A privy council is a body that advises a head of state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchical government. The term "privy" (from French privé) signifies private or secret. Consequently, a privy council, more common in the past, existed as a group of a ruling monarch's most trusted court advisors. Its purpose was to consistently provide confidential advice on matters of state. Despite the abolition of monarchy, some privy councils remained operational, while others were individually disbanded, allowing the monarchical system to continue to exist without a secret crown council.
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👉 Privy Council in the context of Instrument of Government
The Instrument of Government was the first constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and was also the first codified and written constitution in England. It was drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653.
The work incorporates elements from the document Heads of Proposals (1647), which contained the constitutional proposals offered by Army Council to Charles I of England. Under the new constitution, the executive power was held by the Lord Protector. Each Lord Protector was intended to hold the office for life, with no term limits. The legislative power was held exclusively by the then-unicameral Parliament of England, and each session of Parliament had to last for at least five months. An English Council of State would replace the Privy Council, and the actions taken by the Lord Protector would require the consent of a majority of the council to be legal. A number of limits were placed on the authority of the Lord Protector to prevent him from acting as an absolute ruler. The constitution authorised the maintenance of a standing army, which would include 10,000 soldiers as its cavalry, and 20,000 soldiers as its infantry. The document authorised the maintenance of a separate navy, but did not define the intended size of its forces.
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Privy Council in the context of Colony of Tasmania
The Colony of Tasmania (more commonly referred to simply as "Tasmania") was a British colony that existed on the island of Tasmania from 1856 until 1901, when it federated together with the five other Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. The possibility of the colony was established when the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Australian Constitutions Act in 1850, granting the right of legislative power to each of the six Australian colonies. The Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land drafted a new constitution which they passed in 1854, and it was given royal assent by Queen Victoria in 1855. Later in that year the Privy Council approved the colony changing its name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and in 1856, the newly elected bicameral parliament of Tasmania sat for the first time, establishing Tasmania as a self-governing colony of the British Empire. Tasmania was often referred to as one of the "most British" colonies of the Empire.
The Colony suffered from economic fluctuations, but for the most part was prosperous, experiencing steady growth. With few external threats and strong trade links with the Empire, the Colony of Tasmania enjoyed many fruitful periods in the late nineteenth century, becoming a world-centre of shipbuilding. It raised a local defence force which eventually played a significant role in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and Tasmanian soldiers in that conflict won the first two Victoria Crosses won by Australians. Tasmanians voted in favour of federation with the largest majority of all the Australian colonies, and on 1 January 1901, the Colony of Tasmania, became the Australian state of Tasmania.
Privy Council in the context of Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens
Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens (1 March 1753 – 19 February 1839), was a British diplomat. He was Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia from 1783 to 1788, appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland and a member of the Privy Council (Great Britain & Ireland) in 1787, serving in the former position until 1789. He was Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain from 1790 to 1794.
He was a friend of explorer George Vancouver, who named Mount St. Helens in what is now the U.S. state of Washington after him.
Privy Council in the context of Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria (Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia; 13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV and III, who later became King of the Two Sicilies. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her favorite, Sir John Acton, and the expulsion of Spanish influence. She was a proponent of enlightened absolutism until the advent of the French Revolution, when, in order to prevent its ideas gaining currency, she made Naples a police state.
Born an archduchess of Austria, the thirteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, Maria Carolina married Ferdinand as part of an Austrian alliance with Spain, of which Ferdinand's father was king. Following the birth of a male heir in 1775, Maria Carolina was admitted to the Privy Council. She dominated the Council until 1812, when she was sent back to Vienna. Like her mother, Maria Carolina arranged politically advantageous marriages for her children. Maria Carolina promoted Naples as a centre of the arts, patronising painters Jacob Philipp Hackert and Angelica Kauffman, and academics Gaetano Filangieri, Domenico Cirillo and Giuseppe Maria Galanti.