THE ORDER
Queen Elizabeth II in the robes
of Sovereign Head of the Order
To the Headquarters of
the Most Venerable Order of Saint John
The Order of Saint John has its origins in the time of the
Crusades, when poor pilgrims to the Holy Land were given help and assistance
by the Hospitaller Knights and, when sick, cared for by the Knights and Brothers
of the Hospital of Saint John. Hence, from its foundation in the late eleventh
century, the Order had been dedicated to helping the Sick and Poor.
The Order was soon established across Europe with Knights, Brothers and Sisters
grouped into Priories, Bailiwicks and Commanderies. The earliest British
Knights, members of the Grand
Priory of England, established their headquarters in Clerkenwell, London, in
1144 and the world headquarters of the Most Venerable Order are still based
adjacent to the ancient Priory buildings of Saint John's Gate. These buildings
were acquired for the Order in 1874 by Sir Edward Lechmere, then the Order's
Secretary-General.
Saint John's Gate, Clerkenwell
The Protestant Reformation led to the confiscation of the Order's properties
in Great Britain but the Catholic Priories continued to survive with their
headquarters, the Grand Magistery, transferred from the island of Rhodes to that
of Malta in 1530. The Knights of Malta continued to hold the island until it was
captured by Napoleon in 1798, but they eventually established their headquarters
in Rome, where the Grand Magistery of the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta (which has National Associations around the world)
can still be found today.
In the late 1820's a group of English and Scottish gentleman, encouraged by
some French knights of Malta, established an ecumenical Priory
of the Order in England. This attracted the attention of the British Royal
Family in the 1870s and, in 1888, following a petition from the then Prince of
Wales, Queen Victoria granted it a Royal Charter as an Order of the British
Crown. Since then the Most Venerable Order of Saint John has continued as a Royal
Order of Chivalry with the Monarch as Sovereign Head and a junior member of
the Royal Family
as Grand Prior. In addition to the Grand Priory, there are Priories of England,
Scotland, Wales, Australia
and Canada, for South Africa, in
New Zealand and the United
States, and Commanderies in Northern Ireland (of Ards), and Western
Australia.
The Great Officers of the Order
The Grand Prior of the Order, nominated by the Queen as Sovereign Head, is His
Royal Highness Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester . Ranking immediately
below him is the Lord Prior, presently Lord Vestey. Since the reforms of the
Order's Constitution in October 1999, the number and titles of the Great
Officers have been revised. In addition to the Grand Prior and Lord Prior, these
are now the Prelate: the Rt Rev John Waine (a Bishop of the Church of England);
the Deputy Lord Priors: Lt-Col Eric Barry (Canada), and Prof Anthony Mellowes
(England), and a Sub-Prior: John Strachan, Esq (New Zealand). The ordinary
administration is carried out by the Secretary-General, presently Sir
Christopher MacRae. See the Government
of the Order and Triennial
appointments.
Saint John Badge
