Lord High Steward
Lord High Steward is in Offices of State.
1483 Coronation of Richard III
1509 Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
1536 Imprisonment and Trial of Anne Boleyn and her Co-Accused
1641 Trial and Execution of the Earl of Strafford
1680 Trial and Execution of William Howard 1st Viscount Stafford
In Sep 1263 Roger Leybourne (age 48) was appointed Lord High Steward.
On 09 Apr 1413 King Henry V of England (age 26) was crowned V King England by Archbishop Thomas Fitzalan aka Arundel (age 60) at Westminster Abbey [Map].
Richard Beauchamp 13th Earl Warwick (age 31) was appointed Lord High Steward. Henry Fitzhugh 3rd Baron Fitzhugh (age 55) was appointed Constable of England. Duke Lancaster merged with the Crown.
In 1426 John Tiptoft 1st Baron Tiptoft was appointed Lord High Steward.
Calendars. 03 Dec 1461. Westminster Palace [Map]. Appointment of the king's (age 19) kinsman Richard, Earl of Warwick (age 33), to execute the office of steward of England at the trial of Henry VI and other rebels who murdered the King's father Richard, duke of York, at Wakefield.
In 1463 John "Butcher of England" Tiptoft 1st Earl of Worcester (age 35) was appointed Lord High Steward.
Calendars. 30 Jun 1483 King Richard III of England (age 30). Westminster Palace [Map]. Commission to the king's kinsman John duke of Norfolk (age 58), to execute the office of steward of England at the king's coronation. By K.
On 06 Jul 1483 King Richard III of England (age 30) was crowned III King England by Cardinal Thomas Bourchier (age 65) at Westminster Abbey [Map]. Anne Neville Queen Consort England (age 27) by marriage Queen Consort England. Duke Gloucester merged with the Crown.
John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk (age 58) was appointed Lord High Steward. William Brandon (age 58), Thomas Fitzalan 17th Earl Arundel (age 33), Thomas St Leger (age 43), Richard Hastings Baron Willoughby (age 50), Elizabeth Woodville Queen Consort England (age 46), Elizabeth York Duchess Suffolk (age 39), Giles Daubeney 1st Baron Daubeney (age 32) and Humphrey Dacre 1st Baron Dacre Gilsland (age 59) attended.
Robert Dymoke (age 22) attended as the Kings' Champion.
Edmund Grey 1st Earl Kent (age 66) carried The Pointed Sword of Justice. Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk (age 40) carried the Crown. Francis Lovell 1st Viscount Lovell (age 27) carried the Third Sword of State. John de la Pole 2nd Duke of Suffolk (age 40) carried the Sceptre. John de la Pole 1st Earl Lincoln (age 21) carried the Cross and Ball. Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham (age 28) carried the king's train. Edward Stafford 2nd Earl Wiltshire (age 13) bore the Queen's Crown.
Thomas Stanley 1st Earl of Derby (age 48) carried the Lord High Constable's Mace. Margaret Beaufort Countess Richmond (age 40) held Queen Anne's train. Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland (age 34) carried The Blunt Sword of Mercy. Christopher Willoughby 10th Baron Willoughby (age 30) was appointed Knight of the Bath.
Humphrey Dacre 1st Baron Dacre Gilsland (age 59) attended.
Cecily "Rose of Raby" Neville Duchess York (age 68) refused to attend the Coronation of Richard III. History doesn't record her reason.
Letters and Papers 1509. 24 Jun 1509. 89. Edward Duke of Buckingham (age 31). To be Great Steward of England on 24 June, the day of the Coronation from sunrise until sunset. S.B. [213.]
On 15 May 1536 Queen Anne Boleyn (age 35) tried at the King's Hall in the Tower of London [Map].
Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk (age 63) was appointed Lord High Steward and presided. Henry Howard (age 20) attended. Henry Pole 1st Baron Montagu (age 44) was one of the judges. Elizabeth Browne Countess of Worcester (age 34) was the principal witness.
The jurors were:
Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk (age 52).
Edward Clinton 1st Earl Lincoln (age 24).
Thomas Fiennes 9th Baron Dacre Gilsland (age 21).
George Hastings 1st Earl Huntingdon (age 49).
Thomas Manners 1st Earl of Rutland (age 44).
John Mordaunt 1st Baron Mordaunt (age 56).
Ralph Neville 4th Earl of Westmoreland (age 38).
Henry Parker 11th Baron Marshal 10th Baron Morley (age 55).
Edward Stanley 3rd Earl of Derby (age 27).
Thomas Stanley 2nd Baron Monteagle (age 28).
John de Vere 15th Earl of Oxford (age 65).
Thomas Wentworth 1st Baron Wentworth (age 35).
Henry Somerset 2nd Earl of Worcester (age 40).
Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland.
Thomas Burgh 7th Baron Cobham 5th Baron Strabolgi 1st Baron Burgh (age 48).
Henry Courtenay 1st Marquess Exeter (age 40).
William Fitzalan 18th Earl Arundel (age 60).
Henry Fitzalan 19th Earl Arundel (age 24).
Thomas Audley 1st Baron Audley Walden (age 48).
Edward Powers Lord Powers.
William Sandys 1st Baron Sandys Vyne (age 66).
Thomas Ware.
Andrew Windsor 1st Baron Windsor (age 69).
George Brooke 9th Baron Cobham (age 39).
She was found guilty and sentenced to be beheaded. John Spelman (age 56) signed the death warrant.
After Anne's trial her brother George Boleyn Viscount Rochford (age 33) was also tried and found guilty.
Wriothesley's Chronicle 1536. Item, on Munday,c the 15th of May, 1536, there was arreigned within the Tower of London [Map] Queene Anne (age 35),d for treason againste the Kinges owne person, and there was a great scaffold made in the Kinges Hall within the Tower of London [Map], and there were made benches and seates for the lordes, my Lord of Northfolke (age 63) sittinge under the clothe of estate, representinge there the Kinges person as Highe Steward of Englande and uncle to the Queene, he holdinge a longe white staffe in his hande, and the Earle of Surrey (age 20) his sonne and heire, sittinge at his feete before him holdinge the golden staffe for the Earle Marshall of Englande, which sayde office the saide duke had in his handes; the Lord Awdley Chauncellour of England (age 48), sittinge on his right hande, and the Duke of Suffolke on his left hande, with other marqueses, earles, and lordes, everie one after their degrees.
Note c. Stow's account seems to hare been taken from this, with considerable verbal differences and some omissions.
Note d. There was no precedent for the trial of a Queen for treason, so Henry determined that she should be arraigned before a commission of Lords, as had been practised in the case of the Duke of Buckingham.
On 20 Jun 1541 Thomas Fiennes 9th Baron Dacre Gilsland (age 26) was tried for the murder of John Busbrig, servant of Nicholas Pelham (age 24) on whose land they were poaching on 30 Apr 1541. Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk (age 68) was appointed Lord High Steward for the trial.
On 29 Jun 1541 he was hanged at Tyburn [Map]. He was buried at St Sepulchre without Newgate Church. Baron Dacre Gilsland forfeit. His son Gregory (age 1) would be restored to the title in 1558.
Note. Hall's Chronicle says strangled.
On 20 Feb 1547 King Edward VI of England and Ireland (age 9) was crowned VI King England at Westminster Abbey [Map].
John Russell 1st Earl Bedford (age 62) was appointed Lord High Steward. Henry Fitzalan 19th Earl Arundel (age 34) was appointed Constable of England.
Anthony Browne 1st Viscount Montagu (age 18), George Vernon "King of the Peak" (age 39), Richard Devereux (age 34) and William Sharington (age 52) were created Knight of the Bath.
Francis Hastings 2nd Earl Huntingdon (age 33), Edward Courtenay, William Sharington (age 52), John Shelton (age 44) and Walter Buckler were knighted.
Edward Dymoke (age 39) attended as the King's Champion.
Alexander Unton (age 53) and Edward Rogers (age 49) were knighted.
In Jan 1572 Thomas Howard 4th Duke of Norfolk (age 35) was tried for high treason for his involvement in the Ridolphi Plot. Thomas Sackville 1st Earl Dorset (age 36) acted as judge.
George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury (age 44) was appointed Lord High Steward for the trial.
Walter Mildmay (age 51) helped prepare evidence against Thomas Howard 4th Duke of Norfolk (age 35).
In 1589 Henry Stanley 4th Earl of Derby (age 57) was appointed Lord High Steward.
On 25 Jul 1603 King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 37) was crowned I King England Scotland and Ireland at Westminster Abbey [Map].
Charles Howard 1st Earl Nottingham (age 67) was appointed Lord High Steward.
On 26 Jul 1603 Thomas Bennett (age 60) and Thomas Cambell (age 67) were knighted.
On 27 Jul 1603 William Wrey 1st Baronet was knighted at Whitehall Palace [Map].
On 30 Jul 1603 Richard Preston 1st Earl Desmond was knighted at Whitehall Palace [Map].
Bishop Thomas Bilson (age 56) gave the sermon. While the wording conceded something to the divine right of kings, it also included a caveat about lawful resistance to a monarch.
On 13 Apr 1641 Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl Strafford (age 48) was attainted by 204 votes to 59 ostensibly for his authoritarian rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland. Despite his promise not to King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland (age 40) signed the death warrant on the 10 May 1641 in the light of increasing pressure from Parliament and the commons.
Wenceslaus Hollar (age 33). Engraving of the Trial of Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl Strafford (age 48) with the following marked:
A. King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland (age 40).
C. Henrietta Maria Bourbon Queen Consort England (age 31).
D. King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland (age 10).
E. Thomas Howard 21st Earl Arundel 4th Earl Surrey 1st Earl Norfolk (age 55), Lord High Steward.
F. Henry Montagu 1st Earl Manchester (age 78), Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
G. John Paulet 5th Marquess Winchester (age 43).
H. Robert Bertie 1st Earl Lindsey (age 58), Lord Chamberlain.
I. Philip Herbert 4th Earl Pembroke 1st Earl Montgomery (age 56), Lord Chamberlain of the Household.
V. Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl Strafford (age 48).
Z. Alethea Talbot Countess Arundel, Surrey and Norfolk (age 56).
Wenceslaus Hollar: On 23 Jul 1607 he was born. Pepy's Diary. 22 Nov 1666. Up, and to the office, where we sat all the morning, and my Lord Bruncker did show me Hollar's new print of the City, with a pretty representation of that part which is burnt, very fine indeed; and tells me that he was yesterday sworn the King's servant, and that the King hath commanded him to go on with his great map of the City, which he was upon before the City was burned, like Gombout of Paris, which I am glad of. On 25 Mar 1677 he died.
Evelyn's Diary. 30 Nov 1680. The signal day begun the trial (at which I was present) of my Lord Viscount Stafford (age 66), (for conspiring the death of the King (age 50), second son to my Lord Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Earl Marshal of England, and grandfather to the present Duke of Norfolk (age 52), whom I so well knew, and from which excellent person I received so many favors. It was likewise his birthday, The trial was in Westminster Hall [Map], before the King (age 50), Lords, and Commons, just in the same manner as, forty years past, the great and wise Earl of Strafford (there being but one letter differing their names) received his trial for pretended ill government in Ireland, in the very same place, this Lord Stafford's father being then High Steward. The place of sitting was now exalted some considerable height from the paved floor of the hall, with a stage of boards. The throne, woolsacks for the Judges, long forms for the Peers, chair for the Lord Steward, exactly ranged, as in the House of Lords. The sides on both hands scaffolded to the very roof for the members of the House of Commons. At the upper end, and on the right side of the King's (age 50) state, was a box for his Majesty (age 50), and on the left others for the great ladies, and over head a gallery for ambassadors and public ministers. At the lower end, or entrance, was a bar, and place for the prisoner (age 66), the Lieutenant of the Tower of London, the ax-bearer and guards, my Lord Stafford's two daughters, the Marchioness of Winchester being one; there was likewise a box for my Lord to retire into. At the right hand, in another box, somewhat higher, stood the witnesses; at the left, the managers, in the name of the Commons of England, namely, Serjeant Maynard (age 76) (the great lawyer, the same who prosecuted the cause against the Earl of Strafford forty years before, being now near eighty years of age), Sir William Jones (age 49), late Attorney-General, Sir Francis Winnington (age 46), a famous pleader, and Mr. Treby, now Recorder of London, not appearing in their gowns as lawyers, but in their cloaks and swords, as representing the Commons of England: to these were joined Mr. Hampden, Dr. Sacheverell, Mr. Poule, Colonel Titus (age 57), Sir Thomas Lee (age 45), all gentlemen of quality, and noted parliamentary men. The first two days, in which were read the commission and impeachment, were but a tedious entrance into matter of fact, at which I was but little present. But, on Thursday, I was commodiously seated among the Commons, when the witnesses were sworn and examined. The principal witnesses were Mr. Oates (age 31) (who called himself Dr.), Mr. Dugdale (age 40), and Turberville (age 32). Oates (age 31) swore that he delivered a commission to Viscount Stafford (age 66) from the Pope, to be Paymaster-General to an army intended to be raised; Dugdale (age 40), that being at Lord Aston's, the prisoner dealt with him plainly to murder his Majesty (age 50); and Turberville (age 32), that at Paris he also proposed the same to him.
Evelyn's Diary. 21 Feb 1689. Innumerable were the crowds, who solicited for, and expected offices; most of the old ones were turned out. Two or three white staves were disposed of some days before, as Lord Steward, to the Earl of Devonshire (age 49); Treasurer of the household, to Lord Newport; Lord Chamberlain to the King, to my Lord of Dorset (age 46); but there were as yet none in offices of the civil government save the Marquis of Halifax (age 55) as Privy Seal. A council of thirty was chosen, Lord Derby (age 34) president, but neither Chancellor nor Judges were yet declared, the new Great Seal not yet finished.
On 20 Oct 1714 King George I of Great Britain and Ireland (age 54) was crowned I King Great Britain and Ireland at Westminster Abbey [Map] by Archbishop Thomas Tenison (age 78).
Charles Fitzroy 2nd Duke Grafton (age 30) was appointed Lord High Steward.
The 1715 Battle of Preston was the final action of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion. It commenced on 09 Nov 1715 when Jacobite cavalry entered Preston [Map]. Royalist troops arrived in number over the next few days surrounding Preston forcing the Jaocbite surrender. 1463 were taken prisoner of which 463 were English. The Scottish prisoners included:
George Seton 5th Earl of Winton (age 37). The only prisoner to plead not guilty, sentenced to death, escaped from the Tower of London [Map] on 04 Aug 1716 around nine in the evening. Travelled to France then to Rome.
On 24 Feb 1716 William Gordon 6th Viscount Kenmure was beheaded on Tower Hill [Map].
On 09 Feb 1716 William Maxwell 5th Earl Nithsale was sentenced to be executed on 24 Feb 1716. The night before his wife (age 35) effected his escape from the Tower of London [Map] by exchanging his clothes with those of her maid. They travelled to Paris then to Rome where the court of James "Old Pretender" Stewart (age 26) was.
James Radclyffe 3rd Earl Derwentwater (age 25) was imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map]. He was examined by the Privy Council on 10 Jan 1716 and impeached on 19 Jan 1716. He pleaded guilty in the expectation of clemency. He was attainted and condemned to death. Attempts were made to procure his pardon. His wife Anna Maria Webb Countess Derwentwater (age 23), her sister Mary Webb Countess Waldegrave (age 20) [Note. Assumed to be her sister Mary], their aunt Anne Brudenell Duchess Richmond (age 44), Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland appealed to King George I of Great Britain and Ireland (age 54) in person without success.
On 24 Feb 1716 James Radclyffe 3rd Earl Derwentwater (age 25) was beheaded on Tower Hill [Map]. Earl Derwentwater, Baronet Radclyffe of Derwentwater in Cumberland forfeit.
William Murray 2nd Lord Nairne was tried on 09 Feb 1716 for treason, found guilty, attainted, and condemned to death. He survived long enough to benefit from the Indemnity Act of 1717.
General Thomas Forster of Adderstone (age 31) was attainted. He was imprisoned at Newgate Prison, London [Map] but escaped to France.
On 14 May 1716 Henry Oxburgh was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn [Map]. He was buried at Church of St Gile's in the Fields. His head was spiked on Temple Bar.
The trials and sentences were overseen by the Lord High Steward William Cowper 1st Earl Cowper (age 50) for which he subsequently received his Earldom.
In 1755 John Manners 3rd Duke Rutland (age 58) was appointed Lord High Steward.
On 22 Sep 1761 King George III of Great Britain and Ireland (age 23) was crowned III King Great Britain and Ireland at Westminster Abbey [Map].
Charles Compton 7th Earl of Northampton (age 24) was the Bearer of the Ivory Rod with the Dove.
William Talbot 1st Earl Talbot (age 51) was appointed Lord High Steward.
Francis Hastings 10th Earl Huntingdon (age 32) was the bearer of the Sword of State although the actual Sword of State couldn't be found and the Lord Mayor's Pearl Sword was substituted.
