The Database of Court Officers: 1660-1837

R. O. Bucholz, Project Director

Courtesy, Trustees of the British Museum

The Database of Court Officers (DCO) is an online computer database providing the career histories of every regularly remunerated officer and servant of the English royal household and, now, satellite courts, from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 to the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

History of the Database:

The DCO extends, corrects and completes the data on the royal household first set forth in Officials of the Royal Household 1660-1837, compiled by Sir John Sainty, KCB and Robert Bucholz, 2 vols., published by the Institute of Historical Research, London in 1997-98, as volumes eleven and twelve of the on-going series "Officeholders in Modern Britain" (available on the Institute's online bookshop at store.london.ac.uk/product-catalogue/school-of-advanced-study-publications/institute-of-historical-research/officeholders-in-modern-britain). The object of this work was to provide authoritative chronological lists of the holders of the principal household offices.

At one point, these volumes were intended to include every regularly remunerated officer and servant in the royal household. Sadly--but perhaps inevitably given the current realities of scholarly publishing--that intention proved to be impractical. As published, Officials of the Royal Household lists only holders of offices suitable to be held by peers and most offices suitable to be held by those of gentle birth--less than half of the positions in the sovereign's household.

Nevertheless, a nearly complete record of appointments and emoluments for the sovereign's household for the period 1660-1901 can be assembled from official documents housed in the Public Record Office, London, the Royal Archives, Windsor, the Chapel Royal, St. James's and other archives. Using the information contained in household establishments, warrants of appointment and certificates of swearing in, it is possible to know the name, gender, office, date of entry, date and reason for departure of any officer or servant of the sovereign's household for the period in question. At first independently, then in concert, Sir John Sainty and Robert Bucholz have, beginning in the 1980s, compiled many lists for offices that were not included in the final publication. Out of the opportunity afforded by the unused lists, the frustration borne of their disuse, and the conviction that only by comprehending the experience of all of the officers and servants of the household (both those of the sovereign and other members of the royal family) can the full life of the institution be understood in all its variety, has grown the Database of Court Officers.

Scope of the Project:

For purposes of the DCO, the royal household consists, first, of officers in the monarch's household under the supervision, direct or indirect, of the lord chamberlain (including those in the Bedchamber, Chapel Royal, Great Wardrobe, Jewel Office, Robes, and, prior to 1685, the Tents and Toils; the gentlemen pensioners and yeomen of the guard; keeper of the Privy Purse; lord almoner and sub-almoner), lord steward, or master of the horse which involved swearing-in and a regular form of remuneration, such as wages, boardwages, or diet. Following the format established by Sir John Sainty in the Officeholders series, the DCO provides chronological lists of officers by department and office; and an alphabetical personal index. Unpaid gentlemen of the privy chamber, officers in the Works and Royal Guards, the heralds and purveyors, craftsmen and tradesmen paid entirely via bills have, for the time being, been excluded.

Because the English court is more than just the sovereign's household, as of February 2019, the DCO also provides lists and indexes of the officers and servants of additional members of the royal family 1660-1837 (queens consort, mother, and dowager, princes of Wales and princes and princesses of the blood).

A Courtier's Promise:

The DCO is a work in progress and it is hoped that, in time, it will grow to encompass:

Officers and servants of Queen Victoria's household 1837-1901

Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber 1660-1901

Unpaid craftsmen, tradesmen and suppliers holding the royal warrant.

...all coordinated by a proper search engine.

How to Use the DCO:

In the meantime, the linked .pdf files noted below contain all the material contained in the Officeholders volumes, including an introduction explaining the parameters of office-holding and giving a brief survey of the history and cost of the sovereign's household for this period.

To open these files, you will need Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. The latter can be obtained free of charge at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Scholars seeking the history, duties, emoluments and successive holders of a particular office (the lord chamberlain; the master of the musick; the grooms of the privy chamber, stables's footmen, etc.) or staff of a department (for example, the Bedchamber) or sub-department (say, the Pantry) in the sovereign's household are referred to the chronological lists (Chamber-1, Chamber-2, etc.).

Those interested in the career of a particular officer or servant in the sovereign's household should use the [Find] and [Bookmark] functions on Adobe Acrobat/Reader to consult The Master Index or the constituent parts of the Index as broken up alphabetically (Index-A, Index-B, etc.)

The same processes apply for officers and servants in any of the satellite courts listed below. Unfortunately, administrative papers survive only irregularly for these households, so the level of documentation is far less complete. Indeed, while every effort has been made to examine the extant establishments and accounts of these households, it is quite possible that some have been overlooked. The project director welcomes any corrections or suggestions as to how these lists and indexes may be rendered more accurate and complete.

Courtesy, Trustees of the British Museum

The Database of Court Officers 1660-1837

Front Matter

The Lists (Chronological by Office)

Sovereign's Household

Chamber List 1
(Lord Chamberlain's Office; Privy Purse; Bedchamber)

Chamber List 2
(Privy Chamber, Presence Chamber, Guard Chamber, Messengers)

Chamber List 3
(Ceremonies, Revels, Removing Wardrobe, House and Wardrobe Keepers, Robes, Jewel Office, Great Wardrobe, Tents and Toyles)

Chamber List 4
(Medical personnel; Artistic personnel [including Musicians])

Chamber List 5
(Sporting and Transportation [including Barges])

Chamber List 6
(Ecclesiastical Establishments [including Choirs])

Chamber List 7
(Military Establishment [Gentlemen pensioners; Yeomen of the Guard])

Chamber List 8
(Paid tradesmen and Menial servants above stairs])

Household Below Stairs List 1
(Board of Greencloth, Accompting House, Acatry,
Almonry, Bakehouse, Boiling House, Buttery, Cartakers, Cellar, Chandry, Confectionary, Ewry, Hall, Harbingers)

Household Below Stairs List 2
(Kitchens, Larder, Laundry, Knight Marshal and Marshal's men, Pantry, Pastry, Pitcher House)

Household Below Stairs List 3
(Porters, Poultry, Scalding House, Scullery, Spicery, Verge, Woodyard [later Coalyard], Menial servants below stairs)

Stables List

Household of Mary II (1689-1694) compiled by Ms. Annah Hackett

Thanks

In addition to the acknowledgements made in our original volumes of 1997-98, Prof. Bucholz would like to express his thanks to the Throckmorton family and the National Trust at Caughton Court for allowing him to examine a unique and essential establishment of James, Duke of York in their possession. He would also like to express his gratitude for the friendship and scholarship of his original partner in the enterprise, Sir John Sainty, who drafted many of these lists and indexes. He owes many additional debts, not least for the invaluable technical support of Mary Addyman, Andrew Barclay, Steve Bergfeld, Jonathan Blaney, Clarissa Campbell Orr, Sophie Chessum, Michael Cook, David Dennis, Sebastian Edwards, Robert Eyre, Tracy Foxworth, Frances Harris, Karen Hearn, Margaret Heller, Steve Jones, Kevin Kaufmann, Newton Key, Bob Kraft, Bruce Montes, Kyle Roberts, Peter Salt, Stephen Schloesser, S.J., Robin Schultz, George K. Thiruvathukal, and Amanda Williams; Loyola's Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities, Departments of History and Computer Science (who, thanks to the kind offices of Professors Roberts and Thiruvathukal help with hosting this database), and University Libraries; as well as the careful scholarship of Sarah Deas, Annah Hackett, Charles Rooney, and Lydia Wassman who drafted a number of these indexes. A special thanks to Professor Erin Griffey for so generously sharing her valuable research on the household of Henrietta Maria.

Links

Institute of Historical Research, London, Officeholders in Modern Britain site: www.history.ac.uk/office

The Society for Court Studies: www.courtstudies.org

Enquiries, Corrections, Complaints

Prof. Robert Bucholz
Department of History
Loyola University of Chicago
6526 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, Il 60626

Courtesy, Trustees of the British Museum

History of the Database:

Scope of the Project:

A Courtier's Promise:

How to Use the DCO:

The Database of Court Officers 1660-1837

Front Matter

The Lists (Chronological by Office)

Sovereign's Household

Satellite Households

Indexes

Sovereign's Household

Satellite Households

Thanks

Links

Enquiries, Corrections, Complaints