Letter - Use of the Style "Right Honourable" by Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts [1932-02-19]
Dublin Core
Title
Letter - Use of the Style "Right Honourable" by Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts [1932-02-19]
Subject
Styles
Civic Officials
Description
Letter from Arthur Eagleston to Sir Gerard Wollaston regarding the use of the style "Right Honourable" by Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts.
Creator
Arthur Eagleston (Assistant Secretary at the Home Office)
Source
College of Arms I80/91-92
Date
1932-02-19
Contributor
Mark Scott
Letter Item Type Metadata
Transcript
The following letter was ordered to be entered in this volume by Order of Chapter held 9 March. 1932 (Chapter Book 19. p. 139).
Dear Garter,
It may perhaps be convenient for you to have at the College of Arms some note of the position in regard to the use of the style Right Honourable by the Lord Mayors of certain cities. Our experience here is that mistaken ideas about the right to this style are very prevalent and it is possible that sooner or later some member of the College may be asked to advise.
The King has ruled that except in the few cases where the use of the style depends on very ancient prescriptive usage, no Lord Mayor is entitled to it except by express grant from the Sovereign made on the recommendation of a Secretary of State.
The following is a complete list of the Lord Mayors or Lord Provosts who enjoy the right, with their authority for doing so:-
In the case of Glasgow the submission to His Majesty was made by the Secretary for Scotland, in the case of [^the] Australian cities by the Secretary of State for the Dominions.
The style cannot be used by any Lord Mayors (or Lord Provosts) other than those mentioned in the foregoing list unless an express grant of the privilege is made by the King.
I will give instructions for an official notification to be sent to you in the event of any further grant being made.
Home Office,
Whitehall,
S.W.1.
19th February 1932.
Dear Garter,
It may perhaps be convenient for you to have at the College of Arms some note of the position in regard to the use of the style Right Honourable by the Lord Mayors of certain cities. Our experience here is that mistaken ideas about the right to this style are very prevalent and it is possible that sooner or later some member of the College may be asked to advise.
The King has ruled that except in the few cases where the use of the style depends on very ancient prescriptive usage, no Lord Mayor is entitled to it except by express grant from the Sovereign made on the recommendation of a Secretary of State.
The following is a complete list of the Lord Mayors or Lord Provosts who enjoy the right, with their authority for doing so:-
| London York Edinburgh |
⎤ ⎥ ⎦ |
Ancient usage |
| Dublin | Ancient usage confirmed by the Statute 3&4 Vic. Cap. 108 section 12. | |
| Glasgow | Grant 1912. | |
| Belfast | " 1923. | |
| Sydney | " 1904. | |
| Melbourne | " 1904. | |
| Adelaide | " 1927. | |
| Perth | " 1929. | |
| Brisbane | " 1930. |
The style cannot be used by any Lord Mayors (or Lord Provosts) other than those mentioned in the foregoing list unless an express grant of the privilege is made by the King.
I will give instructions for an official notification to be sent to you in the event of any further grant being made.
Yours very truly,
A. J. Eagleston.
Sir Gerald Wollaston, M. V.O.Signatures
Arthur Eagleston (Assistant Secretary at the Home Office)
Recipient(s)
Sir Gerald Wollaston (Garter Principal King of Arms)
Ornamentation
This text is taken from a handwritten transcript of the document and may not reflect the formatting of the original.
Citation
Arthur Eagleston (Assistant Secretary at the Home Office), “Letter - Use of the Style "Right Honourable" by Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts [1932-02-19],” Corpus of British Administrative Instruments, accessed October 20, 2026, https://cbaionline.org/corpus/items/show/450.