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Thus, the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth Earls of Oxford held the position on a hereditary basis until 1626, when the eighteenth Earl died, again leaving a distant relative as a male heir, but a closer one as a female heir. The House of Lords eventually ruled that the office belonged to the male heir, Robert Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby , who later became Earl of Lindsey. The office remained vested in the Earls of Lindsey, who later became the Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. In 1779Events The Iron Bridge is completed across the Severn river in Shropshire; the first all cast-iron bridge ever constructed. Boulton and Watt's Smethwick Engine, now the oldest working engine in the world, is brought into service. The city of Tampere is fo, however, the fourth Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven died, leaving two sisters as female heirs, and an uncle as a male heir.
The uncle became fifth Duke, but the House of Lords ruled that the two sisters were jointly Lord Great Chamberlain, and could appoint a deputy to fulfill its functions. The barony of Willoughby de EresbyThe Barony of Willoughby de Eresby (pronounced "Willuhby Deersby") is a barony by writ in the Peerage of England, dating to 1313. Higher titles which have at times been held by Barons Willoughby de Eresby include Earl of Lindsey, Marquess of Lindsey, Duke went into abeyanceAbeyance (from the Old French abeance meaning "gaping"), a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term between the two sisters, but the Sovereign terminated the abeyance and granted the title to the elder sister Priscilla. The younger sister later married the first Marquess of CholmondeleyThe title of Marquess of Cholmondeley (pronounced Chum''ly") was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1815 for the Earl of Cholmondeley an English title dating to 1706. The Marquess is one of the sharers in the office of Lord Great Chamberlain,. The office of Lord Great Chamberlain, however, was divided between Priscilla and her younger sister Georgiana. Priscilla's share was eventually split between two of her granddaughters, and has been split several more times since then. By contrast, Georgiana's share has been inherited by a single male heir each time; that individual has in each case been the Marquess of Cholmondeley, a title created for Georgiana's husband.
At any one time, a single person actually exercises the office of Lord Great Chamberlain. The various individuals who hold fractions of the Lord Great Chamberlainship are technically each Joint Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain, and the right to exercise the office for a given reign rotates proportionately to the fraction of the office held. For instance, the Marquesses of Cholmondeley hold one-half of the office, and may therefore exercise the office or appoint a deputy every alternate reign.(A Deputy Lord Great Chamberlain is a person exercising the office who is not personally a co-heir to the office; historically these have been sons or husbands of co-heirs as the office has never been exercised by a female, females having been forbidden to sit in the Lords until the present reign).
The office of Lord Great Chamberlain is distinct from the non-hereditary office of Lord Chamberlain of the HouseholdThe Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the royal household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the great offices of state. The Lord Chamberlain is alw, a position in the monarch's household. This office arose, in fact, as a deputy of the Lord Great Chamberlain, to fulfill the latter's duties in the royal household, but now they are quite distinct. The Lord Great Chamberlain has charge over the Palace of WestminsterWestminster is the name of a city that covers much of central London, located to the west of the ancient City of London, and which has been the principal seat of government in England for more than nine hundred years. Both cities, and much of the surround, and especially of the House of Lords, and bears the Sword of State at state openingsIn the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event held usually in October or November that marks the commencement of a session of Parliament. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber after Parliament first assembles in consequence and closings of Parliament. The Lord Great Chamberlain also has a major part to play in royal coronations, having the right to dress the monarch on coronation day and to serve the monarch water before and after the coronation banquet, and also being involved in investing the monarch with the insignia of rule.
The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that a hereditary peer exercising the office of Lord Great Chamberlain (as well as the Earl Marshal) be exempt from such a rule, so that they may continue to carry out their ceremonial functions.