The Duchy of Lancaster is one of only two Duchies in the United Kingdom, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall.

The Duchy of Lancaster was created for John of Gaunt, a younger son of King Edward III of England,when John married the Lancaster heiress. It is the private property of the crown, and has been since 1399, when the Dukedom of Lancaster, held by Henry of Bolingbroke, merged with the crown on his accession to the throne. The Duchy consists of lands in Northern England, especially in Lancashire. The chief officer of the Duchy is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a high position which is sometimes a cabinet post. Since, for at least the last two centuries, the Chancellor rarely has had any significant duties pertaining to management of the Duchy itself, he is usually available as a minister without portfolio.

The monarch derives the Privy Purse from the revenues of the Duchy.The lands of the Duchy are not to be confused with the Crown Estate,whose revenues have been handed to the Treasury in exchange for receiving a yearly civil list payment since the eighteenth century.

Table of contents
1 Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1413-1803
2 1803-1902
3 1902 to present

Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1413-1803

  • John Wodehouse 1413-1431
  • Walter Shiryngton 1431-1449
  • William Tresham 1449-1450
  • Sir John Say 1450-1471
  • Sir Richard Fowler 1471-1477
  • Sir John Say 1477-1478
  • Thomas Thwaites 1478-1483
  • Thomas Metcalfe 1483-1485
  • Sir Reynold Bray 1485-1503
  • Sir John Mordaunt 1504
  • Sir Richard Empson 1505-1509
  • Sir Henry Marny 1509-1523
  • Sir Richard Wingfield 1523-1525
  • Sir Thomas More 1525-1529
  • Sir William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton (1537) 1529-1542
  • Sir John Gage 1542-1547
  • Sir William Paget, 1st Lord Paget (1549) 1547-1552
  • Sir John Gates 1552-1553
  • Sir Robert Rochester 1553-1557
  • Sir Edward Waldegrave 1558-1559
  • Sir Ambrose Cave 1559-1568
  • Sir Ralph Sadler 1568-1587
  • Sir Francis Walsingham 1587-1590
  • Sir Thomas Heneage 1590-1595
  • in commission 1595-1597
  • Sir Robert Cecil 1597-1599
  • in commission 1599-1601
  • Sir John Fortescue 1601
  • in commission 1601
  • Sir John Fortescue 16601-1607
  • Sir Thomas Parry 1607-1616
  • Sir John Dacombe 1616-1618
  • in commission 1618
  • Sir Humphrey May 1618-1629
  • Edward Barrett, 1st Lord Barrett of Newburgh 1629-1644
  • Francis, Lord Seymour (for the king) 1644-1645
  • William, 1st Lord Grey of Warke and William Lenthall (for parliament) 1645-1648
  • Sir Gilbert Gerrard 1648-1649
  • John Bradshaw 1649-1653
  • John Bradshaw and Thomas Fell (commissioners) 1653-1654
  • Thomas Fell 1654-1658
  • John Bradshaw 1658-1660
  • William Lenthall 1660
  • Sir Gilbert Gerrard 1660
  • Francis Seymour, 1st Lord Seymour of Trowbridge 1660-1664
  • Sir Thomas Ingram 1664-1672
  • Sir Robert Carr 1672-1682
  • Sir Thomas Chicheley 1682-1687
  • in commission 1687
  • Robert Phelipps 1687-1689
  • Robert Bertie, Lord Willoughby of Eresby 1689-1697
  • Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl Stamford 1697-1702
  • Sir John Leveson-Gower, 1st Lord Gower of Stittenham (1703) 1702-1706
  • James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby 1706-1710
  • William Berkeley, 4th Lord Berkeley of Stratton 1710-1714
  • Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford 1714-1716
  • Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarborough 1716-1717
  • Nicolas Lechmere, 1st Lord Lechmere 1721-1727
  • John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland 1727-1736
  • George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley 1736-1743
  • Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Lord Edgcumbe of Mount Edgcumbe 1743-1758
  • Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin, 9th Earl of Kinnoull (1758) 1758-1762
  • James Stanley, Lord Strange 1762-1771
  • Thomas Villiers, 1st Lord Hyde of Hindon, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1776) 1771-1782
  • John Dunning, 1st Baron Ashburton 1782-1783
  • Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby 1783
  • Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon 1783-1786
  • Charles Jenkinson, 1st Lord Hawkesbury, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1796) 1786-1803

1803-1902

1902 to present