Lord Great Chamberlain

The Lord Great Chamberlain of England[1] is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal but above the Lord High Constable. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is an ancient one: it was first created around 1126 (in Norman times) and has been in continuous existence since 1138. The incumbent is Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington.

Lord Great Chamberlain of England
since 8 September 2022
Joint hereditary officeholders
StyleThe Right Honourable
TypeGreat Officer of State
AppointerThe Monarch
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Formationc. 1126
First holderRobert Malet
Superseded byLord High Treasurer (in monetary affairs)
SuccessionHereditary
SalaryUnpaid

Duties

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The Lord Great Chamberlain, Lord Carrington, on the occasion of a royal visit to the Palace of Westminster in 2023 (wearing his scarlet court uniform with gold key insignia and carrying his wand of office).

The Lord Great Chamberlain is entrusted by the Sovereign with custody of the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British Parliament, and serves as his or her representative therein.[2] The Lord Great Chamberlain enjoys plenary jurisdiction in those precincts of the Palace of Westminster not assigned to either the House of Lords or the House of Commons: namely, the Royal Apartments, Central Lobby, and the Crypt Chapel. To this end, the Lord Great Chamberlain is responsible for the use, preservation, and occupation of such spaces.[a] In addition, the Lord Great Chamberlain is one of the three commissioners who exercise control and maintenance over Westminster Hall; the other commissioners are the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords and the Speaker of the House of Commons.[4]

The Lord Great Chamberlain performs other less routine functions as custodian of the Palace of Westminster. For example, the Lord Great Chamberlain welcomes foreign heads of state visiting the Palace of Westminster. Likewise, the Lord Great Chamberlain is responsible for attending upon the Sovereign and other members of the British royal family whenever present at the parliamentary estate. In the latter case, the Lord Great Chamberlain is authorised to make any administrative arrangements necessary for delivery of services required by the Sovereign.[5][6]

However, the Lord Great Chamberlain’s most publicly visible parliamentary role is participating in state openings of Parliament. To this end, the Lord Great Chamberlain receives the Sovereign at the Norman Porch, enrobes him or her with the Robe of State and the Imperial State Crown in the Robing Room, and leads the Sovereign’s procession through the Royal Gallery and the Prince's Chamber into the Lords Chamber.[7] It is also the Lord Great Chamberlain who, upon the command of the Sovereign, directs Black Rod to summon members of the House of Commons to attend the House of Lords for the purpose of hearing the speech from the throne.[8]

Parliamentary responsibilities aside, the Lord Great Chamberlain also has a major part to play in royal coronations, having the right to dress the monarch on coronation day and to serve the monarch water before and after the coronation banquet. Likewise, the Lord Great Chamberlain invests the monarch with the insignia of rule during the coronation service.[9][10] On state occasions like coronations, the Lord Great Chamberlain wears a distinctive scarlet court uniform and bears a gold key and a white staff as the insignia of his office.[11]

The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is distinct from the non-hereditary office of Lord Chamberlain of the Household, a position in the monarch's household. This office arose in the 14th century as a deputy of the Lord Great Chamberlain to fulfil the latter's duties in the Royal Household, but now they are quite distinct.

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that a hereditary peer exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain (as well as the Earl Marshal) be exempt from such a rule, in order to perform ceremonial functions.

Succession

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The position is a hereditary one, held since 1780 in gross. At any one time, no single person actually exercises the office of Lord Great Chamberlain. The various individuals who hold fractions of the office are properly each Joint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain. They choose one individual of the rank of a knight or higher to be the Deputy Lord Great Chamberlain.[12][13] Under an agreement made in 1912, the right to exercise the office for a given reign rotates among three families (of the then three joint office holders) in proportion to the fraction of the office held. For instance, the Marquesses of Cholmondeley hold one-half of the office, and may therefore exercise the office or appoint a deputy every alternate reign. Whenever one of the three shares of the 1912 agreement is split further, the joint heirs of this share have to agree among each other, who should be their deputy or any mechanism to determine who of them has the right to choose a deputy.

History of the office

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The Lord Great Chamberlain, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley (left), holding his white staff of office; the Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman; and the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, showing US President Barack Obama around Members' Lobby during a tour of the Palace in May 2011.

The office was originally held by Robert Malet, a son of one of the leading companions of William the Conqueror. In 1133, however, King Henry I declared Malet's estates and titles forfeit, and awarded the office of Lord Great Chamberlain to Aubrey de Vere, whose son was created Earl of Oxford. Thereafter, the Earls of Oxford held the title almost continuously until 1526, with a few intermissions due to the forfeiture of some Earls for treason. In 1526, however, the fourteenth Earl of Oxford died, leaving his aunts as his heirs. The earldom was inherited by a more distant heir-male, his second cousin. The Sovereign (at that time Henry VIII) then decreed that the office belonged to the Crown, and was not transmitted along with the earldom. The Sovereign appointed the fifteenth Earl to the office, but the appointment was deemed for life and was not hereditary. The family's association with the office was interrupted in 1540, when the fifteenth earl died and Thomas Cromwell, the King's chief adviser, was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain.[14] After Cromwell's attainder and execution later the same year, the office passed through a few more court figures, until 1553, when it was passed back to the De Vere family, the sixteenth Earl of Oxford, again as an uninheritable life appointment.[15] Later, Queen Mary I ruled that the Earls of Oxford were indeed entitled to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain on an hereditary basis.

Thus, the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth Earls of Oxford held the position on a hereditary basis until 1626, when the eighteenth Earl died, again leaving a distant relative as heir male, but a closer one as a female heir. The House of Lords eventually ruled that the office belonged to the heir general, Robert Bertie, 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, who later became Earl of Lindsey. The office remained vested in the Earls of Lindsey, who later became Dukes of Ancaster and Kesteven.

In 1779, however, the fourth Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven died, leaving two sisters as female heirs, and an uncle as an heir male. The uncle became the fifth and last Duke, but the House of Lords ruled that the two sisters were jointly Lord Great Chamberlain and could appoint a Deputy to fulfil the functions of the office. The barony of Willoughby de Eresby fell into abeyance between the two sisters, but the Sovereign terminated the abeyance and granted the title to the elder sister, Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain, however, was divided between Priscilla and her younger sister Georgiana. Priscilla's share was eventually split between two of her granddaughters, and has been split several more times since then. By contrast, Georgiana's share has been inherited by a single male heir each time; that individual has in each case been the Marquess of Cholmondeley, a title created for Georgiana's husband.

20th and 21st centuries

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6 May 2023: Lord Carrington (Lord Great Chamberlain since 2022) on his way to the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla (with Baroness Manningham-Buller, LG).

In 1902 it was ruled by the House of Lords that the then joint office holders (the 1st Earl of Ancaster, the 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and the Earl Carrington, later Marquess of Lincolnshire) had to agree on a deputy to exercise the office, subject to the approval of the Sovereign. Should there be no such agreement, the Sovereign should appoint a deputy until an agreement be reached.[16]

In 1912 an agreement was reached. The office, or right to appoint the person to exercise the office, would thereafter rotate among the three joint office holders and their heirs after them, changing at the start of each successive reign. Cholmondeley and his heirs would serve in every other reign; Ancaster and Carrington would each serve once in four reigns.[17]

As the Cholmondeley share and the Ancaster share (held since 1983 by the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby) are not further split, each of these holders decides in his or her turn to act as Lord Great Chamberlain or to name a person who will act as Lord Great Chamberlain. The Carrington share was divided at his death among his five daughters and their heirs, and has since been further divided, with 11 people holding shares as of September 2022. At accession of Charles III the turn fell to the Carrington heirs who named their cousin Rupert Carington, 7th Baron Carrington, to act as Lord Great Chamberlain.[18][19][20] Being descended from the Earl's younger brother he himself has no share of the office.

On 6 May 2023, the Lord Great Chamberlain presented spurs to King Charles III as part of Charles' coronation. The spurs were included among the first English coronation ornaments in 1189 and were used during the coronation of Richard I.[21]

Lord Great Chamberlains, 1130–1779

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Portrait Name Term of office Monarch
(reign)
  Robert Malet 1130 1133 Henry I
(1100–1135)
  Aubrey de Vere II 1133 1141
Stephen
(1135–1154)
  Aubrey de Vere
1st Earl of Oxford
1141 1194
Henry II
(1154–1189)
Richard I
(1189–1199)
  Aubrey de Vere
2nd Earl of Oxford
1194 1214
John
(1199–1216)
  Robert de Vere
3rd Earl of Oxford
1214 1221
Henry III
 
(1216–1272)
  Hugh de Vere
4th Earl of Oxford
1221 1263
  Robert de Vere
5th Earl of Oxford
1263 1265
  unclear, perhaps vacant 1265 1267
  unclear, perhaps again
Robert de Vere
5th Earl of Oxford
1267 1296
Edward I
(1272–1307)
  Robert de Vere
6th Earl of Oxford
1296 1331
Edward II
(1307–1327)
Edward III
 
(1327–1377)
  John de Vere
7th Earl of Oxford
1331 1360
  Thomas de Vere
8th Earl of Oxford
1360 1371
  Robert de Vere
Duke of Ireland

KG
1371 1388
Richard II
 
(1377–1399)
  John Holland
1st Duke of Exeter
1398 1399
  Aubrey de Vere
10th Earl of Oxford
1399 1400 Henry IV
(1399–1413)
  Richard de Vere
11th Earl of Oxford
1400 1417
Henry V
(1413–1422)
  John de Vere
12th Earl of Oxford
1417 1462
Henry VI
(1422–1461)
Edward IV
(1461–1470)
  John de Vere
13th Earl of Oxford

KG KB
1462 1464
  Richard Neville
16th Earl of Warwick

KG
1464[22] 1471
Henry VI
(1470–1471)
  unclear 1471 1475 Edward IV
 
(1471–1483)
  Henry Percy
4th Earl of Northumberland
1475 1485
Edward V
(1483)
Richard III
(1483–1485)
  John de Vere
13th Earl of Oxford

KG KB
1485[23] 1513 Henry VII
(1485–1509)
Henry VIII
 
(1509–1547)
  John de Vere
14th Earl of Oxford
1513 1526
  John de Vere
15th Earl of Oxford

KG PC
1526 1540
  Thomas Cromwell
1st Earl of Essex

KG PC
1540 1540
  Robert Radcliffe
1st Earl of Sussex

KG KB PC
1540[24] 1542
  Edward Seymour
1st Duke of Somerset

KG
1543[25] 1547
  John Dudley
1st Duke of Northumberland

KG
1547[26] 1549 Edward VI
 
(1547–1553)
  William Parr
1st Marquess of Northampton

KG
1549[27] 1553
  John de Vere
16th Earl of Oxford
1553 1562 Mary I
(1553–1558)
Elizabeth I
(1558–1603)
  Edward de Vere
17th Earl of Oxford
1562 1604
James I
 
(1603–1625)
  Henry de Vere
18th Earl of Oxford
1604 1625
  Robert Bertie
1st Earl of Lindsay
1625 1642 Charles I
 
(1625–1649)
  Montagu Bertie
2nd Earl of Lindsay

KG PC
1642 1666
Interregnum
(1649–1660)
Charles II
(1660–1685)
  Robert Bertie
3rd Earl of Lindsay

PC FRS
1666 1701
James II
(1685–1688)
Mary II
(1689–1694)
William III
(1689–1702)
  Robert Bertie
1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven

PC
1701 1723
Anne
(1702–1714)
George I
(1714–1727)
  Peregrine Bertie
2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven

PC
1723 1742
George II
(1727–1760)
  Peregrine Bertie
3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven

PC
1742 1778
George III
 
(1760–1820)
  Robert Bertie
4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven

PC
1778 1779

Joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains, 1780–present

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The fractions show the holder's share in the office, and the date they held it. The current (as of 2022) holders of the office are shown in bold face.

Joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlains, 1780–present
Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
12 1780–1828
Georgiana Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley
12 1780–1838
Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
12 1828–1865
George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley
12 1838–1870
William Cholmondeley, 3rd Marquess of Cholmondeley
12 1870–1884
Albyric Drummond-Willoughby, 23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
12 1865–1870
Clementina Drummond-Willoughby, 24th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
14 1870–1888
Charlotte Augusta Carrington, Lady Carrington
14 1870–1879
Charles George Cholmondeley
Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster
14 1888–1910
Charles Wynn-Carington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire
14 1879–1928
George Cholmondeley, 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley
12 1884–1923
Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster
14 1910–1951
Marjorie Wilson, Baroness Nunburnholme
120 1928–1968
Lady Alexandra Llewellen Palmer
120 1928–1955
Ruperta Legge, Countess of Dartmouth
120 1928–1963
Judith Keppel, Countess of AlbemarleLady Victoria Weld-Forester
120 1928–1966
George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley
12 1923–1968
James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster
14 1951–1983
Charles Wilson, 3rd Baron Nunburnholme
120 1968–1974
Brig. Anthony Llewellen Palmer
120 1955–1990
Col. Charles Timothy Llewellen PalmerLady Mary Findlay
1100 1963–2003
Lady Elizabeth Basset
1100 1963–2000
Lady Diana Matthews
1100 1963–1970
Lady Barbara Kwiatkowska
1100 1963–2013
Josceline Chichester, Marchioness of Donegall
1100 1963–1995
Derek Keppel, Viscount Bury
120 1928–1968
Sir Henry Legge-Bourke
120 1966–1973
Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley
12 1968–1990
Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
14 1983–
Ben Wilson, 4th Baron Nunburnholme
120 1974–1998
Julian Llewellen Palmer
120 1990–2002
Cdr Jonathan Findlay
1100 2003–2015
Bryan Basset
1100 2000–2010
Col James Hamilton-Russell
1100 1970–
Jan Witold Kwiatkowski
1100 2013–
Patrick Chichester, 8th Marquess of Donegall
1100 1995–
Rufus Keppel, 10th Earl of Albemarle
120 1968–
William Legge-Bourke
120 1973–2009
David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley
12 1990–
The Hon. Lorraine Wilson
180 1998–2022
160 2022–
The Hon. Tatiana Dent
180 1998–2022
160 2022–
The Hon. Ines Garton
180 1998–2022
160 2022–
The Hon. Ysabel Williams
180 1998–2022
Nicholas Llewellen Palmer
120 2002–
Christopher Findlay
1100 2015–
David Basset
1100 2010
Michael James Basset
1100 2010–
Capt. Harry Legge-Bourke
120 2009–

Persons exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain, 1780–present

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Portrait Name Term of office Monarch
(reign)
  Peter Burrell
1st Baron Gwydyr
1780 1820 George III
(1760–1820)
George IV
 
(1820–1830)
  Peter Drummond-Burrell
22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby

PC
1821 1830
  George Cholmondeley
2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley

PC
1830 1837 William IV
 
(1830–1837)
  Peter Drummond-Burrell
22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby

PC
1837 1865 Victoria
 
(1837–1901)
  Albyric Drummond-Willoughby
23rd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
1865 1870
  Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby

PC
1871 1901
  George Cholmondeley
4th Marquess of Cholmondeley

PC DL
1901 1910 Edward VII
 
(1901–1910)
  Charles Wynn-Carington
1st Marquess of Lincolnshire

KG GCMG PC JP DL
1910 1928 George V
 
(1910–1936)
  William Legge
Viscount Lewisham

GCVO TD
1928 1936
  George Cholmondeley
5th Marquess of Cholmondeley

GCVO
1936 Edward VIII
 
(1936)
  Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
2nd Earl of Ancaster

GCVO JP DL
1936 1951 George VI
 
(1936–1952)
James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby
3rd Earl of Ancaster

TD
1951 1952
  George Cholmondeley
5th Marquess of Cholmondeley

GCVO
1952 1966 Elizabeth II
 
(1952–2022)
Hugh Cholmondeley
6th Marquess of Cholmondeley

GCVO MC DL
1966 1990
  David Cholmondeley
7th Marquess of Cholmondeley

GCVO DL
1990 2022
  Rupert Carington
7th Baron Carrington

DL
2022 present Charles III
 
(2022–present)

Notes

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  1. ^ From the Restoration until 1963, the Lord Great Chamberlain was responsible for physical plant and facility management throughout the Palace of Westminster, in effect serving as a property manager for the entire parliamentary estate.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "No. 52335". The London Gazette. 14 November 1990. p. 17651. THE QUEEN has been pleased by Warrant under Her Majesty's Royal Sign Manual, bearing date 5th November 1990, to approve the selection of David George Philip, Marquess of Cholmondeley to perform and execute the office of Lord Great Chamberlain of England.
  2. ^ Daniel Brittain (27 November 2022). "Changing of the Lord: How Lord Carrington became the new Lord Great Chamberlain". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  3. ^ Michale Torrance (30 November 2021). "Governance and Administration of the House of Lords" (PDF). House of Lords Library. p. 22. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Records of the Lord Great Chamberlain". Parliamentary Archives of the United Kingdom. October 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Lord Great Chamberlain". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  6. ^ Daniel Brittain (19 April 2023). "Being Lord Great Chamberlain is an honour my father would have hated". The Times. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  7. ^ Allan Burton, PhD - The Antiquary (7 November 2023). "What is the State Opening of Parliament?". YouTube. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  8. ^ "State Opening: how it happens". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  9. ^ Round, J. Horace (June 1902). "The Lord Great Chamberlain". Monthly Review. 7 (21): 42–58. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  10. ^ Sophie French (4 May 2023). "Lord Great Chamberlain interview: 'I've been preparing for a long time mentally'". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  11. ^ "King Charles will dress himself at the coronation - Lord Great Chamberlain". Times Radio. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  12. ^ "House of Lords Journal Volume 36: May 1781 21-30". Journal of the House of Lords Volume 36, 1779-1783. London: British History Online. 1767–1830. pp. 296–309. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Office Of Lord Great Chamberlain". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. May 6, 1902. Archived 2021-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Thomas Mortimer, ed. (1776). The British Plutarch. p. 115. Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
  15. ^ Loades, D. (2004) Intrigue and Treason: the Tudor Court, 1547–1558 Harlow: Pearson, p. 309.
  16. ^ "Office Of Lord Great Chamberlain". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. 6 May 1902. Archived 2021-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Great Officers of State: The Lord Great Chamberlain and The Earl Marshal Archived 6 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. The Royal Family. debretts.com Archived 2019-08-24 at the Wayback Machine. Debrett's Limited. Accessed 17 September 2013.
  18. ^ "Position of the Lord Great Chamberlain following the demise of the monarch (Freedom of Information request)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  19. ^ HL Deb, 15 March 2019 vol 796 c1213
  20. ^ "Oaths - Hansard - UK Parliament".
  21. ^ "Coronation: Take a look at the special 1661 golden spurs presented to the King". forces.net. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  22. ^ 'Rymer's Foedera with Syllabus: January–June 1464', in Rymer's Foedera Volume 11, ed. Thomas Rymer (London, 1739–1745), pp. 512–531. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rymer-foedera/vol11/pp512-531 Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 3 September 2020].
  23. ^ 'Rymer's Foedera with Syllabus: 1487', in Rymer's Foedera Volume 12, ed. Thomas Rymer (London, 1739–1745), pp. 320–331. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rymer-foedera/vol12/pp320-331 Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 5 September 2020].
  24. ^ 'Henry VIII: August 1540, 1-10', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 15, 1540, ed. James Gairdner and R. H. Brodie (London, 1896), pp. 481–488. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol15/pp481-488 Archived 2020-09-25 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 20 August 2020].
  25. ^ 'Henry VIII: January 1543, 6-10', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 18, Part 1, January–July 1543, ed. James Gairdner and R. H. Brodie (London, 1901), pp. 7–21. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol18/no1/pp7-21 Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 20 August 2020].
  26. ^ 'Officers of State during the period covered', in The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, 1550–1563, ed. J. G. Nichols (London, 1848), pp. xiv–xix. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/xiv-xix Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 5 September 2020].
  27. ^ 'Officers of State during the period covered', in The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, 1550–1563, ed. J. G. Nichols (London, 1848), pp. xiv–xix. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/xiv-xix Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 5 September 2020].
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