The Knight Marshal is a former office in 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, ...

established by King Henry III in 1236. The position later became a Deputy to the

Earl Marshal Earl marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the United Kingdom). He is the eig ...

from the reign of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

until the office was abolished in 1846. The Knight Marshal and his men were responsible for maintaining order within the King's Court ( Court of Marshalsea or

Palace Court The Marshalsea Court (or Court of the Marshalsea, also known as the Court of the Verge or the Court of the Marshal and Steward) was a court associated with the Royal Household in England. Associated with, but distinct from, the Marshalsea Court ...

) which was abolished in 1849. According to ''The Present State of the British Court'', published in 1720, The Knight Marshal was appointed by the Crown for life by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

under the great seal frequently in the form of grants in reversion. Board wages were fixed at £21 5s 10d in 1662. In 1685, a salary of £26 was provided. This was raised to £500 in 1790 but reduced to £271 in 1816. The separate office of

Knight Marischal The office of Knight Marischal was first created for the Scottish coronation of Charles I in 1633, at Scone. Unlike the separate office of Marischal, the office of Knight Marischal is not heritable, and has continued to be filled up to the deat ...

exists in the Royal Household of Scotland, but has not been filled since 1863.

List of Knights Marshal

*temp Richard III : William Brandon *temp Edward IV : Sir Ralph Assheton *temp Henry VII :

Sir John Digby John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol (February 1580 – 21 January 1653),David L. Smith, 'Digby, John, first earl of Bristol (1580–1653)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008. was an E ...

*temp Henry VIII : Sir William Pickering *1542 26 August – 1556 : Sir

Ralph Hopton Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton, (159628 September 1652), was an English politician, soldier and landowner. During the 1642 to 1646 First English Civil War, he served as Royalist commander in the West Country, and was made Baron Hopton of Stra ...

(died 1571) *1555 : Sir

Anthony Kingston Sir Anthony Kingston (ca. 1508 – 14 April 1556) was an English royal official, holder of various positions under several Tudor monarchs.A.D.K. Hawkyard, 'Kingston, Anthony (by 1512-56), of Cadleigh, Devon and Painswick, Glos.', in S.T. Bind ...

(died 1556) *1556 May – 1558 : Sir Thomas Holcroft *1558 Mar – 1558 : Sir Thomas Hervey *1558 21 Dec – 1571 : Sir

and

Robert Hopton Robert Hopton (c.1575-1638) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in two parliaments between 1604 and 1622. Hopton was the eldest son of Sir Arthur Hopton of Witham Friary, Somerset and his wife Rachel Hall, da ...

(jointly) *1571 - 1577:

(alone) *1578:

Sir George Carey George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon KG (1547 – 9 September 1603) was the eldest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan. His father was first cousin to Elizabeth I of England. In 1560, at the age of 13, George matriculated at ...

*1597 May : Sir Thomas Gerard (created Baron Gerard, 1603) *1604 – 1618 : Sir Thomas Vavasour *1618 – 1626 : Sir Edward Zouche *1626 – 1642 : Sir Edmund Verney *c.1642 : Sir Edward Sydenham *?1651 : Sir Robert Throckmorton *1649 – 1660 : ''Interregnum'' *1660 11 July : Sir

William Throckmorton Dr. William Edward Throckmorton (1795 – October 2, 1843) was an early Collin County, Texas settler. Born in Virginia in 1795, Throckmorton was the son of a American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War soldier. He grew up in Virginia and met ...

*1667 22 April : Sir

Edmund Wyndham Sir Edmund Wyndham (1601 – 2 March 1681) was an Somerset landowner, and Member of Parliament on different occasions between 1625 and 1679. He supported the Parliamentary opposition to Charles_I_of_England, Charles I, until 1630, when his wife wa ...

*1681 3 March – ?1689 : Sir Edward Villiers *1689 4 July : Sir Edward Villiers (died 1711) *1700 11 July – 1757 : Sir Philip Meadows *1757 5 December – 1792 : Sir Sydney Meadows *1792 15 November – 1795 : Hugh Boscawen *1795 10 November – 1824 : Sir James Lamb (formerly Burges), 1st Bt *1824 11 October – 1846 : Sir Charles Montolieu Lamb, 2nd Bt *1846 ''Post abolished''

H.M.'s Marshalmen

A token number of Marshalmen continued to be appointed even after the demise of the Marshalsea Court; they became honorary appointments within the Royal Household and were in attendance on the Sovereign on ceremonial occasions. Six King's Marshalmen took part in the 1937 Coronation procession of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

; since when appointments to this office have ceased. The Marshalmen wore a distinctive uniform, consisting of a scarlet coat, blue trousers and a

shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, plume (see hackle) ...

(a tall, cylindrical cap with a visor), and carried a baton engraved with the Royal Arms at one end, and at the other the coat of arms of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

.Dress worn at Court https://archive.org/stream/dressinsigniawor00greauoft#page/164/mode/1up

Sources

References

External links

Photograph of Marshalmen on duty at the State Opening of Parliament in 1909 (National Portrait Gallery)
{{British Monarchy Household Positions within the British Royal Household

List of Knights Marshal

H.M.'s Marshalmen

See also

Sources

References

External links