The Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues were established in the United Kingdom in 1810 by merging the former offices of Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases and Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown into a three-man commission. The name of the commission was changed in 1832 to the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings.
The hereditary land revenues of the Crown in Scotland, formerly under the management of the Barons of the Exchequer, were transferred to the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings and their successors under the Crown Lands (Scotland) Acts of 1832, 1833 and 1835.
The Crown Lands Act 1851 replaced the Commissioners with two separate commissions, the Commissioners of Works and Public Buildings and the Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues dividing between them the public and the commercial functions of the Crown lands.
Commissioners of Woods and Forests, 1810-1851
First Commissioners are followed by the names of their co-commissioners
| Name | Entered office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1810 | 1814 |
| William Huskisson - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1814 | 1823 |
| Charles Arbuthnot - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1823 | 1827 |
| George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1827 | 1827 |
| William Sturges Bourne - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1827 | 1828 |
| Charles Arbuthnot - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1828 | 1828 |
| William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1828 | 1830 |
| George Agar-Ellis - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins |
1830 | 1831 |
| John Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon - William Dacres Adams - Henry Dawkins - Sir Benjamin C. Stephenson (replaced Dawkins) |
1831 | 1834 |
| Sir John Hobhouse - William Dacres Adams - Sir Benjamin C. Stephenson |
1834 | 1834 |
| Lord Granville Somerset - Sir Benjamin C. Stephenson - Alexander Milne - Charles Henry Somerset |
1834 | 1835 |
| John Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon - Sir Benjamin C. Stephenson - Alexander Milne |
1835 | 1841 |
| Henry Pelham-Clinton, Earl of Lincoln - Alexander Milne - Hon. Charles Alexander Gore |
1841 | 1846 |
| Charles Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning - Alexander Milne - Hon. Charles Alexander Gore |
1846 | 1846 |
| George Howard, Viscount Morpeth - Alexander Milne - Hon. Charles Alexander Gore |
1846 | 1850 |
| Edward Seymour, Lord Seymour - Alexander Milne - Hon. Charles Alexander Gore - Thomas Francis Kennedy (replaced Milne) |
1850 | 1851 |
References
- Pugh, R.B. (1960). The Crown Estate – An Historical Essay. London: The Crown Estate.
- Annual Report of Commissioners of Woods & Forests 1811
- The Crown Estate publication scheme: website consulted January 2007