King's Remembrancer
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The King's Remembrancer (or Queen's Remembrancer when the monarch is female) is an ancient judicial post in the legal system of England and Wales. Since the Lord Chancellor no longer sits as a judge, the Remembrancer is the oldest judicial position in continual existence. The post was created in 1154 by King Henry II as the chief official in the Exchequer Court, whose purpose was 'to put the Lord Treasurer and the Barons of Court in remembrance of such things as were to be called upon and dealt with for the benefit of the Crown', a primary duty being to keep records of the taxes, paid and unpaid. The first King's Remembrancer was Richard of Ilchester, a senior Civil Servant and later Bishop of Winchester. The King's Remembrancer continued to sit in the Court of the Exchequer until its abolition in 1882. The post of King's Remembrancer is held by the Senior Master of the King's (currently Queen's Bench Division of the High Court.
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[edit] Quit Rents ceremony
The Exchequer Court is recreated once a year for an ancient ceremony dating from 1211 known as "Rendering of the Quit Rents to the Crown". During the ceremony, a black-and-white-chequered cloth is spread out — it is from this that the word "Exchequer" derives. In this ceremony, the City of London pays service for two pieces of land: The Moors near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, for which the City must pay two knives, one blunt and one sharp; and a forge in Tweezer's Alley, just south of St Clement's Dane, near the Strand in London, for which the City must pay six horseshoes and 61 nails.
The Comptroller of the City of London presents the horseshoes and nails and counts them out to the Remembrancer who then pronounces "Good number." The knives are tested by the King's Remembrancer by taking a hazel stick, one cubit in length, and bending it over the blunt knife and leaving a mark. Then the stick is split in two with the sharp knife. This practice stems from the creation of tally sticks where a mark was made in a stick with a blunt knife for each payment counted and then, when payment was complete, the stick was split down the middle, leaving each party with half of the marked stick and creating a receipt. After the knives are tested the Remembrancer pronounces "Good service."
[edit] Trial of the Pyx
The Trial of the Pyx is a ceremony dating from 1249, formerly held in the Exchequer Court but now held in Goldsmiths Hall. The King's Remembrancer swears in a jury of 26 goldsmiths who then count, weigh and otherwise measure a sample of 88,000 gold coins produced by the Royal Mint. The term "Pyx" refers to the name of the box in which the coins are kept.
[edit] Forest of Dean
In 1688, King James II appointed the King's Remembrancer to appoint commissioners to supervise the planting of trees in the Forest of Dean. The Forest was an important source of iron, coal and timber to the Monarch, but had been neglected during the Commonwealth.
[edit] Other responsibilities
The King's Remembrancer is also responsible for nomination of the High Sheriffs of each County of England and Wales, presentation of the Lord Mayor of London to the Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls and other High Court judges at the Royal Courts of Justice on Lord Mayor's Day. The King's Remembrancer also presents newly appointed Sheriffs of the City of London with a Writ of Approbation from the Monarch, sealed with the great silver seal of the Exchequer.
[edit] See also
- Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer - successor to the Queen's Remembrancer of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland
