Master of the Mint is a title within the Royal Mint given to the most senior person responsible for its operation. It was an important office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain and then the United Kingdom, between the 16th and 19th centuries. Until 1699, the appointment was usually for life. Its holder occasionally sat in the cabinet.

During the interregnum (1643–1660) the last Master of the Mint to King Charles, Sir Robert Harley, transferred his allegiance to Parliament and remained in office. After his death in 1656 Aaron Guerdon was appointed.

In 1870 the role was amalgamated into the office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, making the Chancellor, by virtue of his position, the Master of the Mint. The duty of running the mint was given to the Deputy Master of the Mint; who is now the mint's Chief Executive.[1]

Masters of the Mint in England

Deputy Master of the Mint

Now a private company; the job of Deputy Master is held by the Royal Mint's Chief Executive.

  • 1868–94 Charles Fremantle
  • 1894–1902 Sir Horace Seymour
  • 1903–13 William Ellison-Macartney[7]
  • 1913–17 Sir Thomas H. Elliott
  • 1917–22 Sir John Westerman Cawston KCB
  • 1922–38 Sir Robert A. Johnson
  • 1938–49 Sir John Craig
  • 1950–57 Sir Lionel Thompson CBE
  • 1957–70 Sir John ("Jack") Hastings James
  • 1970-74 Harold Glover
  • 1974-77 John R. Christie
  • 1978-88 Dr Jeremy Gerhard
  • 1989-? Anthony D Garrett
  • 1999–2001 Roger Holmes
  • 2001–2007 Gerald Sheehan[8]
  • 2007–2010 Andrew Stafford
  • 2010–2018 Adam Lawrence
  • 2018–present Anne Jessopp

See also

Notes

  1. Succeeded as 3rd Viscount Chetwynd in 1767.
  2. Succeeded as 3rd Baron Cadogan in 1776.
  1. "THE RECORDS OF THE ROYAL MINT" (PDF). National Archive. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. Mints and Money in Medieval England By Martin Allen
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 craig, John (1953). The Mint: A History of the London Mint from A.D. 287 to 1948. Cambridge [Eng.] University Press. Google Books
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Ruding, Rogers (1840). Annals of the coinage of Great Britain and its dependencies. J. Hearne. p. 34. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  5. Dictionary of National Biography
  6. Challis 1992, p. 259.
  7. "New Deputy-Master of the Royal Mint". The Times. No. 36972. London. 8 January 1903. p. 7.
  8. "Royal Mint Annual Report 2005-06" (PDF). Royal Mint. Retrieved 5 October 2019.

References

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