Constable of the Tower
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The Constable of the Tower of London is the governor of the Tower. The office is currently occupied by General Sir Roger Wheeler GCB CBE who commenced in the post on 3 October 2001. He is the 158th Constable.
The actual number of Constables is uncertain but 158 is the number arrived at after the number was guessed at last century.
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[edit] History
Constable of the Tower is an ancient office in England. The first Constable, Geoffrey de Mandeville was appointed by William the Conqueror (AD 1066-87) in the 11th century.
During the mediæval period the Constable ran the Tower. He had buildings maintained, he paid soldiers, he supervised the Keeper of the King’s Animals (the Royal Menagerie was housed in the Tower) and was responsible for the Prisoners gaoled in the Tower.
The Constable’s responsibility for prisoners was made clear in the words with which he was entrusted with them; “You are to guard them securely in the prison of our said Tower in such a way that you shall answer for them body for body ... Fail in no part of this on pain of forfeiture of life and limb and all property you hold in our realms.”
Until the expulsion of the Jews in 1290, the Constable was responsible for the regulation of London Jewry.
[edit] Constable's Dues
In the Middle Ages it was a profitable position. Among the Constable’s entitlements were:
- any horses, oxen, pigs or sheep that fell off London Bridge.
- any cart that fell into the Tower moat,
- all herbage growing on Tower Hill,
- 6/8d (six shillings and eight pence) annually from each boat fishing between the Tower and the sea,
- 1s (1 shilling) a year from all ships carrying herring to London
- 2d (2 pence, pronounced tuppence) from each pilgrim who came to London by sea to worship at the shrine of St James,
- all swans swimming under London Bridge,
- a set quantity of wine from any ship taking wine into the city.
Even today, every large Royal Navy vessel presents the Constable with a barrel of rum.
Since 1784 the tradition has been for the Constable to be a senior military officer, usually a general officer. Perhaps the most famous Constable was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington between 1825 and 1852. During his tenure, the Royal Menagerie and Record Office was removed and many buildings were restored to their mediæval state. The moat was drained and converted into a parade ground. Yeomen Warders were no longer permitted to buy and sell their places but were to be drawn only from sergeants of the army. Much against His Grace’s wishes, tourism at the Tower increased during his Constableship.
Each Constable is now appointed for five years. The new Constable is handed the keys as a symbol of his office. At State occasions the Constable has custody of the crown and other regalia.
[edit] List of Constables
This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Constable of the Tower of London, a post traditionally combined with that of Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets.
- Bartholomew de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh (25 August 1346–3 August 1355)
- John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick
- Edward of Norwich, 1st Duke of Aumale (April–September 1397)
- Ralph de Neville, 4th Baron Neville (21 September–30 October 1397) (1st Earl of Westmorland from 29 September)
- Edward of Norwich, 1st Duke of Aumale (30 October 1397–August 1399)
- Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York and 1st Duke of Aumale (on 1 November 1406)
- John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester (on 2 December 1461)
- Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset (1483–1484) * Sir Anthony Kingston 1546-?
- Edward Clinton, 9th Baron Clinton (1553–?) (1st Earl of Lincoln from 1572)
- Sir Allen Apsley 1616-162?
- Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport (1641)
- John Byron, 1st Baron Byron 1641-1642
- Sir Allen Apsley jr.
- Sir John Robinson 1660–1679???
- James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton (1675–1679)
- George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth (1685–1688)
- Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon 1702–1705
- Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex (1706–1710)
- Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers (1710–1712)
- George Compton, 4th Earl of Northampton (1712–1715)
- Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1715–1722)
- Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton (May 1725–September 1726
- Henry Lowther, 3rd Viscount Lonsdale (1726–1731)
- John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester (1731–1737)
- Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis 1740–1762
- John Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton (1762–1770)
- Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis (1770–1784)
- The Lord George Lennox (1784)
- Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis (1784–1805) (1st Marquess Cornwallis from 1792)
- Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1806–1826)
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1826–1852)
- Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere (1852–1865)
- Sir John Burgoyne 1865 – 1871
- Sir George Pollock 1871 – 1872
- Sir Charles Yorke 1875 – 1880
- William Fenwick Williams 1881 – 1883
- Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala (1886–1890)
- Sir Daniel Lysons 1890 – 1898
- Sir Frederick Stephenson 1898–1911
- Sir Henry Evelyn Wood 1911 – 1919
- Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen (1920–1932)
- George Milne, 1st Baron Milne (1933–1938)
- Sir Claude William Jacob 1938 – 1943
- Sir Philip Chetwode, 7th Baronet (1943–1948) (1st Baron Chetwode from 1945)
- Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (1948–1950)
- Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke 1950 – 1955
- Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson (1955–1960)
- Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (1960–1965)
- Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer 1965 – 1970
- Sir Richard Hull 1970
- Sir Roland Gibbs (1985–1990)
- Sir John Stanier (1990–1996)
- Sir Peter Inge (1996–2001) (Baron Inge from 1997)
- Sir Roger Wheeler (since 2001)
