Lord Privy Seal

Information about Lord Privy Seal

This page is about the traditional office in the United Kingdom; for the Japanese office, see Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan


The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state. Originally, its holder was responsible for the monarch's personal ("privy") seal (as opposed to the Great Seal of State, which is in the care of the Lord Chancellor). Today, the holder of the office is invariably given a seat in the Cabinet.

Though one of the oldest offices in government anywhere, it has no particular function today; thus the office has generally been used as a kind of Minister without Portfolio. Since the premiership of Clement Attlee, the position of Lord Privy Seal has frequently been combined with that of Leader of the House of Lords or Leader of the House of Commons. The jocular clarification that the office holder is neither a lord, nor a privy, nor a seal, though sometimes credited to Edward Heath, was attributed by him to Ernest Bevin.

The term "Lord Privy Seal" (as in "not bad, but it's a bit Lord Privy Seal") is used in the British television industry as shorthand for associating pictures too closely and literally with every element of the accompanying spoken script. The origin is a TV comedy sketch in The Frost Report taking the practice to an extreme, which backed a "news report" mention of the Lord Privy Seal with images, in quick succession, of a lord, an outdoor toilet, and a seal balancing a ball on its nose.

English Lords Privy Seal, 1307-1707

British Lords Privy Seal, 1707-Present

See also

References

  • Give me ten seconds, John Sergeant
The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (内大臣 Naidaijin
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The Privy Seal of England can be traced back to the reign of King John. It has been suggested that it was originally the seal that accompanied the person of the Sovereign, while the Great Seal was required to remain in the Chancery.
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Great Officers of State are traditional Crown ministers, who either inherit their positions or are appointed to exercise certain largely ceremonial functions. Separate Great Officers exist for England and Scotland, and formerly for Ireland.
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The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above the Lord Privy Seal. The Lord President has the responsibility of presiding over meetings of the Privy Council.
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The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable. The position is an hereditary one, held in gross, and was originally held by Robert Malet, a son of one of the leading
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A sinecure (from Latin sine, without, and cura, care) means an office which requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. Examples are the Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the British cabinet.
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The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a British institution by which the monarch's official documents can be authorised without having to be signed personally.
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The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State and is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister.
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A Minister without Portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry.

Canada

All but one Canadian cabinet have contained one or several Ministers without Portfolio.
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Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. The Labour Party under Attlee won a landslide election victory over Winston Churchill immediately after Churchill had led
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Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
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The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. Although at one time the position was usually held by the Prime Minister, in recent years, the post has usually been
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Lord is a person who has power and authority. It can have different meanings depending on the context of use. Women will usually (but not universally) take the title 'Lady' instead of Lord. Two examples of a female Lord are the Lord of Mann, or the current Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
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toilet, lavatory, water closet (WC), or loo is a plumbing fixture and disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the bodily wastes: urine and fecal matter.
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Pinnipeds ("fin-feet", lit. "winged feet") are marine mammals belonging to the former biological suborder Pinnipedia (sometimes now a superfamily) of the order Carnivora. The pinnipeds now fall within the suborder Caniformia and comprise the families Odobenidae (walruses),
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Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, MBE (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975.
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Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader, politician, and statesman best known for his time as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour government.
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The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by Sir David Frost. It ran for 28 episodes from 1966. It is most notable for introducing John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett to television.
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outhouse, (also known as a privy, kybo, jakes or earth-closet) usually refers to a type of toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a flush or sewer attached.
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Phocidae
Gray, 1821

Genera

Monachus (Monk Seals)
Mirounga (Elephant Seal)
Lobodon (Crabeater Seals)
Leptonychotes
Hydrurga (Leopard Seals)
Ommatophoca
Erignathus
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William Melton (died April 5, 1340) was the 43rd Archbishop of York (1317–1340).

Life

He was the son of Nicholaas of Melton, and the brother of John de Melton. He was born in Melton in the parish of Welton, about nine miles from Kingston upon Hull.
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Roger Northburgh was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He served as Lord Privy Seal from 1312 to 1316,[1] as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1321 to 1326, and as Lord High Treasurer of England from June to December of 1340.
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Thomas Charlton served as Bishop of Hereford, Lord High Treasurer of England, Lord Privy Seal, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He is buried in Hereford Cathedral in Hereford, Herefordshire, England.

He was Lord High Treasurer from 2 July 1328 until 16 September 1329.
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Robert Baldock was the Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor of England, during the reign of King Edward II of England. He may also have been the Robert Baldock who was elected Bishop of Norwich on July 23, 1325 but resigned the office on September 3, 1325.
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William Ayermin (or William Ayermine) was a medieval Bishop of Norwich.

He was a canon of St. Paul's, Lincoln and Hereford when he was named Lord Privy Seal about May 26, 1324. He held that office until January or February of 1325.
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Robert Wyvil (or Robert Wyville) was a medieval Bishop of Salisbury.

He was keeper of the Privy Seal of Edward, duke of Aquitaine in 1326 when he was named on October 26 Lord Privy Seal, which office he held until the early part of 1327.
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Richard Aungerville (or Aungervyle) (January 24, 1287 – April 14, 1345), commonly known as Richard de Bury, was an English writer, bibliophile, Benedictine monk and bishop. He was a patron of learning, and one of the first English collectors of books.
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William Zouche or William La Zouche, (died 19 July 1352 at Cawood Palace, West Riding of Yorkshire) was a medieval Archbishop of York.

Life

was a younger son of William, Lord Zouche of Haringworth, in Northamptonshire.
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Richard de Wentworth (or Richard Bintworth) was a medieval Bishop of London.

He was a canon of St. Paul's when he was named Lord Privy Seal on March 25, 1337, holding that office until July of 1338.
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John de Ufford, sometimes John de Offord or John Offord (died May 2 or June 7, 1349) was chancellor and head of the royal administration to Edward III as well as being elected to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
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