Royal Warrant - Statute of the Order of the Garter Appointing the Duke of Portland to the Office of Chancellor [1937-11-01]

Royal Warrant - Statute of the Order of the Garter Appointing the Duke of Portland to the Office of Chancellor [1937-11-01]

Honors

Royal Warrant of King George VI making a Statute of the Order of the Garter appointing the Duke of Portland to the Office of Chancellor of the Order.

King George VI

1937-11-01

Jason Loch

STATUTE,
1ST NOVEMBER, 1937,
APPOINTING THE
DUKE OF PORTLAND
K.G., G.C.V.O.,
TO THE OFFICE
OF CHANCELLOR
OF THE ORDER

GEORGE R.I.

GEORGE THE SIXTH by the Grace of God of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., and Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

WHEREAS Our Royal Predecessor King EDWARD the FOURTH was pleased to erect and establish the Office of Chancellor of Our said Most Noble Order of the Garter and in consideration that Our Royal Chapel of Saint George within Our Castle of Windsor was founded and established within the Diocese of Salisbury did grant the said Office to RICHARD BEAUCHAMP then Bishop of Salisbury and to his successors Bishops of that See.

AND whereas by the Statutes of Our said Most Noble Order made by Our Royal Predecessor King HENRY the EIGHTH it was enacted and declared that no one be appointed to the Office of Chancellor of the said Order unless he be a Prelate of the Church as an Archbishop, Bishop or of other considerable dignity or if a temporal or secular person a Knight of Noble Blood of great learning reputation and experience.

AND whereas from the year 1553 to the year 1669 the said Office of Chancellor was continuously filled by temporal or secular persons of or above the rank of Knight appointed successively by Our Royal Predecessors Sovereigns of Our said Most Noble Order.

AND whereas in the year 1669 the said Office of Chancellor was restored to the Bishop of Salisbury and was held by successive Bishops of that See until the year 1837.

AND whereas by a Statute of Our said Most Noble Order made by Our Royal Predecessor King WILLIAM the FOURTH bearing date the twenty-fifth day of February One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven after reciting the creation of the said Office of Chancellor and the reasons hereinbefore stated for its conferment upon the Bishops of Salisbury and reciting that by an Order in Council dated the fifth day of October One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six the whole County of Berks had been dissevered from the Diocese of Salisbury and annexed to the Diocese of Oxford it was enacted and declared that the said Office of Chancellor of Our said Most Noble Order with all the rights and privileges thereunto annexed should thenceforward be held and enjoyed by the Bishop of Oxford and by his successors Bishops of Oxford.

AND whereas the said Office of Chancellor of Our said Most Noble Order is now vacant by the resignation of the Right Reverend Father in God, Thomas, late Bishop of Oxford, We therefore after due consideration of the premises bearing in mind the said Statutes of Our Royal Predecessor King HENRY the EIGHTH and that the said Chapel of Saint George is a Free Chapel not under any Diocesan jurisdiction and considering that it would be suitable and convenient and of advantage to Our said Most Noble Order that the Office of Chancellor thereof should be filled by a Knight Companion of Our said Order or by such others person of learning, reputation, and experience not being below the rank of a Knight as it may seem good to Us Our Heirs and Successors Sovereigns of Our said Order from time to time to appoint do hereby revoke and cancel the said Statute of the twenty-fifth day of February One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven and declare the same to be henceforth void and of none effect and do hereby Ordain and Declare that our Right Trusty and Right Entirely Beloved Cousin and Counsellor WILLIAM JOHN ARTHUR CHARLES JAMES, Duke of Portland, a Knight Companion of Our said Most Noble Order, Knight Grand Cross of Our Royal Victorian Order shall have hold and enjoy the said Office of Chancellor of Our said Most Noble Order with all the rights and privileges thereunto annexed. And although it is the ordinary business of Our said Chancellor to countersign Warrants passed under the Seal or Signet of Our said Order it is in this particular case Our Royal Will and Pleasure for avoiding all doubts that may arise by his countersigning or omitting to countersign the same and We do hereby Direct and Command that Our Trusty and Well Beloved Servant Sir GERALD WOODS WOLLASTON, Knight Commander of Our Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Knight Commander of Our Royal Victorian Order, Our Garter Principal King of Arms do countersign this Our Warrant and do affix the Seal of Our said Most Noble Order to this Our Warrant.

GIVEN at Our Court at Buckingham Palace under Our Sign Manual and the Signet of Our said Order this First day of November, One thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven, in the first year of Our Reign.

By the Sovereign's Command,

GERALD W. WOLLASTON,
Garter.

Sir Gerald Wollaston (Garter Principal King of Arms)

Signet of the Order of the Garter (not shown)

This text is taken from a printed edition of the statutes and may not reflect the formatting of the original.

It's been claimed that the decision to appoint a Knight Companion as Chancellor instead of letting it remain with the Bishop of Oxford ex officio was motivated by the Palace's displeasure over Thomas Strong's behavior during the Abdication Crisis. It's worth noting, however, that the Duke of Portland wasn't appointed Chancellor until after Strong had resigned his See so it's possible that other factors were in play.

Normally, Statutes are countersigned by the Chancellor, but since that wasn't possible in this case, this Statute makes special provision for Garter Principal King of Arms to countersign and seal it.