The Chancellor of the Order of the Garter is an officer of the Order of the Garter.
History of the office When the Order of the Garter was founded in 1348 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle by King Edward III, three officers were initially appointed to serve them: the Prelate, the Register and the Usher. In 1477 Edward IV decreed that the further position of Chancellor should be created to be responsible for the seal and its use. Accommodation was to be provided in what came to be called the Chancellor's Tower. The position of Chancellor was to be second in seniority to the Prelate and was granted to Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, and his successors in that position. At that time Windsor Chapel lay geographically in the See of Salisbury, although as a royal chapel it did not come under the direct jurisdiction of the Bishop.
The unbroken succession of Bishops of Salisbury came to an end in 1551 when Sir William Cecil was made Chancellor by Edward VI, after which a succession of lay Chancellors were appointed.
Following a number of petitions by successive Bishops of Salisbury, their right to hold the position was conceded in 1669 and on the death of Henry de Vic the honour reverted to the Bishops of Salisbury.
In 1837 boundary changes made Windsor Castle fall in the diocese of Oxford and the Chancellorship was transferred to the Bishop of Oxford. A century later, the Bishop of Salisbury again challenged the loss of the office on the grounds that the Chancellorship had been attached to his office regardless of the diocese in which the chapel of the order lay and that, in any event, St George's Chapel, as a Royal Peculiar, was not under diocesan jurisdiction. The office of Chancellor was removed from the Bishop of Oxford (the outgoing bishop, Thomas Banks Strong, had been outspoken in the abdication crisis of Edward VIII), and withheld from his successors.
The office has since been held by one of the Knights and Ladies Companion. In 2024, The Baroness Manningham-Buller became the first female chancellor.
Chancellors of the Order of the Garter
Bishops of Salisbury 1477–1481: Richard Beauchamp 1482–1484: Lionel Woodville 1485–1493: Thomas Langton 1493–1499: John Blyth 1500–1501: Henry Deane 1502–1524: Edmund Audley
Lay Chancellors 1551–1553: Sir William Cecil, Secretary of State 1553–1572: Sir William Petre, Secretary of State 1572–1577: Sir Thomas Smith, Secretary of State 1578–1587: Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State 1587–1588: Sir Amias Paulet, Secretary of State 1589–1596: Sir John Wolley, Secretary for the Latin Tongue 1596–1607: Sir Edward Dyer 1607–1617: Sir John Herbert, Secretary of State 1617–1632: Sir George More 1632–1636: Sir Francis Crane 1637-1644: Sir Thomas Roe 1645–1658: Sir James Palmer 1658–1671: Sir Henry de Vic
Bishops of Salisbury 1671–1689: Seth Ward 1689–1715: Gilbert Burnet 1715–1721: William Talbot 1721–1723: Richard Willis 1723–1734: Benjamin Hoadly 1734–1748: Thomas Sherlock 1748–1757: John Gilbert 1757–1761: John Thomas 1761: The Hon Robert Hay Drummond 1761–1766: John Thomas 1766–1782: John Hume 1782–1791: Shute Barrington 1791–1807: John Douglas 1807–1825: John Fisher 1825–1837: Thomas Burgess
Bishops of Oxford 1837–1845: Richard Bagot 1845–1869: Samuel Wilberforce 1870–1889: John Mackarness 1889–1901: William Stubbs 1901–1911: Francis Paget 1911–1919: Charles Gore 1919–1925: Hubert Burge 1925–1937: Thomas Strong
Knights and Ladies Companion Chancellors 1937–1943: The Duke of Portland 1943–1959: The Earl of Halifax 1960–1972: The Marquess of Salisbury 1972–1977: The Viscount Cobham 1977–1994: The Marquess of Abergavenny 1994–2012: The Lord Carrington 2012–2024: The Duke of Abercorn 2024–present: The Baroness Manningham-Buller
References