You can find many articles on the internet, which list top 10, top 20, or top 50 weirdest job in the world. But they seem all miss one oddest job, that's Steward of Chiltern Hundreds, an office of the crown in United Kingdom!
A hundred is a traditional division of an English county, and the three hundreds of Stoke, Desborough, and Burnham are in Buckinghamshire. These three hundreds are situated in the hilly, wooded Chiltern Hills, which were once notorious as a hiding place for robbers. The hundreds have been Crown property since at least the 13th century and a Crown Steward and a Bailiff was appointed to maintain law and order in the area.
In UK, an MP cannot resign, but under certain conditions he may be compelled to retire. He cannot for instance, hold an office of profit under the Crown and remain an MP. So it come about that when a member wishes to resign for health or other personal reasons he applies for the post of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.
There are no duties attached to this position, but it carries a nominal salary of 20s. a year (some say one pound a year).
Having accepted this post of profit under the Crown, the MP automatically retires. He ceases to be an MP, and naturally he speedily give up his position as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, leaving it vacant for the next applicant.
The Stewardship of the manor of Northstead in Yorkshire has been granted in the same way since 1841, but a application for this is much less frequent than for the better-known Chiltern Hundreds.
A hundred is a traditional division of an English county, and the three hundreds of Stoke, Desborough, and Burnham are in Buckinghamshire. These three hundreds are situated in the hilly, wooded Chiltern Hills, which were once notorious as a hiding place for robbers. The hundreds have been Crown property since at least the 13th century and a Crown Steward and a Bailiff was appointed to maintain law and order in the area.
In UK, an MP cannot resign, but under certain conditions he may be compelled to retire. He cannot for instance, hold an office of profit under the Crown and remain an MP. So it come about that when a member wishes to resign for health or other personal reasons he applies for the post of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.
There are no duties attached to this position, but it carries a nominal salary of 20s. a year (some say one pound a year).
Having accepted this post of profit under the Crown, the MP automatically retires. He ceases to be an MP, and naturally he speedily give up his position as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, leaving it vacant for the next applicant.
The Stewardship of the manor of Northstead in Yorkshire has been granted in the same way since 1841, but a application for this is much less frequent than for the better-known Chiltern Hundreds.
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