{{Short description|Officer of the English Crown}} {{Distinguish|Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland}} [[File:SirOrlandoBridgemanLC.jpg|thumb|[[Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Baronet, of Great Lever|Sir Orlando Bridgeman]], Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, 1667–72, with his ceremonial purse for the seal, shown below]] [[File:Toilet Service at Weston Park, Staffs DSCF1061 10.jpg|thumb|Ceremonial purse at [[Weston Park]], used by Sir Orlando as Lord Keeper and shown in his portrait above]]
The '''Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England''', and later '''of Great Britain''', was formerly an officer of the [[English Crown]] charged with [[Keeper of the Seals|physical custody]] of the [[Great Seal of England]].<ref name="Rogers 2012 p. 34">{{cite book | last=Rogers | first=R. | title=Who Goes Home: A Parliamentary Miscellany | publisher=Biteback Publishing | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-84954-480-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPmtAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 | access-date=30 April 2019 | page=34}}</ref> This position evolved into that of one of the [[Great Officers of State (United Kingdom)|Great Officers of State]].
== History == The seal was adopted by [[Edward the Confessor]], and its custody was at first entrusted to a [[chancellor]]. The office of chancellor from the time of [[Thomas Becket]] onwards varied much in importance. The holder being a churchman, he was not only engaged in the business of his [[diocese]], but was sometimes away from England. Consequently, it became not unusual to place the personal custody of the great seal in the hands of a ''vice-chancellor'' or ''keeper''; this was also the practice followed during a temporary vacancy in the chancellorship.<ref name="eb">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Lord Keeper of the Great Seal|volume=17|page=5}}</ref>
This office gradually developed into a permanent appointment, and the lord keeper acquired the right of discharging all the duties connected with the great seal. He was usually, though not necessarily, a [[peerage|peer]], and held office during the [[At Her Majesty's Pleasure|king's pleasure]]. He was appointed merely by delivery of the seal, and not, like the chancellor, by [[letters patent|patent]].<ref name="eb" /> His status was definitely fixed (in the case of lord keeper [[Nicholas Bacon (courtier)|Sir Nicholas Bacon]]) by the [[Lord Keeper Act 1562]] (5 Eliz 1 c. 18),<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Precedence|volume=22|page=267|first1=Francis Maurice|last1=Drummond|first2=William Alexander|last2=Lindsay|author2-link=William Lindsay (officer of arms)}}</ref> which declared him entitled to ''like place, pre-eminence, [[jurisdiction]], execution of laws, and all other [[Customary law|customs]], [[commodities]], and advantages'' as the [[Lord Chancellor]]. In subsequent reigns the lord keeper was generally raised to the chancellorship, and retained the custody of the seal.<ref name="eb" />
The last lord keeper was [[Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington|Robert Henley]], afterwards Earl of Northington, who was made chancellor on the accession of [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]].<ref name="eb" />
== See also == * [[Chafe-wax]] * [[Great Seal of Scotland]] (held by the First Minister since 1999) * [[Great Seal of Northern Ireland]] (held by the Secretary of State since 1973) * [[Welsh Seal]] (held by the First Minister since 2011) * [[List of lord chancellors and lord keepers]] * [[Lord Chancellor]] * [[Lord Privy Seal]]
== References == {{reflist}}
[[Category:Political history of England]] [[Category:Constitution of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Lord Keepers of the Great Seal| ]]