Board of Green Cloth

The Board of Green Cloth was a board of officials belonging to the Royal Household of England and Great Britain.[1] It took its name from the tablecloth of green baize that covered the table at which its members sat.

It audited the accounts of the Royal Household and made arrangements for royal travel. It also sat as a court upon offences committed within the verge of the palace. While it existed until modern times, its jurisdiction was more recently limited to the sale of alcohol, betting and gaming licences for premises falling within the areas attached to or governed by the Royal Palaces.

Officers

The members of the Board were:[2]

In later years the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, though not a member of the Board, was always in attendance[6] (that office was abolished in 2000).

History

The origins of the Board are found in the Wardrobe, which had been a powerful financial office of the monarch in the 13th century, but by the 1360s its power had waned: it 'ceased to be the directive force of the Household, and remained simply as the office of Household accounts';[7] as such it was gradually subsumed into the Household and by the end of the century the Wardrobe's officers (the Treasurer, the Comptroller, the Cofferer and his Clerks) were firmly under the authority of the Lord Steward.

The name 'Board of Green Cloth' first appears in the Tudor period.[8] The eponymous green tablecloth was later described as having depicted on it 'the Arms of the Accompting-House, viz. Vert, a Key Or and a Staff Argent Saltire, signifying their Power to reward or punish'.[9] The Board's judicial functions derived from the historic authority of the Lord Steward within the royal Court to dispense the King's justice; it dealt with minor disputes, small debts and breaches of the peace within the Verge.[8] (More serious cases were dealt with by other courts connected with the Lord Steward such as the Marshalsea Court).

In the early modern period the Board routinely met twice a week, wherever the monarch was residing, to draw up accounts of daily expenditure, to order and pay for provisions, and 'to see to the good government of the Sovereign's household servants'.[8] The Board's offices were at Whitehall until 1715, and afterwards at St James's and then at Buckingham Palace.

In the 1720s the Board was described as 'a Court of Justice continually sitting in the King's house', to which was entrusted 'the Charge and Oversight of the King's Court-Royal, for Matters of Justice and Government, with Authority for maintaining the Peace within the Verge of the Court, and with Power of correcting all the Servants of his Majesty's House, as shall in any matter offend'.[10]

In 1924 the Lord Steward's Department (incorporating the Board of Green Cloth) was redesignated the Master of the Household's Department. The Board continued to supervise the Household accounts, purchase provisions and manage members of staff.[6] Latterly the Board, which was chaired by the Master of the Household, met once a year to license public houses within the Verge;[8] this meeting was usually a formality, with the licensees applying jointly and the licences being routinely awarded (unless the Metropolitan Police or the local heath authority raised an objection).[6]

Until 2004, the Board had jurisdiction as a licensing authority over a number of premises in Westminster (that were within the verge of Buckingham Palace) that would have otherwise been the responsibility of the local magistrates' court, including Carlton House Terrace, the northern end of Whitehall and the National Gallery.[11] The Board of Green Cloth disappeared in the reform of local government licensing in 2004, brought about by the Licensing Act 2003 (section 195).[12] However, royal palaces remained outside the scope of the Act, and do not require a premises licence to serve alcohol.[13]

References

  1. ^ The political state of the British Empire. 1818. p. 179. Retrieved 30 April 2019. The Board of Green Cloth is one of the most ancient courts in England, and has jurisdiction in all offences committed in ...
  2. ^ The Republican. T. Davison. 1820. p. 476. Retrieved 30 April 2019. The officers that sit in the counting-house, and at the board of green cloth, with their respective salaries, are, besides the lord steward in chief, the treasurer and cofferer of the household, the comp: troller, the master of the household, two clerks ...
  3. ^ 'The household below stairs: Clerks of the Green Cloth 1660-1782' in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837, ed. R. O. Bucholz (London, 2006), British History Online
  4. ^ 'The household below stairs: Clerks of the Household 1782-1815' in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837, ed. R. O. Bucholz (London, 2006), British History Online
  5. ^ 'The household below stairs: Secretariat of the Board of Green Cloth 1813-37' in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837, ed. R. O. Bucholz (London, 2006), British History Online
  6. ^ a b c Howard, Alexander (1964). Endless Cavalcade: A Diary of British Festivals and Customs. London: Arthur Barker. p. 41.
  7. ^ Tout, T. F. (1928). Chapters in the administrative history of mediaeval England: the wardrobe, the chamber, and the small seals (Volume IV). Manchester University Press. pp. 222–224. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d "Records of the Lord Steward, the Board of Green Cloth and other officers of the Royal Household". The National Archives. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  9. ^ The True State of England. London: C. King. 1734. p. 11.
  10. ^ An Explanatory Account of the nature and business of the several offices, posts, employments, and places of trust in this Kingdom. London: The Editor. 1727. pp. 37–38.
  11. ^ "Explanatory Notes to section 195, Licensing Act 2003". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  12. ^ Rogers, R. (2012). Who Goes Home: A Parliamentary Miscellany. Biteback Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-84954-480-1. Retrieved 30 April 2019. The Board of Green Cloth audited the accounts of the Royal Household and sat as a court on offences committed on ... for premises controlled by the Royal Palaces, and did not finally disappear until 2004, following the Licensing Act 2004.
  13. ^ "section 193, Licensing Act 2003". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2020.