From the year 1405 (the sixth of Henry IV.) there is an uninterrupted series of Lord High Admirals of England, the office being always held by an individual, till the 20th of November, 1632, when it was fbr the first time put in commission : all the great officers of state were the com missioners. During the Commonwealth, the affairs of the navy were managed by a Committee of Parliament, till Crom well took the direction of them himself. On the Restoration, the king's brother, the Duke of York, was appointed Lord High Admiral ; and he retained the place till the 22nd of May, 1684, when Charles took it into his own hands. On the duke's accession to the throne, in the beginning of the following year, he declared him self Lord High Admiral. On the Revo lution the office was again put in com mission; and it continued to be held in this form till 1707, when Prince George of Denmark was appointed Lord High Admiral, with a council of four persons to assist him. On his death, in Novem ber, 1708, the Earl of Pembroke was appointed his successor, with a similar council. The earl resigned the office in 1709, since which time, till now, it has always been in commission, with the ex ception of the period of about sixteen months (from May, 1827, till September, 1828), during which it was held by King William IV., then Duke of Clarence. The commissioners, styled the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, were formerly seven, and are now six in num ber ; and the first Lord is always a mem ber of the cabinet. It is the First Lord, indeed, who principally exercises the powers of the office. The patent consti tuting the commission is issued by writ of privy seal, in the king's name, and, after mentioning the names of the com missioners, it appoints them to be " our commissioners for executing the office of our High Admiral of our said united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the dominions, islands, and terri tories thereunto belonging, and of our High Admiral of Jamaica, Barbadoes, Saint Christopher, Nevis, Montserrat, Bermudas, and Antegoa, in America, and of Gniney, Hinny, and Angola, in Africa, and of the islands and dominions thereof, and also of all and singular our other foreign plantations, dominions, islands, and territories whatsoever, and places thereunto belonging, during our plea sure ; giving, and by these presents grant ing unto you, our said commissioners, or any two or more of you, during our plea sure, full power and authority to do, exe cute, exercise, and perform all and every act, matter, and thing which do belong or appertain to the office of our High Ad miral," &c., as well in those things which concern the navy as in the things which concern " the right and jurisdiction" of the High Admiral.
Till the reign of Queen Anne the salary of the Lord High Admiral was only 300 marks ; and the emoluments of the place, which were very large, arose chiefly from perquisites, or droits, as they were called, of various descriptions. Prince George of Denmark resigned all these droits into the hands of the crown, and received in their stead a salary of 70001. a year. The salary of the First Lord is 45001., and his official residence is the Admiralty, Whitehall. The salary of the junior lords is 10001., and they have official residences; or, in case of the go vernment not appropriating to them an official residence, a sum of 2001. is allowed instead.
The title of Admiral is also given in modern times to naval officers of the highest rank ; of which we have in Eng land three classes, namely, Admirals of the Red, of the White, and of the Blue.
Admirals bear their flag at the main gallant-mast head ; vice-admirals, at the fore top-gallant-mast head ; and rear-ad mirals, at the wizen top-gallant-mast head. After the union with Scotland in 1707, the use of the red flag was discon tinued, the union-jack being. substituted for it ; but it was resumed at the naval promotion which took place in 1805, after the battle of Trafalgar. There are also vice-admirals and rear-admirals of each flag, the former ranking with lieutenant generals, and the latter with major-gene rals in the army. The number of admirals in each class, in May, 1844, was as fol lows :— Of the Of the Of the Red. White. Blue.
Admirals . . 9 13 14 Vice-Admirals 14 14 18 Rear-Admirals 28 30 38 A full admiral ranks with a general, and an admiral who is 'actually the cam mander-in-chief of a fleet with a field marshal. The title of Admiral of the Fleet is merely an honorary distinction. The number of admirals on the 1st of January in each of the following years was as follows :-242 in 1815; 228 in 1819; 236 in 1825 ; 228 in 1830 ; 211 in 1837; and 211 in 1841. The average age of officers promoted to the rank of rear admiral (omitting fractional parts of a year) was forty-seven years in 1815; fifty one in 1819; fifty-five in 1825; fifty-eight in 1830; sixty-one in 1837; and rather more than sixty-one in 1841. The period which rear-admirals had served as cap tains bad increased from nineteen years in 1815 to nearly thirty-five years in 1841 ; the increase having been from twenty nine years nine months in 1830 to thirty four years and nine months in 1841. According to the official Navy List for April, 1844, there were, in addition to the admiral of the fleet, who receives sea-pay of 61. per day, thirty-six admirals, with the sea-pay of 51. per day ; forty-six vice admirals, with the pay of 41. per day ; and ninety-six rear-admirals, with the pay of 31. per day; making 179 admirals ; but the number in commission in time of peace is only about twelve. In addition to this pay, every commander-in-chief receives a fur ther sum of 31. per day while his flag shall be flying within the limits of his station. The full pay of admirals in 1792 was 3/.10s. a day ; vice-admirals, 21. 10s.; rear-admirals, 1/. 15s.: in addition to which, compensation in lieu of servants' allowances was given at the rate of 4301. 3s. a year to admirals ; 2801. 5s. to vice admirals ; and 202/. to rear - admirals. The number of servants allowed was se.
limed in 1699 ; but in 1700 the regulation was rescinded, and by an Order in Council fifty servants were allowed to the Admiral of the Fleet; thirty to admirals ; twenty to vice-admirals; and Ofteeu to rear-ad mirals. The half-pay of the Admiral of the Fleet is at present 1149/. 15s. per annum ; of admirals, 766/. 10s.; of vice admirals, 593/. 2s. 6d.; and of rear-ad mirals, 4561. Ss. The half-pay of the Admiral of the Fleet was 21. 10s. per diem in 1792; that of admirals, 11. 15s.; vice-admirals, 11. 5s.; and of rear-ad mirals, 17s. 6d. (Report on Army and Navy Appointments.) There is no officer with the title of admiral in the navy of the United States of America, the rank corresponding to it being that of commodore, which is given to captains commanding on stations.