Supplement to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica/Admiral, Lord High
Admiral, the Lord High of England. An ancient officer of high rank in the state, in whom not only the government of the navy is vested, but who, long before any regular navy existed in England, presided over a sovereign court, with authority to hear and determine all causes relating to the sea, and to take cognizance of all offences committed thereon.
There can be little doubt of the Asiatic origin of the name given to this officer, which does not appear to have been known in the languages of Europe before the time of the holy wars. Amir, in Arabic, is a chief or commander of forces; it is the same word as the ameer of the peninsula of India, (as ameer ul omrah, the chief of lords or princes,) and the emir of the Turks or Saracens, who had, and still have, their emir or ameer’l dureea, commander of the sea; amir’l asker dureea, commander of the naval armament. The incorporation of the article with the noun appears, we believe, for the first time in the annals of Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria, in the tenth century, who calls the Caliph Omar Amirol munumim, seu, Imperator fidilium. Spelman says, “In regno Suracenorum quatuor pretores statuit, qui Admiralli vocabantur.” The d is evidently impertinent, and is omitted by the French, who say Amiral. The Spanish write Almiranté; the Portuguese the same. Milton would seem to have been aware of the origin of the word, when he speaks of “the mast of some great Ammiral.” It is obvious, then, that the supposed derivations of ἁλμυρὸς from the Greek, aumer from the French, and aen mereal from the Saxon, are fanciful and unauthorized etymologies.
The period of time about which this officer first makes his appearance in the governments of European nations, corroborates the supposition of its having been adopted in imitation of the Mediterranean powers, at the return of the Christian heroes from the holy wars. According to Moreri, Florent de Varenne, in the year 1270, was the first Admiral known in France; but by the most approved writers of that nation, the title was unknown till, in 1284, Enguerrand de Coussy was constituted Admiral. The first Admiral by name that we know of in England was W. de Leybourne, who was appointed to that office by Edward I. in the year 1286, under the title of Admiral de la mer du roy d’Angleterre. Mariana, in his History of Spain, says that Don Sancho, having resolved to make war on the barbarians, (Moors,) prepared a great fleet; and as the Genoese were at that time very powerful by sea, and experienced and dexterous sailors, he sent to Genoa to invite, with great offers, Benito Zacharias into his service; that he accepted those offers, and brought with him twelve ships; that the king named him his Admiral, (Almiranté,) and conferred on him the office for a limited time. This happened in the year 1284. Several Portuguese authors observe, that their office of Almiranté was derived from the Genoese, who had it from the Sicilians, and these from the Saracens; and it appears from Souza’s Historia Geneologica da Caza Real, that, in 1322, Micer Manuel Piçagow was invited from Genoa into Portugal, and appointed to the office of Almiranié, with a salary of three thousand pounds (livras) a-year, and certain lands, &c., on condition that he should furnish, on his part, twenty men of Genoa, all experienced in sea affairs, and qualified to be alcaidis (captains) and arraises (masters) of ships; all of which terms, almiranté, alcaidi, and arrais, are obviously of Arabic derivation.
Edward I., who began his reign in 1272, went to the Holy Land, and visited Sicily on his return. He must therefore have had an opportunity of informing himself concerning the military and naval science of the various countries bordering on the Mediterranean—an opportunity which so able and warlike a prince would not neglect; but whether the title and office of Admiral existed in England before his time, as some are inclined to think, or whether W. de Leybourne was first created to that office in 1286, as before mentioned, we believe there is no authentic record to enable us to decide. Supposing him, however, to be the first, Edward may either have adopted the office and title from the Genoese, or the Sicilians, or the Spaniards, or the French; or even had it directly from the Saracens, against whom he had fought, and with whom he had afterwards much amicable intercourse. It would seem, however, that the office was, in Edward's time, merely honorary; for that monarch, in 1307, orders the Lord Mayor of London, at his peril and without delay, to provide a good ship, well equipped, to carry his pavilions and tents; and, in the same year, another order is addressed to the Vicecomes Kantiæ, to provide, for immediate passage across the seas, “tot et tales pontes et claias,” as the constable of Dover Castle should demand; without one word being mentioned of the admiral. (Rymer, Vol, III. p. 32.)
From the 34th Edward II. we have a regular and uninterrupted succession of Admirals. In that year he appointed Edward Charles Admiral of the North, from the mouth of the river Thames northward, and Gervase Allard Admiral of the West, from the mouth of the Thames westward; and these two Admirals of the North and the West were continued down to the 34th Edward III. when John de Beauchamp, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, constable of the Tower of London, and of the Castle of Dover, was constituted High Admiral of England; but nine years afterwards, the office was again divided into north and west, and so continued until the 10th Richard II. when Richard, son of Alain Earl of Arundel, was appointed Admiral of England. Two years after this, it was again divided as before; and in the fifteenth year of the same reign, Edward Earl of Rutland and Cork, afterwards Duke of Albemarle, was constituted High Admiral of the North and West; and after him the Marquis of Dorset, and Earl of Somerset, son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; then Percy Earl of Winchester next succeeded to the same title, which once more was dropped in the 2d of Henry IV. and divided as before. But in the sixth of the same reign, the office of Admiral of England became permanently vested in one person. In the 14th Henry VI. John Holland Duke of Exeter was created Admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitain, for life; and in the third year of Edward VI. John Dudley Earl of Warwick was constituted High Admiral of England, Ireland, Wales, Calais, Bologne, the marches of the same, Normandy, Gascony, and Aquitain, also Captain-general of the navy and seas of the king, &c. In the 27th Elizabeth, Charles Lord Howard had all the aforesaid titles, with the addition of Captain-general of the navy and seas of the said kingdoms.
On the 20th November 1632, the office of High Admiral was, for the first time, put In commission, all the great officers of state being the commissioners. During the Commonwealth, a committee of parliament managed the affairs of the Admiralty. At the Restoration, in 1660, his Royal Highness James Duke of York was constituted Lord High Admiral of England. The commission was revoked on the 22d May 1684, and King Charles II. held the Admiralty in his own hands, and managed it by the great officers of his Privy-council until his death. He tock this occasion of reserving for his own use all the droits and perquisites claimed by the Lord High Admiral. King James II. declared himself in council Lord High Admiral and Lord General; and he managed the affairs of the Admiralty and navy by Mr Secretary Pepys all the time of his reign. In the 1st William and Mary, the Admiralty was again put in commission. In the 6th Anne, (1707,) his Royal Highness George Prince of Denmark was appointed High Admiral of Great Britain, (in consequence of the union of the two crowns,) with a council to assist him; and at his death the queen acted in the office by Mr Burchett. On the 29th November 1708, it was again put in commission, or rather, the Earl af Pembroke was constituted High Admiral, with a council to assist him; since which time, the office of Lord High Admiral has continued to be executed by seven Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
Prince George of Denmark, when Lord High Admiral, having surrendered, by a formal instrument, all the rights, profits, perquisites, and advantages whatsoever, appertaining to the office, for the benefit and use of the public, with the exception of the sum of L. 2500 a-year, to be disposed of in such manner, and for such particular uses, as her Majesty, under her sign manual, should direct; the salary of the Lord High-Admiral, which had hitherto been no more than 300 marks, was now fixed by warrant under privy-seal, at L. 7000 a-year; which sum, by 1st George II. was divided equally among seven commissioners, and continued to be so down to the present time, the part of the commissioner who stood first in the patent having, however, been made up, from other funds, to L. 3000 a-year, and, in the year 1806, further increased by Lord Howick, then first lord-commissioner, to L. 5000 a-year. Since the surrender above mentioned, all the droits of Admiralty, as they are called, with all the fees, emoluments, perquisites, &c. whatsoever, have been taken from the Admiral, and applied to public purposes.
These droits and perquisites are by no means inconsiderable. As enumerated in the patent, they consist of flotson, jetson, lagon, treasure, deodands, derelicts found within his jurisdiction; all goods picked up at sea; all fines, forfeitures, ransoms, recognizances, and pecuniary punishments; all sturgeons, whales, porpusses, dolphins, rigs, and grampusses, and all such large fishes; all ships and goods of the enemy coming into any creek, road, or port, by stress of weather, mistake, or ignorance of the war; all ships seized at sea, salvage, &c. together with his shares of prizes; which shares were afterwards called tenths, in imitation, probably, of the French, who gave their admiral, for supporting the dignity of his office, son droit de dixieme. All prizes are now wholly given up by the crown to the captors; and such share of the droits as, from circumstances, may be thought proper. The Lord High-Admiral also claimed, and enjoyed as his due, the cast ships, and the subordinate officers of the navy, as their perquisites, all other decayed and unserviceable stores.
Though, by act of 2d William and Mary, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are vested with all and singular authorities, jurisdictions, and powers, which have been, and are vested, settled, and placed in the Lord High-Admiral of England for the time being, to all intents and purposes, as if the said Commissioners were Lord High Admiral of England, yet there is this remarkable difference in the two patents by which they are constituted, that the patent of the Lord High Admiral mentions very little of the military part of his office, but chiefly details his judicial duties as a magistrate; whilst, on the contrary, the patent to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty is very particular in directing them to govern the affairs of the navy, and is almost wholly silent as to their judicial powers.
These powers, as set forth in the patent to the Earl of Pembroke, in 1701, are, the power to act by deputy, to take cognizance of all causes, civil and maritime, within his jurisdiction; to arrest goods and persons; to preserve public streams, ports, rivers, fresh waters, and creeks whatsoever, within his jurisdiction, as well for the preservation of the ships, as of the fishes; to reform too straight nets, and unlawful engines, and punish offenders; to arrest ships, mariners, pilots, masters, gunners, bombadiers, and any other persons whatsoever, able and fit for the service of the ships, as often as occasion shall require and wheresoever they shall be met with; to appoint Vice-admirals, Judges, and other officers, durante bene placeto; to remove, suspend, or expel them, and put others in their places, as he shall see occasion; to take cognizance of civil and maritime laws, and of death, murder, and maim.
It was by no means necessary that the Lord High Admiral should be a professional man. Henry VIII. made his natural son, the Duke of Richmond, Lord High Admiral of England, when he was but six years old. When the High Admiral, however, went to sea in person, he had usually a commission under the great seal, appointing him admiral and captain-general of the fleet, sometimes with powers to confer knighthood, and generally to punish with life and limb. Such a commission was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Edward Howard, who executed indenture with the king to furnish 3000 men, 18 captains, 1750 soldiers, 1232 mariners and gunners; the pay of himself to be 10s. a-day, of a captain 1s. 6d., of the rest 5s. as wages, and 5s. for victuals each man, for twenty eight days, together with certain dead shares.
It appears, from Mr Pepy’s Naval Collections, that the Lord High Admiral did anciently wear, on solemn occasions, a gold whistle, set with precious stones, hanging at the end of a gold chain. The whistle, it would seem, has long since descended to the boatswain and his mates.(K.)