''In ordinary'' is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household and public officials more generally, it indicates that a position is a permanent one (in contrast to positions that are extraordinary). In

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair or maintenance, a meaning coming over time to cover a

reserve fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully Ship decommissioning, decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothba ...

or "mothballed" ships.

History of use

The term arose from the development of three separate financial estimates for

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

expenditure; the "Ordinary" estimate which covered routine expenses such as the maintenance of dockyards and naval establishments, the "Sea Service" estimate which supported ships and crew at or capable of going to sea, and the estimate for "Extraordinary Repair" which met the cost of major rebuilding or refit. A ship that was no longer required for active service, or was too decrepit to remain at sea, would be transferred from the Sea Service to the Ordinary estimate, and would be left "in Ordinary" until returned to duty or broken up. Ships could remain "in Ordinary" for lengthy periods, including for example which spent 38 years "in Ordinary" between its launch in 1719 and first active service in 1757. Poorly maintained, they were susceptible to

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of wood which give it strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resulted in a ...

and were routinely crewed by pensioned or disabled sailors with little interest in a return to sea service. During the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

from 1739 to 1745, a review of ships "in Ordinary" revealed that at least half of their warrant officers were too old or sickly to serve outside their mothballed vessels. Improvements were made from 1752 when Admiral George Anson, the newly appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, initiated reforms of royal dockyards with the intention of maximising the number of vessels capable of being put to sea at any time. However, most of Anson's reforms were opposed by the

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the Regulatory agency, commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headqua ...

, which had direct responsibility for dockyard management and felt that Admiralty's interference was a rebuke to its authority. In 1755 the

Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

conducted a further review of vessels in ordinary. The review identified Plymouth Dockyard as the worst performer in ship maintenance and repair, with some ships untouched since 1745. Plymouth Dockyard's master attendant and clerk of the survey were dismissed, a new dock and slipway constructed and dock workers and ship's crews were required to work longer hours to ensure the ships held in ordinary were capable of being sailed. To maximise resources, construction of new vessels was also transferred to private shipyards. Lastly, Admiralty successfully petitioned the Privy Council to remove the Royal Navy's Surveyor, Joseph Allin, who had held the post for forty years and was now "disordered in his senses." These various efforts were successful in improving the quality of vessels held in ordinary, such that more than 200 ships were in commission or capable of being sailed by the end of 1755 compared with 97 in 1753. Royal Navy officers ashore on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

were also considered "in Ordinary" and paid from the same estimate that applied to sidelined vessels.Baugh 1965, p. 103

Crown servants

In relation particularly to the staff of the

British Royal Household The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the collective departments that support members of the British royal family. Many members of the royal family who undertake public duties have separate households. They vary considerably in size, f ...

, and more generally to those employed by the Crown, it is used as a suffix showing that the appointment is to the regular staff, for example a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

-in-ordinary, or a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

-in-ordinary, being a cleric or doctor in regular attendance. The usage goes back to the 17th century. See for example: *

Principal Painter in Ordinary The title of Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King or Queen of England or, later, Great Britain, was awarded to a number of artists, nearly all mainly portraitists. It was different from the role of Serjeant Painter, and similar to the earli ...

Lords of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

Chaplain Extraordinary A chaplain in extraordinary was a chaplain appointed to the Household of the British crown. The term was most used under the Stuarts after the Restoration, in the 17th century, but lasted with decreasing importance into the 18th and 19th centurie ...

References

Bibliography

* * {{cite book, title=The British Navy and the Use of Naval Power in the Eighteenth Century, chapter=Naval administration in the age of Pitt and Anson, 1755-1763, first=Richard, last=Middleton, editor1-last=Black, editor1-first=Jeremy, editor2-last=Woodfine, editor2-first=Philip, year=1988, publisher=Leicester University Press, isbn=0718513088 English phrases *In Ordinary Monarchy of the United Kingdom