Groom of the Chamber

Not to be confused with Lords and Gentlemen of the Bedchamber.

Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the 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".

In England after the Restoration, appointments in the King's Household included Groom of the Great Chamber, Groom of the Privy Chamber and Groom of the Bedchamber.^[1] The first two positions were appointed by Lord Chamberlain's warrant; the third, of greater importance, was a Crown appointment.

Medieval and early-modern England

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

1. the Household, primarily concerned with fiscal more than domestic matters, the "royal purse";
2. the Chamber, concerned with the Presence Chamber, the Privy chamber, and other more public rooms of the royal palaces, as the Bedchamber was concerned with the innermost;
3. the Bedchamber, focused on the most direct and intimate aspects of the lives of the royal family, with its own offices, like the Groom of the Body and the Squire of the Body.

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 poet Stephen Hawes became a Groom of the Chamber in 1502, under Henry VII.^[2]

Under James I, the Bedchamber was established as a semi-autonomous department (overseen by the Groom of the Stole) with its own hierarchy of Gentlemen, Grooms and Yeomen, which usurped those of the Privy Chamber in terms of their influence with and closeness to the King.^[3] (The old Bedchamber office of Esquire to the Body was finally abolished in 1702).^[3]

Grooms Extraordinary

In the reigns of the early monarchs of the House of Stuart, James I and Charles I, the actors of the King's Men, the playing company under royal patronage, were officially "Grooms extraordinary of the Chamber". They did not usually fulfill the normal functions of the office; rather, they served the King by performing plays for him. Although on busy occasions, the King's Men appear to have acted as more ordinary servants: in August 1604 they were "waiting and attending" upon the Spanish ambassador at Somerset House, "on his Majesty's service" — but no plays were performed.)^[4] They were also turned out to bulk up the Household for grand ceremonial occasions. A similar arrangement held for some of Queen Anne's Men, including their playwright Thomas Heywood; they became Grooms of the Queen's Chamber, under the Queen's Chamberlain.^[5] On some occasions, Shakespeare^{[citation needed]}, Heywood, and their compatriots wore the royal livery, marched in processions, and played other roles in the ceremonial life of the monarchy.^{[citation needed]} (Grooms could not be arrested for debt without the permission of the Lord Chamberlain — a big advantage for sometimes-struggling actors.) In at least two cases, those of George Bryan (Lord Chamberlain's Men) and John Singer (Queen Elizabeth's Men; Admiral's Men), professional actors became "normal" Grooms of the Chamber, with the normal duties, after retiring from the stage.

List of Grooms of the Chamber

• Stephen Hawes, 1502–?
• William Sharington, 1542–1544^[6]
• Thomas Streete, c.1547(-1553?) ^[7]
• John Fowler, 1548
• William Goring, 1553
• George Brediman or Bridgeman, c.1553-1580 ^[8]

Elizabeth I (1558–1603)^[8]

• Thomas Astley, 1558-1595
• John Baptist Castilion, 1558-1597
• Thomas Commander, 1558-1559
• Henry Seckford, 1558-1610
• Thomas Lichfield, 1559-1586
• John Tamworth, 1559–1569 ^[9]
• Edward Cary, 1562-1618
• Henry Middlemore, 1566-1593
• Thomas Knyvett, 1570-1622
• Thomas Gorges, 1571-1610
• William Killigrew, 1578-1622^[10]
• Edward Darcy, 1579-1612
• Edward Denny, 1582-1600
• Michael Stanhope, c.1583–1603 ^[11]
• Ferdinando Richardson (alias Heyborne), 1586-1618

James I (1603–1625)

• Sir John Holles, 1603–1610 ^[12]
• Sir Henry Bromley, 1603–>1609 ^[13]
• Humphrey May, 1604–1611 ^[14]
• Sir Thomas Gerard, 1st Baronet, 1603–1621 ^[15]
• William Woodhouse, 1603–1625 ^[16]
• Henry Goodyer, 1603–1626 ^[17]
• Sir Oliver Cromwell, 1603–1636 ^[18]
• Sir Robert Mansell, by 1604–>1615 ^[19]
• Sir Walter Cope, by 1607–1614 ^[20]
• Sir John Kay, by 1608–>1615 ^[21]
• Sir William Uvedale, by 1612–>1618 ^[22]
• Sir John Eyre, by 1612–>1632^[23]
• George Chaworth, 1st Viscount Chaworth, 1621–? ^[24]
• John Maynard, by 1621–>1641 ^[25]

Queen Anne of Denmark

• Samuel Daniel
• John Florio, by 1604 - 1619^[26][27]
• Matthew Hairstanes

Charles I (1625–1649)

• John Trevor, 1625–? ^[28] (died 1630)
• Sir William Walter, 1633–1646 ^[29]

List of Grooms of the Bedchamber

James I (1603–1625)

• John Murray, (1603-1622)

Charles I (1625–1649)

• George Kirke, 1625–1646
• William Murray, 1625->1643
• William Legge, 1645–1647 ^[30]

Commonwealth (1649–1660)

No Grooms of the Bedchamber appointed

Post-Restoration England and Great Britain

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.^[31]

The Grooms of the Privy Chamber were six in number (reduced to two under James I); initially responsible for manning the doors to the Privy Chamber, by 1720 the office largely lost its function, but attendance was still required for Coronations and other 'extraordinary Occasions'.^[32]

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).^[33] They would also deputise for the 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 Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria, did appoint his own Grooms of the Bedchamber).^[34]

List of Grooms of the Privy Chamber

Charles II (1660–1685)

Date
6 June 1660	Maurice Wynn	James Elliott	Robert Thompson
7 June 1660				Adam Hill
10 June 1660					Adrian May
12 June 1660						James Progers
17 May 1661				Roger Burgess
27 January 1669				Thomas Ross
30 April 1670					Arthur Ingram
15 May 1671						Thomas Cooke
15 May 1672					Paul French
17 May 1673						John Lowther
25 June 1673				Christopher Jeffreys
8 July 1676					John Bellingham
18 December 1676						Humphrey Graves
11 October 1677		Richard Binns
20 May 1678		Yelverton Peyton
23 October 1680	Edward Lloyd
20 August 1683		John Radcliffe

James II 1685–1688

Date
February 1685	Robert Thompson	Christopher Jeffreys

William III 1689–1702

Date
February 1689	Robert Thompson	Christopher Jeffreys
28 March 1689			Thomas Duppa	Humphrey Graves
12 January 1694	David Carbonell
29 July 1695		William Wallis
30 November 1695	William Whitmore
22 December 1699				Robert Barkham
19 May 1700		Robert Wallis
25 October 1701		Cornelius Tilburgh

1702–1901

Date
9 July 1702	John Bonning	Robert Hemmington
26 March 1711			Cornelius Tilburgh
28 May 1715	Joseph Ashley
3 February 1719	James Trymmer
12 August 1719				Edward Parsons
25 November 1720				John Parsons
10 December 1728		Langham Edwards
11 May 1729		Wentworth Odiarne
2 June 1740			Charles Collins
7 June 1745				Edward Capell
24 February 1750			Charles Husband Collins
3 June 1762		Strelley Pegge
8 October 1762	Samuel Pegge
5 July 1774			John Larpent
6 July 1774		Thomas Collins
24 October 1778			William Fordyce
24 February 1781				James Trail
18 November 1781		James Hawkins
7 March 1785			Hale Young Wortham
March 1788			Richard Byron
5 February 1794			Edmund Armstrong
19 October 1797			Robert Chester
29 July 1798			James Meller
1799		James Whitshed
23 May 1800	John Hunter
18 May 1802		William Chapman Fowle
19 August 1808				Frederick Chapman
3 June 1812	William Fenton Scott
6 July 1814	Robert Powell
12 August 1818			William Beresford
12 December 1823				Charles Dashwood
21 April 1832				Courtenay Edmund William Boyle
23 April 1833	Thomas Shiffner
6 May 1836	Arthur Johnstone Blackwood
1 November 1839		Stewart Henry Paget[35]
24 February 1840		Thomas Noel Harris[36]
1 March 1852			Mortimer Sackville-West[37]
13 July 1852			Samuel Randall[38]
16 February 1859				John Home Purves[39]
31 March 1860		John Francis Campbell, of Islay[40]
2 October 1862			Edward Stopford Claremont[41]
3 July 1867				Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel[42]
14 January 1871				Charles George Cornwallis Eliot[43]
8 January 1874	James Bontein[44]
16 February 1874		Nathaniel George Philips[45]
24 October 1884	Arnold Royle[46]
25 July 1890			Malcolm Drummond, of Megginch[47]
1 October 1893			Otway Frederick Seymour Cuffe[48]
14 November 1899				Sir Francis Knollys

List of Grooms of the Bedchamber

Charles II (1660–1685)

Date of appointment
1 Feb 1661	John Ashburnham	Daniel O'Neill	Henry Seymour
2 Feb 1661				Thomas Elliot	Thomas Killigrew	Richard Lane	Robert Phillips	Silius Titus	David Walter
3 Feb 1661										Edward Proger
6 Feb 1661											William Legge
1 Jan 1662												Henry Coventry
28 Oct 1664		James Hamilton
1 Oct 1670											Sidney Godolphin
16 Jun 1671	Thomas Felton
21 Jun 1672												Bernard Granville
7 Jun 1673		Henry Savile
8 Jul 1675								Henry Guy
Aug 1677				George Porter
18 Jul 1678											George Rodney Bridges
Apr 1679									Thomas Wyndham
16 May 1679	Thomas Lee
26 Nov 1679								Thomas Neale
Mar 1683					Bevil Skelton
15 May 1683		Francis Gwyn
19 Dec 1683				Henry Killigrew

James II (1685–1688)

Date of appointment
2 May 1685	James Fortrey	Oliver Nicholas	Henry Slingsby	Heneage Finch	Richard Leveson	James Griffin	Francis Russell	David Lloyd
1686							James Porter
9 Mar 1687							Richard Bagot

William III (1689–1702)

Date of appointment
6 Jun 1689	Percy Kirke	Hatton Compton	Charles Trelawny	Emanuel Howe	John Sayers	Adrian van Borselen	James Stanley
Mar 1690								Arnold Joost van Keppel
29 Apr 1691									Thomas Windsor
Jan 1692	George Cholmondeley
6 May 1695								Thomas Wentworth

Anne (1702–1714) No Grooms of the Bedchamber appointed

George I (1714–1727)

Date of appointment
20 Sep 1714	William Kerr	James Tyrrell
16 Oct 1714			James Dormer	HCharles Howard	William Breton	George Feilding
21 Oct 1714							Henry Cornewall	Philip Honywood
15 Jun 1715					Sir Gustavus Hume
13 May 1719									William Finch
11 Jun 1720										Sir Wilfrid Lawson
10 Aug 1721											Charles Cornwallis
24 Jun 1722
25 May 1723										Robert Sawyer Herbert

George II (1727–1760)

Date of appointment
21 Aug 1727	Sir Robert Rich
14 Sep 1727		Thomas Paget	Charles Lumley	John Selwyn	Charles Churchill	Charles Cathcart	John Campbell	Sir James Campbell	Sir Charles Hotham
7 May 1731				John Clavering
7 May 1733						James Brudenell
22 Apr 1740			William Herbert
14 Jul 1742		Edward Finch
20 Jan 1746					John Mostyn
22 Jan 1747						Edward Cornwallis		John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave
5 Apr 1757			Henry Seymour Conway
4 Jun 1757		John Offley
16 Jan 1760	Charles FitzRoy
19 Jan 1760									Richard Savage Nassau

George III (1760–1820)

Date of appointment
27 Nov 1760	John Mostyn	John Waldegrave	John Offley	Charles FitzRoy	George Schutz	Sir James Peachey	Edmund Nugent	Sir William Breton	Edward Cornwallis	Henry Seymour Conway
10 Dec 1760											Spencer Compton
11 Dec 1760												George Pitt	Norborne Berkeley	William Northey
17 Feb 1761															Augustus Keppel
10 Oct 1762
21 Dec 1762			Sir James Wright
19 Jan 1763				Sir John Mordaunt
16 Feb 1763					Henry Seymour
5 May 1763		Sir Charles Hotham-Thompson
5 Nov 1763											Augustus John Hervey
April 1764													*
24 Aug 1765					Henry Wallop
3 Dec 1766															William Harcourt
23 Apr 1770														Henry Vernon
16 May 1770												Sir George Osborn
10 May 1771							Thomas de Grey
17 May 1771									Henry St John
3 Dec 1771					Philip Hales
8 Feb 1773								*
28 Mar 1775											William Gordon
18 Jun 1777							Charles Herbert
22 Feb 1779	Francis Lascelles
17 Jan 1783										George Villiers
19 Aug 1784									Robert Waller
20 Jan 1788		James Whorwood Adeane
3 Jun 1791						Robert Digby
26 Jan 1793				Thomas Fane
29 Mar 1800	Robert Fulke Greville
30 May 1801			Arthur Kaye Legge						Sir Harry Burrard-Neale
27 Apr 1802		Edward Finch
24 May 1804
15 Apr 1807				*
31 Oct 1808						Edward Capel
1 Nov 1808															Edward Pery Buckley
4 Mar 1809															Henry Frederick Campbell
2 June 1809														Frederick West
18 Feb 1812
10 Mar 1812	William Keppel		Gen. Thomas Slaughter Stanwix		Gen. Edmund Stevens	Wilson Braddyll			William Lumley	Charles Nassau Thomas	Henry Fitzroy Stanhope	Gen. Charles Leigh
10 Apr 1812				Sir John Francis Cradock
28 Jul 1812								Augustus Cavendish-Bradshaw					Charles William Stewart	Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner
6 Jun 1816			Sir Edward Paget
6 Sep 1816							Sir George Campbell
5 Jan 1817												Henry King
21 Nov 1818						Joseph Whatley
19 Oct 1819				Sir Edmund Nagle

George IV (1820–1830)

Date of appointment
Jan 1820	Edward Finch	William Keppel	Edmund Stevens	William Lumley	Charles Nassau Thomas	Henry Fitzroy Stanhope	Augustus Cavendish-Bradshaw	Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner	Sir Edward Paget	Sir George Campbell	Henry King	Joseph Whatley	Sir Edmund Nagle
4 Apr 1820					Lord Francis Nathaniel Conyngham
24 Jan 1821										Sir Andrew Barnard
11 Oct 1821									Sir Charles Paget
7 Sep 1825			Sir William Houston
27 May 1828										Thomas Armstrong
24 Sep 1828						John Robert Townshend
14 Feb 1830											George Cecil Weld-Forester
15 Mar 1830													Henry Thomas Hope

William IV (1830–1837)

Date of appointment
June 1830	Edward Finch	William Keppel	William Lumley	Augustus Cavendish-Bradshaw	Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner	Joseph Whatley	Sir Charles Paget	Sir William Houston	Thomas Armstrong	John Robert Townshend	George Cecil Weld-Forester	Henry Thomas Hope
17 Jul 1830		Sir Hussey Vivian
24 Jul 1830													Sir Robert Cavendish Spencer
30 Nov 1830												Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet
23 Dec 1830													Sir Robert Otway
31 Jan 1831										Sir James Reynett
24 Feb 1831											George Pryse Campbell
12 Nov 1832				Sir Charles Rowley, 1st Baronet
15 Dec 1832												Thomas William Taylor
20 Jun 1837	Accession of Queen Victoria.

Victoria (1837–1901) No Grooms of the Bedchamber appointed

Edward VII (1901–1910) The term "Groom-in-Waiting" was employed^[49]

George V (1910–1936)

Date appointed
10 Jun 1910[50]	Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell	Captain Seymour John Fortescue	Commander Charles Elphinstone Fleeming Cunninghame Graham	Sidney Robert Greville	Colonel William Lambton	Harry Stonor	Edward William Wallington Esq.

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) The term "Groom-in-Waiting" was employed.^[51]

George VI (1936–1952) The term "Groom-in-Waiting" was employed.^[52]

Elizabeth (1952–2022) No Grooms of the Bedchamber appointed.

Charles III (2022–) No Grooms of the Bedchamber appointed.

In France

The French portrait painter Jean Clouet (c. 1485–1540) was appointed a valet de chambre groom of the chamber of the French monarchy in 1523 by Francis I of France, as was his son François Clouet later. The office could serve as a sinecure to provide a minimum income and social place for someone who enjoyed royal favor.

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

See also

• Groom of the Robes
• Groom of the Stool
• Gentleman of the Bedchamber