Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper facts for kids
The Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper was an important civil servant in old Ireland. This person worked in the Irish Chancery, which was part of the government based at Dublin Castle. Their job was similar to two different roles in England: the Clerk of the Crown and the Clerk of the Hanaper.
Later on, the most important part of their job was to send out special official papers called "writs of election." These papers were needed to choose people for the UK Parliament in London. This included members for the House of Commons and Irish representative peers for the House of Lords.
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What the Clerk Did
In 1859, officials looked closely at what the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper actually did. They found that the office had three main types of duties.
One part of the job involved legal cases. This included making sure people followed court orders. Another duty was preparing and sending out specific legal documents. The third main task was to officially swear people into their new government jobs. This was done in front of the Lord Chancellor.
Before 1836, the Clerk had even more duties. As the Clerk of the Crown, they prepared official documents for appointing sheriffs. They also prepared papers for judges and other legal tasks.
As the Clerk of the Hanaper, they prepared official documents for land given by the King or Queen. They also handled papers for new nobility titles and church appointments. This part of the job also included preparing documents for new companies and various other legal papers.
In 1868, the Public Record Office of Ireland listed many old records from this office. These included papers about choosing Members of Parliament and Irish Peers. There were also records about official investigations and appointments for various roles.
An old order from King Edward IV said the Clerk of the Hanaper should collect fees. These fees came from official documents and fines from the Chancery court. The Clerk would then pay the Chancellor and send the rest of the money to the King's Exchequer.
History of the Office
The job of Clerk of the Hanaper has a long history in Ireland. The name "Hanaper" comes from the word "hamper." This is because official papers about regular legal cases were kept in a hamper. Papers related to the King or Queen were kept in a "little bag," which led to the name "Petty Bag Office."
Originally, the Clerk of the Hanaper and the Clerk of the Crown were separate jobs. But in the 1600s, the same person started doing both jobs. Later, these two roles were officially combined. From 1888, the person holding this office also worked as the secretary to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
In earlier centuries, the Clerk was often a trained lawyer. They could even hope to become the Attorney-General for Ireland or a judge. At least five Clerks in the 1300s and 1400s became judges or Attorney-General. It was a demanding job. For example, in 1427, Stephen Roche complained about how much hard work he did for the King. He said he wasn't paid enough. The Council agreed and gave him some money.
Problems and Changes
In 1789, the Attorney-General for Ireland told the Irish House of Commons about problems with the office. The person holding the job had been away for twenty years. During that time, the work was done very badly. It was clear that changes were needed.
In 1817, officials noted that the appointed Clerk was paid a lot of money each year. But a deputy actually did all the work and kept the fees. They suggested that the Clerk should be paid a set salary. They also said the Clerk should do the job themselves, not through a deputy. This became law in 1823 and 1836. The 1836 law officially ended the old way of appointing the Clerk. It set up a new office with clear rules.
In 1859, officials even suggested that the office should be completely removed. They thought its few remaining jobs could be moved to other parts of the Chancery court. They also wanted to simplify the documents to save money.
End of the Office
The last Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper was Gerald Horan. He worked from 1915 to 1922. He sent out the election papers for the Stormont election in June 1921. He also sent papers for the Free State provisional parliament election in June 1922.
When the Irish Free State Constitution came into effect in December 1922, the office was considered to have ended. For the 1923 Free State election, the election papers were sent out by the clerk of the Dáil. The remaining election duties of the office were officially moved to the Department of Local Government and Public Health in 1924. The office was then officially ended by a law in 1926.
In Northern Ireland, the Speaker of the House of Commons had a problem in March 1923. There was no official to issue election papers for a by-election. So, in August 1924, an official order moved the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper's election duties in Northern Ireland to the Clerk of the Crown for Northern Ireland.
List of Clerks
Clerks of the Hanaper
- 1297: John Marshal
- 1373–c.1378: Thomas de Everdon
- 1382: Richard Carran; Thomas Talbot; John Newport; Nicholas Hotot
- 1383–86: Robert Sutton;Thomas de Everdon jointly
- 1386: John Bykeley
- 1388: Robert Huntingdon
- 1388–95: Robert Clayton
- c.1395–99: Richard Sydgrave
- 1399-1410: Hugh Bavent, or Banent
- 1410–after 1423: John Passvaunt
- 1425–27: Stephen Roche, first term
- 1427–28: Richard Newport (ejected as no longer resident)
- 1428–30: Stephen Roche, second term
- 1430: James Blakeney
- c.1431–37 William Sutton
- 1439: Adam Veldon
- 1439–after 1442: Thomas Beltoft and John Bolt in survivorship
- 1450–after 1461: James Prendergast (alias Collyn)
- 1461: Patrick Cogley
- 1479: Richard Nangle
- until 1532: Nicholas Wycombe
- 1532–35: William Fitzwilliam
- from 1535: jointly to
Nicholas Stanyhurst (father of James Stanihurst) and
Thomas Alen (brother of John Alan) - from 1554: Thomas Alen alone as the last survivor
- c.1559–after 1588 Lancelot Alford
- by 1592: William Phillips (granted in 1588 in reversion from Alford's death)
Clerks of the Crown
- 1414–43 Thomas Brown
- 1443–60 Hugh Wogan
- 1553: Nicholas Stanyhurst
Clerks of the Crown and Hanaper
- 1603–37: Sir John King
- 1606–after 1619: Francis Edgeworth (brother of Edward Edgeworth) jointly with Sir John King
- 1637–after 1666: George Carleton (Edward Nicholas in 1628 secured the reversion on the death of King, and sold it to Carleton for £1060, granted in 1631.)
- After 1666: William Domville (secured in reversion by his father Sir William Domville, Attorney General for Ireland)
- 1670–74: Lancelot and Richard Domville (sons of the elder William Domville)
- 1674–1721: Thomas Domvile, later 1st Baronet (son of the elder William Domville)
- 1689 Thomas Arthur (Patriot Parliament appointment)
- 1721–68: Sir Compton Domvile, 2nd Baronet
- 1768–88: Henry Seymour Conway (His uncle Henry Seymour Conway was appointed on 15 January 1757 in reversion on Domvile's death)
- 1788–95 Sir Lucius O'Brien, 3rd Baronet
- 1795–97: William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster
- 1797–1806: Edmund Pery, Lord Glentworth (later 1st Earl of Limerick)
- 1806–07: George Forbes, 6th Earl of Granard
- 1807–14: George Nugent, 7th Earl of Westmeath
- 1815–37: George Forbes, 6th Earl of Granard (again)
- 1837–56: Christopher Fitzsimon
- 1857–58: John O'Connell
- 1858–80: Sir Ralph Smith Cusack
- 1880–82: Sir Robert William Arbuthnot Holmes
- 1882–88: William Neilson Hancock
- 1888–1915: Joseph Nugent Lentaigne
- 1915–22: Gerald Horan
