Lord High Admirals
(1413-1628)
The office of Admiral of England, or Lord Admiral and later Lord High Admiral was created in approximately 1400. In 1546 King Henry VIII established the Council of the Marine later to became the Navy Board to oversee administrative affairs of the naval service. Operational control of the Navy remained the responsibility of the Lord High Admiral, who was one of the nine Great Officers of State.
In 1628, Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission and control of the Royal Navy passed to a committee in the form of the Board of the Admiralty. Control of the Navy was passed to and from the board and the Lord High Admiral a number of times until 1709 when the powers of the Lord High Admiral were finally vested in the Board of Admiralty. The Board of Admiralty consisted of admirals (known as Sea Lords) and civilian lords, normally politicians. The professional head of the Royal Navy was (and still is) known as the First Sea Lord. The civilian minister and president of the Board was known as the First Lord of the Admiralty.
Office Holder |
Year |
Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter | 1413-1426 |
John Beaufort, Duke of Bedford | 1426-1435 |
John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter | 1435-1447 |
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk | 1447-1450 |
Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter | 1450-1461 |
William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent | 1462 |
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester | 1462-1470 |
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick | 1470-1471 |
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester | 1471-1483 |
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk | 1483-1485 |
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford | 1485-1513 |
Sir Edward Howard | 1513 |
Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey | 1513-1525 |
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond | 1525-1536 |
William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton | 1536-1540 |
John Russell, 1st Lord Russell | 1540-1542 |
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford | 1542-1543 |
John Dudley, Viscount Lisle | 1543-1547 |
Thomas Seymour, 1st Lord Seymour of Sudeley | 1547-1549 |
John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick | 1549-1550 |
Edward Clinton, 9th Lord Clinton | 1550-1554 |
William Howard, 1st Lord Howard of Effingham | 1554-1558 |
Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln | 1558-1585 |
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham | 1585-1619 |
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham | 1619-1628 |
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