Lord High Treasurer

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Lord High Treasurer William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley with a white staff as an insignia of power

The office of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer is an old English (after 1707 British) government office. The holder of this post acts as the head of Her / His Majesty's Treasury and is the third highest of the Great Officers of State . Only the Lord High Steward and the Lord High Chancellor (Lord Chancellor) are standing above him .

The English Treasury ( Treasury ) appears to 1126 during the reign of King Henry I, to be incurred when the financial responsibility of the remaining tasks of the Lord Great Chamberlain were separated. The treasury was originally part of the Royal Household and was intended for the protection and safekeeping of royal property. 1216 Treasurer (was Treasurer ) appointed to take control of the treasury in Winchester to take over and supervise the royal accounts.

Because of his great power and importance, the Lord High Treasurer gained a place among the Great Officers of State in Tudor times . During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I , William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , was her most important advisor and, as Lord High Treasurer from 1572 to 1598, one of the most influential political figures of the time.

Since 1612, the State Treasury (stand high Treasury ) and more often no single person more before, but a Commission ( Commission ) by members of the First Lord of the Treasury (First Lord of the Treasury) as chairman and since 1667 with the Second Lord of the Treasury as a deputy. This was necessary on the one hand because the administrative tasks had become more and more extensive, but on the other hand the power of this office was to be shared and controlled. The official title of Lord Commissioner of the Treasury has existed for members of the Treasury since 1714 . The office of Lord High Treasurer has not been awarded since then.

Since Robert Walpole first took over the function of Prime Minister in 1721 as First Lord , in which he effectively led the affairs of state, the First Lord of the Treasury has usually also been Prime Minister. Up to this time the First Lord was by no means the most powerful and leading minister, because there was no hierarchy of office in the government, so that the most influential minister was also the Lord Privy Seal (keeper of the Lord Seal ) or the Lord President of the Council (President of the Secret Council ) could be.

Even after Walpole, the First Lord was not always the most powerful member of government: Arthur Balfour was First Lord of the Treasury, while William Ewart Gladstone was Prime Minister from 1886 and 1892 to 1894 and Lord Salisbury from 1895 to 1902 as keeper of the Lord Seal. Previously, two other First Lords were not also heads of government. The office of Second Lord of the Treasury is exercised ex officio today by the Chancellor of the Exchequer .

The Prime Minister has been First Lord of the Treasury since 1902, and as such, not Prime Minister, resides at 10 Downing Street . The official residence of the Second Lord and thus the Chancellor of the Exchequer is located at 11 Downing Street .

Lords High Treasurer of England 1126–1707

Lord High Treasurer Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Lord High Treasurer Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Lord High Treasurer William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury
Lord High Treasurer Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin

Lords High Treasurer and Commissioners of the Treasury of Great Britain 1707–1801

First Lord and Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert Walpole
First Lord of the High Treasury Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland
First Lord of the High Treasury Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington
First Lord and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Grenville

Commissioners of the Treasury of the United Kingdom 1801 – today

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Robert Peel

literature