Gregory (2017). The Admiralty Sessions, 1536-1834: Maritime Crime and the Silver Oar. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 9781443873611.
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 Rodger, N.A.M. (1998). "appendix:v : Admirals and Officials". The safeguard of the sea : a naval history of Britain, 660-1649 (1st American ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. pp. 504–509. ISBN 9780393319606.
  8. ↑ Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge: Cambridge : The University Press. pp. 73–81.
  9. ↑ Hattendorf, John; Knight, Roger; Pearsall, Alan; Rodger, Nicholas; Till, Geoffrey (1993). British Naval documents, 1204-1960: Volume 131. London: Scolar Press for the Navy Records Society. p. 90. ISBN 9780859679473.

Bibliography

  1. Collins, Arthur (1812). Peerage of England. ... London: Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington.
  2. Durston, Gregory (2017). The Admiralty Sessions, 1536-1834: Maritime Crime and the Silver Oar. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443873611.
  3. Higgins, Alexander Pearce; Colombos, Constantine John (1954). The International Law of the Sea. London, England: Longmans, Green.
  4. Perrin, William Gordon (1922). British Flags; Their Early History and their Developement at Sea, with an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National Device. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive.
  5. Paul), Rapin de Thoyras (M (1732). "Henry VIII". The History of England. London: James, John and Paul Knapton.
  6. Rodger, N.A.M. (1998). "appendix:v : Admirals and Officials". The safeguard of the sea : a naval history of Britain, 660-1649 (1st American ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978039331960

Attribution

  1. The image of the flag of the Lord High Admiral of England and Admiralty is courtesy of Martin Grieve at Flags of the World.Info, available for re-use under their licence terms can be reproduced for non-commercial use. 23 August 2006. Source: https://fotw.info/flags/gb-lha.html
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