The Collaborative International Dictionary
Chancellor \Chan"cel*lor\, n. [OE. canceler, chaunceler, F. chancelier, LL. cancellarius chancellor, a director of chancery, fr. L. cancelli lattices, crossbars, which surrounded the seat of judgment. See Chancel.] A judicial court of chancery, which in England and in the United States is distinctively a court with equity jurisdiction.
Note: The chancellor was originally a chief scribe or
secretary under the Roman emperors, but afterward was
invested with judicial powers, and had superintendence
over the other officers of the empire. From the Roman
empire this office passed to the church, and every
bishop has his chancellor, the principal judge of his
consistory. In later times, in most countries of
Europe, the chancellor was a high officer of state,
keeper of the great seal of the kingdom, and having the
supervision of all charters, and like public
instruments of the crown, which were authenticated in
the most solemn manner. In France a secretary is in
some cases called a chancellor. In Scotland, the
appellation is given to the foreman of a jury, or
assize. In the present German empire, the chancellor is
the president of the federal council and the head of
the imperial administration. In the United States, the
title is given to certain judges of courts of chancery
or equity, established by the statutes of separate
States.
--Blackstone. Wharton.
Chancellor of a bishop or Chancellor of a diocese (R. C. Ch. & ch. of Eng.), a law officer appointed to hold the bishop's court in his diocese, and to assist him in matter of ecclesiastical law.
Chancellor of a cathedral, one of the four chief dignitaries of the cathedrals of the old foundation, and an officer whose duties are chiefly educational, with special reference to the cultivation of theology.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, an officer before whom, or his deputy, the court of the duchy chamber of Lancaster is held. This is a special jurisdiction.
Chancellor of a university, the chief officer of a collegiate body. In Oxford, he is elected for life; in Cambridge, for a term of years; and his office is honorary, the chief duties of it devolving on the vice chancellor.
Chancellor of the exchequer, a member of the British cabinet upon whom devolves the charge of the public income and expenditure as the highest finance minister of the government.
Chancellor of the order of the Garter (or other military orders), an officer who seals the commissions and mandates of the chapter and assembly of the knights, keeps the register of their proceedings, and delivers their acts under the seal of their order.
Lord high chancellor of England, the presiding judge in the court of chancery, the highest judicial officer of the crown, and the first lay person of the state after the blood royal. He is created chancellor by the delivery into his custody of the great seal, of which he becomes keeper. He is privy counselor by his office, and prolocutor of the House of Lords by prescription.
Exchequer \Ex*cheq"uer\, n. [OE. escheker, OF. eichekier, fr. LL. scaccarium. See Checker, Chess, Check.]
-
One of the superior courts of law; -- so called from a checkered cloth, which covers, or formerly covered, the table. [Eng.]
Note: The exchequer was a court of law and equity. In the revenue department, it had jurisdiction over the proprietary rights of the crown against subjects; in the common law department, it administered justice in personal actions between subject and subject. A person proceeding against another in the revenue department was said to exchequer him. The judges of this court were one chief and four puisne barons, so styled. The Court of Exchequer Chamber sat as court of error in which the judgments of each of the superior courts of common law, in England, were subject to revision by the judges of the other two sitting collectively. Causes involving difficult questions of law were sometimes after argument, adjourned into this court from the other courts, for debate before judgment in the court below. Recent legislation in England (1880) has abolished the Court of Exchequer and the Court of Exchequer Chamber, as distinct tribunals, a single board of judiciary, the High Court of Justice, being established for the trial of all classes of civil cases.
--Wharton. -
The department of state having charge of the collection and management of the royal revenue. [Eng.] Hence, the treasury; and, colloquially, pecuniary possessions in general; as, the company's exchequer is low.
Barons of the exchequer. See under Baron.
Chancellor of the exchequer. See under Chancellor.
Exchequer bills or Exchequer bonds (Eng.), bills of money, or promissory bills, issued from the exchequer by authority of Parliament; a species of paper currency emitted under the authority of the government, and bearing interest.
Wiktionary
n. The official title held by the British cabinet minister, who is responsible for all governmental economic and financial matters, including the treasury.
Wikipedia
The Chancellor and Under-Treasurer of Her Majesty's Exchequer, colloquially known as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is a senior official within the Government of the United Kingdom and head of Her Majesty's Treasury. The office is a British Cabinet-level position.
The chancellor is responsible for all economic and financial matters, equivalent to the role of Secretary of the Treasury or Minister of Finance in other nations. The position is considered one of the four Great Offices of State, and in recent times has come to be the most powerful office in British politics after the Prime Minister.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is now always Second Lord of the Treasury as one of the Lords Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Treasurer. In the 18th and early 19th centuries it was common for the Prime Minister also to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer if he sat in the Commons; the last Chancellor who was simultaneously Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer was Stanley Baldwin in 1923. Formerly, in cases when the Chancellorship was vacant, the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench would act as Chancellor pro tempore. The last Lord Chief Justice to serve in this way was Lord Denman in 1834.
The Chancellor is the third-oldest major state office in English and British history; it originally carried responsibility for the Exchequer, the medieval English institution for the collection of royal revenues. The Exchequer dates from the time of Henry I. The Chancellor controlled monetary policy as well as fiscal policy until 1997, when the Bank of England was granted independent control of its interest rates. The Chancellor also has oversight of public spending across Government departments.
The office should not be confused with those of the Lord Chancellor or the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, both Cabinet posts, the Chancellor of the High Court, a senior judge, or the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, a defunct judicial office.
The current Chancellor of the Exchequer is Philip Hammond.
Usage examples of "chancellor of the exchequer".
Twist and dodge as he would, everywhere the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer was met or overtaken by the flying pig.
Power had been seized shortly thereafter by a group of the king's former counsellors, backed by mercenary forces hired by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Descroix snarled, glaring at the Chancellor of the Exchequer in a way which left very little doubt about who she would have preferred to nominate for victim.
Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had made profits still more abominable.
Cromarty waved one hand, urging Alexander to lower his steadily rising volume, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer looked around quickly.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the number-two man in Cromarty's cabinet, stood holding a plate of hors d'ouerves while he surveyed the flow and eddy of people about them, and the corners of Cromarty's mouth twitched.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer reached into his shoe and pulled out a wad of Bank of England paper money he’.
Of all the officers in the compartment, he was undoubtedly the best informed on the strengths and weaknesses of the Cromarty Government, since his brother was Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer stood beside his political leader and mentor, peering down at the rivers of light, and shook his head.
Not Morley but the far more vigorous Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George, was the key figure whom the government could not afford to lose, both for his proved ability in office and his influence upon the elec.
Marisa Turner, Countess of New Kiev and Chancellor of the Exchequer since the last Cabinet reorganization, looked troubled.