Constable of the Tower facts for kids

General The Lord Dannatt, dressed in full ceremonial uniform of HM's Constable of the Tower

The Constable of the Tower is the most senior appointment at the Tower of London. In the Middle Ages a constable was the person in charge of a castle when the owner—the king or a nobleman—was not in residence. The Constable of the Tower had a unique importance as the person in charge of the principal fortress defending the capital city of England.

Today the role of Constable is a ceremonial one and mainly involves taking part in traditional ceremonies within the Tower as well as being part of the community that lives within its perimeter. The Constable is also a trustee of Historic Royal Palaces and of the Royal Armouries.

Under the King's Regulations for the Army, the office of Constable is conferred upon a field marshal or a retired general officer for a five-year term. The Constable appointed in 2022 is General Sir Gordon Messenger. The Constable's ceremonial deputy is the Lieutenant of the Tower of London, currently Sir George Norton; this office is generally entrusted to a general officer of lower rank than the Constable.

At the conclusion of the Constable's installation ceremony, the Lord Chamberlain symbolically hands over the King's House to the Constable. He in turn entrusts it to the Resident Governor, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of His Majesty's Palace and Fortress, the Tower of London.

History

The office of Constable of the Tower is one of the oldest in England, dating back to within a few years of the Conquest, and has always been one of great honour and dignity. In the past, this appointment has been held by eminent prelates of the Church, prominent politicians and distinguished soldiers. The first Constable, Geoffrey de Mandeville was appointed by William the Conqueror (AD 1066-87) in the 11th century. Formerly, in the absence of the Sovereign, the Constable would have been among the most powerful men in London. Today the Constable retains the right of direct access to the Sovereign. Since 1784 the Constable has always been a senior military officer.

During the medieval period the Constable ran the Tower which included building maintenance, soldiers' pay and, as the Royal menagerie was housed in the Tower, supervision of the 'Keeper of the King's Animals'. He was also ultimately responsible for the prisoners kept there. The first known prisoner was the Norman bishop Ranulf Flambard in 1100, and the London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray were the last official prisoners, for a few days in 1952, for refusing to do their National Service. They were sent to the Tower as it was the barracks of the 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) to which they had been assigned.

The Constable's responsibility for prisoners was made clear in the words with which he was entrusted with them: "You are to guard them securely in the prison of our said tower in such a way that you shall answer for them body for body ... Fail in no part of this on pain of forfeiture of life and limb and all property you hold in our realms."

Until the expulsion of the Jews in 1290, the Constable was responsible for the regulation and protection of London's Jewry.

The Lieutenant of the Tower was the Constable's deputy, and de facto head once the Constable became a ceremonial sinecure. The Lieutenant in turn became a ceremonial post, with real function delegated to a Deputy-Lieutenant and a Major; the latter post evolved into the current Resident Governor.

The five-year term of office was introduced in 1932. For two centuries prior it was typically held for life, although some holders resigned.

Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets

The Constable also held the office of Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets, which existed from the Restoration until 1889, and had authority with the Tower division of the hundred of Ossulstone. In the 17th century, Ossulstone, the urbanising part of Middlesex which bordered the City of London, was split into four divisions, of which the Tower division lay east of the City, compassing all the modern London borough of Tower Hamlets and most of that of Hackney. The division was also called Tower Hamlets, after the hamlets (later to become parishes) of the ancient parish of Stepney. Each Ossulstone division had status equivalent to that of a hundred, while Tower division had some extra powers normally reserved for a county, in particular its own Lord Lieutenant. This enabled the Constable, as Lord Lieutenant, to raise local militia forces to supplement the Tower garrison at times of increased tension, or for use in the field. A 1662 act of Parliament restricting the power of levying militia to [lord-]lieutenants had a saver for the Constable:

whereas the Militia of the Tower Division in the County of Middlesex comonly knowne by the name of the Tower Hamletts are and alwaies have beene under the co[m]mand of His Majesties Constable or Leiutenant of the Tower for the Service and Preservation of that His Royall Fort [...] it shall and may be lawfull for His Majesties Constable or Leiutenant of the Tower for the time being to continue to levy the Trained Bands of the said Division or Hamlets of the Tower in such manner and form as to the number and quality of persons as was observed in forming the present Forces thereof Any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding

The offices of Constable and Lord Lieutenant were awarded by separate letters patent, usually simultaneously. Exceptionally, in 1715, Hatton Compton was made Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets and Lieutenant of the Tower, whereas Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, made Constable in 1715, did not replace Compton as Lord Lieutenant until 1717. The Constable of the Tower is not to be confused with the "High Constable of the Tower Division": the High Constable of a hundred or division had charge of the parish constables of its constituent parishes. A Lord Lieutenant could commission deputy lieutenants. The Deputy Lieutenants of the Tower Hamlets (listed below) are not to be confused with the abovementioned Deputy-Lieutenant of the Tower. The County of London created in 1889 included the area of Tower Hamlets, and the new Lord Lieutenant of the County of London took over the Tower Hamlets lieutenancy's functions.

Constable's dues

In the Middle Ages it was a profitable position; among the Constable's entitlements were:

• any horses, oxen, pigs or sheep that fell off London Bridge
• any cart that fell into the Tower moat
• all herbage growing on Tower Hill
• 6/8d (six shillings and eight pence) annually from each boat fishing between the Tower and the sea
• 1s (1 shilling) a year from all ships carrying herring to London
• 2d (2 pence) from each pilgrim who came to London, by sea, to worship at the shrine of St James
• all swans swimming under London Bridge.

Every ship that came upstream to London had to moor at Tower Wharf to give a portion of its cargo to the Constable, as payment for the protection afforded by the Tower's cannon. These dues included oysters, mussels, cockles, rushes, and wine. The tradition is still maintained today by the Royal Navy, at the annual Ceremony of the Constable's Dues, when one large vessel presents the Constable with a barrel of rum.

Since 1784 the tradition has been for the Constable to be a senior military officer, usually a general officer. Perhaps the most famous Constable was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who served from 1825 to 1852. During his tenure, the royal menagerie and record office were removed and many buildings were restored to their medieval state. The moat was drained and converted into a parade ground. Yeomen Warders were no longer permitted to buy and sell their places but were to be drawn only from sergeants in the Army. To His Grace's displeasure, tourism at the Tower increased during his Constableship.

Each Constable is now appointed for five years. The new Constable is handed the keys as a symbol of office. On state occasions the Constable has custody of the crown and other royal jewels.

List

Constables of the Tower (1068–date) and Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets (1660–1890)

Portrait	Name	From	To	Note
Constable of the Tower
	Geoffrey de Mandeville	1068 (?)		First Constable, appointed by William the Conqueror
	William de Mandeville	1100	1116 (?)	Son of Geoffrey I de Mandeville, held Ranulf Flambard
	Othuer fitz Count	1116?	1120	Son of Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester.
	Hasculf de Tany	1120	1140?
	Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex	1140	1144 (d.)	Son of William de Mandeville
	no record of Constables during reign of Stephen, 1144–1153
	Richard de Lucie	1153	1179 (d.)	also Chief Justiciar
	Garnier de Isenei
	William Longchamp	1189		Bishop of Ely, Chancellor and Regent
	William Puintellus	1189		Sub-Constable
	Walter of Coutances	1191		Bishop of Rouen
	Roger Fitz Renfred	1194		brother of Walter of Coutances
	Geoffrey Fitz Peter	1198		Chief Justiciar; created Earl of Essex, 1199
	Roger de la Dune	1205
	Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville	October 1213		Son of Geoffrey FitzPeter
	William de Cornhill	November 1213		Archdeacon of Huntingdon
	Eustace de Greinville	1214
	Stephen Langton	June 1215		Archbishop of Canterbury
	Tower occupied by Prince Louis of France	June 1216
	Walter de Verdun	1217
	Stephen de Segrave	1220		Chief Justiciar
	Hugh de Wyndlesore	1224
	John de Boville and Thomas de Blumvill or Blundeville (probably together)	1225		Blundeville was Bishop of Norwich, 1226
	Henry Fitz Aucher	1227
	Ralph de Gatel	1230
	Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent	July 1232
	Ralph de Ralegh	1232		Sub-Constable
	William de St. Edmund	1233
	Hugh Giffard	1234		Lord of Boyton, Wiltshire, father of Walter Giffard and Godfrey Giffard
	Geoffrey de Crancumb	March 1235
	Hugh Giffard (again)	April 1236
	Walter de Gray, Archbishop of York and Bertram de Crioyl or Criolle (jointly)	1240	Midsummer 1242	de Criol Constable of Dover Castle 1242–1256
	Peter de Vallibus	1244
	John de Plessetis	June 1244
	Peter le Blund	1246
	Aymon Thorimbergh	September 1256
	Imbert Pugeys	1257
	Hugh Bigod	1258		Chief Justiciar
	Richard de Culwurth	1261
	Sir John Mansel or Maunsel	May 1261
	Richard de Tilbury	1261
	Hugh le Despencer	1262		Chief Justiciar, killed at Evesham, 4 August 1265
	Roger de Leyburn	1265
	Hugh Fitz Otho	October 1265
	John Walerand and John de la Lynde (jointly)	November 1265
	Alan la Zouche	1265
	Thomas de Ippegrave	April 1268
	Stephen de Eddeville	July 1268
	Hugh Fitz Otho (again)	1269
	Walter Giffard	1272		Archbishop of York
	John de Burgh	December 1273
	Philip Basset	1274
	Anthony de Bec	1275		Bishop of Durham
	Richard de Waldegrave	June 1280		Sub-Constable
	Ralph de Dacre	1283
	Ralph de Sandwich	September 1285
	Ralph Berners	February 1289
	Ralph de Sandwich (again)	July 1289
	John de Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell	March 1308
	Roger de Swynnerton	1321
	Stephen Segrave, 3rd Baron Segrave	February 1323
	Walter de Stapledon	1323		Bishop of Exeter
	John de Weston	November 1323
	John de Gisors and Richard de Betoigne (jointly)	November 1326
	Thomas Wake, 2nd Baron Wake of Liddell	December 1326
	John de Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell (again)	March 1327
	William, Baron la Zouche, of Mortimer	June 1328
	John de Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell (again)	1329
	Nicholas de la Beche	October 1335
	William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury	1335	1344
	Robert de Dalton	1341
	John, Baron Darcy (of Knaith)	March 1346	1347 (d.)
	John, Baron Darcy (son)	June 1347
	Bartholomew de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh	1355	August 1355 (d.)
	Robert de Morley, 2nd Baron Morley	1355
	John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick
	Richard de la Vache	1361
	Sir Aleyne de Boxhull	1366		Knight of the Garter and chamberlain of the Royal household. Broke Westminster Abbey's sanctuary 1378
	Sir Thomas Murrieux	December 1381
	Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent	May 1387
	Sir Thomas Morreux (? son of above)	July 1391		probably Deputy
	Edward (Plantagenet)	January 1392	September 1397	Earl of Rutland
	Ralph de Neville, 4th Baron Neville	September 1397	October 1397	1st Earl of Westmorland from 29 September 1397
	Edward Plantagenet (again)	October 1397	August 1399	Duke of Albemarle and Earl of Rutland
	Sir Thomas Rempston	October 1399		Drowned at London Bridge, 31 October 1406
	Edward (Plantagenet) (again)	November 1406	1413	now Duke of York, slain at Agincourt, 1415
	John Dabrichecourt	1413	1413	Son of Sanchet D'Abrichecourt
	Robert de Morley	1413	1415
	William Bourchier	November 1415		Earl of Eu, 1419, d. 1420
	Roger Aston	July 1420	August 1420
	John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon	August 1420		Duke of Exeter
	James Fienes, Lord Say	1447	July 1450	Murdered by Jack Cade's mob, 4 July 1450
	Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter	June 1451
	William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier	September 1460
	John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester	December 1461	October 1470	Executed by Lancastrians, 18 October 1470
	John Sutton, Baron Dudley	1470
	Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset	April 1483		In office before accession of Edward V in 1483
	Sir Robert Brackenbury	July 1483		Killed at Bosworth Field, 22 August 1485
	John de Vere, Earl of Oxford	September 1485	1513
	Sir Thomas Lovell	March 1513	1524
	Sir William Kingston	May 1524	1540
	Sir John Gage	October 1540	1553
	Edward Clinton, 9th Baron Clinton	July 1553	August 1553	1st Earl of Lincoln from 1572
	Sir John Gage (again)	August 1553	1556
	Sir Edward Braye	1556	1557
	Sir Robert Oxenbridge	January 1557	1558
	Peter Carew	1572	1572
	Sir Richard Berkeley of Stoke Gifford	1595
	Sir William Wade (Lieutenant)	1605	1611
	Sir Gervase Helwys (Lieutenant)	1611	1615
	Sir George More (Lieutenant)	1615	1617
	Sir Allen Apsley (Lieutenant)	1617	1630
	Sir Thomas Lunsford (Lieutenant)	1641	1641	Served for a few days, per Clarendon
	Francis, Baron Cottington	1640		William Balfour was his Lieutenant
	Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport	1641
	John Byron, 1st Baron Byron (Lieutenant)	1641	1642
	Sir Thomas Fairfax	August 1647	1650	Robert Tichborne was his Lieutenant.
Constable of the Tower and Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets
	Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet	3 October 1660	1675
	James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton	30 July 1675	1679
	William Alington, 3rd Baron Alington	8 June 1679	1 February 1685
	George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth	29 June 1685	1688
	Robert Lucas, 3rd Baron Lucas of Shenfield	1688	June 1702	Lord Lieutenant from 8 April 1689
	Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon	29 June 1702	1705
	Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex	23 May 1706	1710
	Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers	5 February 1710	18 August 1712
	George Compton, 4th Earl of Northampton	10 May 1712
	Hatton Compton	29 July 1715	1717	Lord Lieutenant only; Lieutenant of the Tower 1715–1740 but never Constable.
	Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle	26 October 1715 (Constable) 12 July 1717 (Lord Lieutenant)	29 December 1722
	Henry Clinton, 7th Earl of Lincoln	30 January 1723	1725
	Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton	19 June 1725	1726
	Henry Lowther, 3rd Viscount Lonsdale	24 November 1726	1731
	John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester	15 October 1731	27 September 1737
	Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis	30 May 1740	23 June 1762
	John Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton	26 July 1762	1770
	Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis	1770	1784	Lord Lieutenant from 4 January 1771
	The Lord George Lennox	12 March 1784	1784
	Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis	26 November 1784	5 October 1805	1st Marquess Cornwallis from 1792
	Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings	24 February 1806	28 November 1826
	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington	29 January 1827	14 September 1852	Lord Lieutenant from 1826
	Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere	20 October 1852	21 February 1865
	Sir John Burgoyne, Baronet	12 April 1865	7 October 1871
	Sir George Pollock	20 November 1871	6 October 1872
	Sir William Maynard Gomm	8 November 1872	15 March 1875
	Sir Charles Yorke	9 April 1875	20 November 1880	Died in office
	Sir William Fenwick Williams	9 May 1881	1881	Resigned
	Sir Richard James Dacres	2 July 1881	6 December 1886	Died in office
	Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala	6 January 1887	14 January 1890	Died in office as Constable; the Lord Lieutenancy of the Tower Hamlets had been abolished they previous year.
Constable of the Tower
	Sir Daniel Lysons	24 March 1890	29 January 1898	Died in office.
	Sir Frederick Stephenson	21 March 1898	10 March 1911	Died in office
	Sir Henry Evelyn Wood	11 May 1911	2 December 1919	Died in office
	Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen	23 June 1920	30 October 1932	Died in office
	George Milne, 1st Baron Milne	19 February 1933	18 February 1938
	Sir Claud William Jacob	19 February 1938	18 March 1943
	Sir Philip Chetwode, 7th Baronet	19 March 1943	18 March 1948	1st Baron Chetwode from 1945.
	Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell	19 March 1948	24 May 1950	Died in office.
	Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke	1 August 1950	31 July 1955
	Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson	1 August 1955	31 July 1960
	Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis	1 August 1960	31 July 1965
	Sir Gerald Templer	1 August 1965	31 July 1970
	Sir Richard Hull	1 August 1970	31 July 1975
	Sir Geoffrey Baker	1 August 1975	8 May 1980	Died in office.
	Sir Peter Hunt	1 August 1980	31 July 1985
	Sir Roland Gibbs	1 August 1985	31 July 1990
	Sir John Stanier	1 August 1990	31 July 1996
	Sir Peter Inge	1 August 1996	July 2001	Baron Inge from 1997.
	Sir Roger Wheeler	1 August 2001	31 July 2009
	Sir Richard Dannatt	1 August 2009	July 2016	Baron Dannatt from 2011
	Sir Nick Houghton	31 July 2016	1 August 2022	Baron Houghton of Richmond from 2017
	Sir Gordon Messenger	1 August 2022

Deputy lieutenants

A deputy lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets was commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets. Deputy lieutenants support the work of the lord-lieutenant.

• 28 June 1831: Charles Bradshaw Stutfield
• 14 March 1846: Frederick Hodgson
• 1 March, 1870: Sir Bruce Maxwell Seton, Bart; William Wainwright; James Ebenezer Saunders