Ecclesiastical Household

The Ecclesiastical Household is a part of the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Reflecting the different constitutions of the churches of England and Scotland, there are separate households in each nation.

The Church of England Ecclesiastical Household comprises the College of Chaplains, and the associated Chapel Royal, the Royal Almonry Office, various Domestic Chaplains, and service Chaplains.

The College of Chaplains is under the Clerk of the Closet, an office dating from 1437. It is normally held by a diocesan bishop, who may however remain in office after leaving his see. The current clerk is Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford. The Deputy Clerk of the Closet, a new office dating only from 1677, is Paul Wright, Domestic Chaplain to the Sovereign and Sub-dean of the Chapel Royal and the sole full-time clerical member of the household. The sub-dean is assisted by Priests-in-Ordinary to the Sovereign.

The Clerk of the Closet is responsible for advising the Private Secretary to the Sovereign on the names for candidates to fill vacancies in the Roll of Chaplains to the Sovereign. He presents bishops for homage to the sovereign; examines any theological books to be presented to the sovereign; and preaches annually in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace. He receives a salary of £7 a year.

Some three or four chaplains are appointed annually, and one is kept vacant for the sovereign's own choosing.

The College of Chaplains consists of those appointed chaplain to the monarch. They are honorary chaplains who do not fulfill any formal duties. They preach once a year in the Chapel Royal.

During the reign of Queen Victoria, there were 36 Chaplains-in-Ordinary and a number of honorary chaplains. A new appointment as chaplain would traditionally be made among the honorary chaplains. Upon his accession in 1901, Edward VII reduced the number of chaplains-in-ordinary to 12 and removed the prerequisite that a chaplain need previously have been appointed an honorary chaplain.

Chaplains appointed as a bishop or to other senior church positions leave the household.

• Charles Wesley, D.D. 1847 - 14 September 1859
• Augustus Frederick Phipps 18 June 1847 – 27 January 1896
• John Barlow ? – 1867 (resigned)
• Daniel Heneage Finch-Hatton 1866 – ?
• Edward Meyrick Goulburn – 1866 (resigned, appointed Dean)
• William Henry Brookfield 1 January 1867 – ? (replacing Goulburn)
• William Thomas Bullock 13 September 1867 – ? (replacing Barlow)
• Francis Byng 1872 – 1889 (resigned)
• Francis Pigou, Rural Dean, Vicar of Doncaster 4 July 1874 – ?)
• James Moorhouse, Rural Dean, Vicar of Paddington 4 July 1874 – 1876 (resigned, appointed a bishop)
• Edward Benson, Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral 11 October 1875 – 1877 (resigned, appointed a bishop)
• George Granville Bradley, 14 September 1876 – ?
• William Henry Bliss, 8 November 1876 – ?
• Henry John Ellison, Honorary Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, Vicar of Windsor 26 December 1879 – 25 December 1899 (deceased)
• John Llewelyn Davies, Rector of Christ Church, Marylebone 10 February 1881 – ?
• Thomas Teignmouth Shore, Vicar of Berkeley Chapel, Mayfair 20 September 1881 – 22 January 1902
• Arthur Robins, Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Windsor 10 October 1882 – 1899 (deceased)
• John Blakeney, Archdeacon of Sheffield, Prebend of York 3 January 1890 – 12 January 1895 (replacing Byng), (deceased)
• Thomas Blundell Hollinshead Blundell, M.A., Rector of Halsall, Ormskirk 31 December 1895 – 1901
• W. Rogers – 1896 (deceased)
• James Welldon 1892 – 6 December 1898 (resigned, appointed a bishop)
• Clement Smith, Rector of Whippingham, Isle of Wight 2 March 1896 – 22 January 1901 (replacing Rogers)
• Alfred Ainger 2 March 1896 – 22 January 1901 (replacing Phipps)
• Arthur Lyttelton, 1896 – 6 December 1898 (appointed a bishop)
• John Henry Joshua Ellison, Vicar of Windsor 1896 – 22 January 1901
• Archibald Boyd-Carpenter, MA, Rector of St George's, Bloomsbury 13 December 1897 – (replacing John Neale Dalton)
• Charles Turner, Rector of St. Georges-in-the-East, London 21 April 1898 – 13 July 1898 (replacing Selwyn), (resigned, appointed a bishop)
• Walter Lawrance, Rector of St Albans, Hertfordshire 13 July 1898 – ?
• Herbert Edward Ryle, Hulsean Professor of Divinity at Cambridge 6 December 1898 – 4 January 1901 (resigned, appointed a bishop)
• William Donne, Vicar of Wakefield 6 December 1898 – ?
• Frederick Cecil Alderson 1 January 1900 – 22 January 1901 (replacing Robins)
• Robert Henry Hadden 1 January 1900 – 22 January 1902 (replacing Ellison)
• Robert Moberly 4 January 1901 – 22 January 1901

• Alfred Ainger 23 July 1901 – ?
• (First name unknown) Duckworth, 23 July 1901 – ?
• John Henry Joshua Ellison, Vicar of Windsor 23 July 1901 – 1910
• James Fleming, 23 July 1901 – ?
• Edgar C. S. Gibson, 23 July 1901 – ?
• Charles Gore 23 July 1901 – 1 January 1902 (resigned, appointed a bishop)
• Frederick Hervey, Canon of Norwich and Rector of Sandringham 23 July 1901 – ?
• Robert C. Moberly, 23 July 1901 – ?
• Handley Moule, Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge 23 July 1901 – September 1901 (resigned, appointed a bishop)
• Thomas Teignmouth Shore, 23 July 1901 – ?
• Clement Smith, Canon of Windsor and Rector of Whippingham, Isle of Wight 23 July 1901 – 1910
• Leonard Francis Tyrwhitt, 23 July 1901 – ?
• James Adams, Vicar of Stow Bardolph 31 October 1901 – ? (replacing Moule)
• Armitage Robinson 1 January 1902 – October 1902 (replacing Gore), (resigned, appointed a dean)
• Augustus Jessopp, DD, Rector of Scarning, East Dereham 15 November 1902 – (replacing Robinson)

• John Stott, 1959–1991, and, on his retirement in 1991, an Extra Chaplain

• John Cawston, Chaplain of the Fleet, dates unknown
• William Henry Brookfield, Inspector of Schools 24 March 1862 – 1 January 1867
• William Drake, Honorary Canon of Worcester, Rural Dean and Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry 24 March 1862 – ?
• Lord Wriothesley Russell, Canon of Windsor, Rector of Chenies 28 March 1862 – ?
• Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church 28 March 1862 – January 1898 (deceased)
• Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Canon of Christ Church, Oxford 28 March 1862 – ?
• Joseph Lightfoot, Hulsean Professor of Divinity, Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge 28 March 1862 – ?
• John Edward Kempe, Prebend of St Paul's Cathedral and Rector of St. James Church, Westminster 26 June 1862 – ?
• George Protheroe 6 July 1865 – ?
• Thomas James Rowsell, Rector of St. Christopher-le-Stocks, and St. Margaret's, Lothbury 20 January 1866 – 1869
• Stopford Augustus Brooke 1 January 1867 – 1875
• Francis Byng 1867–1872
• Francis Pigou, ? – 4 July 1874
• James Moorhouse, ? – 4 July 1874
• Edward Benson, ? – 11 October 1875
• George Bradley, Master of University College, Oxford 4 July 1874 – ?
• William Henry Bliss, Minor Canon of Windsor, and Rector of West Isley, Berkshire 4 July 1874 – 8 November 1876
• Henry John Ellison, Honorary Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, Vicar of St John the Baptist Church, Windsor 11 October 1875 – 26 December 1879
• John Llewelyn Davies, Rector of Christ Church, St. Marylebone 8 November 1876 – 10 February 1881
• Thomas Teignmouth Shore, Vicar of Berkeley Chapel, Mayfair 2 July 1878 – 20 September 1881
• Arthur Robins, Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Windsor, and Chaplain to Her Majesty's Household Troops 7 September 1878 – 10 October 1882
• Edward Glyn, Vicar of Kensington 10 February 1881 – ?
• Arthur Lewis Babington Peile, Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Ventnor 10 February 1881 – ?
• Randall Davidson, Resident Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury 10 October 1882
• Richard Gee, Vicar of St John the Baptist Church, Windsor 1884–1901
• John Blakeney, Archdeacon of Sheffield, Prebend of York 1886 – 3 January 1890
• James Welldon 1888–1892
• Archibald Boyd-Carpenter ? – 13 December 1897
• John Fenwick Kitto, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields 3 January 1890 – 1901
• John Erskine Clarke, Vicar of Battersea 27 July 1895 – 22 January 1901
• Alfred Ainger, Master of the Temple 28 January 1895 – 2 March 1896
• John Henry Joshua Ellison, Vicar of St Gabriel's, Pimlico and Vicar of St John the Baptist Church, Windsor 28 January 1895 – ?
• Arthur Lyttelton, Vicar of Eccles 27 July 1895 – 1896
• Clement Smith, Rector of Whippingham, Isle of Wight ? – 2 March 1896
• Charles Turner ? – 21 April 1898
• Walter Lawrance, Rector of St Albans, Hertfordshire ? – 13 July 1898
• Herbert Edward Ryle, Hulsean Professor of Divinity at Cambridge 2 March 1896 – 6 December 1898
• William Donne, Vicar of Wakefield 2 March 1896 – 6 December 1898
• Charles Gore, Canon of Westminster 21 April 1898 – ?
• Edward Perowne, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 21 April 1898 – ?
• Robert Moberly, Canon of Christ Church, Oxford and Regius Professor of Pastoral Theology 13 July 1898 – 4 January 1901
• Frederick Cecil Alderson, Canon of Peterborough and Rector of Lutterworth 13 December 1897 – 1 January 1900
• Robert Henry Hadden, Vicar of St Botolph, Aldgate 13 December 1897 – 1 January 1900
• John Stafford Northcote, Vicar of St Andrew's, Westminster, 6 December 1898 – ?
• Handley Moule, Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge 6 December 1898 – 22 January 1901
• Henry Pereira, Honorary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral 26 January 1900 – 22 January 1901
• Owen Evans, Warden of Llandovery College 26 January 1900 – 22 January 1901
• Edgar Gibson, Vicar of Leeds 4 January 1901 – 22 January 1901

• John Harcourt Berry, M.A., Chaplain of the Fleet 27 March 1901 – ?
• E. H. Goodwin, Chaplain to the Forces, first class 1 June 1901 – ? (in recognition of his services while Principal Chaplain to the South African Field Force)
• Thomas Blundell Hollinshead Blundell, M.A., Rector of Halsall, Ormskirk 26 July 1901 – 1905, (deceased)
• William Stuart Harris, M.A., Chaplain of the Fleet and Inspector of Naval Schools 26 June 1902 – ?

• Noël Jones 1983–1984
• Ray Jones 1984–1989
• T. J. Thomas-Botwood, MBE 1 July 2022 – ?

• S. Ashley-Emery 9 September 2024 – present

• John Swire

• H. G. Daniell-Bainbridge, 23 July 1901 – ?
• H. D. Macnamara, 23 July 1901 – ?
• H. A. Sheringham, 23 July 1901 – ?
• R. Tahourdin, 23 July 1901 – ?

• Trevitt Hine-Haycock
• William Whitcombe
• Jonathan Osborne

• H. Aldrich Cotton, 23 July 1901 – ?
• E. W. Kempe, 23 July 1901 – ?
• Edwin Price, 23 July 1901 – ?
• John Swire, 23 July 1901 – May 1902

The King's Household in Scotland (Ecclesiastical) consists of chaplains who are all ministers of the Church of Scotland.

The current Dean of the Chapel Royal (since 2019) is Professor David Fergusson, who was also appointed Dean of the Thistle at the same time. Other members are the Dean of the Thistle (where held by another individual), and two Domestic Chaplains: the minister at Crathie Kirk (by Balmoral Castle) and the minister at the Canongate Kirk (by the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh). There are ten "Chaplains in Ordinary". Upon retirement the chaplains may be appointed "Extra Chaplains".

• William Gusthart from 1727 to 1764

• Robert Lee, DD 17 December 1846 – 1868
• Norman Macleod ? – 1862 (deceased)
• John Stuart, minister of St Andrew's church, Edinburgh 8 December 1862 – ? (replacing Macleod)
• Archibald Watson, 2 May 1868 – in place of Robert Lee, deceased
• Robert Herbert Story, 1886 – ?

• Archibald Charteris, 18 October 1901 – 1908
• Donald Macleod, 18 October 1901 – 1910
• Cameron Lees, 18 October 1901 – 1910
• James MacGregor, 18 October 1901 – 1910
• Robert Herbert Story, 18 October 1901 – 1907
• J. R. Mitford Mitchell, 18 October 1901 – 1910
• Samuel James Ramsay Sibbald, Minister of the Parish of Crathie 30 June 1903 – ? (in place of Charteris, deceased)

• Donald Macleod, 7 May 1910 – 1916
• Cameron Lees, 7 May 1910 – 1913
• James MacGregor, 7 May 1910 – 1910
• J. R. Mitford Mitchell, 7 May 1910 – 1925
• Wallace Williamson, 7 May 1910 – 1926
• Samuel James Ramsay Sibbald, 7 May 1910 – 1936
• Pearson McAdam Muir, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 16 December 1910 – 1924 (in place of MacGregor, deceased)
• Robert Howie Fisher, minister of Morningside, Edinburgh 25 July 1913 – ? (in place of Lees)
• Alexander Miller Maclean, 27 October 1914 – 1925 (in place of J.R. Mitford Mitchell, deceased)
• William Paterson Paterson, 10 March 1916 – 1936 (in place of Macleod)
• John White, 8 August 1924 – (in place of Muir, deceased)
• Archibald Main, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Glasgow 29 May 1925 – 1936 (in place of Alexander Miller Maclean, deceased)
• Norman MacLean, Collegiate Minister of St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh 24 August 1926 – 1936 (in place of Wallace Williamson, deceased)
• Alexander Martin, Principal of New College, Edinburgh. 8 November 1929 – 1936
• Robert J. Drummond, 8 November 1929 – 1936
• Donald Fraser, 8 November 1929 – 1933
• George Adam Smith, 3 October 1933 – 1936 (in place of Donald Fraser)
• Charles Warr, Dean of the Chapel Royal and Dean of the Thistle, 8 November 1934 – 1936 (in place of Robert Howie Fisher; extra Chaplain in 1934)
• John White

• Samuel James Ramsay Sibbald, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• William Paterson Paterson, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• John White, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• Archibald Main, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• Norman MacLean, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• Alexander Martin, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• Robert J. Drummond, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• George Adam Smith, 21 July 1936 – 1937
• Charles Warr, 21 July 1936 – 1937

• Samuel James Ramsay Sibbald, 2 March 1937 – 1950
• William Paterson Paterson, 2 March 1937 – ?
• John White, 2 March 1937 – ?
• Archibald Main, 2 March 1937 – 1947
• Norman MacLean, 2 March 1937 – ?
• Alexander Martin, 2 March 1937 – 1946
• Robert J. Drummond, 2 March 1937 – 1951
• Sir George Adam Smith, 2 March 1937 – 1942
• Charles Laing Warr, 2 March 1937 – 1952
• James Macdougall Black, 5 May 1942 – 1948 (in place of Sir George Adam Smith, deceased)
• James Hutchinson Cockburn, 24 November 1944 – 1952 (in place of John Stirton, deceased)
• Andrew Nevile Davidson, 30 July 1946 – 1952 (in place of Alexander Martin, deceased)
• John Baillie, 3 June 1947 – 1952 (in place of Archibald Main, deceased)
• William White Anderson, 15 November 1949 – 1952 (in place of James Black, deceased)
• John Henry Duncan, 31 October 1950 – 1951 (in place of Samuel Sibbald, deceased)
• Thomas Bentley Stewart Thomson, 16 March 1951 – 1952 (in place of John Henry Duncan, deceased)
• James Pitt Watson, 17 August 1951 – 1952 (in place of Robert J. Drummond, deceased)

• Charles Laing Warr 1 August 1952 – 9 December 1969
• James Hutchison Cockburn 1 August 1952 – 1973
• Andrew Nevile Davidson 1 August 1952 – 1969
• John Baillie 1 August 1952 – 1960
• William White Anderson 1 August 1952 –
• Thomas Bentley Stewart Thomson 1 August 1952 – 1959 (thereafter Extra chaplain)
• Professor James Pitt Watson 1 August 1952 – 1963
• Professor James Stuart Stewart 1 August 1952 – 1966 (thereafter Extra chaplain)
• John Annand Fraser 1 August 1952 – 23 June 1964 (thereafter Extra Chaplain)
• John Lamb 1 August 1952 – (Domestic Chaplain Balmoral)
• Hugh Osborne Douglas, 17 December 1959 – 18 September 1981 (in place of Thomas Thomson, resigned) thereafter Extra chaplain
• Ronald William Vernon Selby Wright, 24 May 1963 – ? (in place of James Pitt Watson, deceased)
• Henry Charles Whitley, 24 May 1963 – 1976 thereafter Extra Chaplain
• Anderson Nicol 23 June 1964 – 1972 (in place of John Annand Fraser)
• William Henry Rogan 1966–1978 (in place of James Stuart Stewart) thereafter Extra Chaplain
• Robert Leonard Small 12 September 1967 – 1975 (in place of Edgar Primrose Dickie, retired) thereafter Extra Chaplain
• W R Sanderson
• William Morris 15 April 1969 – ? (in place of Nevile Davidson, retired)
• George Thomson Henderson Reid 1969–1980 (in place of Charles Laing Warr, deceased)
• James Boyd Prentice Bulloch 1980–1981 (in place of Reid, retired)
• William Bryce Johnston 1981–1991 (in place of Bulloch, deceased)
• Colin Forrester-Paton 18 September 1981 – 5 April 1988 (in place of Hugh Osborne Douglas, retired) thereafter Extra chaplain
• Harry William Macphail Cant 1972–1991 (in place of Anderson Nicol, deceased)
• Kenneth Macvicar 1974–1991
• John McIntyre 1975-1986 (in place of Robert Leonard Small, retired)
• Robin Barbour 1976–1991 (in place of Henry Whitley, retired)
• Allan Young 1978–1979 (in place of Rogan, retired)
• Gilleasbuig Macmillan 1979–2014 (in place of Young, deceased)
• William Boyd Robertson Macmillan 5 April 1988 – (in place of Colin Forrester-Paton, retired)
• James Leslie Weatherhead 11 April 1991 – 2017 (in place of Harry William MacPhail Cant, deceased)
• Mary Irene Levison 11 May 1991 – 29 January 1993 (in place of RAS Barbour, retired) (thereafter Extra Chaplain)
• Andrew Stewart Todd 1991 – ? (in place of MacVicar, retired)
• Charles Robertson 1991–2010 (in place of Johnston, retired)
• Iain Torrance 2001–2019
• James Alexander Simpson 21 July 1992 – 2004 (in place of Alwyn James Cecil Macfarlane, retired)
• Norman Walker Drummond 29 Jan 1993 – 2022 (in place of Levison, retired)
• John Paterson ? – 2008
• James Gibson 2004 – 2018 (afterwards extra Chaplain)
• Angus Morrison 2006 – ?
• Kenneth MacKenzie 2007 – ? (Domestic chaplain)
• Lorna Hood 2008 – ? (in place of Paterson, retired)
• Neil Gardner 2008 – ? (Domestic chaplain)
• Alistair Bennett 2010–2022
• Susan Brown 2012 – ?
• John Chalmers 2013 – ?
• Finlay Macdonald 2001–2015
• David Fergusson 2015 – ?
• Alastair Symington 1996–2017
• George Cowie 2017–2022
• James Gibson – 2018
• Liz Henderson 2018 – present (in place of Gibson)
• George Whyte 2019 – present
• Dr Marjory Maclean 2022 – present (in place of Cowie, deceased)
• Dr Grant Barclay 2022 – present (in place of Drummond)
• Prof John Swinton 2022 – present (in place of Bennett)

• Malcolm C. Taylor, 18 October 1901 – ?

• Malcolm C. Taylor, 7 May 1910 – ?
• Charles Laing Warr 12 March 1926

• George Thomson Henderson Reid 1980 – ?
• Kenneth Macvicar 1991 – ?
• William Bryce Johnston 1991 – ?
• Gilleasbuig Macmillan 2014 – ?
• Iain Torrance 2019 – ?
• John Chalmers 2022 – ?

• Dr. Elizabeth Lorna Hood 2023 – present
• Dr. Angus Morrison 2023 – present