Letter - Transmitting the Marquess of Cholmondeley's Petition [1952-05-23]

Dublin Core

Title

Letter - Transmitting the Marquess of Cholmondeley's Petition [1952-05-23]

Subject

Royal Household

Description

Letter from Sir Albert Napier to David Pitblado transmitting the Marquess of Cholmondeley's petition for the office of Lord Great Chamberlain.

Creator

Albert Napier (Clerk of the Crown in Chancery)

Source

PREM 5/590

Date

1952-05-23

Contributor

Jason Loch

Letter Item Type Metadata

Transcript

CROWN OFFICE,
HOUSE OF LORDS,
S.W.1.
23rd May, 1952.

Dear Pitblado

    The Office of Lord Great Chamberlain, the Great Officer of State who has charge of the Palace of Westminster, is hereditary, being descendible in “tail general”. This means (among other things) that when a holder dies leaving no son and more than one daughter, the right to the office is vested in two or more persons as co-heirs. The duties then have to be performed by deputy.

    The Office has been held by co-heirs for very many years and the duties have been performed by various Deputies. The procedure is for the co-heirs to meet and by unanimous consent appoint one of their number or one of their nominees to discharge the duties of the office, and for that Deputy nominate to petition The Queen for Her Majesty’s approval of the appointment. Lord Ancaster was so appointed in 1901, and Lord Ancaster in 1910. Lord Ancaster’s son was nominated and was appointed Deputy in February 1929 by The King.

    The recent demise of the Crown has caused the co-heirs to the Office of Lord Great Chamberlain to meet. The co-heirs are the Marquess of Cholmondeley, the Earl of Ancaster and Lord Carrington. They have agreed to nominate the Marquess of Cholmondeley as their Deputy and for that purpose have completed a Deed of Nomination.

    In accordance with usual practice Lord Cholmondeley has sent his Petition and the supporting Deed of Nomination to this Office. They are in order, and accordingly I now forward them herewith.

    The next step is for the Prime Minister, if he thinks fit, to put forward Lord Cholmondeley’s name to The Queen for Her Majesty’s approbation, since Her Majesty has signified Her pleasure, or for you to instruct the Home Office to prepare a Warrant signifying The Queen’s approval of the selection of Lord Cholmondeley to execute the office of Deputy Lord Great Chamberlain.

    When the Home Office receive your instructions, they will need the enclosed documents for the preparation of the Warrant. I am sending a copy of this letter to Strutt at the Home Office.

(Sgd.) Yours sincerely,
A. E. A. Napier

D. B. Pitblado, Esq.

Signatures

Albert Napier (Clerk of the Crown in Chancery)

Recipient(s)

David Pitblado ( Private Secretary to the Prime Minister)

Ornamentation

Embossed Lesser Royal Arms in the upper right; Crown Office address in the upper left.

Document is typewritten.

Files

Citation

Albert Napier (Clerk of the Crown in Chancery), “Letter - Transmitting the Marquess of Cholmondeley's Petition [1952-05-23],” Corpus of British Administrative Instruments, accessed October 20, 2026, https://cbaionline.org/corpus/items/show/137.

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