Master of the Mint

Master of the Mint was an important office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain, between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Master was the highest officer in the Royal Mint. Until 1699, appointment was usually for life. Its holder occasionally sat in the cabinet. The office was abolished as an independent position in 1870, thereafter being held as a subsidiary office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

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.

Masters of the Mint in England

• 1509-1534 Sir William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy
• 1351-? Henry de Bruselee and John Chichester ^[1]
• 1361-1361 Walter dei Bardi ^[1]
• 1365-1367 John Chichester ^[1]
• 1375-1391 Walter dei Bardi ^[1]
• 1391-1391 John Wildeman ^[1]
• 1411-1414 Richard Garner ^[1]
• 1413-1414 Sir Lewis John ^[1]
• 1418–1420 Sir Lewis John ^[1]
• 1421-1432 Bartholomew Goldbeter ^[2]
• 1435–1446 John Paddesley ^[2]
• 1446–1459 Robert Manfield ^[2]
• 1459-1461 Sir Richard Tonstall ^[1]
• 1461-1483 William Hastings (executed 1483) ^[1]
• 1483-1485 Sir Robert Brackenbury (killed at Bosworth,1485) ^[1]
• 1485–1490 Sir Giles Daubeney ^[2]
• 1492-1493 Sir Bartholomew Reed and Sir John Shaa ^[1]
• 1493–1494 Sir Bartholomew Reed and Robert Fenrother ^[2]
• 1495–1498 Sir Bartholomew Reed and Sir John Shaa ^[2]
• 1509–1520 William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy ^[2]
• 1527-1531 Ralph Rowlet and Martin Bowes ^[2]
• 1531–1534 William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy ^[2]
• 1543 Ralph Rowlet and Sir Martin Bowes ^[2]
• 1544 Sir Martin Bowes ^[2]
• 1547–1553 Sir John York ^[3]
• 1553–1555 Thomas Egerton ^[2]
• 1560–1571 Sir Thomas Stanley ^[2]
• 1571–1582 John Lonyson ^[2]
• 1582–1599 Sir Richard Martin ^[4]
• 1599–1609 Sir Richard Martin (died 1616) and Richard Martin
• 1617–1623 Sir Edward Villiers
• 1623–1626 Sir Randal Cranfield
• 1626–1635 Sir Robert Harley
• 1635–1643 In Commission:
  • Sir Ralph Freeman
  • Sir Thomas Aylesbury
• 1643–1649 Sir Robert Harley
• 1649–1653 Aaron Guerdon
• 1660–1662 Sir Ralph Freeman
• 1662–1667 Sir Ralph Freeman and Henry Slingsby
• 1667–1680 Henry Slingsby (suspended 1680)
• 1680–1684 In Commission:
  • Sir John Buckworth
  • Charles Duncombe
  • James Hoare
• 1684–1686 In Commission:
  • Thomas Neale
  • Charles Duncombe
  • James Hoare
• 1686–1699 Thomas Neale
• 1700–1727 Sir Isaac Newton
• 1727–1737 John Conduitt
• 1737–1745 Richard Arundell
• 1745–1769 Hon. William Chetwynd^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• 1769–1784 Hon. Charles Cadogan<^{[lower-alpha 2]}
• 1784–1789 The Earl of Effingham
• 1789–1790 The Earl of Chesterfield
• 1790–1794 The Earl of Leicester
• 1794–1799 Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet
• 1799–1801 Lord Hawkesbury
• 1801–1802 The Lord Arden
• 1802–1804 John Smyth
• 1804–1806 The Earl Bathurst
• 1806 Lord Charles Spencer
• 1806–1807 Charles Bathurst
• 1807–1812 The Earl Bathurst
• 1812–1814 The Earl of Clancarty
• 1814–1823 Hon. William Wellesley-Pole
• 1823–1827 Thomas Wallace, 1st Baron Wallace
• 1827–1828 George Tierney
• 1828–1830 John Charles Herries
• 1830–1834 The Lord Auckland
• 1834–1835 Hon. James Abercrombie
• 1835 Alexander Baring
• 1835–1841 Henry Labouchere
• 1841–1845 William Ewart Gladstone
• 1845–1846 Sir George Clerk, 6th Baronet
• 1846–1850 Richard Lalor Sheil
• 1850–1855 Sir John Herschel
• 1855–1869 Thomas Graham

See also

• Münzmeister
• Warden of the Mint

Notes

1. Succeeded as 3rd Viscount Chetwynd in 1767.
2. Succeeded as 3rd Baron Cadogan in 1776.

1. craig, John. The Mint: A History of the London Mint from A.D. 287 to 1948. Google Books
2. Ruding, Rogers. Annals of the coinage of Great Britain and its dependencies. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
3. Dictionary of National Biography
4. Challis 1992, p. 259.

References

• Challis, C. E. (1992). A new history of the Royal Mint. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24026-3.