Groom in Waiting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The office of Groom in Waiting (sometimes hyphenated as Groom-in-Waiting) was a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, which in earlier times was usually held by more than one person at a time – in the late Middle Ages there might be dozens of persons with the rank, though the Esquires and Knights of the Body were more an important and select group. Grooms-in-Waiting to other members of the Royal Family and Extra Grooms in Waiting were also sometimes appointed. For the general history of court valets or grooms see Valet de chambre.

From the time of the Restoration (1660), the king was attended by Grooms of the Bedchamber, whose functions as attendants on the monarch's person were performed in the reign of Queen Anne by Women of the Bedchamber. By the time of Queen Victoria, however, the majority of political offices no longer involving regular attendance on the sovereign, there were appointed, in addition to the Queen's Women of the Bedchamber, eight Grooms in Waiting who would discharge those political and social functions of the Grooms of the Bedchamber which could not be undertaken by the Queen's attendants of the female sex. After Queen Victoria's reign, the nomenclature of "Grooms in Waiting" was retained in preference to "Grooms of the Bedchamber".

One of the holders of the office was designated the Parliamentary Groom in Waiting from about 1859, when it became customary to appoint a Member of Parliament who was a supporter of the government of the day. In addition to his political functions, the Parliamentary Groom in Waiting was in attendance on the Queen with the other grooms. The office became vacant in 1891, when Brownlow Cecil, Baron Burghley was promoted to the similar political office of Vice-Chamberlain of the Household. The political office fell into disuse in 1892, since which time it has not been revived, although this did not affect the non-political, court position of Groom in Waiting.

List of Parliamentary Grooms in Waiting

List of all Grooms in Waiting

Victoria (1837–1901)

In Ordinary

More information Date ...
Date
17 July 1837General Sir William LumleyAdmiral Sir Robert Otway, BtColonel Thomas ArmstrongCharles Augustus MurrayWilliam Cowper MPHenry Rich MPSir Henry Seton, Bart.
27 July 1837Colonel Sir Frederick Stovin
12 June 1838George Keppel
7 September 1841Captain Henry Meynell
14 September 1841John Ormsby-Gore
21 September 1841Captain Alexander Nelson Hood
24 September 1841Arthur Duncombe MP
7 November 1842Lieutenant-General Berkeley Drummond
3 March 1846Major-General Sir Edward Bowater[1][2]
4 August 1846Admiral Sir Edward Codrington
5 October 1846Lieutenant Colonel Robert Edward Boyle MP
11 July 1848Captain Joseph Denman
23 March 1852William Stuart Knox MP
13 July 1852Mortimer Sackville-West
3 March 1853Lieutenant Colonel Robert Edward Boyle MP
23 January 1854Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Frederick Cavendish
21 January 1858Colonel George Liddell
25 June 1859Colonel Sir Robert Kingscote MP
24 September 1859Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Keppel
18 November 1859General Sir Henry Bentinck[3]
17 April 1860Rear-Admiral Sir William Hoste, Bart.
26 December 1861Colonel Lord James Murray[4][5]
1 August 1866Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hugh Lindsay MP
1 June 1867Major-General Francis Seymour[6]
18 January 1868Rear-Admiral Lord Frederick Kerr
21 July 1868
22 December 1868Captain Algernon Greville-Nugent MP
1 January 1869Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Augustus Murray MacGregor
8 March 1869Colonel Henry Lyndenoch Gardiner
1 October 1872Lieutenant Colonel Henry Byng
4 November 1873William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington MP
13 February 1874John Francis Campbell of Islay
6 March 1874[[Donald Cameron, 24th Lochiel|Donald Cameron of Lochiel MP
26 May 1874Captain John Edmund Commerell[7]
24 February 1876Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hugh Lindsay
1 October 1876Captain Charles Edmund Phipps
21 December 1877Major Arthur Frederick Pickard
9 December 1879Major-General Sir Michael Biddulph
1 January 1880Lieutenant Arthur Bigge
22 March 1880Captain Fleetwood Edwards
20 May 1880Lieutenant Colonel William Carington MP
24 July 1880Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
9 May 1881Lieutenant Colonel Lord Edward Clinton
29 December 1882Colonel Henry Ewart
3 March 1883Colonel Gerard Smith MP
30 June 1884Alexander Grantham Yorke
8 July 1885Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 4th Baronet
10 February 1886Charles Robert Spencer MP
13 August 1886Brownlow Cecil, Baron Burghley MP
8 April 1889Major Henry Legge
24 November 1891
31 December 1891Admiral John Edmund Commerell
21 May 1892Colonel Lord William Cecil
1 October 1893Captain Malcolm Drummond
1 February 1895Captain Charles Harbord
6 June 1895Colonel Henry Donald Browne
16 December 1895Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Davidson
30 June 1896General Henry Lyndenoch Gardiner
25 December 1897Lieutenant-General Godfrey Clerk
Close

Extra

  • 17 July 1837–18 December 1842 General Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall
  • 7 November 1842–15 December 1850 General Sir William Lumley
  • 31 December 1844–3 June 1895 Charles Augustus Murray
  • 24 September 1859–3 May 1860 Lieutenant-General Berkeley Drummond
  • 28 March 1860–16 August 1865 General Sir Frederick Stovin
  • 1 April 1861–26 December 1861 Colonel Lord James Murray
  • 26 December 1861–1 June 1867 Colonel Francis Seymour
  • 30 July 1866–22 January 1901 Lieutenant Walter George Stirling
  • 24 February 1876–10 July 1890 Lieutenant General Francis Seymour
  • 21 December 1877–11 March 1881 Lieutenant Colonel William Cavendish
  • 23 October 1878–22 March 1880 Captain Fleetwood Edwards
  • 29 December 1882–14 December 1888 Colonel George Liddell
  • 13 April 1884–30 June 1884 Alexander Grantham Yorke
  • 15 March 1888–22 January 1901 Major-General Thomas Dennehy
  • 23 June 1891–31 December 1891 Admiral Sir John Edmund Commerell
  • 31 December 1891–15 January 1896 Admiral Lord Frederick Kerr
  • 16 December 1895–22 January 1901 General Sir Michael Biddulph

Edward VII (1901–1910)

In Ordinary

More information Date ...
Date
23 July 1901Lieutenant Colonel Lord Edward ClintonSidney GrevilleHarry StonorAdmiral Sir John FullertonSir Alexander Condie StephenGeneral Godfrey ClerkCaptain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
14 November 1905Arthur Walsh
18 July 1907Sir Archibald Edmonstone, Bart.Rear-Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, Bart.]]
4 June 1908Colonel Henry StreatfeildSir John Lister-Kaye, Bart.
9 October 1908Commander Charles Cunninghame Graham
30 November 1908Montague Eliot
Close

Extra

  • 23 July 1901–6 May 1910 The Hon. Alexander Grantham Yorke
  • 23 July 1901–6 May 1910 Major-General Sir Thomas Dennehy
  • 23 July 1901–1 April 1909 Sir Maurice Holzmann
  • 23 July 1901–23 July 1905 General Sir Michael Biddulph
  • 23 October 1905–6 May 1910 Admiral Sir John Fullerton
  • 25 June 1909–6 May 1910 Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace

George V (1910–1936)

In Ordinary

More information Date ...
Date
10 June 1910Captain Seymour John Fortescue[8]Sidney Greville[9]Harry StonorCommander Charles Cunninghame GrahamColonel William LambtonEdward William Wallington, Esq.Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
2 January 1911Harry Lloyd-Verney[10]Captain Philip Hunloke[11]
14 April 1916Colonel Claude Willoughby
6 July 1917Rear-Admiral Henry Hervey Campbell
21 March 1919Richard Molyneux
3 December 1920Sidney Greville
12 June 1927
9 June 1931Sir Gerald Chichester
6 May 1932Colonel Sir Victor Mackenzie, 3rd Baronet
11 October 1932Admiral Sir Henry Buller
26 May 1933Brigadier-General George Paynter
Close

Extra

Edward VIII (1936)

In Ordinary

No ordinary grooms-in-waiting were appointed to attend Edward VIII during his reign as King-Emperor.

Extra

George VI (1936–1952)

In Ordinary

  • 2 March 1937–11 December 1945 Rear-Admiral Sir Basil Vernon Brooke
  • 2 March 1937–3 August 1937 Commander Sir Harold George Campbell[12][13]
  • 2 March 1937–6 February 1952 Arthur Horace Penn, Esq.
  • 2 March 1937–30 January 1942 Colonel Sir George Sidney Herbert, Bart.
  • 3 August 1937–6 February 1952 Captain Richard John Streatfeild (in the room of Commander Sir Harold George Campbell) [14]
  • 3 August 1937–6 February 1952 Brigadier-General George Paynter

Extra

Elizabeth II (1952–2022)

In Ordinary

Extra

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI