Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms

The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a post in the Government of the United Kingdom that has been held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords^[1] since 1945. Prior to 17 March 1834, the Gentlemen-at-Arms were known as the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners.

Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms & Chief Whip of the House of Lords
Incumbent The Lord Kennedy of Southwark since 9 July 2024
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	Prime Minister
Formation	1509
First holder	Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex

List of Captains of the Gentlemen-at-Arms

Date of appointment	Holder
1509	The Earl of Essex
1539	Sir Anthony Browne
1549	The Lord Braye
1550	The Marquess of Northampton
1553	The Earl of Sussex
1558	The Lord Hunsdon
1596	The Lord Hunsdon
May 1603	The Earl of Northumberland
1615	The Earl of Suffolk
1616	The Lord Howard de Walden (succeeded as Earl of Suffolk 1626)
May 1635	The Earl of Salisbury
1643	The Lord Dunsmore (created Earl of Chichester 1644)
temp Charles II	The Earl of Salisbury
20 July 1660	The Earl of Cleveland
29 March 1667	The Lord Belasyse
10 March 1672	The Viscount Fauconberg
9 May 1676	The Earl of Roscommon
24 April 1677	The Earl of Scarsdale
26 June 1682	The Earl of Huntingdon
28 February 1689	The Lord Lovelace
29 November 1693	The Duke of St Albans
13 January 1712	The Duke of Beaufort
22 September 1714	The Duke of St Albans
21 May 1726	Marquess of Hartington (succeeded as Duke of Devonshire 1729)
11 June 1731	The Earl of Burlington
11 June 1734	The Duke of Montagu
8 May 1740	The Duke of Bolton
12 July 1742	The Lord Bathurst
24 December 1744	The Lord Hobart (created Earl of Buckinghamshire 1746)
16 November 1756	The Lord Berkeley of Stratton
12 July 1762	The Earl of Lichfield
28 December 1772	The Lord Edgcumbe created Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Valletort 1781)
29 March 1782	The Lord Ferrers of Chartley
17 May 1783	The Earl of Jersey
31 December 1783	The Lord Ferrers of Chartley
5 March 1790	The Viscount Falmouth
19 February 1806	The Lord St John of Bletso
2 March 1808	The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
26 March 1812	The Earl of Courtown
1 September 1827	The Viscount Hereford
9 December 1830	The Lord Foley
16 August 1833	The Lord Foley
29 December 1834	The Viscount Hereford
6 May 1835	The Lord Foley
8 September 1841	The Lord Forester
24 July 1846	The Lord Foley
27 February 1852	The Earl of Sandwich
30 December 1852	The Lord Foley
26 February 1858	The Earl of Shrewsbury
28 June 1859	The Lord Foley
10 July 1866	The Earl of Tankerville
20 March 1867	The Marquess of Exeter
12 December 1868	The Lord Foley
27 December 1869	The Marquess of Normanby
20 April 1871	The Earl Cowper
1 January 1874	The Earl of Ilchester
2 March 1874	The Marquess of Exeter
4 February 1875	The Earl of Shrewsbury
28 May 1877	The Earl of Coventry
3 May 1880	The Earl Fife
21 January 1881	The Marquess of Huntly
27 June 1881	The Lord Carrington
6 July 1885	The Earl of Coventry
10 February 1886	The Lord Sudeley
5 August 1886	The Viscount Barrington
24 November 1886	The Earl of Rosslyn
11 August 1890	The Earl of Yarborough
25 August 1892	The Lord Vernon
13 March 1894	The Earl of Chesterfield
16 July 1895	The Lord Belper
18 December 1905	The Earl Beauchamp
31 July 1907	The Lord Denman
26 June 1911	The Lord Colebrooke
20 November 1922	The Earl of Clarendon
22 January 1924	The Earl of Dunmore
1 December 1924	The Earl of Clarendon
26 June 1925	The Earl of Plymouth
1 January 1929	The Earl of Lucan
5 June 1929	The Earl of Cavan
12 November 1931	The Earl of Lucan
31 May 1940	The Lord Snell
21 April 1944	Vacant
22 March 1945	The Earl Fortescue
4 August 1945	The Lord Ammon
18 October 1949	The Lord Shepherd
5 November 1951	The Earl Fortescue
27 June 1957	The Earl St Aldwyn
21 October 1964	The Lord Shepherd
29 July 1967	The Lord Beswick
24 June 1970	The Earl St Aldwyn
11 March 1974	The Baroness Llewelyn-Davies
6 May 1979	The Lord Denham
22 May 1991	The Lord Hesketh
16 September 1993	The Viscount Ullswater
20 July 1994	The Lord Strathclyde
6 May 1997	The Lord Carter
1 May 2002	The Lord Grocott
24 January 2008	The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
5 October 2008	The Lord Bassam of Brighton
13 May 2010	The Baroness Anelay of St John's
6 August 2014	The Lord Taylor of Holbeach
26 July 2019	The Lord Ashton of Hyde
7 September 2022	The Baroness Williams of Trafford
9 July 2024	The Lord Kennedy of Southwark

References

1. "Gentlemen at Arms". Retrieved 6 August 2023.