Groom of the Chamber: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

'''Groom of the Chamber''' was a position in the [[Royal Household|Household]] of the [[Kingdom of England|monarch]] in [[early modern]] England. Other ''[[Ancien Régime]]'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the [[Duchy of Burgundy]], and in England while French was still the language of the court, the title was varlet or [[valet de chambre]]. In German, Danish and Russian the term was "Kammerjunker" and in Swedish the similar "Kammarjunkare".

 

Traditionally, the English Court was organized into three branches or departments:

# the Household, primarily concerned with fiscal more than domestic matters, the "royal purse;"

 

The Chamber organization was controlled by the [[Lord Chamberlain]]; if he was the general of a small army of servitors, the Grooms of the Chamber were his junior officers, with ushers and footmen the footsoldiers. The Grooms wore the royal livery (in earlier periods), served as general attendants, and fulfilled a wide range of specific functions. (One Groom of the Chamber had the job of handing the "King's Stuff" to a Squire of the Body, who would then dress the King.) Grooms ranked below Gentlemen of the Chamber, usually important noblemen, but above Yeomen of the Chamber. They were mostly well-born, on a first rung of a [[courtier]]'s career. The office of Groom of the Chamber could also be bestowed in a more honorific manner, upon people who served the royal household in some less direct way; the early [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]] poet [[Stephen Hawes]] became a Groom of the Chamber in 1502, under [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]].<ref>{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Hawes, Stephen}}</ref>

 

 

;;;Grooms Extraordinary

*[[Stephen Hawes]], 1502–?

*[[William Sharington]], 1542&ndash;1544<ref>C. E. Challis, 'Sharington, Sir William (c. 1495–1553), administrator and embezzler', in ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press, September 2004</ref>

 

;;;Elizabeth I (1558–1603)<ref name="KinneyLawson1973,2014" />

*Henry Seckford, 1558-1610

*[[Thomas Lichfield]], 1559-1586

*[[Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet|Thomas Knyvett]], 1570-1622

*[[Thomas Gorges]], 1571-1610

*[[Edward Darcy]], 1579-1612

*[[Edward Denny (soldier)|Edward Denny]], 1582-1600

 

;;;James I (1603–1625)'''

'''Charles I (1625–1649)'''

* [[John Trevor (1563–1630)|John Trevor]], 1625–? <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/trevor-john-1563-1630| publisher=History of Parliament|title=TREVOR, John (1563-1630) of Oatlands, Surrey|access-date=3 April 2019}}</ref> (died 1630)

 

===List of Grooms of the Bedchamber===

Fourteen Grooms of the Great Chamber were appointed under Charles II (later reduced to ten); they served as internal court messengers and were in attendance in the guard room.<ref name="BHOGreat">{{cite web |last1=Bucholz |first1=R. O. |title=Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Guard Chamber: Grooms of the Great Chamber 1660-1837 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp78-89 |website=British History Online |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |access-date=6 July 2019}}</ref>

 

 

There were usually a dozen or so Grooms of the Bedchamber appointed (though under different monarchs the number varied from as many as fifteen or as few as eight), two of whom were on duty at any one time. They served for a week at a time in rotation and were responsible for attending the King in the Chamber when he dressed, and at Dinner when he dined privately (taking food and wine from the servants to give it to the Lords, who would serve The King).<ref name="BHOBed">{{cite web |last1=Bucholz |first1=R. O. |title=Office-Holders in Modern Britain: The bedchamber: Grooms of the Bedchamber 1660-1837 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp20-24 |website=British History Online |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |access-date=6 July 2019}}</ref> They would also deputise for the [[Lord of the Bedchamber|Lords of the Bedchamber]] if required to do so. Grooms of the Bedchamber were close to the King and were occasionally sent overseas as special envoys to negotiate royal marriages and such. During the exile of James II a court was maintained by that king in France and certain of his grooms joined him there. Similarly, during the last years of the reign of King George III, when he withdrew from public life in consequence of his poor mental health, several of his grooms followed him to Windsor Castle, whilst others remained in London to serve the Prince Regent, later to become King George IV. When the Monarch was a Queen, the positions of Groom of the Bedchamber were not filled (though [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], consort to Queen Victoria, did appoint his own Grooms of the Bedchamber).<ref>Court Circular</ref>

|6 July 1814 || rowspan=4| Robert Powell

|-

|-

|12 December 1823 || Charles Dashwood <!-- son of Sir Henry Dashwood, 3rd Bt -->

|17 Jan 1783 || rowspan=15| Hon. [[George Villiers (1759–1827)|George Villiers]]

|-

|-

|20 Jan 1788 || rowspan=5| [[James Whorwood Adeane]]

 

'''Edward VII (1901–1910)'''

 

'''George V (1910–1936)'''

!Date appointed!! !! !! !! !! !! !!

|-

|}

''The above-mentioned were gazetted as "Grooms of the Bedchamber in Waiting"; subsequently, the term "Groom in Waiting in Ordinary" was used.''

 

'''Edward VIII (1936)'''

 

'''George VI (1936–1952)'''

 

''No Grooms of the Bedchamber appointed.''

 

==In France==

 

Many noble households in Europe had their own grooms of the chamber, known by various titles. See [[Valet de chambre]] for a fuller account.

* [http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2002/0361.html Groom of the Chamber]

 

 

[[Category:Positions within the British Royal Household]]