Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms


The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a post in the Government of the United Kingdom that has been held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords since 1945. Prior to 17 March 1834, the Gentlemen-at-Arms were known as the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners.

List of Captains of the Gentlemen-at-Arms

Date of appointmentHolder
1509The Earl of Essex
1539Sir Anthony Browne
1549The Lord Braye
1550The Marquess of Northampton
1553The Earl of Sussex
1558The Lord Hunsdon
1596The Lord Hunsdon
May 1603The Earl of Northumberland
1615The Earl of Suffolk
1616The Lord Howard de Walden
May 1635The Earl of Salisbury
1643The Lord Dunsmore
temp Charles IIThe Earl of Salisbury
20 July 1660The Earl of Cleveland
29 March 1667The Lord Belasyse
10 March 1672The Viscount Fauconberg
9 May 1676The Earl of Roscommon
24 April 1677The Earl of Scarsdale
26 June 1682The Earl of Huntingdon
28 February 1689The Lord Lovelace
29 November 1693The Duke of St Albans
13 January 1712The Duke of Beaufort
22 September 1714The Duke of St Albans
21 May 1726Marquess of Hartington
11 June 1731The Earl of Burlington
11 June 1734The Duke of Montagu
8 May 1740The Duke of Bolton
12 July 1742The Lord Bathurst
24 December 1744The Lord Hobart
29 March 1782The Lord Ferrers of Chartley
17 May 1783The Earl of Jersey
31 December 1783The Lord Ferrers of Chartley
5 March 1790The Viscount Falmouth
19 February 1806The Lord St John of Bletso
2 March 1808The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
26 March 1812The Earl of Courtown
1 September 1827The Viscount Hereford
9 December 1830The Lord Foley
16 August 1833The Lord Foley
29 December 1834The Viscount Hereford
6 May 1835The Lord Foley
8 September 1841The Lord Forester
24 July 1846The Lord Foley
27 February 1852The Earl of Sandwich
30 December 1852The Lord Foley
26 February 1858The Earl of Shrewsbury
28 June 1859The Lord Foley
10 July 1866The Earl of Tankerville
20 March 1867The Marquess of Exeter
12 December 1868The Lord Foley
27 December 1869The Marquess of Normanby
20 April 1871The Earl Cowper
1 January 1874The Earl of Ilchester
2 March 1874The Marquess of Exeter
4 February 1875The Earl of Shrewsbury
28 May 1877The Earl of Coventry
3 May 1880The Earl Fife
21 January 1881The Marquess of Huntly
27 June 1881The Lord Carrington
6 July 1885The Earl of Coventry
10 February 1886The Lord Sudeley
5 August 1886The Viscount Barrington
24 November 1886The Earl of Rosslyn
11 August 1890The Earl of Yarborough
25 August 1892The Lord Vernon
13 March 1894The Earl of Chesterfield
16 July 1895The Lord Belper
18 December 1905The Earl Beauchamp
31 July 1907The Lord Denman
26 June 1911The Lord Colebrooke
20 November 1922The Earl of Clarendon
22 January 1924The Earl of Dunmore
1 December 1924The Earl of Clarendon
26 June 1925The Earl of Plymouth
1 January 1929The Earl of Lucan
5 June 1929The Earl of Cavan
12 November 1931The Earl of Lucan
31 May 1940The Lord Snell
21 April 1944Vacant
22 March 1945The Earl Fortescue
4 August 1945The Lord Ammon
18 October 1949The Lord Shepherd
5 November 1951The Earl Fortescue
27 June 1957The Earl St Aldwyn
21 October 1964The Lord Shepherd
29 July 1967The Lord Beswick
24 June 1970The Earl St Aldwyn
11 March 1974The Baroness Llewelyn-Davies
6 May 1979The Lord Denham
22 May 1991The Lord Hesketh
16 September 1993The Viscount Ullswater
20 July 1994The Lord Strathclyde
6 May 1997The Lord Carter
1 May 2002The Lord Grocott
24 January 2008The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
5 October 2008The Lord Bassam of Brighton
13 May 2010The Baroness Anelay of St John's
6 August 2014The Lord Taylor of Holbeach
26 July 2019The Lord Ashton of Hyde