https://cbaionline.org/corpus/files/original/a086b2c6da6c60430987f845667f1903.pdf dfac5ea63dae9a3b37ffb904f638b673 Letters Patent Letters Patent are sealed with the Great Seal of the Realm. Transcript A transcript of the document. Page 1 <p style="margin-bottom:0;text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:8.5em;color:#000;float:left;line-height:0.8;padding-right:0.1em;margin-top:-0.05em;">E</span> <span style="font-size:5.25em;">LIZABETH THE SECOND</span><br /><span style="font-size:1.5em;"><span> <br />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<br /></span></span></p> To the Commissioners most particularly described hereinafter and all other Our faithful Subjects whatsoever to whom these Presents shall come Greeting Whereas Our right trusty and well beloved Counsellor Quintin McGarel Baron Hailsham of St. Marylebone Our Chancellor of Great Britain hath humbly besought Us to grant to him and his successors in office (the holder for the time being of the said office being hereinafter called Our Chancellor) leave to be absent from Our United Kingdom from time to time during Our Pleasure and We are graciously pleased to assent to his request And Whereas We deem it expedient to commit to the Commissioners constituted by and for the purposes of these Presents (hereinafter called Our Commissioners) the custody of Our Great Seal of Our Realm (hereinafter called Our Great Seal) during and such absence of Our Chancellor save when it is in Our custody And whereas We further deem it expedient to commit to Our Commissioners during any vacancy that may in future occur in the office of Our Chancellor (save when Our Great Seal is in Our custody) both the custody of Our Great Seal and all other powers duties and functions of Our Chancellor except those appertaining to his office as Speaker of Our House of Lords Know Ye That We do hereby grant leave to Our Chancellor to be absent from Our United Kingdom from time to time during Our Pleasure until We give further order or direction to the contrary to the intent that such leave shall not determine by the return of Our Chancellor to Our United Kingdom but shall endure and be a continuing leave to Our Chancellor to be absent from Our United Kingdom from time to time And That We do hereby constitute as Our Commissioners for the purposes of these Presents the holders for the time being of the offices listed in the Schedule annexed hereto And That We do hereby commit to Our Commissioners during any absence of Our Chancellor from Our United Kingdom in pursuance of Our Leave hereinbefore granted <!-- Divider --> <div style="border-top:2px solid #000;margin:2em 0;"><br />Page 2<br /><br />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 <br /><br /> <div style="text-align:center;font-weight:bold;font-size:1.2em;margin:0.5em 0;">By The Queen Herself</div> <div style="text-align:right;font-weight:bold;margin:0.5em 0;">Bourne</div> <!-- Divider --> <div style="border-top:2px solid #000;margin:2em 0;"><br />Page 3<br /><br /> <div style="text-align:center;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;">THE SCHEDULE</div> The Lord Chief Justice of England <br />The Lord President of Our Privy Council <br />The Keeper of Our Privy Seal<br />The Chairman of Committees of Our House of Lords<br />The Master of the Rolls<br />The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland<br />The President of the Family Division of Our High Court of Justice<br />The Lords Justices of Our Court of Appeal<br />The Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division of Our High Court The Justices of Our High Court of Justice</div> </div> Warranty The authority for passing the document under the Great Seal. Immediate Warrant Seal Type The Great Seal can be either a pendant wax seal or an embossed seal on the document itself. Wax Seal Ornamentation Describe any 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. Special Features This is a place to enter any distinguishing features. This superseded the <a href="https://cbaionline.org/corpus/items/show/556">Commission dated June 26, 1979</a>. 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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br /><span>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.</span> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letters Patent - Commission for the Custody of the Great Seal [1980-03-06] Subject The topic of the resource Great Seal Description An account of the resource 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 An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Queen Elizabeth II Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived LCO 6/3932 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-03-06 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Loch Relation A related resource <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/WillandMar/1/21/section/I.">Great Seal Act 1688</a><span> (note that this simply clarified the powers of Commissioners of the Great Seal appointed under the royal prerogative)</span> Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords Great Seal Justices of the High Court Lord Chancellor Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord President of the Council Master of the Rolls Monarch Royal Prerogative Superseded Instruments Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division