Vice Lord-Lieutenant

Dr James Bettley JP DL FSA

HM The King having given prior approval, the Vice Lord-Lieutenant is appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant. He or she stands in for the Lord-Lieutenant when the Lord-Lieutenant is absent, sick or otherwise unable to act. He or she may be asked to fulfil other duties supporting the Lieutenancy.

The current Vice Lord-Lieutenant is James Bettley. He took up the position in 2025, succeeding Rear Admiral Roy Clare.

James Bettley was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant in 2013. Originally from Kent, he has lived in Great Totham since 1991 with his wife Lucy, who grew up in Ingatestone; they have three adult children. He has been a Justice of the Peace (North Essex) since 1996 and served as High Sheriff of Essex in 2019–20.

James is an architectural historian, writer, and lecturer: freelance since 2000, and from 1980 to 2000 with the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Royal Institute of British Architects, and the Design Museum, London. His publications include revised editions of the Pevsner Architectural Guides to Essex (2007), Suffolk (2015), and Hertfordshire (2019). He was awarded a PhD by the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1999 and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2002. Since 2014 he has been the part-time Librarian of Chevening House, Kent.

He is or has been a member or trustee of a number of bodies connected with churches and other historic buildings, including the Church of England’s Church Buildings Council, Chelmsford Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches, Colchester Historic Buildings Forum, and the Essex Heritage Trust. He currently chairs Chelmsford Cathedral’s Fabric Advisory Committee, the Grants Committee of the Friends of Essex Churches Trust, and the Rural Community Council of Essex. He was also a member of the team that ran the Essex Women’s Commemoration Project.