The Office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriffs and control of the military forces of the Crown. From 1569 there was provision for the appointment of Deputy Lieutenants, and in 1662 the Lord-Lieutenant was given entire control of the militia. The Forces Act of 1871 transferred this function back to the Crown, and in 1921, the office lost its power to call upon men of the County to fight in case of need. Since 1711 all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Devon.
Lord Lieutenants are appointed by the King for each county in the United Kingdom, to represent the Crown. They are non-political and retire at the age of 75. The post is unpaid.
The five main duties of the Lord Lieutenant are:
The following persons served as Lord Lieutenant of Devon:
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A deputy lieutenant of Devon is commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of Devon. Deputy lieutenants support the work of the lord-lieutenant. There can be several deputy lieutenants at any time, depending on the population of the county. Their appointment does not terminate with the changing of the lord-lieutenant, but they usually retire at age 75.
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Baron Clinton is a title in the Peerage of England. Created in 1298 for Sir John de Clinton, it is the seventh-oldest barony in England.
Earl Fortescue is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created in 1789 for Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Baron Fortescue (1753–1841), a member of parliament for Beaumaris and Lord-Lieutenant of Devon.
Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue KG, PC, styled Viscount Ebrington from 1789 to 1841, was a British Whig politician. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1839 to 1841.
John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath PC was an English landowner who served in the Royalist army during the First English Civil War and was rewarded for his services after the 1660 Stuart Restoration with a title and various appointments.
This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Since 1714, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Somerset.
Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Fortescue was a British peer, created Earl Fortescue in 1789.
Hugh Fortescue, 4th Earl Fortescue, styled Viscount Ebrington from 1861 to 1905, was an English Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1881 until 1892 and later in the House of Lords having inherited his father's peerages. He was a famous sportsman in the hunting-field.
Hugh William Fortescue, 5th Earl Fortescue,, styled Viscount Ebrington from 1905 until 1932, of Castle Hill in the parish of Filleigh, of Weare Giffard Hall, both in Devon and of Ebrington Manor in Gloucestershire, was a British peer, military officer, and Conservative politician.
This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of Devon.
Hugh Boscawen was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons on seven occasions between 1646 and 1701.
Sir Faithful Fortescue (1585–1666), of Dromiskin in County Louth, Ireland, was Governor of Carrickfergus in Ireland, long the chief seat and garrison of the English in Ulster and was a royalist commander during the English Civil War.
Castle Hill in the parish of Filleigh in North Devon, is an early Neo-Palladian country house situated 3 miles north-west of South Molton and 8 mi (13 km) south-east of Barnstaple. It was built in 1730 by Hugh Fortescue, 14th Baron Clinton (1696–1751), who was later created in 1751 1st Baron Fortescue and 1st Earl of Clinton, the son of Hugh Fortescue, lord of the manor of Filleigh, Weare Giffard, etc., whose family is earliest recorded as residing in the 12th century at the manor of Whympston in the parish of Modbury in South Devon. The Fortescue family became major land owners, influential in British and West Country history. Castle Hill is a rare example in Devon of an 18th-century country mansion "on the grand scale".
Richard Fortescue of Filleigh, North Devon was an English Member of Parliament and prominent land-owner and member of the Devonshire gentry, ancestor to the Earls Fortescue.
Weare Giffard is a small village, civil parish and former manor in the Torridge district, in north Devon. The church and manor house are situated 2 1/2 miles NW of Great Torrington in Devon. Most of the houses within the parish are situated some 1/2-mile east of the church. The church is situated on a hillside to the north and slightly above the wide and flat valley floor of the River Torridge. The Church of the Holy Trinity and the adjacent Weare Giffard Hall are designated members of the Grade I listed buildings in Devon.
Sir John Chichester (1519/20-1569) of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple in North Devon, was a leading member of the Devonshire gentry, a naval captain, and ardent Protestant who served as Sheriff of Devon in 1550-1551, and as Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1547, April 1554, and 1563, and as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1559, over which borough his lordship of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton had considerable influence.
Colonel John Granville, 1st Baron Granville of Potheridge PC, styled The Honourable John Granville until 1703, was an English soldier, landowner and politician.
Heanton Satchville was a historic manor in the parish of Petrockstowe, North Devon, England. With origins in the Domesday manor of Hantone, it was first recorded as belonging to the Yeo family in the mid-14th century and was then owned successively by the Rolle, Walpole and Trefusis families. The mansion house was destroyed by fire in 1795. In 1812 Lord Clinton purchased the manor and mansion of nearby Huish, renamed it Heanton Satchville, and made it his seat. The nearly-forgotten house was featured in the 2005 edition of Rosemary Lauder's "Vanished Houses of North Devon". A farmhouse now occupies the former stable block with a large tractor shed where the house once stood. The political power-base of the Rolle family of Heanton Satchville was the pocket borough seat of Callington in Cornwall, acquired in 1601 when Robert Rolle purchased the manor of Callington.
Potheridge is a former Domesday Book estate in the parish of Merton, in the historic hundred of Shebbear, 3 miles south-east of Great Torrington, Devon, England. It is the site of a former grand mansion house re-built by George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608–1670) circa 1660 on the site of the former manor house occupied by his family since at the latest 1287. It was mostly demolished in 1734 after the death of the widow of his son Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle.
Hudscott is a historic estate within the parish and former manor of Chittlehampton, Devon. From 1700 it became a seat of a junior branch of the influential Rolle family of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe and in 1779 became a secondary seat of the senior Rolle family of Stevenstone, then the largest landowner in Devon. Hudscott House, classified in 1967 a Grade II* listed building, is situated one mile south-east of the village of Chittlehampton. It was largely rebuilt in the 17th century by the Lovering family and in the late 17th century became a refuge for ejected Presbyterial ministers. In 1737 its then occupant Samuel II Rolle (1703-1747) purchased the manor of Chittlehampton and thus Hudscott House became in effect the manor house of Chittlehampton.
Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Clinton, 14th Baron Clinton of Castle Hill in the parish of Filleigh, and of Weare Giffard Hall, both in North Devon, and of Ebrington Manor in Gloucestershire, was a landowner and peer. He built the surviving Palladian stately home of Castle Hill.