Admiralty court

Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870. Originally published by University of London, London, 1975.

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'Admiralty court', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870, (London, 1975) pp. 95-99. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol4/pp95-99 [accessed 17 March 2024]

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ADMIRALTY COURT

Judge 1660-1870

Until the resignation of the Duke of York in 1673 the Judge was appointed by the Lord High Admiral by letters patent under the seal of the court. From 1673 appointments were made by the crown by letters patent under the great seal with the single exception of Henchman (1714) who was appointed by the Admiralty by letters patent under the seal of the court.s1 (fn. 1) Tenure was during pleasure until 1689 and during good behaviour thereafter. In 1689 a salary of £400 was attached to the office payable by the Treasurer of the Navy. Between 1694 and 1714 a further £400 was provided as a reward for attendance on the Privy Council, the Secretaries of State and the Admiralty. This was at first paid out of the Admiralty contingent fund but was transferred to the ordinary establishment in 1698. (fn. 2) From 1714 to 1778 the basic salary was £400 with an additional £400 in time of war. (fn. 3) In 1725 a further £400 was provided in recognition of the Judge's extra judicial activities and for the making of reports but this was retrenched in the following year. (fn. 4) In 1783 an additional allowance of £980 a year was attached to the office and made payable from the time of Marriott's appointment in 1778. (fn. 5) In 1798 the salary was fixed at £2500. (fn. 6) In addition to his salary the Judge was entitled to certain fees arising from cases in the court. (fn. 7) In 1840 these were abolished and a salary of £4000, payable out of the consolidated fund, was provided by statute which also disqualified the Judge from membership of the House of Commons. (fn. 8)

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
1661 4 Feb. Zouche, R. (fn. 9)
1661 12 March Hyde, T.
1661 26 Oct. Exton, J.
1668 17 Nov. Jenkins, L. (fn. 10)
1685 1 Oct. Lloyd, Sir R.
1686 6 July Exton, Sir T.
1686 17 Dec. Raines, Sir R.
1689 1 June Hedges, C.
1714 22 June Henchman, H.
1714 1 Dec. Newton, H.
1715 23 Aug. Penrice, H.
1751 19 Dec. Salusbury, Sir T.
1773 4 Nov. Hay, G.
1778 12 Oct. Marriott, Sir J.
1798 26 Oct. Scott, Sir W.
1828 22 Feb. Robinson, Sir C.
1833 30 May Nicholl, Sir J.
1838 17 Oct. Lushington, S.
1867 23 Aug. Phillimore, Sir R. J.

Registrar 1660-1870

This office was granted by letters patent under seal of the Admiralty Court. (fn. 11) Until the resignation of the Duke of York in 1673 the letters patent were issued in the name of the Lord High Admiral; thereafter by the crown. In 1691 Thomas Bedford, who had received a reversionary grant to the office in 1679, had his interest confirmed by letters patent under the great seal. (fn. 12) This practice was followed thereafter until the regulation of the office in the nineteenth century. Until 1840 the office was invariably conferred for life with power to appoint deputies; reversionary interests were frequently granted. (fn. 13) Following the death of Arden in 1840 the office was regulated by act. (fn. 14) This provided that the then deputy should become the principal and that future appointments should be made by the Judge of the Admiralty by letters patent under the seal of the Court and be held during good behaviour. The same act discontinued the previous arrangement whereby the Registrar received his remuneration exclusively in the form of fees which varied according to whether conditions of peace or war prevailed. (fn. 15) Thereafter the fees were to be carried to a fund out of which the Registrar and the Marshal were to receive salaries. The salary of the Registrar was fixed at £1400 with provision for it to be increased within a maximum of £2000 in time of war or other exceptional circumstances.

From 1705 it was the practice for the Registrar also to hold the office of Registrar of the Court of Delegates. (fn. 16)

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
1660 6 Sept. Potter, H. (fn. 17)
Gee, O.
1705 Crawley, R.
1712 21 March Hill, R.
1714 2 Oct. Hill, S.
1758 21 Feb. Farrant, G. L.
1790 9 Aug. Arden, Lord
1840 7 Aug. Swabey, H. B.
1853 10 Dec. Rothery, H. C.

Marshal 1660-1870

The Marshal was appointed by letters patent under the seal of the Admiralty court. (fn. 18) Until 1709 the letters patent were issued in the name of the Lord High Admiral or the Admiralty Board; from then on in that of the crown. Tenure was during pleasure. Originally the remuneration attached to the office was derived exclusively from fees. (fn. 19) In 1840 it was enacted that the fees should be carried to a fund out of which the Marshal was to receive a salary of £500 with provision for an increase within a maximum of £800 in time of war or in other exceptional circumstances. (fn. 20)

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
1660 5 July Joynes, W.
1689 17 Oct. Cheeke, J.
1733 9 Aug. Crespigny, P.
1745 7 Feb. Busby, E.
1751 24 May Barrington, Hon. D.
1753 5 July Brough, W.
1783 12 Nov. Crickitt, J.
1811 30 Oct. Thornton, R.
1815 14 March Lindsay, Hon. H.
1844 4 May Deacon, J.
1850 1 June Jones, E.

Advocate 1660-1870

Except during the period 1674-89 when he was appointed by royal warrant the Admiralty Advocate was appointed by Admiralty warrant. (fn. 21) The salary attached to the office was 20 marks (£13 6s 8d). This appears to have been paid originally out of the perquisites of the Lord High Admiral. From 1674 it was paid by the Treasurer of the Navy. (fn. 22) An additional allowance of £200 was provided in time of war. (fn. 23) In 1725 a further £200 was provided for making reports but this was retrenched in the following year. (fn. 24)

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
1660 13 June Hyde, T.
1661 29 Oct. Turner, W.
c. 1670 Walker, Sir W.
1674 19 May Lloyd, R.
1685 13 Sept. Pinfold, T.
1686 4 July Oldys, W.
1693 7 Sept. Littleton, F.
1697 16 March Newton, H. (fn. 25)
1714 28 Oct. Penrice, H.
1715 15 Aug. Fuller, R.
1727 30 March Sayer, E.
1731 1 Oct. Isham, E.
1742 20 March Strahan, W.
1748 9 Aug. Salusbury, T.
1751 14 Nov. Pinfold, C.
1756 17 Feb. Bettesworth, J.
1764 14 June Harris, G.
1782 21 May Scott, W.
1788 4 Sept. Bever, T.
1791 12 Nov. Battine, W.
1811 25 Nov. Arnold, J. H.
1829 11 March Dodson, J.
1834 25 Oct. Phillimore, J.
1855 3 Feb. Phillimore, R. J.
1862 3 Sept. Twiss, T.
1868 31 Jan. Deane, J. P.

Proctor 1660-1870

The Admiralty Proctor was appointed by Admiralty warrant. He received no salary but was paid fees for the work which he undertook. (fn. 26)

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
1660 16 July Budd, R.
1673 28 July Franklyn, S.
1700 16 May Glasier, J.
1709 20 June Exton, E.
1718 14 May Sayer, G.
1727 5 Aug. Sayer, E.
1745 7 Feb. Crespigny, P.
1763 24 Dec. Crespigny, P. C.
1766 4 Oct. Gostling, G.
1777 2 May Gostling, G.
1820 29 May Townsend, W.
1866 11 Oct. Stokes, H. G.

Receiver of Droits 1691-1857

The office of Receiver of Droits, the full title of which was Receiver of the Rights and Perquisites of the Admiralty, was established on a permanent basis in 1691. (fn. 27) Appointments were usually made by Admiralty warrant although both Byng (1727) and Goldsworthy (1733) received warrants of appointment from the crown. (fn. 28) The salary, which was paid out of the receipts from the perquisites, was originally £300. It was raised to £400 in 1800. (fn. 29) In 1854 provision was made for the office to be abolished on the next vacancy when its duties were to be transferred to the Board of Trade. (fn. 30) The office accordingly ceased to exist in 1857.

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
1691 31 July Rainsford, F.
1695 13 Sept. Corbett, A.
1702 27 June Dod, J.
1720 14 Nov. Byng, R.
1733 13 June Goldsworthy, B.
1774 24 Jan. Jackson, J.
1782 30 Aug. Crespigny, C. C.
1818 31 Jan. Hampson, G. F.
1833 27 June Callander, A. J.
1844 1 Jan. Baillie Hamilton, G.

Footnotes

  • 1. For this office see Corbett MS, v pp. 35-65; W. Senior, 'Sir Henry Penrice and Sir Thomas Salusbury', Mariner's Mirror, xiii (1927), 38-44; 'The Judges of the High Court of Admiralty', ibid., 333-47: 'Judges of the Admiralty-Note', ibid. xiv (1928), 74-5.
  • 2. SPB, i f. 27.
  • 3. ibid.; SPB, vi f. 19; SPB, vii f. 21; SPB, v f. 26; SPB, viii f. 42.
  • 4. SPB, iv f. 19.
  • 5. SPB, v f. 26.
  • 6. Order in council 24 Oct. 1798 (PC 2/151 pp. 577-8).
  • 7. 27th Rept. on Finance, 334-5.
  • 8. 3 & 4 Vict., c 66, s 1.
  • 9. Zouche had originally been appointed in 1641 but had been displaced in 1643.
  • 10. Jenkins had earlier acted as associate to J. Exton (CSPD 1664-5, 427, 490; Corbett MS, v p. 41). By letters patent 12 July 1673 (HCA 50/4 f. 85; C 66/3150) Sir Robert Wiseman was appointed to act as Judge in his absence on diplomatic business.
  • 11. For this office, see Corbett MS, v pp. 81-9; G. H. M. Thompson, Admiralty Registrars: Some Historical Notes (London 1958).
  • 12. Letters patent under seal of Admiralty court 17 April 1679 (HCA 50/4 f. 209) and 15 April 1685 (HCA 50/5 ff. 86-7); letters patent under great seal 8 July 1691 (C 66/3345). Bedford died before succeeding to the office.
  • 13. Apart from Bedford the following received reversionary grants but did not live to enjoy the office: Charles Hedges (d. c. 1714) by letters patent 13 Dec. 1710 (C 66/3476), Henry Farrant (d. 1727) by letters patent 1 July 1725 (C 66/3559) and Hon. Spencer Perceval (d. 1812) by letters patent 2 July 1764 (C 66/3696).
  • 14. 3 & 4 Vict., c 66 superseding 50 Geo. III, c 118.
  • 15. 27th Rept. on Finance, 336-7.
  • 16. G. I. O. Duncan, The High Court of Delegates (Cambridge 1971), 300.
  • 17. Potter had originally been appointed in May 1639 but had been suspended in 1644 (Corbett MS, v pp. 81-9).
  • 18. Corbett MS, v pp. 97-100.
  • 19. 27th Rept. on Finance, 336-7.
  • 20. 3 & 4 Vict., c 66, s 5.
  • 21. For this office, see Corbett MS, v pp. 133-4.
  • 22. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naval Manuscripts in the Pepysian Library, ed. J. R. Tanner, ii (Navy Records Soc., xxvii, 1904), 306-7; AO 1/1716/123.
  • 23. SPB, ii f. 20; SPB, i f. 27; SPB, vi f. 19; SPB, vii f. 22; SPB, v f. 26; SPB, viii f. 43; SPB, iii f. 125; SPB, xii f. 325.
  • 24. Corbett MS, v p. 134; SPB, iv f. 19.
  • 25. In 1708 Nathaniel Lloyd was appointed Deputy Advocate during Newton's absence abroad (HCA 50/8 ff. 24, 82-3).
  • 26. Corbett MS, v p. 137.
  • 27. For this office, see Corbett MS, v pp. 105-23. For earlier arrangements for the collection of the droits, see Adm. 6/404 pp. 1-2; CSPD 1673, 415.
  • 28. 3rd Rept. on Fees, 106, 122; HCA 50/7 p. 156; HCA 50/8 p. 159.
  • 29. Order in council 15 Jan. 1800 (HC 138 pp. 8-10 (1816) xiii, 176-8).
  • 30. 17 & 18 Vict., c 120, s 10.