Order of Merit

Name 	Date of Appointment	Date of Death 	Notes
1. 	
Field Marshal The Earl Roberts, V.C., K.G., K.P., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., V.D., P.C.	26 June 1902 	14 November 1914 	army officer
2. 	
Field Marshal The Viscount Wolseley, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., P.C.	26 June 1902 	25 March 1913 	army officer
3. 	
Field Marshal The Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. 	26 June 1902 	5 June 1916 	army officer
4. 	The Lord Rayleigh 	26 June 1902 	30 June 1919 	physicist
5. 	
The Lord Kelvin, G.C.V.O. 	26 June 1902 	17 December 1907 	physicist
6. 	The Lord Lister 	26 June 1902 	10 February 1912 	surgeon
7. 	
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Keppel, G.C.B. 	26 June 1902 	17 January 1904 	naval officer
8. 	The Rt. Hon. John Morley 	26 June 1902 	23 September 1923	writer and politician
9. 	William Edward Hartpole Lecky 	26 June 1902 	22 October 1903 	historian
10. 	
Admiral Sir Edward Hobart Seymour, G.C.B. 	26 June 1902 	2 March 1929 	naval officer
11. 	
Sir William Huggins, K.C.B. 	26 June 1902 	12 May 1910 	astronomer
12. 	George Frederic Watts 	26 June 1902 	1 July 1904 	painter and sculptor
13. 	
Field Marshal Sir George Stuart White, V.C., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., G.C.V.O.	30 June 1905 	24 June 1912 	army officer
14. 	
Admiral Sir John Fisher, G.C.B. 	30 June 1905 	10 July 1920 	naval officer
15. 	Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb 	3 June 1905 	9 December 1905 	classicist and politician
16. 	Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema 	30 June 1905 	25 June 1912 	painter
17. 	George Meredith 	30 June 1905 	18 May 1909 	novelist and poet
18. 	William Holman Hunt 	30 June 1905 	7 September 1910 	painter
19. 	Field Marshal Prince Yamagata Aritomo 	21 February 1906 	1 February 1922 	honorary member; Japanese army officer and statesman
20. 	Field Marshal Prince Oyama Iwao 	21 February 1906 	10 December 1916 	honorary member; Japanese army officer
21. 	Marshal-Admiral Marquess Togo Heihachiro 	21 February 1906 	30 May 1934 	honorary member; Japanese naval officer
22. 	
The Earl of Cromer, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., K.C.S.I. 	29 June 1906 	29 January 1917 	British ruler of Egypt
23. 	The Rt. Hon. James Bryce 	11 February 1907 	22 January 1922 	historian and politician
24. 	
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, G.C.S.I. 	30 June 1907 	10 December 1911 	botanist
25. 	Florence Nightingale 	12 May 1907 	13 August 1910 	nurse
26. 	Henry Jackson 	26 June 1908 	25 September 1921	classicist
27. 	Alfred Russel Wallace 	26 June 1908 	25 September 1921	biologist
28. 	Sir William Crookes 	8 July 1910 	4 April 1919 	chemist and physicist
29. 	Thomas Hardy 	8 July 1910 	11 January 1928 	novelist and poet
30. 	
The Rt. Hon. Sir George Otto Trevelyan, Bt. 	19 June 1911 	17 August 1928 	historian and politician
31. 	Edward Elgar 	19 June 1911 	23 February 1934 	composer
32. 	
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson, G.C.B., G.C.V.O.	8 March 1912 	25 May 1921 	naval officer
33. 	Sir J. J. Thompson 	15 March 1912 	30 August 1940 	physicist
34. 	
Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B. 	1 January 1914 	10 November 1924 	geologist
35. 	
Field Marshal Sir John French, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., K.C.M.G. 	3 December 1914 	22 May 1925 	army officer
36. 	
The Viscount Haldane, K.T., P.C., K.C. 	26 May 1915 	19 August 1928 	politician, lawyer, and philosopher
37. 	Henry James 	1 January 1916 	28 February 1916 	novelist and critic
38. 	
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, G.C.B., K.C.V.O. 	31 May 1916 	20 November 1935 	naval officer
39. 	The Rt. Hon. Arthur Balfour 	3 June 1916 	19 March 1930 	prime minister and philosopher
40. 	Marshal Ferdinand Foch 	29 November 1918 	20 March 1929 	honorary member; French army officer
41. 	
Admiral of the Fleet Sir David Beatty, G.C.B., G.C.V.O. 	3 June 1919 	11 March 1936 	naval officer
42. 	
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, K.T., G.C.B., G.C.V.O., K.C.I.E.	3 June 1919 	29 January 1928 	army officer
43. 	Marshal Joseph Joffre 	26 June 1919 	3 January 1931 	honorary member; French army officer
44. 	The Rt. Hon. David Lloyd George 	5 August 1919 	26 March 1945 	prime minister
45. 	Sir James Matthew Barrie, Bart. 	2 January 1922 	19 June 1937 	playwright and novelist
46. 	Francis Herbert Bradley 	3 June 1924 	18 September 1924	philosopher
47. 	
Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, G.B.E. 	3 June 1924 	4 March 1952 	pathologist
48. 	Sir James George Frazer 	1 January 1925 	7 May 1941 	anthropologist
49. 	Ernest Rutherford 	1 January 1925 	19 October 1937 	physicist
50. 	
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, K.C.B. 	3 June 1927 	11 February 1931 	engineer
51. 	
Sir George Abraham Grierson, K.C.I.E. 	4 June 1928 	9 March 1941 	linguist
52. 	Robert Seymour Bridges 	3 June 1929 	21 April 1930 	poet
53. 	John Galsworthy 	3 June 1929 	31 January 1933 	novelist
54. 	Samuel Alexander 	3 June 1930 	13 September 1938	philosopher
55. 	M. R. James 	3 June 1930 	12 June 1936 	medievalist and short story writer
56. 	George Macaulay Trevelyan 	3 June 1930 	21 July 1962 	historian
57. 	
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Madden, Bt., G.C.B., G.C.V.O., K.C.M.G.	1 January 1931 	5 June 1935 	naval officer
58. 	Philip Wilson Steer 	1 January 1931 	18 March 1942 	painter
59. 	
Sir William Henry Bragg, K.B.E. 	3 June 1931 	10 March 1942 	physicist and chemist
60. 	John William Mackail 	1 January 1935 	13 December 1945 	literary scholar
61. 	John Edward Masefield 	3 June 1935 	12 May 1967 	poet
62. 	Ralph Vaughan Williams 	3 June 1935 	26 August 1958 	composer
63. 	Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins 	3 June 1935 	16 May 1947 	biochemist
64. 	
Field Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode, Bt., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., K.C.M.G., D.S.O.	1 January 1936 	6 July 1950 	army officer
65. 	The Rt. Hon. Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher 	1 February 1937 	18 April 1940 	educator, historian, and politician
66. 	
The Lord Baden-Powell, G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., K.C.B. 	11 May 1937 	8 January 1941 	army officer and founder of the Scouting movement
67. 	Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington 	9 June 1938 	22 November 1944 	astrophysicist
68. 	
Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Chatfield, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V.O.	2 January 1939 	15 November 1967 	naval officer
69. 	Sir James Hopwood Jeans 	2 January 1939 	16 September 1946	astrophysicist
70. 	
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Cyril Newall, G.C.B., C.M.G., C.B.E.	29 October 1940 	30 November 1963 	R.A.F. officer
71. 	Gilbert Murray 	1 January 1941 	20 May 1957 	classicist
72. 	Sir Edwin Lutyens 	1 January 1942 	1 January 1944 	architect
73. 	Augustus John 	11 June 1942 	31 October 1961 	painter
74. 	Edgar Adrian 	11 June 1942 	4 August 1977 	physiologist
75. 	Sir William Searle Holdsworth 	1 January 1943 	2 January 1944 	legal historian
76. 	Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound 	3 September 1943 	21 October 1943 	naval officer
77. 	The Lord Passfield 	8 June 1944 	13 October 1947 	economist and politician
78. 	Sir Henry Hallett Dale 	8 June 1944 	23 July 1968 	physiologist
79. 	Sir Giles Gilbert Scott 	8 June 1944 	8 February 1960 	architect
80. 	Alfred North Whitehead 	1 January 1945 	30 December 1947 	mathematician and philosopher
81. 	General of the Army Dwight David Eisenhower 	12 June 1945 	28 March 1969 	honorary member; American army officer
82. 	The Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill 	1 January 1946 	24 January 1965 	prime minister and historian
83. 	Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Viscount Portal of Hungerford	1 January 1946 	22 April 1971 	R.A.F. officer
84. 	Field Marshal The Viscount Alanbrooke 	13 June 1946 	22 April 1971 	army officer
85. 	Admiral of the Fleet The Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope 	13 June 1946 	12 June 1963 	naval officer
86. 	The Earl of Halifax 	13 June 1946 	23 December 1959 	politician and diplomatist
87. 	Field Marshal The Rt. Hon. Jan Smuts 	1 January 1947 	11 September 1950	army officer and Prime Minister of South Africa
88. 	John Gilbert Winant 	1 January 1947 	3 November 1947 	honorary member; American diplomatist
89. 	The Rt. Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King 	17 November 1947 	22 July 1950 	Prime Minister of Canada
90. 	T. S. Eliot 	1 January 1948 	4 January 1965 	poet and dramatist
91. 	Sir Robert Robinson 	9 June 1949 	8 February 1975 	chemist
92. 	The Earl Russell 	9 June 1949 	2 February 1970 	philosopher
93. 	The Rt. Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan 	1 January 1951 	9 July 1968 	diplomat and civil servant
94. 	Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Viscount Trenchard 	1 January 1951 	10 February 1956 	R.A.F. officer
95. 	G. E. Moore 	7 June 1951 	24 October 1958 	philosopher
96. 	The Rt. Hon. Clement Attlee 	5 November 1951 	8 October 1967 	prime minister
97. 	Wilder Penfield 	1 January 1953 	5 April 1976 	Canadian neurosurgeon
98. 	Walter de la Mare 	1 June 1953 	22 June 1956 	poet
99. 	Albert Schweitzer 	25 February 1955 	4 September 1965 	theologiain, physician, and missionary
100.	The Lord Hailey 	31 May 1956 	1 June 1969 	colonial administrator
101.	Sir John Cockcroft 	1 January 1957 	18 September 1967	physicist
102.	The Viscount Waverley 	8 December 1957 	4 January 1958 	civil servant and politician
103.	Sir Macfarlane Burnet 	12 June 1958 	31 August 1958 	Australian virologist
104.	The Viscount Samuel 	21 November 1958 	2 February 1963 	politician and diplomat
105.	Field Marshal The Earl Alexander of Tunis 	23 April 1960 	16 June 1969 	army officer
106.	Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood 	23 April 1960 	9 October 1967 	chemist
107.	Graham Sutherland 	23 April 1960 	17 February 1980 	painter
108.	Sir Geoffrey de Havilland 	23 November 1962 	21 May 1965 	aviator
109.	Sir Basil Spence 	23 November 1962 	19 November 1976 	architect
110.	Sir Owen Dixon 	29 May 1963 	7 July 1972 	Australian jurist
111.	Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 	12 June 1963 	17 April 1975 	Indian philosopher and politician
112.	G. P. Gooch 	16 August 1963 	31 August 1968 	journalist and historian
113.	Henry Moore 	16 August 1963 	31 August 1986 	sculptor
114.	Benjamin Britten 	23 March 1965 	4 December 1976 	composer
115.	Dorothy Hodgkin 	23 March 1965 	29 July 1994 	chemist
116.	Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma 	15 July 1965 	27 August 1979 	naval officer and last Viceroy of India
117.	The Lord Florey 	15 July 1965 	21 February 1968 	Australian pathologist
118.	Patrick Blackett 	20 November 1967 	13 July 1974 	physicist
119.	Sir William Walton 	20 November 1967 	8 March 1983 	composer
120.	Ben Nicholson 	23 April 1968 	6 February 1982 	painter
121.	Sir Solly Zuckerman 	23 April 1968 	1 April 1993 	zoologist
122.	H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh 	10 June 1968 	 	royal consort
123.	E. M. Forster 	1 January 1969 	7 June 1970 	novelist and literary critic
124.	The Rt. Hon. Malcolm MacDonald 	14 July 1969 	11 January 1981 	politician, diplomat, and colonial administrator
125.	The Lord Penney 	14 July 1969 	3 March 1991 	mathematician
126.	Sir G. I. Taylor 	14 July 1969 	27 June 1975 	physicist and mathematician
127.	Dame Cicely Veronica Wedgwood 	14 July 1969 	9 March 1997 	historian
128.	John Cawte Beaglehole 	21 March 1970 	10 October 1971 	New Zealand historian
129.	The Rt. Hon. Lester Bowles Pearson 	20 May 1971 	27 December 1972 	Prime Minister of Canada
130.	Sir Isaiah Berlin 	20 May 1971 	5 November 1997 	philosopher and historian
131.	Sir George Edwards 	20 May 1971 	2 March 2003 	aircraft designer and industrialist
132.	Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin 	17 April 1973 	20 December 1998 	physiologist
133.	Paul Dirac 	17 April 1973 	20 October 1984 	physicist
134.	The Rt. Hon. Harold Macmillan 	2 April 1976 	29 December 1986 	prime minister
135.	The Lord Hinton of Bankside 	2 April 1976 	22 June 1983 	nuclear engineer
136.	The Lord Clark 	2 April 1976 	21 May 1983 	art historian
137.	Sir Ronald Syme 	2 April 1976 	4 September 1989 	historian
138.	The Lord Todd 	24 October 1977 	10 January 1997 	biochemist
139.	The Lord Franks 	24 October 1977 	15 October 1992 	civil servant and philosopher
140.	Sir Frederick Ashton 	24 October 1977 	18 October 1988 	dancer and choreographer
141.	J. B. Priestley 	24 October 1977 	14 August 1984 	novelist and playwright
142.	The Lord Olivier 	6 February 1981 	11 July 1989 	actor and director
143.	Sir Peter Medawar 	6 February 1981 	2 October 1987 	biologist
144.	Leonard Cheshire 	6 February 1981 	31 July 1992 	pilot and philanthropist
145.	The Rev. Owen Chadwick 	11 November 1983 	 	theological historian
146.	Sir Andrew Huxley 	11 November 1983 	30 May 2012 	biophysicist
147.	Sir Sidney Nolan 	11 November 1983 	28 November 1992 	Australian painter
148.	Sir Michael Tippett 	11 November 1983 	8 January 1998 	composer
149.	Mother Teresa 	18 November 1983 	5 September 1997 	honorary member, missionary and philanthropist
150.	Graham Greene 	11 February 1986 	3 April 1991 	novelist
151.	Frederick Sanger 	11 February 1986 	 	biochemist
152.	Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle 	11 February 1986 	9 August 1996 	engineer
153.	Yehudi menuhin 	25 February 1987 	12 March 1999 	violinist
154.	Sir Ernest Gombrich 	15 February 1988 	3 November 2001 	art historian
155.	Max Perutz 	15 February 1988 	6 February 2002 	molecular biologist
156.	Dame Cicely Saunders 	30 November 1989 	14 July 2005 	nurse and social worker
157.	Sir George Porter 	30 November 1989 	31 August2002 	chemist
158.	The Baroness Thatcher 	7 December 1990 	 	prime minister
159.	Dame Joan Sutherland 	29 November 1991 	10 October 2010 	soprano
160.	Francis Crick 	27 November 1991 	28 July 2004 	molecular biologist
161.	Dame Ninette de Valois 	17 November 1992 	8 March 2001 	dancer and choreographer
162.	Sir Michael Atiyah 	17 November 1992 	 	mathematician
163.	The Lord Jenkins of Hillhead 	6 December 1993 	5 January 2003 	politician and historian
164.	Lucian Freud 	6 December 1993 	20 July 2011 	painter
165.	Nelson Mandela 	21 March 1995 	 	honorary member; President of South Africa
166.	Sir Aaron Klug 	23 October 1995 	 	biophysicist
167.	Sir John Gielgud 	9 December 1996 	21 May 2000 	actor and director
168.	The Lord Denning 	25 November 1997 	5 March 1999 	jurist
169.	The Lord Foster of Thames Bank 	25 November 1997 	 	architect
170.	Sir Denis Rooke 	25 November 1997 	2 September 2008 	industrialist and engineer
171.	Ted Hughes 	10 August 1998 	28 October 1998 	poet
172.	His Eminence Basil Cardinal Hume 	25 May 1999 	17 June 1999 	Roman Catholic prelate
173.	Sir James Black 	9 May 2000 	22 March 2010 	pharmacologist
174.	Sir Anthony Caro 	9 May 2000 	 	sculptor
175.	Sir Roger Penrose 	9 May 2000 	 	mathematical physicist
176.	Sir Tom Stoppard 	9 May 2000 	 	playwright
177.	H.R.H. The Prince of Wales 	27 June 2002 	 	heir to the throne
178.	The Lord May of Oxford 	28 October 2002 	 	ecologist
179.	The Lord Rothschild 	28 October 2002 	 	philanthropist
180.	Sir David Attenborough 	10 June 2005 	 	broadcaster and naturalist
181.	The Lady Boothroyd 	10 June 2005 	 	Speaker of the House of Commons
182.	Sir Michael Howard 	10 June 2005 	 	historian
183.	The Lord Eames 	13 June 2007 	 	Anglican prelate
184.	Sir Tim Berners-Lee 	13 June 2007 	 	inventor of the World Wide Web
185.	The Lord Rees of Ludlow 	13 June 2007 	 	astronomer
186.	The Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien 	13 July 2009 	 	Prime Minister of Canada
187.	Neil MacGregor 	4 November 2010 	 	art historian
188.	David Hockney 	1 January 2012 	 	artist
189.	The Hon. John Howard 	1 January 2012 	 	Prime Minister of Australia
190.	Sir Simon Rattle, C.B.E. 	1 January 2014 	 	orchestra conductor
191.	Martin Litchfield West 	1 January 2014 	1 	classicist
192.	Sir Magdi Yacoub 	1 January 2014 	 	cardiothoracic surgeon
193.	The Lord Darzi of Denham, K.B.E., P.C. 	31 December 2015 	 	laparoscopic surgeon
194.	Dame Anne Dowling, D.B.E. 	31 December 2015 	 	mechanical engineer
195.	Sir James Dyson, C.B.E. 	31 December 2015 	 	industrial designer