Letters Patent - Commission for the Custody of the Great Seal [1980-03-06]
Dublin Core
Title
Letters Patent - Commission for the Custody of the Great Seal [1980-03-06]
Subject
Great Seal
Description
Letters Patent of Queen Elizabeth II granting Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone leave to be absent from the United Kingdom from time to time and authorizing certain officeholders to have custody of the Great Seal during such absences.
Creator
Queen Elizabeth II
Source
LCO 6/3932
Date
1980-03-06
Contributor
Jason Loch
Relation
Great Seal Act 1688 (note that this simply clarified the powers of Commissioners of the Great Seal appointed under the royal prerogative)
Letters Patent Item Type Metadata
Transcript
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the custody of Our Great Seal and the responsibility for passing under it all such things as have ordinarily been used to be sealed with it and during any vacancy that may occur in the office of Our Chancellor both the custody of Our Great Seal as aforesaid and also all other powers duties and functions of Our Chancellor except those appertaining to his office as Speaker of Our House of Lords Provided That upon the return of Our Chancellor to Our United Kingdom after any absence therefrom in pursuance of Our leave hereinbefore granted Our Commissioners shall immediately recommit to Our Chancellor the custody of Our Great Seal without any further commission warrant or authority in that respect but that this Our Commission shall not be determined by the return of Our Chancellor to Our United Kingdom or by the recommitment to him of Our Great Seal or by its commitment after a vacancy in the office of Our Chancellor to a new holder that office but until We give further order or direction to the contrary this Our Commission shall endure and be a continuing Commission operating during any further absence of Our Chancellor from Our United Kingdom and during any further vacancy that may occur in his office save however that nothing in this Commission shall operate to commit the custody of Our Great Seal or any other power duty or function of Our Chancellor to Our Commissioners during any time when Our Great Seal is in Our custody And We do hereby declare that during any period when by virtue of these Presents the custody of Our Great Seal stands committed to Our Commissioners any two of Our Commissioners may pass or cause to be passed under Our Great Seal any thing which ought so to pass And during any period when by virtue of these Presents other powers duties and functions of Our Chancellor stand committed to Our Commissioners those powers duties and functions may be exercised by any three Commissioners who hold any of the following offices that is to say the Lord Chief Justice of England the Lord President of Our Privy Council the Keeper of Our Privy Seal the Master of the Rolls the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland the President of the Family Division of Our High Court of Justice or the Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division of Our High Court of Justice In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent Witness Ourself at Westminster the sixth day of March in the twenty-ninth year of Our Reign
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The Lord President of Our Privy Council
The Keeper of Our Privy Seal
The Chairman of Committees of Our House of Lords
The Master of the Rolls
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The President of the Family Division of Our High Court of Justice
The Lords Justices of Our Court of Appeal
The Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division of Our High Court The Justices of Our High Court of Justice
E LIZABETH THE SECOND
BY THE GRACE OF GOD of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith
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the custody of Our Great Seal and the responsibility for passing under it all such things as have ordinarily been used to be sealed with it and during any vacancy that may occur in the office of Our Chancellor both the custody of Our Great Seal as aforesaid and also all other powers duties and functions of Our Chancellor except those appertaining to his office as Speaker of Our House of Lords Provided That upon the return of Our Chancellor to Our United Kingdom after any absence therefrom in pursuance of Our leave hereinbefore granted Our Commissioners shall immediately recommit to Our Chancellor the custody of Our Great Seal without any further commission warrant or authority in that respect but that this Our Commission shall not be determined by the return of Our Chancellor to Our United Kingdom or by the recommitment to him of Our Great Seal or by its commitment after a vacancy in the office of Our Chancellor to a new holder that office but until We give further order or direction to the contrary this Our Commission shall endure and be a continuing Commission operating during any further absence of Our Chancellor from Our United Kingdom and during any further vacancy that may occur in his office save however that nothing in this Commission shall operate to commit the custody of Our Great Seal or any other power duty or function of Our Chancellor to Our Commissioners during any time when Our Great Seal is in Our custody And We do hereby declare that during any period when by virtue of these Presents the custody of Our Great Seal stands committed to Our Commissioners any two of Our Commissioners may pass or cause to be passed under Our Great Seal any thing which ought so to pass And during any period when by virtue of these Presents other powers duties and functions of Our Chancellor stand committed to Our Commissioners those powers duties and functions may be exercised by any three Commissioners who hold any of the following offices that is to say the Lord Chief Justice of England the Lord President of Our Privy Council the Keeper of Our Privy Seal the Master of the Rolls the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland the President of the Family Division of Our High Court of Justice or the Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division of Our High Court of Justice In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent Witness Ourself at Westminster the sixth day of March in the twenty-ninth year of Our Reign
By The Queen Herself
Bourne
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THE SCHEDULE
The Lord Chief Justice of England The Lord President of Our Privy Council
The Keeper of Our Privy Seal
The Chairman of Committees of Our House of Lords
The Master of the Rolls
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The President of the Family Division of Our High Court of Justice
The Lords Justices of Our Court of Appeal
The Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division of Our High Court The Justices of Our High Court of Justice
Warranty
Immediate Warrant
Seal Type
Wax Seal
Ornamentation
Black and white Royal Arms at the top of each page.
Royal name is capitalized along with "by the Grace of God" and begins with a drop cap. Royal name and style are written in a larger hand.
Text after the royal name and style is handwritten.
Royal name is capitalized along with "by the Grace of God" and begins with a drop cap. Royal name and style are written in a larger hand.
Text after the royal name and style is handwritten.
Special Features
This superseded the Commission dated June 26, 1979. The language has been simplified somewhat, and instead of committing the Great Seal to named individuals, it instead commits it to the holders of certain offices.
This Commission also states that the Commissioners of the Great Seal would not exercise any of the Lord Chancellor's duties as Speaker of the House of Lords.
The fact that this document is mostly handwritten and received the pendant Great Seal is noteworthy given that this was essentially an administrative document that is unlikely to have been displayed anywhere.
This Commission also states that the Commissioners of the Great Seal would not exercise any of the Lord Chancellor's duties as Speaker of the House of Lords.
The fact that this document is mostly handwritten and received the pendant Great Seal is noteworthy given that this was essentially an administrative document that is unlikely to have been displayed anywhere.
Files
Citation
Queen Elizabeth II, “Letters Patent - Commission for the Custody of the Great Seal [1980-03-06],” Corpus of British Administrative Instruments, accessed October 20, 2026, https://cbaionline.org/corpus/items/show/568.