The Clerk Marshal (also spelled Clerk Martial) was an official of the
British Royal Household
The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the collective departments that support members of the British royal family. Many members of the royal family who undertake public duties have separate households. They vary considerably in size, ...
in the department of the
Master of the Horse
Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today.
(Ancient Rome)
The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...
.
From the Restoration the office was held with that of
Avenor until the latter post was abolished in 1793. The office of Clerk Marshal was then combined with that of First or Chief
Equerry until 1874. From 1841 the holder was a member of the Government, but the office ceased to be a political one from 1866.
[Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, ''British Historical Facts 1830–1900'', Macmillan 1975, p. 27]
The duties of the Clerk Marshal were to
swear in the officers of the Master of the Horse's department, and for the payment of all officers and servants.
He was also responsible for submitting the accounts of the department to the
Board of Green Cloth.
Clerks Marshal were appointed in the households of other members of the Royal Family as well.
List of Clerks Marshal
to King Charles II
* 8 June 1660: George Barker
* 18 August 1660: Richard Mason
* 10 September 1671: Joseph Cragg
to
King James II
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
* 21 April 1685: Thomas Morley
to
King William III
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...
and
Queen Mary II
Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.
Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...
* 10 April 1688: William Ryder
* 12 March 1689: Anthony Rowe
* 27 April 1694: John Latton
to Queen Anne
* 23 June 1702: Hugh Chudleigh
* 6 November 1707: Thomas Lister
* 12 June 1711:
Conyers Darcy
Sir Conyers Darcy or Darcey, (c. 16851 December 1758), of Aske, near Richmond, Yorkshire, was a British Army officer, courtier and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1707 and 1758.
Early life
Darcy was the second surviving ...
to King George I
* 29 September 1714: Conyers Darcy
* 10 June 1717:
Francis Negus
Francis Negus (1670 – 9 September 1732) of Dallinghoo, Suffolk, was an English Army officer, courtier, and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1717 to 1732. He is the reputed inventor of the drink negus.
Early life
Negus is a ...
to King George II
* 20 June 1727: Francis Negus
* 9 September 1732: ''vacant''
* 22 April 1734: Hon.
James Lumley
* 11 March 1741: Edmund Charles Blomberg
* 8 November 1757:
Courthorpe Clayton
Lt. Col. Courthorpe Clayton ( – 22 March 1762) was an Anglo-Irish soldier, courtier and Member of Parliament for Mallow.
Family
He was the son of Laurence Clayton of Mallow and his second wife Anne, daughter of Sir Peter Courthorpe of Littl ...
to
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
* 15 December 1760: Timothy Carr
* 6 April 1771:
Benjamin Carpenter (Chief Equerry from 1 January 1783)
* 9 March 1788:
Philip Goldsworthy
* 6 January 1801:
Robert Manners
to the Prince Regent, later King George IV
* 24 March 1812:
Benjamin Bloomfield (knighted 1815)
* 25 August 1817: Francis Thomas Hammond
(knighted 1819)
to
King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
* 16 July 1830: Sir
Andrew Francis Barnard
to
Queen Adelaide
, house = Saxe-Meiningen
, father = Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
, mother = Princess Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen, Holy  ...
* 2 January 1846: Sir Andrew Francis Barnard
to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
* 20 July 1837:
Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish
General (United Kingdom), General Hon. Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish (5 November 1789 – 5 April 1873) was a British Army officer, politician and courtier.
Early life and career
Cavendish was born in Westminster, the third son of George Cav ...
* 10 September 1841:
Lord Charles Wellesley
Major-General Lord Charles Wellesley (16 January 1808 – 9 October 1858, Apsley House) was a British politician, soldier and courtier. He was the second son of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and Catherine Pakenham.
He was educated at ...
* 7 July 1846:
Lord Alfred Paget
Lord Alfred Henry Paget (26 June 1816 – 24 August 1888) was a British soldier, courtier and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1837 and 1865.
Early life
Paget was the sixth son of William Paget, the 1st Marquess of A ...
* 28 February 1852:
Lord Colville of Culross
* 30 December 1852:
Lord Alfred Paget
Lord Alfred Henry Paget (26 June 1816 – 24 August 1888) was a British soldier, courtier and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1837 and 1865.
Early life
Paget was the sixth son of William Paget, the 1st Marquess of A ...
* 26 February 1858: Lord Colville of Culross
* 1 July 1859: Lord Alfred Paget (held office until 1892)
to Prince Albert
* 2 January 1842: William Wemyss
* 8 March 1853:
Alexander Nelson Hood
to
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
* 1 January 1904:
Sir Stanley de Astel Calvert Clarke (also Chief Equerry until 9 October 1908
)
References
* {{cite web , url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43904 , title=The stables: Avenor, Chief Equerry and Clerk Martial 1660–1837 , author=R.O. Bucholz , publisher=Institute of Historical Research , year=2006 , work=Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (revised): Court Officers, 1660–1837 , accessdate=20 August 2011
Positions within the British Royal Household