Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson

This article is about the British politician. For the Olympic silver medallist, see Harold A. Wilson. The Right Honourable James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was one of the longest serving Labour Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. Wilson is regarded by many as one of the more intellectual politicians of the century.

Birth and Early Life

Wilson was born in Huddersfield in 1916, an almost exact contemporary of his great rival, Edward Heath. He came from a political family, his father Herbert having been active in the Liberal Party and then having joined the Labour Party. When Wilson was eight, he visited London and a later-to-be-famous photograph was taken of him standing on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street. Wilson passed the 11-plus examination and won a scholarship to attend the local grammar school. His education was disrupted in 1931 when he contracted typhoid fever after drinking contaminated milk on a Scouts' outing and took months to recover. The next year his father, working as an industrial chemist, was made redundant and moved to the Wirral to find work. Wilson attended the sixth form at the local grammar school, Wirral Grammar School for Boys, where he became Head Boy. Wilson did well at school and won a scholarship to study History at Jesus College, Oxford from 1934. At Oxford, Wilson was moderately active in politics as a member of the Liberal Party but was later influenced by G. D. H. Cole to join the Labour Party. After his first year, he changed his field of study to Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and he graduated with an outstanding first class degree. He continued in academia, becoming one of the youngest Oxford University dons of the century. Wilson was a lecturer in Economics at New College in 1937 and a lecturer in Economic History at University College from 1938 (and was a fellow of the latter college, 1938-45). For much of this time, he was a research assistant to William Beveridge on unemployment and the trade cycle. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Wilson volunteered for service but was classed as a specialist and moved into the Civil Service instead. Most of his War was spent as a statistician and economist for the coal industry. He was Director of Economics and Statistics at the Ministry of Fuel and Power, 1943-4. He was to remain passionately interested in statistics for the rest of his life. As President of the Board of Trade, he was the driving force behind the Statistics of Trade Act 1947, which is still the legal authority used to collect most economic statistics in Great Britain. As Prime Minister, he was instrumental in appointing Claus Moser as head of the Central Statistical Office. He was President of the Royal Statistical Society in 1972-3.

In Parliament

As the War drew to an end, he began searching for a seat to fight at the impending general election. Eventually he was selected for Ormskirk, which was then held by Stephen King-Hall. Wilson accidentally agreed to be adopted as the candidate immediately rather than delay until the election was called, and was therefore compelled to resign from the Civil Service. He used the time in between to write A New Deal for Coal which used his wartime experience to argue for nationalisation of the coal mines on the basis of improved efficiency. In the 1945 general election, Wilson won his seat in line with the Labour landslide. To his surprise he was immediately appointed to the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works. Two years later he became Secretary for Overseas Trade, in which capacity he made several trips to the Soviet Union to negotiate supplies. Opponents would later class these trips as suspicious. On 14 October 1947 Wilson was appointed President of the Board of Trade and became the youngest member of the Cabinet in the 20th century. He took a lead in abolishing some of the wartime rationing, which he referred to as a "bonfire of controls". In the general election of 1950, his constituency was altered and he was narrowly elected for the new seat of Huyton. Wilson was becoming known as a left-winger and joined Aneurin Bevan in resigning from the government in April 1951 in protest at the introduction of NHS medical charges in order to meet the financial demands imposed on the budget by the Korean War. After the Labour Party lost the general election later that year, he was made chairman of Bevan's "Keep Left" group, but shortly thereafter he distanced himself from Bevan. By coincidence, it was Bevan's further resignation from the Shadow Cabinet in 1954 that put Wilson back on the front bench.

Opposition

Wilson soon proved a very effective Shadow Minister. One of his procedural moves caused the loss of the Government's Finance Bill in 1955, and his speeches as Shadow Chancellor from 1956 were widely praised for their clarity and wit. He coined the term "Gnomes of Zurich" to describe Swiss bankers whom he accused of pushing the pound down by speculation. In the meantime, he conducted an inquiry into the Labour Party's organisation following its defeat in the 1955 general election, which made several useful recommendations for improvements. Unusually, Wilson combined the job of Chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee with that of Shadow Chancellor from 1959. Wilson was still identified with the Left, and launched an opportunistic but unsuccessful challenge to the leader Hugh Gaitskell in 1960 after the Labour Party's 1959 defeat and Gaitskell's unpopular move to ditch Clause Four. He also challenged for the deputy leadership in 1962 but was defeated by George Brown. Because of these challenges, he was moved to the position of Shadow Foreign Secretary. Hugh Gaitskell died unexpectedly in January 1963, just as the Labour Party had begun to unite and look like it had a good chance of being elected to government. Wilson became the left candidate for the leadership, and defeated Brown. He coordinated Labour's response to the Profumo Affair, in which he made some political capital without getting the party involved in the less salubrious aspects. At the Labour Party conference later in 1963, he made a very significant speech in which he claimed "the Britain that will be forged in the white heat of [the scientific and technical] revolution will have no place for restrictive practices and outdated measures on either side of industry". This speech did much to set Wilson's reputation as a classless technocrat.

Prime Minister

In 1964, Wilson narrowly won the general election with a majority of five and became Prime Minister. This was not sufficient to last for a full term and, after a short period of competent government, in March 1966 he won re-election with a landslide majority of 99. He was soon a familiar figure, known for his pipe-smoking (he especially liked Tobacco grown in Rhodesia), his Gannex raincoat, and his habit of taking holidays in the Isles of Scilly. On 1 June 2005 files were released showing that Wilson was concerned that, while on the Isles of Scilly, he was being monitored by Russian ships disguised as trawlers. MI5 found no evidence of this, but told him not to use a walkie-talkie. As Prime Minister, his opponents accused him of deviousness, especially over the matter of devaluation of the pound in November 1967. Wilson had rejected devaluation for many years, yet in his broadcast had seemed to present it as a triumph. During his first period of office, Wilson's government set up the Open University, which he would come to regard as his own greatest achievement. Overseas, Wilson was troubled by crises in several of Britain's former colonies, especially Rhodesia and South Africa. Wilson gave diplomatic support but resisted pressure for military support to the United States in the Vietnam War. In addition to the damage done to its reputation by devaluation, Wilson's Government suffered from the perception that its response to industrial relations problems was inadequate. A six-week strike of members of the National Union of Seamen, which began shortly after Wilson' re-election in 1966, did much to reinforce this perception, along with Wilson's own sense of insecurity in office. In 1967, Wilson sued pop group The Move for libel after the band's manager published a promotional postcard for the single Flowers In The Rain, which featured a cartoon caricature that depicted Wilson in bed with his reputed mistress. Wilson won the case and all royalties from the song (composed by Roy Wood), were assigned to a charity of Wilson's choosing. Remarkably, this arrangement remains in place a decade after Wilson's death. By 1969 the Labour Party was suffering serious mid-term electoral reverses. In June 1970, Wilson responded to an apparent recovery in his government's popularity by calling a general election, but, to the surprise of almost all observers, was swept from power on a tide of anti-Labour feeling. Despite the shock defeat, Wilson survived as leader of the party and returned to 10 Downing Street in 1974, after his successor, Edward Heath, had failed to deal adequately with problems similar to those he had faced. He was elected in February 1974 in a minority Labour Government, gaining a majority in another election shortly afterwards, in October 1974. It was a manifesto pledge in the general election of February 1974 for a Labour government to re-negotiate better terms for Britain in the EEC, and then hold a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EEC on the new terms. After the House of Commons voted in favour of retaining the Common Market on the renegotiated terms, a referendum was held on 5 June 1975. A majority were in favour of retaining the Common Market. Wilson coined the term Selsdon man to refer to the anti-interventionist policies of the Conservative leader Edward Heath developed at the Selsdon Park Hotel in early 1970. This phrase, intended by Wilson to evoke the "primitive throwback" qualities of anthropological discoveries such as Piltdown Man and Swanscombe Man, was part of a British political tradition of referring to political trends by suffixing man (e.g. Essex man, Orpington man). Wilson's most famous attributed quote is 'A week is a long time in politics' around the time of the devaluation of the pound – this is taken to mean that a government doing badly at the beginning of a week may be doing well at the end and vice-versa. Other memorable phrases attributed to Wilson include the comment he made to attempt to reassure the British public after the 1967 devaluation of the pound: "This does not mean that the pound here in Britain — in your pocket or purse — is worth any less...", usually now quoted as "the pound in your pocket". In May 1974 he condemned the unionist-controlled Ulster Workers' Strike as a "sectarian strike" which was "being done for sectarian purposes having no relation to this century but only to the seventeenth century". However he refused to pressure a reluctant British Army to face down the loyalist paramilitaries who were intimidating utility workers. In a later television speech he referred to the "loyalist" strikers and their supporters as "spongers" who expected Britain to pay for their lifestyles. The strike was eventually successful in collapsing the power-sharing Northern Ireland executive, prompting Idi Amin to telegram Wilson, offering to host a peace conference in Uganda. In September 1971, Wilson outlined his plans to unite Ireland, in response to the worsening political situation there. He set a target of 1986 for the British withdrawal. However, on his return to power, he did not act on these plans. It should be noted how much he was regarded as a man of the people, in contrast to the line of public-schoolboy or aristocratic conservative Prime Ministers who preceeded him. Features of this protrayal included his 'Gannex' raincoat, much like a modern working man's overcoat in style, his pipe smoking (that he traded on this can be seen from the fact that in private he smoked cigars), his love of simple cooking and the overuse of the popular British relish, 'HP Sauce' - the opposite of haute cuisine - his support for the soccer team of his home town, Huddersfield, and his acccent, a northern, working class, Yorkshire brogue. His popularity before his first general election victory relied heavily on associating these down-to-earth attributes with the sense that the UK urgently needed to modernise, that the thirteen years of conservative government since 1951 had been wasted years, epitomised by an effete upper class and scandal-mired government. Although his immediate predecessor, Sir Alec Douglas-Home (pronounced Hume, an aristocrat who had given up his title as Lord Home in order to sit in the House of Commons) personified many of these traits (though no scandal touched him), he was able to turn tables on Wilson by responding to his sneer that he was the thirteen Earl of Home with the riposte, "I suppose Mr. Wilson is the thirteenth Mr. Wilson." Wilson's reputation has not yet recovered from the low ebb to which it was consigned after his second premiership - it being fashionable to blame him for not taking the chance to modernise the Labour Party and for being too preoccupied with party in-fighting rather than taking the country forwards. In hindsight, it can be seen that Wilson's skilful management of his party allowed the various factions to co-exist in a kind of harmony. This co-existence did not survive Wilson for long, and the factionalism that followed led to the melt-down in the Labour Party during the 1980's, the acceptabilty of Thatcherism as a strong corrective to excessive trade union power, an even longer period of opposition for Labour (18 years), and the need for a total reinvention at the hands of Tony Blair during the 1990s. Wilson showed modesty in claiming the Open University as his greatest achievement. He did far more for both his country and his party than he is currently credited with, and only now, with Tony Blair's much criticised following of Bush into the Iraq war, is the importance of Wilson's refusal to join the USA in Vietnam, in spite of enormous pressure from his ally Lyndon B. Johnson, being acknowledged as the action of a strong and wise leader.

Resignation

Tony Blair On 16 March 1976 Wilson shocked the nation by announcing his resignation as Prime Minister and his intention to retire from politics altogether. He claimed that this was a step he had always planned to take when he reached the age of sixty and that he was physically and mentally exhausted. As early as the late 1960s, he had been telling intimates that he did not intend to serve more than eight or nine years as Prime Minister. But he was probably also aware that he was suffering from the first stages of early-onset Alzheimer's disease as both his memory and powers of concentration, which up until this point had been excellent, were now starting to fail him drastically. Queen Elizabeth II came to dine at 10 Downing Street to mark his resignation, an honour she has bestowed on only one other Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. Wilson's resignation honours list included many businessmen and showbusiness stars along with his political supporters, and caused lasting damage to his reputation when it was revealed that the first draft of the list had been written by Marcia Williams on lavender notepaper (it became known as the lavender list). Some of those Wilson honoured were later revealed to have been corrupt, including Lord Kagan, who went to jail for fraud, and Sir Eric Miller, who committed suicide while under investigation. Tony Benn, James Callaghan, Anthony Crosland, Michael Foot, Denis Healey and Roy Jenkins stood in the first ballot to replace him. Jenkins was initially tipped as the favourite but came third on the initial ballot. In the final ballot, on the evening of 5 April, Callaghan defeated Foot by 176 parliamentary votes to 137 and became Wilson's successor as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. As Wilson wished to remain an MP after leaving office, he was not immediately given the peerage customarily offered to retired Prime Ministers, but instead was created a Knight of the Garter. On leaving the House of Commons in 1983 he was created Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, of Kirklees in the County of West Yorkshire.

Death

Not long after Lord Wilson of Rievaulx's retirement, his mental deterioration from Alzheimer's disease began to be apparent. He rarely appeared in public after 1985 and died of colon cancer in 1995, at the age of 79. He is buried on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly.

MI5 plot?

In 1963, Soviet defector Anatoliy Golitsyn is said to have secretly claimed that Wilson was a KGB agent. The majority of intelligence officers did not believe that Golitsyn was a genuine defector but a significant number did (most prominently James Jesus Angleton, the Deputy Director of Counter-Intelligence at the CIA) and factional strife broke out between the two groups. The book Spycatcher (an exposé of MI5) alleged that 30 MI5 agents then collaborated in an attempt to undermine Wilson. The author Peter Wright (a former member of MI5) later claimed that his ghostwriter had written 30 when he had meant 3. Many of Wright's claims are controversial, and a ministerial statement has been made that an internal investigation failed to find any evidence to support the allegations. In March 1987, James Miller, a former MI5 agent, claimed that MI5 had encouraged the Ulster Workers' Council general strike in 1974 in order to destabilise Wilson's Government. See also: Walter Walker and David Stirling. Main article: Harold Wilson conspiracy theories

Other conspiracy theories

Wilson's Government took punitive action against the controversial Church of Scientology in 1967, banning foreign Scientologists from entering the UK (a prohibition which remained in force until 1980). In response, L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's founder, accused Wilson of being in cahoots with Soviet Russia and an international conspiracy of psychiatrists and financiers: :Our enemies are less than twelve men. They are members of the Bank of England and other higher financial circles. They own and control newspaper chains and they, oddly enough, run all the mental health groups in the world that had sprung up ... :Their apparent programme was to use mental health, which is to say psychiatric electric shock and pre-frontal lobotomy, to remove from their path any political dissenters ... These fellows have gotten nearly every government in the world to owe them considerable quantities of money through various chicaneries and they control, of course, income tax, government finance — (Harold) Wilson, for instance, the current Premier of England, is totally involved with these fellows and talks about nothing else actually. (Hubbard, Ron's Journal 67 [http://www.solitarytrees.net/cowen/misc/psywar.htm]). Hubbard fell some way short of convincing the British public of Wilson's supposed involvement in the mysterious "Tenyaka memorial" conspiracy, despite lurid denunciations published by the Church of Scientology, although Wilson's Minister of Health, Kenneth Robinson, did succeed in winning a libel lawsuit against the Church and Hubbard.

Harold Wilson's First Cabinet 1964-1970


- Harold Wilson - Prime Minister
- Lord Gardiner - Lord Chancellor
- Lord Longford (1964-1965) - Lord Privy Seal
- Frank Soskice (1965-1966)
- Earl of Longford (1966-1968)
- Lord Shackleton (1968)
- Fred Peart (1968)
- Lord Shackleton (1968-1970)
- George Brown (1964-1966) - First Secretary of State
- Michael Stewart (1966-1968)
- Barbara Castle (1968-1970)
- Herbert Bowden (1964-1966) - Lord President of the Council
- Richard Crossman (1966-1968)
- Fred Peart (1968-1970)
- James Callaghan (1964-1967) - Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Roy Jenkins (1967-1970)
- Jack Diamond (1968-1970) - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- George Brown (1964-1966) - Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
- Michael Stewart (1966-1967)
- Peter Shore (1967-1969)
- Patrick Gordon Walker (1964-1965) - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- Michael Stewart (1965-1966)
- George Brown (1966-1968)
- Michael Stewart (1968-1970) - Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- Frank Soskice (1964-1965) - Secretary of State for the Home Department
- Roy Jenkins (1965-1967)
- James Callaghan (1967-1970)
- Fred Peart (1964-1968) - Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- Cledwyn Hughes (1968-1970)
- Anthony Greenwood (1964-1965) - Secretary of State for the Colonies
- Earl of Longford (1965-1966)
- Frederick Lee (1966-1967)
- Arthur Bottomley (1964-1966) - Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
- Herbert Bowden (1966-1967)
- George Morgan Thomson (1967-1968)
- Denis Healey (1964-1970) - Secretary of State for Defence
- Michael Stewart (1964-1965) - Secretary of State for Education and Science
- Anthony Crosland (1965-1967)
- Patrick Gordon Walker (1967-1968)
- Edward Short (1968-1970)
- Richard Crossman (1968-1970) - Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
- Richard Crossman (1964-1966) - Minister of Housing and Local Government
- Anthony Greenwood (1966-1969)
- Barbara Castle (1964-1965) - Minister for Overseas Development
- Anthony Greenwood (1965-1966)
- Arthur Bottomley (1966-1967)
- Ray Gunter (1964-1968) - Minister of Labour
- Barbara Castle (1968-1970) - Secretary of State for Employment
- Douglas Houghton (1964-1966) - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- George Morgan Thomson (1969-1970)
- Anthony Crosland (1969-1970) - Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning
- Lord Shackleton (1968) - Paymaster-General
- Judith Hart (1968-1969)
- Harold Lever (1969-1970)
- Douglas Houghton (1966-1967) - Minister without Portfolio
- Patrick Gordon Walker (1967)
- George Morgan Thomson (1968-1969)
- Peter Shore (1969-1970)
- Frederick Lee (1964-1966) - Minister of Power
- Richard Marsh (1966-1968)
- Ray Gunter (1968)
- Roy Mason (1968-1969)
- William Ross (1964-1970) - Secretary of State for Scotland
- Frank Cousins (1964-1966) - Secretary of State for Technology
- Tony Benn (1966-1970)
- Douglas Jay (1964-1967) - President of the Board of Trade
- Anthony Crosland (1967-1969)
- Roy Mason (1969-1970)
- Thomas Fraser (1964-1965) - Minister of Transport
- Barbara Castle (1965-1968)
- Richard Marsh (1968-1969)
- Jim Griffiths (1964-1966) - Secretary of State for Wales
- Cledwyn Hughes (1966-1968)
- George Thomas (1968-1970)

Harold Wilson's Second Government March 1974 - April 1976


- Harold Wilson - Prime Minister
- Lord Elwyn-Jones - Lord Chancellor
- Edward Short - Lord President of the Council
- Lord Shepherd - Lord Privy Seal
- Denis Healey - Chancellor of the Exchequer
- James Callaghan - Foreign Secretary
- Roy Jenkins - Home Secretary
- Fred Peart - Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- Roy Mason - Secretary of State for Defence
- Reginald Prentice - Secretary of State for Education and Science
- Michael Foot - Secretary of State for Employment
- Eric Varley - Secretary of State for Energy
- Anthony Crosland - Secretary of State for the Environment
- Barbara Castle - Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
- Tony Benn - Secretary of State for Industry
- Harold Lever - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Merlyn Rees - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
- Shirley Williams - Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection
- Peter Shore - Secretary of State for Trade
- John Morris - Secretary of State for Wales
- Robert Mellish - Chief Whip

Changes


- October 1974 - John Silkin although working to the Secretary of State for Environment enters the cabinet as Minister of Planning and Local Government.
- June 1975 - Fred Mulley succeeds Reginald Prentice as Secretary for Education and Science. Prentice becomes Secretary for Overseas Development. Tony Benn succeeds Eric Varley as Secretary for Energy. Varley succeeds Benn as Secretary for Industry.

Titles from birth to death


- Harold Wilson, Esq (11 March 1916-1 January 1945)
- Harold Wilson, Esq, OBE (1 January 1945 - 26 July 1945)
- Harold Wilson, Esq, OBE, MP (26 July 1945-29 September 1947)
- The Right Honourable Harold Wilson, OBE, MP (29 September 1947-6 December 1969)
- The Right Honourable Harold Wilson, OBE, FRS, MP (6 December 1969-23 April 1976)
- The Right Honourable Sir Harold Wilson, KG, OBE, FRS, MP (23 April 1976-9 June 1983)
- The Right Honourable Sir Harold Wilson, KG, OBE, FRS (9 June-16 September 1983)
- The Right Honourable The Lord Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, PC, OBE, FRS (16 September 1983-24 May 1995)

External Links

[http://badley.info/history/Wilson-James-Harold-Great-Britain.biog.html Wilson, Harold Chronology World History Database]

See also


- UK topics
- Lord Goodman
- War on Want Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold Wilson, Harold ja:ハロルド・ウィルソン

Harold A. Wilson

For other people of the same name, see Harold Wilson. Harold Allan Wilson (January 21, 1885 - 1916) was an English athlete. He won the silver medal in the men's 1500 metres race at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, competing on the Great Britain and Ireland team. His time in the race was 4:03.6. Wilson, Harold A. Wilson, Harold A. Wilson, Harold A. Wilson, Harold A.

The Right Honourable

The Right Honourable (abbreviated "The Rt Hon." or "The Right Hon.") is an honorific prefix which is traditionally applied to certain classes of people in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other Commonwealth Realms.

Entitlement

People entitled to the prefix in a personal capacity are:
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
  - This includes all current and former members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, which is a committee of the Privy Council;
- Barons, viscounts and earls (marquesses are "The Most Honourable" and dukes are "The Most Noble" or "His Grace", and, if Privy Councillors, retain these higher styles); and
- The holders of certain offices of state in some Commonwealth realms (e.g. in Canada, the Governor General, Prime Minister and Chief Justice). In order to differentiate peers who are Privy Counsellors from those who are not, sometimes the suffix PC is added to the title. In addition some people are entitled to the prefix in an official capacity, i.e. the prefix is added to the name of the office, but not the name of the person:
- The Lord Mayors of London, Dublin, Cardiff, Belfast, York and Bristol; and of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart; and
- The Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow. All other Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts are "The Right Worshipful".

Corporate entities

The prefix is also added to the name of various corporate entities, e.g.:
- The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal (of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Lords);
- The Right Honourable the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses (now usually the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Commons); and
- The Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (the Board of Admiralty)
- The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations (the Board of Trade) See also the corporate use of "Most Honourable," as in "The Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council" (the Privy Council).

Use of the honorific

The honorific is normally only used on the front of envelopes and other written documents: for example, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP is otherwise referred to simply as "Mr Blair". In the House of Commons, members refer to each other as "the honourable member for ..." or "the right honourable member for ..." depending upon whether or not they are Privy Counsellors. However the title "the honourable member" is only a parliamentary term and is not used outside the House. When a married woman holds this style, she uses her own given name in her style. So, when Mrs. Denis Thatcher was made a Privy Counsellor, she didn't become The Right Honourable Mrs. Denis Thatcher or The Right Honourable Mrs Thatcher, but became The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher.

Outside the United Kingdom

Generally within the Commonwealth, ministers and judges are The Honourable unless they are appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, in which case they are The Right Honourable. Such persons generally include Prime Ministers and judges of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, and several other Commonwealth prime ministers.

Australia

In Australia some Premiers of the Australian colonies in the 19th century were appointed members of the UK Privy Council and were thus entitled to be called The Right Honourable. After Federation in 1901, the Governor-General, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the Prime Minister and some other senior ministers held the title. There has never been an Australian Privy Council. In 1972 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam declined appointment to the Privy Council, but the practice was resumed by Malcolm Fraser in 1975. In 1983 Bob Hawke declined the appointment, and the appointment of Australians to the Privy Council was abolished shortly thereafter. The last Governor-General to be entitled to the style was Ninian Stephen. The last politician to be entitled to the style was Ian Sinclair, who retired in 1998. The only living Australians holding the title The Right Honourable for life are:
- Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister
- Sir Zelman Cowen, former Governor-General
- Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister
- Ian Sinclair, former Leader of the National Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Sir Ninian Stephen, former Governor-General
- Reginald Withers, former Senator, Minister, and Lord Mayor of Perth. The Lord Mayors of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart are styled The Right Honourable, but the style (which has no connection with the Privy Council) attaches to the title of Lord Mayor, and not to their names, and is relinquished upon leaving office.

Canada

In Canada, members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada receive the honorific The Honourable, with only the occupants of the most senior public offices being made The Right Honourable, as they used to be appointed to the British Privy Council. L'Honorable and le Très Honorable are used in French by the federal government, but the Office québécois de la langue française (the Quebec government body setting standards for the French language) considers them improper loan expressions and advises the use of Monsieur and Madame (Mr. and Ms.) instead. Although appointments of Canadians to the British Privy Council have ceased, the following public servants are domestically awarded the style The Right Honourable for life:
- the Governor General of Canada
- the Prime Minister of Canada
- the Chief Justice of Canada. (Governors General also use the style His/Her Excellency during their term of office.) Several prominent Canadians (mostly politicians) have become members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and have thus been entitled to use the title Right Honourable, either because of their services in Britain (e.g. serving as envoys to London) or as members of the Imperial War Cabinet, or due to their prominence in the Canadian Cabinet. These include:
- Sir John A. Macdonald (1879)1
- Sir John Rose (1886)
- Sir John Sparrow David Thompson (1894)1
- Sir Samuel Henry Strong (1897)4
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1897)1
- Sir Richard John Cartwright (1902)
- Sir Henri Elzéar Taschereau (1904)4
- Sir Charles Tupper (1907)1
- Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (1908)4
- Sir Robert Laird Borden (1912)1
- Sir George Eulas Foster (1916)
- Sir Louis Henry Davies (1919)4
- Lyman Poore Duff (1919)6
- Arthur Lewis Sifton (1920)
- Arthur Meighen (1920)1
- Charles Doherty (1920)
- Sir William Thomas White (1920)
- William Lyon Mackenzie King (1922)1
- William Stevens Fielding (1923)
- Francis Alexander Anglin (1925)4
- Sir William Mulock (1925)
- George Perry Graham (1925)
- R.B. Bennett (1930)1
- Sir George Halsey Perley (1931)
- Ernest Lapointe (1937)
- Vincent Massey (1941)3
- Raoul Dandurand (1941)
- Louis St. Laurent (1946)2
- James Lorimer Ilsley (1946)
- Clarence Decatur Howe (1946)
- Ian Alistair Mackenzie (1947)
- James Garfield Gardiner (1947)
- Thibaudeau Rinfret (1947)4
- John George Diefenbaker (1957)1
- Georges-Philéas Vanier (1963)5
- Lester Bowles Pearson (1963)1 1 - As Prime Minister. 2 - Tupper was appointed when he was no longer Prime Minister and St. Laurent was appointed when he was a cabinet minister under Mackenzie King. 3 - Massey became Governor General over a decade later. He was made "Right Honourable" while serving as Canada's High Commissioner to London. 4 - As Chief Justice of Canada 5 - As Governor General of Canada. 6 - Duff did not become Chief Justice until 1933. Canadian appointments to the British Privy Council were ended by the government of Lester Pearson. Since then, the style may only be granted for life by the Governor General to eminent Canadians who have not held any of the offices that would otherwise entitle them to the style. It has been granted to the following individuals:
- Paul Joseph James Martin (1992)
- Martial Asselin (1992)
- Ellen Fairclough (1992)
- Jean-Luc Pépin (1992)
- Alvin Hamilton (1992)
- Don Mazankowski (1992)
- Jack Pickersgill (1992)
- Robert Stanfield (1992)
- Herb Gray (2002)

Ireland

The Irish Privy Council was abolished with the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922; nevertheless the Lord Mayor of Dublin, like his counterparts in the United Kingdom, retains the usage of the honorific; the Lord Mayor of Cork has never been entitled to the title. The remaining members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland are entitled to be styled The Right Honourable.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the Prime Minister is customarily appointed to the British Privy Council and is styled The Right Honourable. However, the current Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has not recommended any new Privy Counsellors. The Governor-General is also usually a Privy Counsellor, but the current Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, is not. In any case the Governor-General as a plenipotentiary representative is entitled to the style "Excellency". At present there are only two Privy Counsellors in the New Zealand Parliament, both appointed by previous Prime Ministers: Helen Clark (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1993) and Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer in 1996). Privy Counsellors recently retired include the former Speaker of the House, Jonathan Hunt (appointed by Geoffrey Palmer in recognition of long service in 1989), who retired from Parliament in 2005 to become New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley (appointed upon becoming Prime Minister in 1997), who stepped down from Parliament at the 2002 election.

See also


- The Honourable
- The Most Honourable
- Excellency
- Style (manner of address)
- UK topics
- Use of courtesy titles and honorifics in professional writing

External links


- [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/pe/titre_e.cfm Current list of Canadian notables possessing some form of honorific] (incl. Rt. Hon.) Category:Titles

Order of the Garter

s spell out the motto of the Order on this seventeenth century garter.]] The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an English order of chivalry with a history stretching back to medieval times; today it is the world's oldest national order of knighthood in continuous existence and the pinnacle of the British honours system. Its membership is extremely limited, consisting of the Sovereign and not more than twenty-five full members, or Companions. Male members are known as Knights Companions, whilst female members are known as Ladies Companions (not Dames, as in most other British chivalric orders). The Order can also include certain extra members (members of the British Royal Family and foreign monarchs), known as "Supernumerary" Knights and Ladies. The Sovereign alone grants membership of the Order; the Prime Minister does not tender binding advice as to appointments, as he or she does for most other orders. As the name suggests, the Order's primary emblem is a garter bearing the motto "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (which means "Shame on him who thinks ill of it") in gold letters. The Garter is an actual accessory worn by the members of the Order during ceremonial occasions; it is also depicted on several insignia. Most British orders of chivalry cover the entire kingdom, but the three most exalted ones each pertain to one constituent nation only. The Order of the Garter, which pertains to England, is most senior in both age and precedence; its equivalent in Scotland is The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle. Whilst the Order of the Thistle was certainly in existence by the sixteenth century and possibly has medieval origins (or even, according to more fanciful legends, dates to the eighth century), the foundation of the institution in its modern form dates only to 1687. In 1783 an Irish equivalent, The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, was founded, but since the independence of the greater part of Ireland the Order has fallen dormant (its last surviving knight died in 1974).

History

The Order was founded circa 1348 by Edward III as "a society, fellowship and college of knights." Various more precise dates ranging from 1344 to 1351 have been proposed; the wardrobe account of Edward III first shows Garter habits issued in the autumn of 1348. At any rate, the Order was most probably not constituted before 1346; the original statutes required that each member admitted to the Order already be a knight (what would today be called a knight bachelor), and several initial members of the Order were first knighted in that year. Various legends have been set forth to explain the origin of the Order. The most popular one involves the "Countess of Salisbury" (it may refer to Joan of Kent, the King's future daughter-in-law, or to her then mother-in-law, whom Edward is known to have admired). Whilst she was dancing with the King at Eltham Palace, her garter is said to have slipped from her leg to the floor. When the surrounding courtiers sniggered, the King picked it up and tied it to his own leg, exclaiming "Honi soit qui mal y pense." (The French may be loosely translated as "Shame on him who thinks ill of it" (a better translation is: "evil to him who evil thinks"); it has become the motto of the Order.) According to another myth, Richard I, whilst fighting in the Crusades, was inspired by St George to tie garters around the legs of his knights; Edward III supposedly recalled the event, which led to victory, when he founded the Order. A further explanation refers to the medieval veneration of the Virgin Mary's genitalia, being the passage through which Jesus came into the world. The garter is said to represent this.

Composition

Sovereign and Knights

Crusades Crusades Since its foundation, the Order of the Garter has included the Sovereign and Knights Companions. The Sovereign of the United Kingdom serves as Sovereign of the Order. The Prince of Wales is explicitly mentioned in the Order's statutes and is by convention created a Knight Companion; aside from him, there may be up to twenty-four other Knights Companions. In the early days of the Order, women (who could not be knighted), were sometimes associated with the Order under the name "Ladies of the Garter," but they were not full companions. Henry VII, however, ended the practice, creating no more Ladies of the Garter after his mother Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Derby (appointed in 1488). Thereafter, the Order was exclusively male (except, of course, for the occasional female Sovereign) until 1901, when Edward VII created Queen Alexandra (his wife) a Lady of the Garter. Throughout the 20th century women continued to be admitted to the Order, but, except for foreign female monarchs, they were not full members of the Order until 1987, when it became possible, under a statute of Elizabeth II, to appoint "Ladies Companions." In addition to the regular Knights and Ladies Companions, the Sovereign can also appoint "Supernumerary Knights". This concept was introduced in 1786 by George III so that his many sons would not count towards the limit of twenty-five companions set by the statutes; in 1805, he extended the category so that any descendant of George II could be created a Supernumerary Knight. Since 1831, the exception applies to all descendents of George I. Such companions, when appointed, are sometimes known as "Royal Knights." From time to time, foreign monarchs have also been admitted to the Order; and for two centuries they also have not counted against the limit of twenty-five companions, being (like the Royal Knights aforementioned), supernumerary. Formerly, each such extra creation required the enactment of a special statute; this was first done in 1813, when Alexander I, Emperor of Russia was admitted to the Order. Many European monarchs are in fact descended from George I and can be appointed supernumerarily as such, but a statute of 1954 authorises the regular admission of foreign Knights and Ladies without further special statutes irrespective of descent. The appellation "Stranger Knights," which dates to the middle ages, is sometimes applied to foreign monarchs in the Order of the Garter. Generally, only foreign monarchs are made Stranger Knights or Ladies; when The Rt Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen (an Australian citizen) and Sir Edmund Hillary (from New Zealand) joined the Order, they did so as Knights Companions in the normal fashion. The British Sovereign is the head of state of both these countries, which were formerly British colonies. Formerly, whenever vacancies arose, the Knights would conduct an "election," wherein each Knight voted for nine candidates (of which three had to be of the rank of Earl or above, three of the rank of Baron or above, and three of the rank of Knight or above). The Sovereign would then choose as many individuals as were necessary to fill the vacancies; he or she was not bound to choose the receivers of the greatest number of votes. Victoria dispensed with the procedure in 1862; thereafter, all appointments were made solely by the Sovereign. From the eighteenth century onwards, the Sovereign made his or her choices upon the advice of the Government. George VI felt that the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle had become too linked with political patronage; in 1946, with the agreement of the Prime Minister (Clement Attlee) and the Leader of the Opposition (Winston Churchill), he returned these two orders to the personal gift of the Sovereign. Knights of the Garter could also be degraded by the Sovereign, who normally took such an action in response to serious crimes such as treason. The last degradation was that of James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, who had participated in the Jacobite Rebellion and had been convicted upon impeachment, in 1716. During the First World War, Knights who were monarchs of enemy nations were removed by the "annulment" of their creations; Knights Companions who fought against the United Kingdom were "struck off" the Rolls. All such annulments were made in 1915. the Knights who were removed were: Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, William II, Emperor of Germany, Ernst August, 3rd Duke of Cumberland, Prince Albert William Henry of Prussia, Ernest, Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine, William, Crown Prince of Germany and William II, King of Württemberg. The only Knight Companion to be struck off the Rolls was Prince Charles Edward, 2nd Duke of Albany.

Poor Knights

At the original establishment of the Order, twenty-six "Poor Knights" were appointed and attached to the Order and its chapel at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The number was not always maintained; by the seventeenth century, there were just thirteen Poor Knights. At his restoration, Charles II increased the number to eighteen. After they objected to being termed "poor", William IV renamed them the Military Knights of Windsor. Poor Knights were originally impoverished military veterans. They were required to pray daily for the Sovereign and Knights Companions; in return, they received a salary, and were lodged in Windsor Castle. Today the Military Knights, who are no longer necessarily poor, but are still military pensioners, participate in the Order's processions, escorting the Knights and Ladies of the Garter, and in the daily services in St George's Chapel. They are not actually members of the Order itself, nor are they necessarily actual knights: indeed few if any have been knights.

Officers

The Order of the Garter has six officers: the Prelate, the Chancellor, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Usher and the Secretary. The offices of Prelate, Registrar and Usher were created upon the Order's foundation; the offices of King of Arms and Chancellor were created during the fifteenth century, and that of Secretary during the twentieth. The office of Prelate is held by the Bishop of Winchester, traditionally one of the senior bishops of the Church of England. The office of Chancellor was formerly held by the Bishop of the diocese within which Windsor fell— at one point, the Bishop of Salisbury, but after boundary changes the Bishop of Oxford. Later, the field was widened so that, for example, the Stuart courtier Sir James Palmer served as Chancellor from 1645 although he was neither a prelate nor even a companion (although he was a Knight Bachelor). Today, however, one of the companions serves as Chancellor. The Dean of Windsor is, ex officio, the Registrar. Garter King of Arms is the head of the College of Arms (England's heraldic authority) and thus the "principal" herald for all England (along with Wales and Northern Ireland). As his title suggests, he also has specific duties as the heraldic officer of the Order of the Garter, attending to the companions' crests and coats of arms, which are exhibited in the Order's chapel (see below). The modern (1904) office of Secretary has also been filled by a professional herald. The Order's Usher is the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. He is also the Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Lords (although his functions there are more often performed by his deputy, the Yeoman Usher). The title of his office comes from his staff of office, the Black Rod.

Vestments and accoutrements

Sovereign and Knights

House of Lords For the Order's great occasions, such as its annual service each June in Windsor Castle, as well for coronations, the Companions wear an elaborate costume:
- Most importantly (although hardly visible), the Garter is a buckled velvet strap worn around the left calf by men and on the left arm by women. Originally light blue, today the Garter is dark blue. Those presented to Stranger Knights were once set with several jewels. The Garter bears the Order's motto in gold majuscules.
- The mantle is a blue velvet robe. Knights and Ladies Companions have worn mantles, or coats, since the reign of Henry VII. Once made of wool, they had come to be made of velvet by the sixteenth century. The mantle was originally purple, but varied during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries between celestial blue, pale blue, royal blue, dark blue, violet and ultramarine. Today, mantles are dark blue in colour, and are lined with white taffeta. The mantles of the Sovereign and members of the Royal Family end in trains. Sewn onto the left shoulder of the mantle is a shield bearing St George's cross, encircled by a Garter; the Sovereign's mantle is slightly different, showing instead a representation of the star of the Order (see below). Attached to the mantle over the right shoulder are a crimson velvet hood and surcoat, which have lost all function over time and appear to the modern observer simply as a splash of colour. Today the mantle, which includes two large gold tassels, is worn over a regular suit or military uniform.
- The hat is of black velvet, and bears a plume of white ostrich and black heron feathers.
- Like the mantle, the collar was introduced during Henry VII's reign. Made of pure gold, it weighs 30 troy ounces (approximately 0.933 kilograms). The collar is composed of gold knots alternating with enamelled medallions showing a rose encircled by the blue garter. During Henry VII's reign, each garter surrounded two roses—one red and one white—but he later changed the design, such that each garter now encircles just one red rose. The collar is worn around the neck, over the mantle.
- The George, a three-dimensional figurine of St George on horseback slaying a dragon, colourfully enamelled, is worn suspended from the collar. collar Aside from these special occasions, however, much simpler insignia are used whenever a member of the Order attends an event at which decorations are worn.
- The star, introduced by Charles I, is an eight-pointed silver badge; in its centre is an enamel depiction of the cross of St George, surrounded by the Garter. (Each of the eight points is depicted as a cluster of rays, with the four points of the cardinal directions longer than the intermediate ones.) It is worn pinned to the left breast. Formerly, the stars given to foreign monarchs were often inlaid with jewels. (Since the Order of the Garter is the UK's senior order, a member will wear its star above that of other orders to which he or she belongs; up to four orders' stars may be worn.)
- The broad riband, introduced by Charles II, is a four inch wide sash, worn from the left shoulder to the right hip. (Depending on the other clothing worn, it either passes over the left shoulder, or is pinned beneath it.) The riband's colour has varied over the years; it was originally light blue, but was a dark shade under the Hanoverian monarchs. In 1950, the colour was fixed as "kingfisher blue". (Only one riband is worn at a time, even if a Knight or Lady belongs to several orders.)
- The badge (sometimes known as the Lesser George) hangs from the riband at the right hip, suspended from a small gold link (formerly, before Charles II introduced the broad riband, it was around the neck). Like the George, it shows St George slaying the dragon, but it is flatter and monochromatically gold. In the fifteenth century, the Lesser George was usually worn attached to a ribbon around the neck. As this was not convenient when riding a horse, the custom of wearing it under the right arm developed. However, on certain "collar days" designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform or eveningwear. The collar is fastened to the shoulders with silk ribbons. They will then substitute the broad riband of another order to which they belong (if any), since the Order of the Garter is represented by the collar. Upon the death of a Knight or Lady, the insignia must be returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. The badge and star are returned personally to the Sovereign by the nearest male relative of the deceased.

Poor Knights

Poor Knights originally wore red mantles, each of which bore the cross of St George, but did not depict the Garter. Elizabeth I replaced the mantles with blue and purple gowns, but Charles I returned to the old red mantles. When the Poor Knights were renamed Military Knights, the mantles were abandoned. Instead, the Military Knights of Windsor now wear the old military uniform of an "army officer on the unattached list": black trousers, a scarlet coat, a cocked hat with a plume, and a sword on a white sash.

Officers

The officers of the Order also have ceremonial vestments and other accoutrements that they wear and carry for the Order's annual service. The Prelate's and Chancellor's mantles are blue, like that of the knights (but since the Chancellor is now a member of the Order, he simply wears a knight's mantle), those of other officers crimson; all are embroidered with a shield bearing the Cross of St George. Garter King of Arms wears his tabard. Assigned to each officer of the Order is a distinctive badge that he wears on a chain around his neck; each is surrounded by a representation of the garter. The Prelate's badge depicts St George slaying a dragon; the Garter within which it is depicted is surmounted by a bishop's mitre. The Chancellor's badge is a rose encircled by the Garter. The badge of Garter Principal King of Arms depicts the royal arms impaled (side-by-side) with the cross of St George. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod's badge depicts a knot within the Garter. The Registrar has a badge of a crown above two crossed quills, the Secretary two crossed quills in front of a rose. The Chancellor of the Order bears a purse, embroidered with the royal arms, containing the Seal of the Order. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod carries his staff of office, the Black Rod. At the Order's great occasions, Garter Principal King of Arms bears his baton of office as a king of arms; he does not usually wear his crown.

Chapel

king of arms, shown here — process through Windsor Castle to St. George's chapel.]] The Chapel of the Order is St. George's Chapel, Windsor, located in the Lower Ward of Windsor Castle. It was founded for the Order in 1475. The order once held frequent services at the Chapel, but they became rare in the eighteenth century. Discontinued after 1805, the ceremony was revived by George VI in 1948 and it has become an annual event. On a certain day each June, the members of the Order (wearing their ceremonial vestments and insignia) meet in the state apartments in the Upper Ward of Windsor Castle, then (preceded by the Military Knights) process on foot down through the castle to St George's Chapel for the service. If there are any new knights, they are installed on this occasion. After the service, the members of the Order return to the Upper Ward by carriage. Each member of the Order, including the Sovereign, is allotted a stall in the quire of the chapel, above which his or her heraldic devices are displayed. Perched on the pinnacle of a knight's stall is his helm, decorated with a mantling and topped by his crest. Under English heraldic law, women other than monarchs do not bear helms or crests; instead, the coronet appropriate to the Lady's rank is used (see coronet). The crests of the Sovereign and Stranger Knights who are monarchs sit atop their crowns, which are themselves perched on their helms. Below each helm, a sword is displayed. Above the crest or coronet, the knight's or lady's heraldic banner is hung, emblazoned with his or her coat of arms. At a considerably smaller scale, to the back of the stall is affixed a piece of brass (a "stall plate") displaying its occupant's name, arms and date of admission into the Order. Upon the death of a Knight, the banner, helm, mantling, crest (or coronet or crown) and sword are taken down. No other newly admitted Knight may be assigned the stall until (after the funeral of the late Knight or Lady) a ceremony marking his or her death is observed at the chapel, during which Military Knights of Windsor carry the banner of the deceased Knight and offer it to the Dean of Windsor, who places it upon the altar. The stall plates, however, are not removed; rather, they remain permanently affixed somewhere about the stall, so the stalls of the chapel are festooned with a colourful record of the Order's Knights (and now Ladies) throughout history.

Precedence and privileges

coat of arms Knights and Ladies of the Garter are assigned positions in the order of precedence, coming before all others of knightly rank, and above baronets. (See order of precedence in England and Wales for the exact positions.) Wives, sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights of the Garter also feature on the order of precedence; relatives of Ladies of the Garter, however, are not assigned any special precedence. (Generally, individuals can derive precedence from their fathers or husbands, but not from their mothers or wives.) The Chancellor of the Order is also assigned precedence, but this is purely academic since today the Chancellor is always also a Knight Companion, with a higher position by that virtue. (In fact, it is unclear whether the Chancellor's tabled precedence has ever come into effect, since under the old system the office was filled by a diocesan bishop of the Church of England, who again had higher precedence by virtue of that office than any that the Chancellorship could bestow on him.) Knights Companions prefix "Sir," and Ladies Companions prefix "Lady," to their forenames. Wives of Knights Companions may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Ladies Companions. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Knights and Ladies use the post-nominal letters "KG" and "LG," respectively. When an individual is entitled to use multiple post-nominal letters, KG or LG appears before all others, except "Bt" (Baronet), "VC" (Victoria Cross) and "GC" (George Cross). The Sovereign, Knights and Ladies Companions and Supernumerary Knights and Ladies may encircle their arms with a representation of the Garter; and since it is Britain's highest order of knighthood, the Garter will tend to be displayed in preference to the insignia of any other order, unless there is special reason to highlight a junior one. (They may further encircle the Garter with a depiction of Order's collar, but this very elaborate version is seldom seen.) Stranger Knights, of course, do not embellish the arms they use at home with foreign decorations such as the Garter; likewise, while the UK Royal Arms as used in England are encircled by the Garter, in Scotland they are surrounded by the circlet of the Order of the Thistle instead. (In Wales and Northern Ireland, the English pattern is followed.) Knights and Ladies are also entitled to receive heraldic supporters. These are relatively rare among private individuals in the UK. While some families claim supporters by ancient use and others have been granted them as a special reward, only peers, Knights and Ladies of the Garter and Thistle, and Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights Grand Commanders of certain junior orders are entitled to claim an automatic grant of supporters (upon payment of the appropriate fees to the College of Arms).

Current members and officers


- Sovereign: HM The Queen
- Knights and Ladies Companions:
  - HRH The Prince of Wales KG KT GCB OM AK QSO PC ADC (1958)
  - His Grace The Duke of Grafton KG DL (1976)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Richardson of Duntisbourne KG MBE TD PC DL (1983)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington KG GCMG CH MC PC JP DL (1985)
  - His Grace The Duke of Wellington KG LVO OBE MC DL (1990)
  - Field Marshal The Rt Hon. The Lord Bramall KG GCB OBE MC JP (1990)
  - The Rt Hon. The Viscount Ridley KG GCVO TD (1992)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover KG (1992)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Ashburton KG KCVO DL (1994)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Kingsdown KG PC (1994)
  - The Rt Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE (1994)
  - The Rt Hon. The Baroness Thatcher LG OM PC FRS (1995)
  - Sir Edmund Hillary KG ONZ KBE (1995)
  - Sir Timothy Colman KG JP (1996)
  - His Grace The Duke of Abercorn Bt KG (1999)
  - Sir William Gladstone of Fasque and Balfour Bt KG DL (1999)
  - Field Marshal The Rt Hon. The Lord Inge KG GCB DL (2001)
  - Sir Antony Arthur Acland KG GCMG GCVO (2001)
  - His Grace The Duke of Westminster KG OBE TD DL (2003)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Butler of Brockwell KG GCB CVO PC (2003)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Morris of Aberavon KG PC QC (2003)
  - The Rt Hon. Sir John Major KG CH (2005)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG PC (2005)
  - The Rt Hon. The Lady Soames LG DBE (2005)
  - (one vacancy following the death of The Rt Hon. Sir Edward Heath KG MBE)
- Royal Knights and Ladies (supernumerary knights and ladies descended from George I):
  - HRH The Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM GBE AC QSO PC (1947)
  - HRH The Duke of Kent KG GCMG GCVO (1985)
  - HRH The Princess Royal LG LT GCVO QSO (1994)
  - HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO (1997)
  - HRH Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy LG GCVO (2003)
- Stranger Knights and Ladies:
  - HRH Grand Duke Jean sometime Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1972)
  - HM The Queen of Denmark (1979)
  - HM The King of Sweden (1983)
  - HM The King of Spain (1988)
  - HM The Queen of the Netherlands (1989)
  - HIM The Emperor of Japan (1998)
  - HM The King of Norway (2001)
- Officers:
  - Prelate: The Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt (Lord Bishop of Winchester)
  - Chancellor: The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington KG GCMG CH MC PC DL
  - Registrar: The Rt Revd David Conner (Dean of St George's Chapel, Windsor)
  - King of Arms: Peter Llewellyn Gwynn-Jones Esq. CVO (Garter Principal King of Arms)
  - Secretary: Patric Dickinson Esq. CVO (Richmond Herald)
  - Usher: Lt-Gen. Sir Michael Willcocks KCB (Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod)

See also


- List of Knights and Ladies Companions and Supernumerary Knights and Ladies of the Garter (1348–present)
- List of Ladies of the Garter (1358–1488)
- Order of the Thistle
- Order of the Bath
- Order of St Michael and St George
- Royal Victorian Order
- Order of the British Empire
- UK topics
- List of people who have declined a British honour

References


- Ashmole, E. (1672). Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
- Begent, P. J. and Chesshyre, H. (1999). The Most Noble Order of the Garter: 650 Years. London: Spink and Son Ltd.
- [http://www.heraldicsculptor.com/Garters.html Brennan, I. G. (2004). "The Most Noble Order of the Garter."]
- [http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/garter.html The Churchill Society. (2004). "The Most Noble Order of the Garter."]
- [http://www.geocities.com/noelcox/Garter_Dress.htm Cox, N. (1999). "The ceremonial dress and accoutrements of the Most Noble Order of the Garter." Heraldry News. (Vol. 22, pp. 6-12 and vol. 23, pp. 7-11).]
- "Knighthood and Chivalry." (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. London: Cambridge University Press.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page490.asp "Order of the Garter." (2005). Official Website of the British Monarchy.]
- [http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/ St George's Chapel, Windsor. (2004). Home Page.]
- [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/order_precedence.htm Velde, F. R. (2003). "Order of Precedence in England and Wales.]
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/monarchy/story/0,2763,845889,00.html Guardian newspaper article on the Marian cult explanation of the Order's name.] Category:British honours system
- Order of the Garter Garter, Order of the Garter, Order of the Garter, Order of the ja:ガーター勲章

Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, claims to be the oldest learned society still in existence, founded in 1660. The Royal Society of Edinburgh (founded 1783) is a separate Scottish body. Although a voluntary body, it serves as the national academy of sciences in England. It is a member organization of the Science Council.

History

The Royal Society was founded in 1660, only a few months after the Restoration of King Charles II, by members of one or two either secretive or informal societies already in existence. Founded at a time when the Inquisition was still the primary form of peer review for scientists in Catholic Europe, the Royal Society enjoyed confidence of official support from the restored monarchy.The "New" or "Experimental" form of philosophy was generally ill-regarded by the Aristotelian (and religious) academies, but had been promoted by Francis Bacon in his book New Atlantis. Robert Boyle refers to the "Invisible College" as early as 1646. A founding meeting was held at the premises of Gresham College in Bishopsgate on 28 November 1660, immediately after a lecture by Sir Christopher Wren, at that time Gresham Professor of Astronomy. At a second meeting a week later, Sir Robert Moray, an influential Freemason who had helped organize the public emergence of the group, reported that the King approved of the meetings. The Royal Society continued to meet at the premises of Gresham College until it moved to its own premises in Crane Court in 1710. A formal Royal Charter of incorporation passed the Great Seal on 15 July 1662, creating "The Royal Society of London", with Viscount William Brouncker as the first President, and Robert Hooke was appointed as Curator of Experiments in November 1662. A second Royal Charter was sealed on 23 April 1663, naming the King as Founder and changing the name to "The Royal Society of London for Promoting Natural Knowledge". The motto of the Royal Society, "Nullius in Verba" (Latin: "On the words of no one"), signify the Society's commitment to establishing the truth of scientific matters through experiment rather than through citation of authority. Although this seems obvious today, the philosophical basis of the Royal Society differed from previous philosophies such as Scholasticism, which established scientific truth based on deductive logic, concordance with divine providence and the citation of such ancient authorities as Aristotle.

Open content

It is possible that the Royal Society was one of the first documented aspirations toward Open Content; they imagined a network across the globe as a public enterprise, an "Empire of Learning". They also were one of the first documented cases of attempting to deal with having content available to address language and languages within the Sciences, and strove to remove language barriers. While the Royal Society was dedicated to the free flow of information and encouraged communication, there was a complex relationship with occultism. Boyle, in particular, began the practice of reporting his experiments in great detail so that others could replicate them, unlike previous alchemists. However Newton was a practising Alchemist and his assistant, John Theophile Desaguliers, a demonstrator for the Royal Society, was also a prominent Freemason. During the eighteenth century, masonic lodges in France became conduits for circulating scientific texts which could not be made available publicly (see John Toland).

Famous members

Several famous scientists were either the founding members or involved during its history. The early group included Robert Boyle, John Evelyn, Robert Hooke, William Petty, John Wallis, Thomas Browne, John Wilkins, Thomas Willis and Sir Christopher Wren. Isaac Newton demonstrated his theory of optics to them, and later became president of the society.

A selected list of presidents

Isaac Newton
- Sir Christopher Wren (1680-1682)
- Samuel Pepys (1684-1686)
- Charles Montagu (1695-1698)
- Lord Somers (1698-1703)
- Sir Isaac Newton (1703-1727)
- Joseph Banks (1778-1820)
- Sir Humphry Davy (1820-1827)
- The Duke of Sussex (1830-1838)
- Lord Rosse (1848-1854)
- Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1873-1878)
- Thomas Henry Huxley (1883-1885)
- George Gabriel Stokes (1885-1890)
- Lord Kelvin (1890-1895)
- Joseph Lister (1895-1900)
- Sir William Huggins (1900-1905)
- Lord Rayleigh (1905-1908)
- Sir Joseph John Thomson (1915-1920)
- Lord Rutherford of Nelson (1925-1930)
- Sir William Henry Bragg (1935-1940)
- Lord May of Oxford (2000-2005)
- Lord Rees of Ludlow (2005-)

Selected bibliography


- Sylva by John Evelyn
- Micrographia by Robert Hooke
- Philosophical Transactions oldest scientific journal continually published scientific journal

Timeline (incomplete)


- 1640s informal meetings
- 1660 foundation on November 28
- 1661 name first appears in print, and library presented with its first book
- 1662 first Royal Charter gives permission to publish
- 1663 second Royal Charter
- 1665 first issue of Philosophical Transactions
- 1666 Fire of London causes move to Arundel House
- 1710 acquires its own home in Crane Court

See also


- History of science
- Learned societies
- List of British professional bodies
- British Association for the Advancement of Science
- Royal Institution
- List of Royal Societies
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Science Abstracts

Medals


- Copley Medal
- Rumford Medal
- Royal Medal
- Davy Medal
- Darwin Medal
- Buchanan Medal
- Hughes Medal

Lectures


- Bakerian lecture

References


- Purver, Margery & Bowen, E. J., The Beginning of the Royal Society, Oxford: The Clarendon Press (1960)
- Gleick, James, Isaac Newton, Vintage Books, ISBN 1-4000-3295-4
- Hartley, Sir Harold (editor), The Royal Society: Its Origins and Founders, The Royal Society (1960)
- Spratt, Thomas, History of Royal Society,