List of chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster explained

The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a sinecure office in the government of the United Kingdom.

Pat McFadden has been chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since 5 July 2024.

Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster (1361–1644)

Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office
Sir Henry de Haydock	1361	1373
Ralph de Ergham Bishop of Sarum (–1400) ^[1]	1373	16 April 1377
Thomas de Thelwall (–1382)	16 April 1377	1378
Sir John De Yerborough	1378	10 November 1382
Sir Thomas Stanley pro temp.	10 November 1382	29 November 1382
Sir Thomas Scarle	29 November 1382	October 1383
Sir William Okey	October 1383	1400
John de Wakering	1400	1400
William Burgoyne	1400	15 May 1404
Sir Thomas Stanley	15 May 1404	30 March 1410
John Springthorpe	30 March 1410	4 April 1413
John Wodehouse	4 April 1413	10 June 1424
William Troutbecke	10 June 1424	16 February 1431
Walter Sherington	16 February 1431	3 July 1442
William Tresham MP for Northamptonshire (1404–1450)	3 July 1442	10 June 1449
John Say MP for Cambridgeshire (–1478)	10 June 1449	10 June 1462
Sir Richard Fowler Chancellor of the Exchequer (c. 1425–1477) ^[2]	10 June 1462	3 November 1477
Sir John Say MP for Cambridgeshire (–1478)	3 November 1477	2 April 1478
Thomas Thwaites Chancellor of the Exchequer (c. 1435–1503)	2 April 1478	7 July 1483
Thomas Metcalfe (–c. 1504)	7 July 1483	13 September 1486
Sir Reginald Bray (c. 1440–1503)	13 September 1486	24 June 1503
Sir John Mordaunt (–c. 1505)	24 June 1503	3 October 1505
Sir Richard Empson (c. 1450–1510)	3 October 1505	14 May 1509
Sir Henry Marney (c. 1447–1523)	14 May 1509	14 April 1523
Sir Richard Wingfield (c. 1469–1525)	14 April 1523	31 December 1525
Sir Thomas More (1478–1535)	31 December 1525	3 November 1529
Sir William Fitzwilliam (c. 1490–1542)	3 November 1529	10 May 1533
Sir John Gage (1479–1556)	10 May 1533	1 July 1547
William Paget 1st Baron Paget Secretary of State (1506–1563) ^[3]	1 July 1547	7 July 1552
Sir John Gates MP for Essex (1504–1553)	7 July 1552	1553
Sir Robert Rochester MP for Essex (c. 1516–1561)	1553	1557
Sir Edward Waldegrave MP for Essex (c. 1516–1561)	22 June 1558	1559
Sir Ambrose Cave MP for Warwickshire (–1568)	1559	16 May 1568
Sir Ralph Sadler MP for Hertfordshire (1507–1587)	16 May 1568	15 June 1587
Sir Francis Walsingham Secretary of State (c. 1532–1590)	15 June 1587	1590
Sir Thomas Heneage MP for Essex (1532–1595)	1590	7 October 1595
Seal in commission	1595	1597
Sir Robert Cecil Secretary of State Lord Privy Seal (1563–1612) ^[4]	8 October 1597	1599
Seal in commission	1599	16 September 1601
Sir John Fortescue Chancellor of the Exchequer MP for Middlesex (c. 1531–1607) ^[5]	16 September 1601	23 December 1607
Sir Thomas Parry MP for Berkshire (1541–1616) ^[6]	December 1607	May 1616
Sir John Dacombe (1570–1618)	27 May 1616	January 1618
Sir Humphrey May MP for Leicester (1573–1630) ^[7]	23 March 1618	16 April 1629
Edward Barrett 1st Baron Barrett of Newburgh (1581–1645)	16 April 1629	10 February 1644
Francis Seymour 1st Baron Seymour of Trowbridge (c. 1590–1664) ^[8]	1644	1645

Chancellors serving Parliament and the Commonwealth

William Grey, 1st Baron Grey of Werke & William Lenthall (commission)	(Lenthall)	10 February 1644	1648
Gilbert Gerard		1648	1 August 1649
John Bradshaw		1 August 1649	1653
John Bradshaw & Thomas Fell (commissioners)	(Bradshaw)	1653	1654
Thomas Fell		1654	1658
John Bradshaw		1658	1659
William Lenthall		1659	1659
Gilbert Gerard		14 May 1659	9 July 1659

Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster (1660–present)

17th century

Portrait	Name	Term of office
	Francis Seymour 1st Baron Seymour of Trowbridge	1660	1664
	Sir Thomas Ingram	1664	1672
	Sir Robert Carr	1672	1682
	Sir Thomas Chicheley	1682	1687
	Robert Phelips	1687	1689
	Robert Bertie Baron Willoughby de Eresby	1689	1697
	Thomas Grey 2nd Earl of Stamford	1697	1702

18th century

Portrait		Name	Term of office		Party
		John Leveson-Gower 1st Baron Gower ^[9]	1702	1706	Tory
		James Stanley 10th Earl of Derby	1706	1710	—
		William Berkeley 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton	1710	1714	—
		Heneage Finch 1st Earl of Aylesford	1714	1716	Tory
		Richard Lumley 1st Earl of Scarbrough	1716	1717	—
		Nicholas Lechmere 1st Baron Lechmere ^[10]	1717	1727	—
		John Manners 3rd Duke of Rutland	1727	1735	Whig
		George Cholmondeley 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley	1735	1742	Whig
		Richard Edgcumbe 1st Baron Edgcumbe	1742	1758	—
		Thomas Hay 9th Earl of Kinnoull	1759	1762	Whig
		James Smith-Stanley ^[11]	1762	1771	—
		Thomas Villiers 1st Earl of Clarendon ^[12]	1771	1782	Whig
		John Dunning 1st Baron Ashburton	1782	1783	Whig
		Edward Smith-Stanley 12th Earl of Derby	1783	1783	Whig
		Thomas Villiers 1st Earl of Clarendon	1783	1786	Whig
		Charles Jenkinson 1st Earl of Liverpool ^[13]	1786	1803	—

19th–21st centuries

Portrait		Name	Term of office		Concurrent office(s)	Party	Prime Minister
		Thomas Pelham Baron Pelham	1803	1804	—	Whig		Henry Addington
		Henry Phipps 3rd Baron Mulgrave	1804	1805	—	Tory		William Pitt the Younger
		Robert Hobart 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire	1805	1805	—	Tory
		Dudley Ryder 2nd Baron Harrowby	1805	1806	—	Tory
		Edward Smith-Stanley 12th Earl of Derby	1806	1807	—	Whig		William Grenville (Ministry of All the Talents)
		Spencer Perceval	1807	1812	Chancellor of the ExchequerLeader of the House of Commons	Tory
Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer Leader of the House of Commons (from October 1809)							Himself
		Robert Hobart 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire	1812	1812	President of the Board of Control	Tory
		Charles Bathurst ^[14]	1812	1823	President of the Board of Control (January 1821 – February 1822)	—
		Nicholas Vansittart 1st Baron Bexley	1823	1828		Tory
							George Canning (April–August 1827)
		George Hamilton-Gordon 4th Earl of Aberdeen	1828	1828	—	Tory
		Charles Arbuthnot	1828	1830	—	Tory
		Henry Vassall-Fox 3rd Baron Holland	1830	1834		Whig		Charles Grey
	vacant		1834	1834				(Caretaker)
		Charles Williams-Wynn	1834	1835	—	Conservative		Robert Peel
		Henry Vassall-Fox 3rd Baron Holland	1835	1840	—	Whig
		George Villiers 4th Earl of Clarendon	1840	1841	Lord Privy Seal	Whig
		Sir George Grey	1841	1841	—	Whig
		Lord Granville Somerset	1841	1846	—	Conservative		Robert Peel
		John Campbell 1st Baron Campbell	1846	1850	—	Whig		John Russell
		George Howard 7th Earl of Carlisle	1850	1852	First Commissioner of Woods and Forests (until July 1850)	Whig
		Robert Christopher	1852	1852	—	Conservative
		Edward Strutt	1853	1854	—	Whig / Radical		George (Coalition)
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville	1854	1855	—	Whig
	vacant		1855	1855
		Dudley Ryder 2nd Earl of Harrowby	1855	1855	—	—
		Matthew Talbot Baines	1855	1858	—	Whig
		James Graham 4th Duke of Montrose	1858	1859	—	Conservative
		Sir George Grey	1859	1861	—	Whig / Liberal
		Edward Cardwell	1861	1864	—	Liberal
		George Villiers 4th Earl of Clarendon	1864	1865	—	Liberal
	vacant		1865	1866				John Russell
		George Goschen	1866	1866	Vice-President of the Board of Trade (until March 1866)	Liberal
		William Courtenay 11th Earl of Devon	1866	1867	President of the Poor Law Board (from May 1867)	Conservative
		John Wilson-Patten	1867	1868	—	Conservative
Chief Secretary for Ireland (from September 1868)							Benjamin Disraeli (from February 1868)
		Thomas Edward Taylor	1868	1868	—	Conservative
		Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood 1st Earl of Dufferin ^[15]	1868	1872	Paymaster General	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
		Hugh Childers	1872	1873		Liberal
		John Bright	1873	1874	—	Liberal
		Thomas Edward Taylor	1874	1880	—	Conservative		Benjamin Disraeli from 1876)
		John Bright	1880	1882	—	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
		John Wodehouse 1st Earl of Kimberley	1882	1882	Colonial Secretary	Liberal
		John George Dodson	1882	1884	—	Liberal
		George Trevelyan	1884	1885	—	Liberal
		Henry Chaplin	1885	1886	—	Conservative
		Edward Heneage	1886	1886	—	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
		Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth	1886	1886	—	Liberal
		Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy 1st Viscount Cranbrook	1886	1886	Lord President of the Council	Conservative
		John Manners 7th Duke of Rutland ^[16]	1886	1892	—	Conservative
		James Bryce	1892	1894		Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone (until March 1894)
		Edward Marjoribanks 2nd Baron Tweedmouth	1894	1895	Lord Privy Seal	Liberal
		R. A. Cross 1st Viscount Cross	1895	1895		Conservative
		Henry James 1st Baron James of Hereford	1895	1902		Liberal Unionist
							Arthur Balfour (from 12 July 1902)
		Sir William Hood Walrond	1902	1905	—	Conservative		Arthur Balfour Coalition
		Sir Henry Fowler	1905	1908		Liberal		Henry Campbell-Bannerman
								H. H. Asquith
		Edmond Fitzmaurice 1st Baron Fitzmaurice	1908	1909	—
		Herbert Samuel	1909	1910	—
		Jack Pease	1910	1911	—
		Charles Hobhouse MP for Bristol East (1862–1941)	1911	1914	—
		Charles Masterman ^[17]	1914	1915	—
		Edwin Samuel Montagu	1915	1915	—
		Winston Churchill	1915	1915	—			H. H. Asquith (War coalition)
		Herbert Samuel	1915	1916	Postmaster-General
		Edwin Samuel Montagu	1916	1916	—
		Thomas McKinnon Wood	1916	1916	Financial Secretary to the Treasury
		Frederick Cawley	1916	1918	—			David Lloyd George (Coalition)
		Max Aitken 1st Baron Beaverbrook	1918	1918	Minister of Information	Conservative
		William Hayes Fisher 1st Baron Downham	1918	1919		Conservative
		David Lindsay 27th Earl of Crawford	1919	1921	—
		William Peel 2nd Viscount Peel	1921	1922	Minister of Transport
		Sir William Sutherland	1922	1922	—	Liberal
		James Gascoyne-Cecil 4th Marquess of Salisbury	1922	1923	Lord President of the Council	Conservative		Bonar Law
		J. C. C. Davidson	1923	1924	—			Stanley Baldwin
		Josiah Wedgwood	1924	1924	—	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
		Robert Cecil 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood	1924	1927	—	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin
		Ronald McNeill 1st Baron Cushendun	1927	1929	—
		Sir Oswald Mosley	1929	1930	responsibility for unemployment	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
		Clement Attlee	1930	1931	—
		Arthur Ponsonby 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede	1931	1931	—
		Philip Kerr 11th Marquess of Lothian	1931	1931	—	Liberal		Ramsay MacDonald (1st Nat. coalition)
		Sir John Davidson	1931	1937	sometime chairman of the Indian States inquiry	Conservative		Ramsay MacDonald (2nd Nat. coalition)
								Stanley Baldwin (3rd Nat. coalition)
		Edward Turnour 6th Earl Winterton	1937	1939	Air Ministry spokesperson in the Commons (March – May 1938)			Neville Chamberlain (4th Nat. coalition)
		William Morrison	1939	1940	—
					Minister of Food (from 4 September 1939)			Neville Chamberlain (War coalition)
		George Tryon 1st Baron Tryon	1940	1940	—
		Maurice Hankey 1st Baron Hankey	1940	1941	—	National		Winston Churchill (War coalition)
		Duff Cooper	1941	1943	—	Conservative
		Ernest Brown	1943	1945	—	National Liberal
		Arthur Salter	1945	1945	—	Conservative		Winston Churchill (Caretaker coalition)
		John Hynd	1945	1947	Minister for Germany and Austria	Labour		Clement Attlee
		Frank Pakenham 1st Baron Pakenham	1947	1948	deputy Foreign Secretary (responsibility for the British zone, Germany)
		Hugh Dalton	1948	1950	—
		A. V. Alexander 1st Viscount Alexander of Hillsborough	1950	1951	—	Labour Co-operative
		Philip Cunliffe-Lister 1st Viscount Swinton	1951	1952	Minister of Materials	Conservative		Winston Churchill
		Frederick Marquis 1st Viscount Woolton ^[18]	1952	1955	Minister of Materials (1 September 1953 – August 1954)
							Anthony Eden
		George Douglas-Hamilton 10th Earl of Selkirk	1955	1957	—
		Charles Hill	1957	1961	—			Harold Macmillan
		Iain Macleod	1961	1963	Leader of the House of Commons
		John Hare 1st Viscount Blakenham	1963	1964	Deputy Leader of the House of Lords Chairman of the Conservative Party			Alec Douglas-Home
		Douglas Houghton	1964	1966	special responsibility for Social Services	Labour		Harold Wilson
		George Thomson	1966	1967	—
		Frederick Lee	1967	1969	—
		George Thomson	1969	1970	—
		Anthony Barber	1970	1970	responsibility for UK–EEC relations (chiefly, until 1973, negotiating entry)	Conservative		Edward Heath
		Geoffrey Rippon	1970	1972
		John Davies	1972	1974
		Harold Lever	1974	1979		Labour		Harold Wilson
							James Callaghan
		Norman St John-Stevas	1979	1981	Leader of the House of Commons Minister for the Arts	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
		Francis Pym	1981	1981	Leader of the House of Commons Paymaster General
		Janet Young Baroness Young	1981	1982	Leader of the House of Lords
		Cecil Parkinson	1982	1983	Paymaster-General
		Arthur Cockfield Baron Cockfield	1983	1984	—
		Grey Ruthven 2nd Earl of Gowrie	1984	1985	Minister for the Arts
		Norman Tebbit	1985	1987	Chairman of the Conservative Party
		Kenneth Clarke	1987	1988	Minister for Inner Cities (DTI)
		Tony Newton	1988	1989	Minister of State at DTI
		Kenneth Baker	1989	1990	Chairman of the Conservative Party
		Chris Patten	1990	1992
		William Waldegrave	1992	1994	responsibility for public services and science			John Major
		David Hunt	1994	1995	Minister for Public Services
		Roger Freeman	1995	1997
		David Clark	1997	1998	Minister for the Cabinet Office	Labour		Tony Blair
		Jack Cunningham	1998	1999		Labour
		Mo Mowlam	1999	2001		Labour
		Gus Macdonald Baron Macdonald of Tradeston	2001	2003	Minister for the Cabinet Office	Labour		Tony Blair
		Douglas Alexander	2003	2004		Labour
		Alan Milburn	2004	2005		Labour
		John Hutton	2005	2005		Labour
	Vacant		2005	2006
		Hilary Armstrong	2006	2007	Minister for the Cabinet Office Minister for Social Exclusion	Labour
		Ed Miliband	2007	2008	Minister for the Cabinet Office	Labour		Gordon Brown
		Liam Byrne	2008	2009		Labour
		Janet Royall Baroness Royall of Blaisdon	2009	2010	Leader of the House of Lords	Labour
		Thomas Galbraith 2nd Baron Strathclyde	2010	2013		Conservative		David Cameron
		Jonathan Hill Baron Hill of Oareford	2013	2014		Conservative
		Oliver Letwin	2014	2016	Minister of State for Government Policy	Conservative
in charge of the Cabinet Office							David Cameron
		Sir Patrick McLoughlin	2016	2018	Chairman of the Conservative Party	Conservative		Theresa May
							Theresa May
		David Lidington	2018	2019	Minister for the Cabinet Office	Conservative
		Michael Gove	2019	2021		Conservative		Boris Johnson
							Boris Johnson
Minister for the Cabinet Office
		Steve Barclay	2021	2022	Minister for the Cabinet Office Downing Street Chief of Staff	Conservative
		Kit Malthouse	2022	2022		Conservative
		Nadhim Zahawi	2022	2022	Minister for Equalities Minister for Intergovernmental Relations	Conservative		Liz Truss
		Oliver Dowden	2022	2024	Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom	Conservative		Rishi Sunak
		Pat McFadden	2024	Incumbent		Labour		Keir Starmer

Timeline

1702 ― Present

Bibliography

• Book: Baines, Edward . Edward Baines (1774–1848)

. Edward Baines (1774–1848) . The History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster . I. . 1836 . London, Paris, and New York . Fisher, Son, & Co. .

• Web site: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster . . 6 November 2017.
• Book: Venning, Timothy . Compendium of British Office Holders . 2005 . Basingstoke . Palgrave Macmillan .

Notes and References

1. Served as Bishop of Sarum from 1375.
2. Served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1469 to c. April 1471.
3. Served as Secretary of State until 1548. Created Baron Paget in the peerage of England in 1549.
4. Served as Lord Privy Seal from 1598.
5. Served as Chancellor of the Exchequer until 1603. MP for Middlesex during 1601 Parliament.
6. MP for Berkshire during the 1614 Parliament.
7. Elected to Parliament as MP for Lancaster in 1621 and 1625, and as MP for Leicester in 1624 and 1626.
8. Royalist appointee during the Oxford Parliament, re-appointed Chancellor in 1660 after the Restoration.
9. MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme until 1703; thereafter elevated to the peerage of England as Baron Gower.
10. MP for Tewkesbury until 1721; thereafter elevated to the peerage of Great Britain as Baron Lechmere.
11. Commonly styled with the courtesy title Lord Strange, however neither James Smith-Stanley or his father has any right to it.
12. Baron Hyde since 1756; elevated in the peerage of Great Britain as Earl of Clarendon from 1776.
13. Baron Hawkesbury since August 1786; elevated in the peerage of Great Britain as Earl of Liverpool from May 1796.
14. MP for Bodmin until 1818, thereafter MP for Harwich.
15. Baron Dufferin and Claneboye since 1841. Elevated in the peerage of the United Kingdom as Earl of Dufferin in 1871.
16. MP for Melton until 1888, thereafter succeeded his brother as Duke of Rutland.
17. On appointment to office a ministerial by-election was triggered in the Bethnal Green South West constituency that Masterman had represented since 1911. Masterman unsuccessfully contested the seat, narrowly losing to the Conservative candidate. Masterman then unsuccessful stood in the 1914 Ipswich by-election. Masterman resigned as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster after failing to be returned to Parliament.
18. Baron Woolton since 1952, created Viscount Woolton in 1953.