The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President of the Council.
The Lord High Treasurer functions as the head of Her Majesty's Treasury. Since the 17th century the office has often been held, not by a single person, but placed in commission, so that a board of individuals jointly exercise the powers of the Lord High Treasurer. Such persons are known as Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. The office has been in commission continuously since the resignation of Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury in 1714.
In modern times, by convention, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury include the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, usually serving as the "First Lord of the Treasury", and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, serving as the "Second Lord of the Treasury". Other members of the government, usually whips in the House of Commons, are appointed to serve as the junior Lords Commissioners of the Treasury.
Read more about Lord High Treasurer: Origins, The Modern Commissioners
Famous quotes containing the words lord and/or high:
“It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 31:8.
“Men are in the main alike, but they were made several in order that they might be various. If a low use is to be served, one man will do nearly quite as well as another; if a high one, individual excellence is to be regarded.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)