This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex. Since 1688, all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Essex.

• John Petre, 1st Baron Petre
• John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford 1558–?
• Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester 3 July 1585 – 4 September 1588
• William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley 31 December 1588 – 4 August 1598
• vacant
• Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex 26 August 1603 – 5 February 1629 jointly with
• Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick 8 September 1625 – 1642 jointly with
• Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland 5 February 1629 – 31 March 1635 and
• William Maynard, 1st Baron Maynard 6 August 1635 – 17 December 1640 and
• James Hay, 2nd Earl of Carlisle 8 January 1641 – 1642
• Interregnum
• Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford 13 August 1660 – 1687 jointly with
• Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle 30 November 1675 – 1687
• Thomas Petre, 6th Baron Petre 18 February 1688 – 1688
• Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford 25 October 1688 – 12 March 1703
• Francis North, 2nd Baron Guilford 23 March 1703 – 1705
• Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers 16 April 1705 – 18 August 1712
• Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke 24 October 1712 – 1714
• Henry Howard, 6th Earl of Suffolk 7 January 1715 – 19 September 1718
• Charles Howard, 7th Earl of Suffolk 10 December 1718 – 9 February 1722
• Henry O'Brien, 8th Earl of Thomond 2 April 1722 – 20 April 1741
• Benjamin Mildmay, 1st Earl Fitzwalter 7 May 1741 – 29 February 1756
• William Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford 3 April 1756 – 28 September 1781
• John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave 7 November 1781 – 22 October 1784
• John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden 17 November 1784 – 25 May 1797
• Richard Griffin, 2nd Baron Braybrooke 27 January 1798 – 28 February 1825
• Henry Maynard, 3rd Viscount Maynard 19 April 1825 – 19 May 1865
• Thomas Crosbie William Trevor, 22nd Baron Dacre 5 October 1865 – 1869
• Sir Thomas Burch Western, 1st Baronet 11 May 1869 – 30 May 1873
• Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford 4 September 1873 – 1892
• John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh 2 February 1892 – 1 August 1901^[1]
• Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick 1 August 1901^[1] – 1919
• Amelius Lockwood, 1st Baron Lambourne 11 February 1919 – 26 December 1928
• Sir Richard Beale Colvin 31 January 1929 – 1936
• Sir Francis Henry Douglas Charlton Whitmore, 1st Baronet 16 April 1936 – 1958
• Sir John Ruggles-Brise, 2nd Baronet 6 September 1958 – 1978
• Sir Andrew Lewis 1978–1992
• Robin Neville, 10th Baron Braybrooke 3 August 1992 – October 2002^[2]
• John Petre, 18th Baron Petre 16 December 2002 – 4 August 2017^[3][4]
• Jennifer Tolhurst 5 August 2017 – present^[5]

Deputy lieutenants

A deputy lieutenant of Essex is commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex. Deputy lieutenants support the work of the lord-lieutenant. There can be several deputy lieutenants at any time, depending on the population of the county. Their appointment does not terminate with the changing of the lord-lieutenant, but they usually retire at age 75.

18th Century

• 15 February 1793: Thomas Gardiner Bramston^[6]
• 15 February 1793: George Davis Carr^[6]
• 23 March 1797: William Manley^[7]
• 23 March 1797: Jackson Barwis^[7]
• 9 July 1803: George Lee^[8]
• 9 July 1803: John Crosse Godsalve Crosse^[8]
• 9 July 1803: John Wallinger Arnold Wallinger^[8]
• 9 July 1803: John Hopkins Dare^[8]