The Clerk of the Pipe was a post in the Pipe Office of the English Exchequer and its successors. The incumbent was responsible for the pipe rolls on which the government income and expenditure was recorded as credits and debits. The ''Dialogus de Scaccario'' or ''

Dialogue concerning the Exchequer The ''Dialogus de Scaccario'', or ''Dialogue concerning the Exchequer'', is a mediaeval treatise on the practice of the English Exchequer written in the late 12th century by Richard FitzNeal. The treatise, written in Latin, and known from four manu ...

'', written in about 1178, details the workings of the Exchequer and gives an early account of how the Pipe rolls were created. The ''Dialogue'' was written by

Richard FitzNeal Richard FitzNeal ( c. 1130 – 10 September 1198) was a churchman and bureaucrat in the service of Henry II of England. Life In 1158 or 1159 Nigel, Bishop of Ely paid Henry II to appoint his natural son, Richard FitzNeal, as the king's trea ...

, the son of Nigel of Ely, who was

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

for both

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...

and Henry II of England. According to the ''Dialogue'', the Pipe rolls were the responsibility of the clerk of the Treasurer, who was also called the ingrosser of the great roll and, by 1547 at the latest, the Clerk of the Pipe.Chrimes ''Administrative History'' p. 60 The Pipe Office was abolished in 1834.Pipe rolls entry
" ''Websters Online Dictionary'' A similar post existed in Ireland and Scotland.

Clerks of the Pipe

* 1431–: Robert Cawood * Robert Malton * 1486–: Nicholas Lathell * 15nn–: Thomas Cavendish (died 1524) * 1520s–1545: John Hyde * 1551–?1589: Christopher Smith * 1579–:

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

(died 1587) * 1579–?1592:

Thomas Moryson Thomas Moryson or Morrison (died 19 February 1592), of Cadeby, Lincolnshire, was a 16th-century English politician who sat as MP for Grimsby from 1572 until 1589. The son of George Moryson, of Waltham, Lincolnshire, in 1555, he became Commis ...

(died 1592) * 1592–1594: Sir

John Wolley John Wolley (13 May 1823 – 20 November 1859) was an English naturalist best known for his large collection of oology, bird eggs and studies on the dodo and great auk. Life and work Wolley was born at Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock on 13 May 1 ...

(died 1596) * 1596–1605: Sir Edward Stafford * 1607–?1609:

Francis Wolley Sir Francis Wolley (1583 – November 1609) was the son of Queen Elizabeth's Latin secretary, Sir John Wolley, and Elizabeth More, the daughter of Sir William More of Loseley, Surrey. He was a Member of Parliament, and one of those to whom ...

(died 1609) * 1609–1610: Arthur Jarvis * 1610–1616: Sir Arthur Mainwaring * 1616–1632: Henry Croke (''jointly'') * 1616–1632:

Anthony Rous Anthony Rous (1605 – 1 May 1677) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1653 and 1660. He was an officer in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War. Rous was the son of Robert Rous and his ...

(''jointly'') (died 1632) * 1632–1659: Henry Croke * 1659–1680: Robert Croke (died 1680) * 1689–1703: Hon. Robert Russell * 1703–1706:

William Cheyne, 2nd Viscount Newhaven William Cheyne, 2nd Viscount Newhaven (14 July 1657 – 26 May 1728) was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1681 until 1707 when as a viscount in the Peerage of Scotland he was required to sit in the House of Lords. L ...

* 1706–1710: Sir John Cooke * 1710–1711:

William Farrer William James Farrer (3 April 184516 April 1906) was a leading English Australian agronomist and plant breeder. Farrer is best remembered as the originator of the "Federation" strain of wheat, distributed in 1903. His work resulted in significa ...

* 1711–1728:

* 1728–1728:

Anthony Cornish Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...

* 1728–1748:

Henry Holt Henley Henry Holt Henley (died 1748) of Leigh, Somerset, and Colway, Lyme Regis, Dorset, was a British lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1722 and 1748. Henley was the only son of Henry Henley, MP of Leigh and Colway and his w ...

* 1748–1748: Sir William Corbet, Bt * 1748–1758: Richard Arundell * 1758–1783:

Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet (1730 – 11 September 1783), of Michelgrove in Sussex, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1751 to 1780. He was the eldest son of Sir John Shelley, 4th Baronet and Margaret Pelham, two of ...

* 1783–?1834

Lord William Bentinck Lieutenant General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 177417 June 1839), known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman who served as the Governor of Fort William (Bengal) from 1828 to 1834 and the First G ...

* ''1834 Post abolished''

References

{{English Exchequer Economic history of England Exchequer offices