The Remembrancer was originally a subordinate officer of the English Exchequer. The office is of great antiquity, the holder having been termed remembrancer, memorator, rememorator, registrar, keeper of the register, despatcher of business.1 The Remembrancer compiled memorandum rolls and thus “reminded” the barons of the Exchequer of business pending. Remembrancers also served in the Scottish Exchequer and the Irish Exchequer.
Remembrancers of the Exchequer
The earliest known reference to a Remembrancer at the Exchequer occurs in 1248 (though some scholars have conjectured an earlier date for the origin of the office).2 There were at one time three clerks of the remembrance: the King's Remembrancer, the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer and the Remembrancer of First-Fruits and Tenths (see Court of First Fruits and Tenths). In England, the latter two offices have become extinct, the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer being merged in the office of King's Remembrancer in 1833, and the remembrancer of first-fruits by the diversion of the fund (Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1838). By the Queen's Remembrancer Act 1859 that office ceased to exist separately, and the monarch's remembrancer was required to be a master of the court of exchequer. The Judicature Act 1873 attached the office to the Supreme Court of Judicature (today called the Senior Courts), and the Supreme Court of Judicature (Officers) Act 1879 transferred it to the central office of the Supreme Court. By section 8 of that Act, the monarch's remembrancer is a master of the Supreme Court, usually filled by the senior master. The monarch's remembrancer department of the central office is now amalgamated with the judgments and married women acknowledgements department. The monarch's remembrancer still assists at ceremonial functions, relics of the former importance of the office, such as the nomination of sheriffs, the swearing-in of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the Trial of the Pyx and the acknowledgements of homage for crown lands.1
City Remembrancer
There is the City Remembrancer, one of the City of London Corporation's1 law officers, its parliamentary agent, and its head of ceremony and protocol.34
Scotland
In Scotland, the office of King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer is filled by the Crown Agent, the head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and represents the Crown's interests in bona vacantia, ultimus haeres and treasure trove.
Ireland
The Exchequer of Ireland was also staffed by a number of Remembrancers, headed by the Chief Remembrancer, sometimes known as the Treasury Remembrancer. There are references to a Remembrancer in the early fourteenth century, and the office of Chief Remembrancer existed by 1348, when it was held by Robert de Holywood, later Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The office of Chief Remembrancer lapsed in 1920, on the retirement of Maurice Headlam, and ceased to exist under the Irish Free State.5
See also
See also
References
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Remembrancer". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 81.
- Crook, David (May 1980). "The Early Remembrancers of the Exchequer". Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. 53 (127): 12. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
Poole's suggestion that the offices of king's and treasurer's remembrancer developed from the duties performed at the exchequer by Master Thomas Brown and Richard of Ilchester respectively at the time of Fitzneal was effectively demolished by Sir Hilary Jenkinson years ago.
- Shaxson, Nicholas (2011). Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 257. ISBN 9780230341722.
- "City Remembrancers Office — Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- "An Irishman's Diary" Irish Times 12/09/2000