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{{Short description|English government position}}{{About|the post in England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom|the corresponding post in Ireland|Lord High Treasurer of Ireland|the corresponding post in Scotland|Lord High Treasurer of Scotland|the corresponding post in Sweden|Lord High Treasurer of Sweden}}{{Use British English|date=May 2018}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}

factoids

Nigel (bishop of Ely)>Nigel of Ely{{Small|as Lord High Treasurer of England}}1817 (United Kingdom){{Circa|1126}} (England)}}Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and First Lord of the TreasuryChancellor of the Exchequer>Chancellor and Under Treasurer of His Majesty’s Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s TreasuryCharles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury{{Small>as Lord High Treasurer of Great Britain}}}}The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord High Steward and the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.The Lord High Treasurer functions as the head of His Majesty’s Treasury. The office has, since the resignation of Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury in 1714, been vacant.Although the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, it was not until the Consolidated Fund Act 1816 that the separate offices of Lord High Treasurer of Great Britain and Lord High Treasurer of Ireland were united into one office as the “Lord High Treasurer of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Irelandâ€� on 5 January 1817.WEB,www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo3/56/98/section/2, Consolidated Fund Act 1816, legislation.gov.uk, UK Government, Section 2, 18 November 2016, Section 2 of the Consolidated Fund Act 1816 also provides that “whenever there shall not be [a Lord High Treasurer of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland], it shall ... be lawful for His Majesty, by letters patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, to appoint Commissioners for executing the Offices of Treasurer of the Exchequer of Great Britain and Lord High Treasurer of Irelandâ€�. These are the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. In modern times, by convention, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury include the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, usually serving as the First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, serving as the Second Lord of the Treasury. Other members of the government, usually whips in the House of Commons, are appointed to serve as the Junior Lords Commissioners of the Treasury.BOOK, Anson, Sir William Reynell, The Law and Custom of the Constitution, Part 2, 1892, Clarendon Press, Oxford, Oxfordshire, 163–164,books.google.com/books?id=CS40AAAAIAAJ, 19 October 2021,

Origins

The English Treasury seems to have come into existence around 1126, during the reign of Henry I, as the financial responsibilities were separated from the rest of the job that evolved into Lord Great Chamberlain. The Treasury was originally a section of the Royal Household with custody of the King’s money. In 1216, a Treasurer was appointed to take control of the Treasury in Winchester. The Treasurer was also an officer of the Exchequer, and supervised the royal accounts. It was in the 16th century, the office’s title of King’s Treasurer developed into Lord High Treasurer. By Tudor times, the Lord High Treasurer had achieved a place among the Great Officers of State, behind the Lord Chancellor and above the Master of the Horse. Under the Treason Act 1351 it is treason to kill him.File:William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley from NPG (2).jpg|thumb|right|The Lord High Treasurer bears a white staff as his symbol of office. This is William Cecil, 1st Baron BurghleyWilliam Cecil, 1st Baron BurghleyThe office of Lord High Treasurer is distinct from that of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The Lord High Treasurer was appointed by the delivery of a white staff to the appointee, and the Treasurer of the Exchequer was appointed at His Majesty’s pleasure by letters patent under the Great Seal of the Realm. However, when the Treasury was held by an individual, he was appointed to both offices.BOOK, Sainty, John Christopher, Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 1, Treasury Officials 1660–1870, 1972, University of London, London, 0485171414, 16–25,www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol1/pp16-25, 19 October 2021, It is the office of Treasurer of the Exchequer that is put into commission, not the office of Lord High Treasurer. When the office of Treasurer of the Exchequer is put into commission, the office of Lord High Treasurer is left vacant.During the sixteenth century, the Lord High Treasurer was often considered the most important official of the government, and became a de facto Prime Minister. Exemplifying the power of the Lord High Treasurer is William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, who served in the post from 1572 to 1598. During his tenure, he dominated the administration under Elizabeth I.Loades, D., The Cecils: Privilege and Power behind the throne, The National Archives, 2007.

List

See also

• List of lord high treasurers of England and Great Britain
• List of lords commissioners of the Treasury

References

Citations

{{Reflist}}

Sources

• {{EB1911|noprescript=1|wstitle=Lord High Treasurer}}

{{Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom}}{{Pre-Plantagenet England Lord High Treasurers}}{{House of Plantagenet Lord High Treasurers}}{{House of Lancaster Lord High Treasurers}}{{House of York Lord High Treasurers}}{{House of Tudor Lord High Treasurers}}{{House of Stuart Lord High Treasurers}}{{Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office}}