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LIEUTENANT

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 600 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LIEUTENANT , one who takes the See also:

place, See also:office and See also:duty of and acts on behalf of a See also:superior or other See also:person. The word in See also:English preserves the See also:form of the See also:French See also:original (from lieu, place; See also:tenant, holding), which is the See also:equivalent of the See also:Lat. locum tenens, one holding the place of another. The usual English See also:pronunciation appears See also:early, the word being frequently spelled lieftenant, lyeftenant or lufenant in the 14th and 15th centuries. The See also:modern See also:American pronunciation is lewtenant, while the See also:German is represented by the See also:present form of the word Leutnant. In French See also:history, lieutenant du roi (locum tenens regis) was a See also:title See also:borne by the officer sent with military See also:powers to represent the See also:king in certain provinces. With wider powers and functions, both See also:civil as well as military, and holding authority throughout an entire See also:province, such a representative of the king was called lieutenant See also:general du roi. The first See also:appointment of these officials See also:dates from the reign of See also:Philip IV. the See also:Fair (see See also:CONSTABLE). In the 16th See also:century the See also:administration of the provinces was in the hands of gouverneurs, to whom the lieutenants du roi became subordinates. The titles lieutenant civil or criminel and lieutenant general de See also:police have been borne by certain judicial See also:officers in See also:France (see CIIrITELET and See also:BAILIFF: Bailli). As the title of the representative of the See also:sovereign, " lieutenant " in English usage appears in the title of the See also:lord lieutenant of See also:Ireland, and of the lords lieutenant of the counties of the See also:United See also:Kingdom (see below). The most general use of the word is as the name of a grade of See also:naval and military officer. It is See also:common in this application to nearly every See also:navy and See also:army of the present See also:day.

In See also:

Italy and See also:Spain the first See also:part of the word is omitted, and an See also:Italian and See also:Spanish officer bearing this See also:rank are called tenente or teniente respectively. In the See also:British and most other navies the lieu-tenants are the commissioned officers next in rank to commanders, or second class of captains. Originally the lieutenant was a soldier who aided, and in See also:case of need replaced, the See also:captain, who, until the latter See also:half of the 17th century, was not necessarily a See also:seaman in any navy. At first one lieutenant was carried, and only in the largest See also:ships. The number was gradually increased, and the lieutenants formed a numerous See also:corps. At the See also:close of the See also:Napoleonic See also:War in 1815 there were 3211 lieutenants in the British navy. Lieutenants now often qualify for See also:special duties such as See also:navigation, or gunnery, or the management of torpedoes. In the British army a lieutenant is a subaltern officer ranking next below a captain and above a second lieutenant. In the United States of See also:America subalterns are classified as first lieutenants and second lieutenants. In France the two grades are lieutenant and sous-lieutenant, while in See also:Germany the Leutnant is the See also:lower of the two ranks, the higher being Ober-leutnant (formerly Premier-leutnant). A " captain lieutenant " in the British army was formerly the See also:senior subaltern who virtually commanded the See also:colonel's See also:company or See also:troop, and ranked as junior captain, or " puny captain," as he was called by See also:Cromwell's soldiers. The lord lieutenant of a See also:county, in See also:England and See also:Wales and in Ireland, is the See also:principal officer of a county.

His creation dates from the reign of See also:

Henry VIII. (or, according to some, See also:Edward VI.), when the military functions of the See also:sheriff were handed over to him. He was responsible for the efficiency of the See also:militia of the county, and afterwards of the See also:yeomanry and See also:volunteers. He was See also:commander of these forces, whose officers he appointed. By the Regulation of the Forces See also:Act 1871, the See also:jurisdiction, duties and command exercised by the lord lieutenant were revested in the See also:crown, but the See also:power of recommending for first appointments was reserved to the lord lieutenant. By the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, the lord lieutenant of a county was constituted See also:president of the county association. The office of lord lieutenant is honorary, and is held during the royal See also:pleasure, but virtually for See also:life. Appointment to the office is by letters patent under the See also:great See also:seal. Usually, though not necessarily, the person appointed lord lieutenant is also appointed custos rotulorum (q.v.). Appointments to the county See also:bench of magistrates are usually made on the recommendation of the lord lieutenant (see See also:JUSTICE OF THE See also:PEACE). A See also:deputy lieutenant (denoted frequently by the addition of the letters D.L. after a person's name) is a deputy of a lord lieutenant of a county. His appointment and qualifications previous to 1908 were regulated by the Militia Act 1882.

By s. 30 of that act the lieutenant of each county was required from See also:

time to time to appoint such properly qualified persons as he thought See also:fit, living within the county, to be deputy lieutenants. At least twenty had to be appointed for each county, if there were so many qualified; if less than that number were qualified, then all the duly qualified persons in the county were to be appointed. The appointments were subject to the sovereign's approval, and a return of all appointments to, and removals from, the office had to be laid before See also:parliament annually. To qualify for the appointment of deputy lieutenant a person had to be (a) a peer of the See also:realm, or the See also:heir-apparent of such a peer, having a place of See also:residence within the county; or (b) have in See also:possession an See also:estate in See also:land in the United Kingdom of the yearly value of not less than 200; or (c) be the heir-apparent of such a person; or (d) have a clear yearly income from personalty within the United Kingdom of not less than f200 (s. 33). If the lieutenant were absent from the United Kingdom, or through illness or other cause were unable to act, the sovereign might authorize any three deputy lieutenants to act as lieutenant (s. 31), or might appoint a deputy lieutenant to act as See also:vice-lieutenant. Otherwise, the duties of the office were practically nominal, except that a deputy lieu-tenant might attest militia recruits and administer the See also:oath of See also:allegiance to them. The reorganization in 1907 of the forces of the British crown, and the formation of county associations to ad-See also:minister the territorial army, placed increased duties on deputy lieutenants, and it was publicly announced that the king's approval of appointments to that position would only be given in the case of gentlemen who had served for ten years in some force of the crown, or had rendered eminent service in connexion with a county association. The lord lieutenant of Ireland is the See also:head of the executive in that See also:country. He represents his sovereign and maintains the formalities of See also:government, the business of government being entrusted to the See also:department of his See also:chief secretary, who represents the Irish government in the See also:House of See also:Commons, and may have a seat in the See also:cabinet.

The chief secretary occupies an important position, and in every cabinet either the lord lieutenant or he has a seat. Lieutenant-See also:

governor is the title of the governor of an See also:Indian province, in See also:direct subordination to the governor-general in See also:council. The lieutenant-governor comes midway in dignity between the See also:governors of See also:Madras and Bombay, who are appointed from England, and the chief commissioners of smaller provinces. In the Dominion of See also:Canada the governors of provinces also have the title of lieutenant-governor. The representatives of the sovereign in the Isle of See also:Man and the Channel Islands are likewise styled lieutenant-governors.

End of Article: LIEUTENANT

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