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Master of the Mint

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.

For the chief executive of the Royal Canadian Mint, see Master of the Mint (Canada).

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]

1331 Richard de Snowshill and Richard of Grimsby

[2]

1351–? Henry de Bruselee and John Chichester

[3]

1361–1361 Walter dei Bardi

[3]

1365–1367 John Chichester

[3]

1375–1391 Walter dei Bardi

[3]

1391–1391 John Wildeman

[3]

1411–1414 Richard Garner

[3]

1413–1414 Sir Lewis John

[3]

1418–1420 Sir Lewis John

[3]

1421–1432 Bartholomew Goldbeter

[4]

1435–1446 John Paddesley

[4]

1446–1459 Robert Manfield

[4]

1459–1461 Sir Richard Tonstall

[3]

1461–1483 (executed 1483) [3]

William Hastings

1483–1485 Sir (killed at Bosworth, 1485) [3]

Robert Brackenbury

1485–1490 Sir Giles Daubeney

[4]

1492–1493 Sir and Sir John Shaa[3]

Bartholomew Reade

1493–1494 Sir and Robert Fenrother [4]

Bartholomew Reade

1495–1498 Sir and Sir John Shaa[4]

Bartholomew Reade

1509–1534 [4]

William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy

1543 Ralph Rowlet and Sir [4]

Martin Bowes

1544 Sir [4]

Martin Bowes

1547–1553 [5]

Sir John York

1553–1555 [4]

Thomas Egerton

1560–1571 Sir [4]

Thomas Stanley

1571–1582 [4]

John Lonyson

1582–1599 [6]

Sir Richard Martin

1599–1609 (died 1616) and Richard Martin

Sir Richard Martin

1617–1623

Sir Edward Villiers

1623–1626 Sir

Randal Cranfield

1626–1635 Sir

Robert Harley

Ralph Freeman

1643–1649 Sir

Robert Harley

1649–1653

Aaron Guerdon

1660–1662 Sir

Ralph Freeman

1662–1667 Sir and Henry Slingsby

Ralph Freeman

1667–1680 (suspended 1680)

Henry Slingsby

John Buckworth

Thomas Neale

1686–1699

Thomas Neale

1699-1727

Sir Isaac Newton

1727–1737

John Conduitt

1737–1745

Hon. Richard Arundell

1745–1769 [a]

Hon. William Chetwynd

1769–1784 [b]

Hon. Charles Cadogan

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

William Wellesley-Pole

1823–1827

Thomas 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

1870– Office amalgamated into the office of

Chancellor of the Exchequer

1868–94 Charles Fremantle

1894–1902 Sir Horace Seymour

1903–13 [7]

William Ellison-Macartney

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

1978-87 Dr Jeremy Gerhard

1989-92 Anthony D Garrett

1993–2001 Roger Holmes

2001–2006 Gerald Sheehan

[8]

2007–2010 Andrew Stafford

2010–2018 Adam Lawrence

2018–present

Anne Jessopp

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

Münzmeister

Warden of the Mint

Zarabi

Challis, C. E. (1992). . Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24026-3.

A new history of the Royal Mint