Lords Lieutenant were first appointed in the reign of King Edward VI, the prefix ‘Lord’ originally deriving from the aristocratic rank of those who filled the office and becoming a matter or custom. Technically, there was no such office as lord lieutenant until the local government changes of April 1974: prior to 1974 there was officially only His or Her Majesty’s Lieutenant for a particular county. Henry VIII had issued commissions to some individual nobles over multiple counties and wide ranging commissions were issued under his son and were recognised as appointments in times of crisis in 1549. They continued to make sporadic appearances under both Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth but with individuals increasingly named for single counties. The first individual named solely for Buckinghamshire was Arthur, Lord Grey de Wilton in 1569 and the first permanent lieutenant, Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley in 1607. The role was essentially a military one and, with many lords lieutenant often absent from their counties, deputies were appointed to act on their behalf, notably in terms of the practical administration of the militia. The lieutenancy also remained a politicised appointment until at least the nineteenth century. The military role effectively ceased in 1871 when lords lieutenant lost the ability to issue commissions in militia, yeomanry and volunteers although they could still make recommendations as to first appointments. In modern times, the Lord Lieutenant represents the monarch and carries out a variety of ceremonial duties although also still acting as a county’s chief magistrate and as Custos Rotulorum (keeper of records), the highest civil officer in the county. Lords Lieutenant also promote civic and community life, and encourage the voluntary sector. Lords Lieutenant nominate Vice Lords Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenants, who are then appointed by the Lord Chancellor by command of the monarch, such deputies being able to represent the Lord Lieutenant in his/her absence.
Since 1950, the uniforms of Lords Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenants are based on the army’s blue No 1 dress with silver shoulder boards, the badge of the Deputy Lieutenant being a Tudor rose surmounted by a crown. This is an older dress epaulette albeit still bearing the Tudor rose and was worn by Lieutenant Colonel the Hon. Frederick Heyworth Cripps (1885-1977) when appointed in 1929. A banker, Fred Cripps had been commissioned in Royal Bucks Hussars in 1903 and succeeded to the command of the 1/1st Royal Bucks Hussars in September 1917. Awarded the DSO for his part in the regiment’s charge at El Mughar in Palestine in November 1917, he subsequently commanded the 101st (Bucks and Berks) Battalion, Machine Gun Corps on the Western Front. He stepped down from command of the 99th (Bucks and Berks Yeomanry) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in 1923 through involvement in a banking scandal but did not return to military life after being acquitted of all charges. He succeeded his elder brother as 3rd Lord Parmoor in 1937. In the Second World War he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and served in a number of administrative appointments including Comptroller of Liverpool Docks (South End).
