George Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester
George Cecil Weld-Forester, 3rd Baron Forester PC, styled The Honourable George Weld-Forester between 1821 and 1874, was a British Conservative politician and army officer. He notably served as Comptroller of the Household in 1852 and from 1858 to 1859. A long-standing MP, he was Father of the House of Commons from 1873 to 1874, when he succeeded his elder brother in the barony and took a seat in the House of Lords.
Caricature of Lord Forester by "Ape" (Carlo Pellegrini) published in Vanity Fair in 1875.
Portrait of Mary Anne Jervis, Lady Forester, after James Godsell Middleton, 1834
Comptroller of the Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of local government licensing in 2004. In recent times, a senior government whip has invariably occupied the office. On state occasions the Comptroller carries a white staff of office, as often seen in portraits.
Sir Edward Rogers, 'Controller to Queen Elizabeth' in the 1560s, holding his white staff of office