Lord Steward

Not to be confused with Lord High Steward.

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Lord Steward 1587–1588, holding the white staff of his office

The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is an important official of the Royal Household in England. He is always a peer. Until 1924, he was always a member of the Government. Until 1782, the office was one of considerable political importance and carried Cabinet rank.

The Lord Steward receives his appointment from the Sovereign in person and bears a white staff as the emblem and warrant of his authority. He is the first dignitary of the court. In the House of Lords Precedence Act 1539, an Act of Parliament for placing of the lords, he is described as the grand master or lord steward of the king's most honourable household. He presided at the Board of Green Cloth, until the Board of Green Cloth disappeared in the reform of local government licensing in 2004, brought about by the Licensing Act 2003 (section 195). In his department are the Treasurer of the Household and Comptroller of the Household, who rank next to him. These officials were usually peers or the sons of peers and Privy Councillors. They also sat at the Board of Green Cloth, carry white staves, and belong to the ministry. The offices are now held by Government whips in the House of Commons. The duties which in theory belong to the Lord Steward, Treasurer and Comptroller of the Household are in practice performed by the Master of the Household, who is a permanent officer and resides in the palace. However, by the Coroners Act 1988, the Lord Steward was still appointed the Coroner of the Queen's Household, until the office was abolished in 2013 by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

The Master of the Household is a white-staff officer and was a member of the Board of Green Cloth but not of the ministry, and among other things he presided at the daily dinners of the suite in waiting on the sovereign. He is not named in the Black Book of Edward IV or in the Statutes of Henry VIII and is entered as master of the household and clerk of the green cloth in the Household Book of Queen Elizabeth. But he has superseded the lord steward of the household, as the lord steward of the household at one time superseded the Lord High Steward of England.

In the Lord Steward's department were the officials of the Board of Green Cloth, the Coroner ("coroner of the verge", although now abolished, but it has yet to take place), and Paymaster of the Household, and the officers of the Royal Almonry. Other offices in the department were those of the Cofferer of the Household, the Treasurer of the Chamber, and the Paymaster of Pensions, but these, with six clerks of the Board of Green Cloth, were abolished in 1782.

The Lord Steward had formerly three courts besides the Board of Green Cloth under him—the Lord Steward's Court, superseded in 1541 by the Marshalsea Court, and the Palace Court.

The Lord Steward or his deputies formerly administered the oaths to the members of the House of Commons. In certain cases (messages from the sovereign under the sign-manual) the lords with white staves are the proper persons to bear communications between the Sovereign and the Houses of Parliament.

Lord Stewards

15th century

• Sir Thomas Rempston 1399–1401
• Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester 1401–1402
• William Heron, Lord Say 1402–1404
• Sir Thomas Erpingham 1404
• Sir John Stanley 1405–1412
• Sir Thomas Erpingham 1413–1417
• Sir Walter Hungerford 1413–1421
• Robert Babthorp 1421–1424
• Sir Walter Hungerford 1424–1426
• Sir John Tiptoft 1426–1432
• Robert Babthorp 1432–1433
• William de la Pole, 1st Marquess of Suffolk 1433–1446
• Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley 1447–1457
• John Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp 1457–1461
• William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent 1461–1463
• John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester 1463–1467
• Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex 1467–1470
• Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby 1471–?1485
• The Lord FitzWalter 1485–aft. 1486
• The Lord Willoughby de Broke 1488–1502

16th century

• The Earl of Shrewsbury 1502–1538
• The Earl of Sussex 1538–1540?
• The Duke of Suffolk 1541–1544
• The Lord St John 1544–1551
• The Duke of Northumberland 1551–1553
• The Earl of Arundel 1553–1564
• no Lord Steward appointed 1564–1568
• The Earl of Pembroke 1568–1570
• no Lord Steward appointed 1570–1588
• The Earl of Leicester 1587–1588
• no Lord Steward appointed 1588–1603

17th century

• The Earl of Nottingham 1603–1618
• The Duke of Richmond 1618–1623
• The Marquess of Hamilton 1623–1625
• The Earl of Pembroke 1625–1630
• none 1630–1640
• The Earl of Arundel and Surrey 1640–1644
• The Duke of Richmond 1644–1655
• none 1655–1660
• The Duke of Ormonde 1660–1688
• The Duke of Devonshire 1689–1707

18th century

• The Duke of Devonshire 1707–1710
• The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby 1710–1711
• The Earl Poulett 1711–1714
• The Duke of Devonshire 1714–1716
• The Duke of Kent 1716–1718
• The Duke of Argyll 1718–1725
• The Duke of Dorset 1725–1730
• The Earl of Chesterfield 1730–1733
• The Duke of Devonshire 1733–1737
• The Duke of Dorset 1737–1744
• The Duke of Devonshire 1744–1749
• The Duke of Marlborough 1749–1755
• The Duke of Rutland 1755–1761
• The Earl Talbot 1761–1782
• The Earl of Carlisle 1782–1783
• The Duke of Rutland 1783
• The Earl of Dartmouth 1783
• The Duke of Chandos 1783–1789
• The Duke of Dorset 1789–1799
• The Earl of Leicester 1799–1802

19th century

• The Earl of Dartmouth 1802–1804
• The Earl of Aylesford 1804–1812
• The Marquess of Cholmondeley 1812–1821
• The Marquess Conyngham 1821–1830
• The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos 1830
• The Marquess Wellesley 1830–1833
• The Duke of Argyll 1833–1834
• The Earl of Wilton 1835
• The Duke of Argyll 1835–1839
• The Earl of Erroll 1839–1841
• The Earl of Liverpool 1841–1846
• The Earl Fortescue 1846–1850
• The Marquess of Westminster 1850–1852
• The Duke of Montrose 1852–1853
• The Duke of Norfolk 1853–1854
• The Earl Spencer 1854–1857
• The Earl of St Germans 1857–1858
• The Marquess of Exeter 1858–1859
• The Earl of St Germans 1859–1866
• The Earl of Bessborough 1866
• The Duke of Marlborough 1866–1867
• The Earl of Tankerville 1867–1868
• The Earl of Bessborough 1868–1874
• The Earl Beauchamp 1874–1880
• The Earl Sydney 1880–1885
• The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 1885–1886
• The Earl Sydney 1886
• The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 1886–1892
• The Marquess of Breadalbane 1892–1895
• The Earl of Pembroke 1895–1905

20th century

• The Earl of Liverpool 1905–1907
• The Earl Beauchamp 1907–1910
• The Earl of Chesterfield 1910–1915
• The Viscount Farquhar 1915–1922
• The Earl of Shaftesbury 1922–1936
• The Duke of Sutherland 1936–1937
• The Duke of Buccleuch 1937–1940
• The Duke of Hamilton 1940–1964
• The Duke of Westminster 1964–1967
• The Viscount Cobham 1967–1972
• The Duke of Northumberland 1973–1988
• The Viscount Ridley 1989–2001

21st century

• The Duke of Abercorn 2001–2009
• The Earl of Dalhousie 2009–present