Lieutenant of the Admiralty

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Office of the Lieutenant of the Admiralty
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
Ensign of the Royal Navy
Department of the Admiralty
Member of Navy Board (1546–1564)
Nominator First Sea Lord
Appointer HM The King
Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council
Term length Not fixed (usually for life)
Formation1546–2005

Lieutenant of the Admiralty was for several centuries an honorary office, generally held by a senior retired Royal Navy admiral. From 1672 it was held jointly with the office of Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom.

Contents

History

A Lieutenant of the Admiralty (or Lieutenant-Admiral) first appears in the mid-14th century, deputising for the Admiral of England in the Court of Admiralty; occasional appointments were made for this purpose, but the post was often left dormant. [1]

The post was revived under King Henry VIII: in 1546, when the Navy Board was formed, it was resolved that a Lieutenant of the Admiralty should be appointed to serve as its Head. [2] The Navy Board was established on 24 April 1546, and on the same day Sir Thomas Clere was appointed Lieutenant of the Admiralty; [3] the appointment was by Letters Patent, which stipulated an annual stipend attached to the post of £100 plus expenses (to include twenty pence per day for two clerks). [4] Clere was succeeded in the office and role by Sir William Woodhouse; but after he died in office (in 1564) he was not replaced, and the Treasurer of the Navy (who was next in seniority) took over as Head of the Board. [5]

The office of Lieutenant of the Admiralty was revived, however, in 1604 when it appears to have been given as a mark of honourable distinction - together with the salary of £100p.a., plus two clerks and certain travelling expenses - to Sir Richard Leveson (who had commanded the fleet in the Narrow Seas at the time of the accession in England of King James I). [6] The office was left vacant after his death; however it was again revived in 1618, as part of a deal to persuade Sir Robert Mansell to resign as Treasurer of the Navy. [7] He retained it (together with the established annual stipend) up until his death, at a relatively advanced age, in 1656. Following the Restoration, the office was again revived for Sir Edward Montagu (who had commanded the fleet that brought King Charles II back from his exile in the Dutch Republic), for whom the pay was increased to £450 a year. [8]

In 1672 the post of Lieutenant of the Admiralty was conjoined with the office of Vice-Admiral of England (which became Vice-Admiral of Great Britain in 1707, and Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom in 1801), the two remaining linked into the 21st century. Thus in 2001, Admiral Sir Jeremy Black was, like his predecessors, appointed by Letters Patent to 'the Office of Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom and Lieutenant of the Admiralty thereof'. [9] Subsequently the appointment of Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom became attached to that of Commander-in-Chief Fleet, until 2012; notices published since then of appointments to the office of Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom have made no mention of the office of Lieutenant of the Admiralty. [10] [11] [12]

List of lieutenants of the admiralty

Note: Incomplete list

Post in abeyance
Post in abeyance
Post in abeyance

In 1672, the office of Lieutenant of the Admiralty was merged with that of Vice Admiral of England, with Prince Rupert of the Rhine being appointed to both offices.

For a list of subsequent office-holders see Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom.

References

  1. ↑ "Vice Admiral of the UK: History of honorary title as Queen Camilla is first woman to hold role". bfbs Forces News. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  2. ↑ Ehrman, John (2012). "The Lord Admirals Department at the end of 1688". The Navy in the War of William III 1689-1697: Its State and Direction. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 179. ISBN   9781107645110.
  3. ↑ Clowes, William Laird (1897). The Royal Navy: A History From the Earliest Times to the Present. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. p. 437.
  4. ↑ Oppenheim, M. (1896). A History of the Administration of the Royal Navy (Volume I). London: John Lane The Bodley Head. p. 85. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: Terence Dalton Ltd. p. 5. ISBN   0900963948.
  6. 1 2 Perrin, W. G. (January 1928). "The VICE-ADMIRAL and REAR-ADMIRAL of the UNITED KINGDOM". The Mariner's Mirror. 14 (1): 26–31. doi:10.1080/00253359.1928.10655449.
  7. ↑ Kenny, Robert W. (1970). Elizabeth's Admiral: The Political Career of Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, 1536-1624. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins Press. p. 326.
  8. ↑ Gardiner, Leslie (1968). The British Admiralty. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood & Sons Ltd. p. 38.
  9. ↑ "No. 56194". The London Gazette . 3 May 2001. p. 5329.
  10. ↑ "No. 60144". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 May 2012. p. 9389.
  11. ↑ "No. 63647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 March 2022. p. 5318.
  12. ↑ "No. 64836". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 September 2025. p. 17110.
  13. ↑ Brewer, John Sherren; Brodie, Robert Henry (1929). Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. Рипол Классик. p. 358. ISBN   9785875053849.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  14. ↑ "WOODHOUSE, Sir William (by 1517-64), of Hickling, Norf. | History of Parliament Online". historyofparliamentonline.org. The History of Parliament Trust 1964-2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  15. ↑ "LEVESON, Sir Richard (1570-1605), of Lilleshall Lodge, Salop; Trentham and Parton, Staffs. and Bethnal Green, Mdx. | History of Parliament Online". historyofparliamentonline.org. The History of Parliament Trust 1964-2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  16. ↑ Perrin, W. G. (January 1928). "The VICE-ADMIRAL and REAR-ADMIRAL of the UNITED KINGDOM". The Mariner's Mirror. 14 (1): 26–31. doi:10.1080/00253359.1928.10655449.

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