Constable of the Tower
The Konstabler des Towers ( English Constable of the Tower ) is the highest officer of the Tower of London and representative of the English monarchy in the Tower.
Originally the post of constable was one of the most influential posts in the English army . The constable was responsible for the administration of the tower and the tower division , which included larger parts of what is now East London. The constable has been a representative post since the late Middle Ages, while the actual administration was the responsibility of the Lieutenant of the Tower . After the lieutenant became a ceremonial post, the actual on-site administration of the tower is carried out by the resident governor of the tower .
According to the Queen's Regulations for the Army , the office has been given to a field marshal or retired general for five years since 1932 .
Introduction of the constant
Since 1932 the constable of the tower has been appointed for five years. For the induction ceremony, several military units line up on three sides around Tower Green. The units are selected by the constable. Normally these are units in which the constable served and the Honorable Artillery Company , which is responsible for the gun salute from the tower. The Yeomen Warders form a semicircle in front of the troops. There is a military band in the north. The new constable comes out of the Queen's House, where he enters the Tower Green accompanied by selected officers. There he meets the Lord Chamberlain of the Household , who gives the constable the keys to the Tower. The constable then inspects the troops and the fortress. The earliest mentions of a similar ceremony can be found in 1712. It is not known since when the ceremony was carried out as it is today.
List of constables since 1660
The first Constable of the Tower was Geoffrey de Mandeville, appointed by William the Conqueror in the 11th century . The number of incumbents is estimated at 158 so far.
- 1660–1675 Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet
- 1675–1679 James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton
- 1679–1685 William Alington, 3rd Baron Alington
- 1685–1688 George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth
- 1688–1702 Robert Lucas, 3rd Baron Lucas
- 1702–1705 Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon
- 1706-1710 Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex
- 1710–1712 Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers
- 1712-1715 George Compton, 4th Earl of Northampton
- 1715-1722 Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
- 1725–1726 Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton
- 1726–1731 Henry Lowther, 3rd Viscount Lonsdale
- 1731-1737 John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester
- 1740–1762 Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis
- 1762-1770 John Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton
- 1770–1784 Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
- 1784 George Lennox
- 1784–1805 Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
- 1806–1826 Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings
- 1826-1852 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- 1852-1865 Stapleton Stapleton-Cotton
- 1865–1871 John Fox Burgoyne
- 1871–1872 George Pollock
- 1872–1875 William Maynard Gomm
- 1875-1880 Charles Yorke
- 1881-1881 William Fenwick Williams
- 1881-1886 Richard Dacres
- 1886–1890 Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala
- 1890–1898 Daniel Lysons
- 1898–1911 Frederick Stephenson
- 1911-1920 Evelyn Wood
- 1920–1932 Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen
- 1933-1938 George Milne
- 1938-1943 Claud Jacob
- 1943–1948 Philip Walhouse Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode
- 1948–1950 Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
- 1950-1955 Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke
- 1955-1960 Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson
- 1960–1965 Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
- 1965–1970 Gerald Templer
- 1970-1975 Richard Hull
- 1975-1980 Geoffrey Baker
- 1980-1985 Peter Mervyn Hunt
- 1985–1990 Roland Gibbs
- 1990-1996 John Wilfred Stanier
- 1996–2001 Peter Inge
- 2001-2009 Roger Wheeler
- 2009–2016 Richard Dannatt
- 2016– Nicholas Houghton
Remarks
- ^ WDM Raeburn: Ceremonies of the Tower in: John Charlton (ed.): The Tower of London. Its Buildings and Institutions. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1978, ISBN 0-11-670347-4 , pp. 123-124.