The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor was formed in 1908 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and received royal recognition in 1912. Its

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

was Queen Elizabeth II until her death in 2022. It is a registered charity and seeks to uphold and advise on the dignity and rights of

Knights Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are t ...

and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

hood, and to register every duly authenticated knighthood. Its charitable objectives include the relief of poverty, the advancement of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, support for hospitals, the elderly, and the needy. A particular objective is to assist Knights Bachelor to encourage and develop understanding and cooperation between the citizens of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

. In 1962, the society established its own

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

in the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, London. In 2005, the chapel was moved to St Martin's Chapel in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The society's

badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and ...

may be worn in the form of a brooch by wives and daughters of knights.

Publications

Periodically, the Society published lists of living recipients of awards, with the subtitle ''A list of the existing recipients of the honour of Knighthood together with a short account of the origin, objects and work of ... the society''. The editions published by the Society included the Order of General Precedence extant in England at the time, so that the 1939–1946 edition (20th edition), and the subsequent 1949–1950 (21st edition), indicated pre-war and post-war precedence.

List of Knights Principal

The Rt Hon ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Bargrave Deane (1908–1911) # Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, CVO (1911–1923) #

Sir William Bull, Bt, MP (1923–1931) # Commander Sir Arthur Trevor Dawson, Bt (1931) # Sir Gerald Wollaston, KCB, KCVO (1931–1957) #

The Hon ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Sir George Bellew, KCB, KCVO, KStJ (1957–1962) #

Sir Anthony Wagner Sir Anthony Richard Wagner (6 September 1908 – 5 May 1995) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as Garter Principal King of Arms before retiring to the post of Clarenceux King of Arms. He was one of ...

, KCB, KCVO (1962–1983) # Sir Colin Cole, KCB, KCVO, TD (1983–1995) # Sir Conrad Swan, KCVO (1995–2000) # Sir Richard Gaskell (2000–2006) # The Lord Lingfield, Kt, DL (2006–2012) # Sir Colin Berry (2012–2019) # The Rt. Hon Sir Gary Hickinbottom (2019-present)

List of Registrars

# Sir William Bull, Bt (1907–1920) # Sir Harry North (1920–1921) # Sir Park Goff, Bt, KC (1921–1939) # Sir Malcolm Fraser, Bt, GBE (1939–1941) #

Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...

, OM, KCIE (1941–1944) # Sir Thomas Lumley-Smith, DSO (1944–1960) # Sir John Russell (1960–1978) # Sir Arthur Driver (1978–1986) # Sir Roger Falk, OBE (1986–1991) # Sir Kenneth Newman, GBE, KStJ, QPM (1991–1998) # Sir Robert Balchin, DL (1998–2006) #

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

Sir Paul Judge (2006-2012) # His Honour Sir Gavyn Arthur (2012-2016) # Sir Jeremy Elwes, (2016-2017) # Sir Michael Hirst (2017-present)

Arms

Notes

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External links