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Other Orders

Several other orders, without the titular appellation "knight", are bestowed on those who for various reasons are averse to receiving any reward from the Sovereign which carries a title. During the Great War two new orders were founded, that of the Companions of Honour, and that of the British Empire.

The Order of Merit was founded by King Edward VII. on the occasion of his coronation. The Order of Merit has a somewhat curious origin. There were, and are, certain Englishmen of the very highest eminence who are averse to being other than plain " Mr." to the end of their days. Peerages, baronetcies, and knighthoods have no attraction for them. Such men were Mr. Joseph Chamberlain and Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Arthur Balfour. The feeling is a noble one and quite in accordance with the best traditions of the English character. King Edward VII, in the hope of finding an acceptable road, therefore instituted the Order of Merit, which carries no title with it and no precedence.

To make the Order exceedingly select and highly prized the number of members may not exceed twenty-four, and it is open only to those who have performed exceptional meritorious services in the navy, army, art, literature, and science. The King may also bestow the honour as extra members on foreigners of distinction. The order is comprehensive, including those who have gained distinction in the military and naval services of the Empire, and such as have made themselves a great name in the fields of science, art and literature. The number of British members was been fixed at twenty-four, with the addition of such foreign persons as the sovereign shall appoint.

The badge is a cross of eight points of red and blue enamel surmounted by an imperial crown. The central blue medallion bears the inscription "For Merit" in gold, and is surrounded by a wreath of laurel. The badge of the military and naval members bears two crossed swords in the angles of the cross. On the reverse, within laurel leaves on blue enamel, is the cipher of King Edward in gold. Above is the Imperial Crown enamelled in proper colours. The riband of the Order is parti-coloured, garter blue and crimson.

This Award is regarded as one of the most coveted decorations, despite carrying neither rank nor title. The Order of Merit is the gift of the Sovereign and is awarded only on rare occasions. From the reign of Edward VII through the reign of George VI, Spink's Catalog of British Orders, Decorations and Medals lists a total of 96 awards: 22 in the Military Division, 67 Civil and 7 Honorary. Florence Nightingale was the first woman admitted to the Order, and other well known members include Sir Winston Churchill, Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten, Robert Baden-Powell, Henry Moore, Basil Spence, Graham Sutherland Lloyd George, Field-Marshal Viscount French, Viscount Morley, Sir William Crookes, Thomas Hardy, Sir Archibald Geikie, Mr. Arthur Balfour, Field-Marshal Earl Haig and Lady Thatcher. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was the only Honorary Member of the Order.

The Order confers no precedence, but the initials O.M. are authorised to be placed after the G.C.B. and before all other initials. What happens when the wife of an O.M. meets at a dinner party the wife of a G.C.S.I. opens up a vista of precedental problems which the Lord Chamberlain's office could alone solve.

The Order of the Companions of Honour was instituted in June 1917 and consists of the sovereign and one class of members. Not more than 50 persons, men or women who have rendered distinguished service of national importance, are admitted. The badge of the order is oval-shaped, consisting of a gold medallion with an oak tree; hanging from one branch is a shield of the royal arms, and on the right an armed knight in full armour, mounted on a horse. The badge has a blue border with the motto "In action faithful and in honour clear" in gold letters and is surmounted by the imperial crown. The ribbon is carmine with borders of gold thread.

The Distinguished Service Order, an order of military merit, was founded on the 6th of September 1886 by Queen Victoria, its object being to recognize the special services of officers in the army and navy. Its numbers are unlimited, and its designation the letters D.S.O. It consists of one class only, who take precedence immediately after the 4th class of the Royal Victorian Order. The badge is a white and gold cross with a red centre bearing the imperial crown surrounded by a laurel wreath. The ribbon is red edged with blue.

The Statutes were set forth in a Royal Warrant dated 6th September, 1886. The Order provides the means of rewarding officers otherwise than by brevet promotion, which had previously been the only form of reward available for such as were not eligible for the Order of the Bath. "We have taken into Our Royal consideration that the means of adequately rewarding the distinguished services of Officers in our Naval and Military Services who have been honourably mentioned in despatches are limited: now for the purpose of attaining an end so desirable as that of rewarding individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war, We have instituted and created and by these presents, for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, do institute and create a new Naval and Military Order of Distinction-to be designated as hereinafter described-which We are desirous should be highly prized by the Officers of Our Naval and Military Services..."

No person shall be eligible for this distinction who doth not actually hold, at the time of his nomination, a Commission in the Navy, in Land Forces or Marines, or in Indian or Colonial Naval or Military Forces, or a Commission in one of the Departments of the Navy or Army, the holder of which is entitled to Honorary or relative Navy or Army rank, nor shall any person be nominated unless his services shall have been marked by the especial mention of his name, by the Admiral or Senior Naval Officer Commanding a Squadron or detached Naval Force, or by the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the Field, in despatches for meritorious or distinguished service in the field, or before the enemy.

This Order ranks next to and immediately after the Order of the Indian Empire, and that the Companions thereof in all places and assemblies whatsoever have place and precedency next to and immediately after the Companions of the said Order of the Indian Empire, and shall rank among themselves according to the dates of their respective nominations.

When the Distinguished Service Order was inaugurated in 1886 by Queen Victoria, at the tune the general impression in the services was that it was intended to be in the nature of a second grade of the Victoria Cross. This was a mistake, for the Order was really instituted as a second grade to the Bath. Experience in our numberless small wars had shown that many junior officers performed distinguished service, but being ineligible for the Bath got nothing. The new Order was to be granted to officers irrespective of rank for " meritorious and distinguished service in war."

From the very beginning, in the Burmah War of 1886-87, a very wide interpretation of these words was used, and though the D.S.O. was given for deeds of gallantry and devotion in action it was also given to those who had done meritorious service far far away from the sound of guns. With this precedent the Order ran downhill at a great pace till it got to be known as the " Doing Something-or-Other Order." All sorts and conditions of people got it, sometimes with but the faintest glimmer of merit or distinction. The Great War has, however, to a great extent improved the status of the Order, and if only the present high standard is maintained it will undoubtedly rise to the position it was originally intended to occupy.

The Imperial Service Order was instituted by Edward VII on the 26th of June 1902, and finally revised in 1908, to commemorate King Edward's coronation. It is specially designed as a recognition of faithful and meritorious services rendered to the British Crown by the administrative members of the civil service in various parts of the Empire, and is to consist of companions only. The numbers were limited to 475, of whom 250 belong to the home and 225 to the civil services of the colonies and protectorates (Royal Warrant, June 1909). Appointments to the Order are made on the recommendation of a Secretary of State after 25 (or In unhealthy Colonies 16) years' service, or for "eminently meritorious service." New statutes issued in 1008 made provision for female Companions of the Order.

The members of the order had the distinction of adding the letters I.S.O. after their names. In precedence the order ranks after the Distinguished Service Order. The badge is a gold medallion bearing the royal cipher and the words " For Faithful Service" in blue; for men it rests on a silver star, for women it is surrounded by a silver wreath. The ribbon is one blue between two crimson stripes. Not awarded in the UK since 1993, but awards continued in some other realms.

The order of Military Knights of Windsor (previously to William IV's reign called the Poor Knights of Windsor) was originally founded by Edward III. (22nd year of his reign) on the institution of" the most honourable and noble order of the Garter," to whom the veteran or alms knights were an appendage, each knight of the garter had the privilege of nominating and appointing a canon of the ecclesiastical and military Chapel of St. George, and a veteran or alms knight. Their endowment for twenty-four poor Knights "impotent of themselves or inclining to poverty" were provided out of the revenues of the Dean and Canons of St. George's Chapel, Windsor.

The institution of Military Knights of Windsor is a provision for a limited number of old Officers. Originally these were really knights, but as early as the reign of Edward IV persons were chosen who had not received the honour of knighthood. They consist of a Governor, and twelve Knights on the upper foundation, and five on the lower, together eighteen, and are composed of officers selected from every grade, from a Colonel to a Subaltern, chiefly veterans, or on half-pay. They were allowed three rooms each in Windsor palace, and 2s. per diem for their sustenance, besides certain other small allowances. Each Officer had a uniform, resembling that of the unattached Officers of the Army, which is provided by the Crown on his appointment. The Knights were required to reside for at least three months in each year at Windsor, and to be constant in their attendance at Divine worship.

The present "foundation" rests wholly upon the will of Henry VIII. (3rd December, 1546), an Indenture of 4th August, 1547 (made in pursuance of the Will), and Rules executed by Elizabeth 30th August, 1559, for the regulation thereof. Estates were then conveyed to the Dean and Canons of St. George, and a "continual charge" of 433Z. 19s. 6d. placed on the same for the Poor Knights. Under those instruments were established 13 Poor Knights (whereof one was to be the Governor of all the residue), "to be taken of gentlemen brought to necessity, such as have spent their lives in the service of the War, Garrisons, or other service of the Prince, having but little or nothing whereupon to live, to be continually chosen by Us, Our Heirs and Successors."

The year 1349, as the Army List says, is the year (vid. Ashmole's Order of the Garter) whence those who, since the reign of William IV., have borne the title of "Military Knights," - but by the letters-patent of their royal founder, Edward III., that of " Alms" or " Poor Knights," and in his statutes and injunctions that of "Milites Veteran!," - rightly date their foundation. As they were attached to the Order of the Garter at its very institution, their "arms, crest, and motto" would not be found in any of the works of heraldry, or among any class of chivalry, but would be signified, one would naturally conclude, by the arms of St. George; for, in the original statutes of Edward III., sec. 34, there is the following direction : "And these (' Veteran Knights') shall have red mantles, with the escutcheon of the arms of St. George thereto."

The whole history of the "Military Knights of Windsor," whose first name was after 500 years changed, "the appellation of 'Poor' being," says Sir H. Nicolas, "in this fastidious age considered derogatory," - is full of interest, and their continual contests with the Dean and Canons of Windsor, from the very time of their contemporaneous institution, form an amusing inquiry. There is a quaint extract from the Ashmolean MSS. given by Tighe and Davis, in their Annals of Windsor, stating that among the charges against the canons, exhibited to the Privy Council by the Poor Knights of Windsor, in the reign apparently of Henry VII., stands the allegation that "the said chanons embesill and withdraws yerely a last of heryng." Ashmole tells us, in his Order of the Garter, that, at the instance of Edward III., the bailiffs and commonalty of Yarmouth "granted to the college" (of St. George, Windsor), "under their common seal, a last of herrings yearly, well dried and cleaned, to the end that they might take this corporation into their prayers. But some say it was enjoined them as a penance for murdering a magistrate among them."

During Mary's reign a range of little houses was built against the south wall of the lower ward for the thirteen Poor Knights of the Order of the Garter. During the Commonwealth the canons, a block of more houses for the Poor Knights was built in the lower ward at the cost of Sir Francis Crane. In consequence, apparently, of the establishment a little time before of Travers's foundation (now extinct) of the Naval Knights of Windsor, the title of the Poor Knights was changed to that of the Military Knights of Windsor by William IV in 1834.

The Order of St John is a Royal Order of Chivalry, though the Officers are not afforded the title of Sir or Dame. The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St.John of Jerusalem is not part of the British honours system as such, but provides care for the sick. It was founded in the early 19th century, and received a Royal Charter in 1888, since when the monarch has been its Sovereign Head. On the petition of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, and the other members of the English Grand Priory of the Order of S. John OF JERUSALEM, Her MajestyQueen Victoria was graciously pleased to revive it by Royal Charter under her own Sovereignty, 14 May 1888, and to determine the Statutes regulating the grades of Members of the Order, the qualifications for admission to it, as well as the objects and purposes of the Order. Membership of the order confers no title or precedence, and it is in following classes: Bailiff / Dame Grand Cross (GCStJ), Knight / Dame of Justice / Grace (KStJ / DStJ), Chaplain (ChStJ), Commander (CStJ), Officer (OStJ), Serving Brother / Sister (SBStJ / SSStJ), Esquire (EsqStJ).

The Badge of Members is the time-honored eight-pointed, or Maltese, Cross enamelled white, and embellished alternately at each of its principal angles with a lion gardant, or an unicorn, both passant, of gold or silver according to the grade. The Crosses of members of the Superior Classes are of gold and enamel; those of Knights and Ladies of Grace (that is, of those who have not complied with the stipulated genealogical or other qualifications for admission to the higher class) are of silver and enamel. The crosses of the Esquires are also of enamelled silver. The ribbon is the ancient one of black watered silk ; and by it the Cross is suspended at the neck by the male members; by the Ladies it is worn from a bow on the right shoulder; by Esquires upon the left breast. The Badges of the Sovereign, of the Grand-Prior, and of H.R.H. the Princess of Wales, are surmounted by an Imperial Crown. The Knights may also wear on the left breast a star resembling their special badge. Honorary-Associates wear pendant on the left breast a badge resembling the Cross of the Esquires but of silver only, without enamel. By Her Majesty's command the permission given to the members and associates to wear the Insignia of the Order on all occasions was duly notified by the Lord-Chamberlain in the London Gazette of March 12th, 1889.

The Grand-Priory of the Order in England was placed by Royal Authority in a similar position to that held by the Order of St. JOHN in the German Empire, the statutes of the latter being taken in the main as the model forthose sanctioned by HerMajestytheQucen. THE ORDER OF S. JOHN was the most ancient and venerable of the semi-military, semi-religious Orders which came into existence during the Crusades; and which were really the originals of all subsequent Orders of Knighthood. The Order of S. John was founded about the year 1023 by some merchants of Amalfi, for the protection and support of the weak and sick among the pilgrim's to the Holy Land.

Seventy years later this humble foundation was enlarged by its rector Pierre Gerard ; and, on the conquest of Jerusalem by Godfrey, its admirable work for the sick and wounded was recognised by the King who gave it its first endowment. GERARD formed hisassistants into a regular religious body with monastic obligations, and Pope PASCHAL II. gave the Order his sanction by Papal Bull in 1113. Under Gerard's successor Raymond Du Puy, the military side of the Order was developed, and to the usual monastic obligations was added the further one of bearing arms in defence of the Faith. The Order rapidly increased in wealth and importance, having ever-increasing endowments in all parts of Europe, while members of the noblest families sought (and alone found) admission to its ranks.

Eventually its members were divided under the Grand-Master into seven nations, or "Langues:" Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Arragon, England, and Germany (Castile was a later addition). Each of the Langues was composed of one or more Grand Priories. After the loss of the Holy Land, the Order was settled at Rhodes ; and on its expulsion from that island, received fromthe Emperorthe island of Malta, from which theOrder took its later and better known designation.

In England, the Grand-Priory of the Order of S. JOHN shared the fate of other wealthy ecclesiastical establishments, being suppressed and despoiled by HENRY VIII. Queen Mary revived it, but did not restore its possessions. Queen ELIZABETH despoiled it of its small remaining lands, but did not again decree its suppression. In Malta itself the English Langue was formally continued, but the loss of its possessions, and the changes in religion naturally reduced the number and importance of its members.

In 1827 a majority (five out of eight) of the other Langues of the Order who had retained their independence, consented to a revival of the Order in England, subject to the needful modifications with regard to religion, but retaining the original objects of the Order in the care of the sick in times of peace, and the relief of the sick and wounded in war. This restoration was eventually disavowed by the Italian minority which had submitted to Papal domination. Both the authority of the revivers, and the regularity of their action, were denied with ever-increasing vehemence, as the revived English Langue increased in material prosperity and in the exercise of those good works for which the old Order was founded, but which the Italian Langue had hardly attempted to imitate.

All questions of the right of the See of Rome to control the Order; and of the regularity or irregularity of the "succession" of the English branch have, however, now been happily set at rest by the Royal action. Without reference to the past, the Sovereign, the sole fountain of honour within the realm, accepted the Order as existing, and has given to it that Royal sanction and due authority which is beyond all cavil or question.