However, from 1723 to 1823 the office was a sinecure held by members of the Abercrombie family, not necessarily connected with artistic ability.

Lord North gave him the sinecure office of Chamberlain of the Till office in the Exchequer, worth 1,600l.

Churchill was demoted from First Lord of the Admiralty as a prerequisite for Conservative entry to the coalition but remained in the Cabinet in the sinecure of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, before resigning in November 1915 and departing for the Western Front, where he commanded an infantry battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers early in 1916.