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Groom in Waiting

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

class="wikitable"
Date
17 July 1837rowspan=7| General Sir William Lumleyrowspan=9| Admiral Sir Robert Otway, Btrowspan=3| Colonel Thomas Armstrongrowspan=2| Charles Augustus Murrayrowspan=6| William Cowper MProwspan=4| Henry Rich MProwspan=25| Sir Henry Seton, Bart.
27 July 1837rowspan=18| Colonel Sir Frederick Stovin
12 June 1838rowspan=3| George Keppel
7 September 1841rowspan=7| Captain Henry Meynell
14 September 1841rowspan=13| John Ormsby-Gore
21 September 1841rowspan=11| Captain Alexander Nelson Hood
24 September 1841rowspan=2| Arthur Duncombe MP
7 November 1842rowspan=11| Lieutenant-General Berkeley Drummond
3 March 1846rowspan=13| Major-General Sir Edward Bowater{{ London Gazette | issue = 20580 |page=822 | date = 3 March 1846 }}{{ London Gazette | issue = 22583 |page=5578 | date = 27 December 1861 }}
4 August 1846rowspan=2| Admiral Sir Edward Codrington
5 October 1846rowspan=2| Lieutenant Colonel Robert Edward Boyle MP
11 July 1848rowspan=2| Captain Joseph Denman
23 March 1852rowspan=2| William Stuart Knox MP
13 July 1852rowspan=22| Mortimer Sackville-West
3 March 1853rowspan=1| Lieutenant Colonel Robert Edward Boyle MP
23 January 1854rowspan=21| Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Frederick Cavendish
21 January 1858rowspan=27| Colonel George Liddell
25 June 1859rowspan=5| Colonel Sir Robert Kingscote MP
24 September 1859rowspan=2| Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Keppel
18 November 1859rowspan=4| General Sir Henry Bentinck{{ London Gazette | issue = 22328 |page=4191 | date = 22 November 1859 }}
17 April 1860rowspan=4| Rear-Admiral Sir William Hoste, Bart.
26 December 1861rowspan=12| Colonel Lord James Murray{{ London Gazette | issue = 22583 |page=5578 | date = 27 December 1861 }}{{ London Gazette | issue = 24098 |page=2779 | date = 26 May 1874 }}
1 August 1866rowspan=4| Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hugh Lindsay MP
1 June 1867rowspan=11| Major-General Francis Seymour{{ London Gazette | issue = 23259 |page=3161 | date = 4 June 1867 }}
18 January 1868rowspan=27| Rear-Admiral Lord Frederick Kerr
21 July 1868rowspan=2|
22 December 1868rowspan=4 | Captain Algernon Greville-Nugent MP
1 January 1869rowspan=1| Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Augustus Murray MacGregor
8 March 1869rowspan=1| Colonel Henry Lyndenoch Gardiner
1 October 1872rowspan=2| Lieutenant Colonel Henry Byng
4 November 1873rowspan=2| William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington MP
13 February 1874rowspan=10| John Francis Campbell of Islay
6 March 1874rowspan=8| Donald Cameron, 24th Lochiel{{ London Gazette | issue = 24098 |page=2779 | date = 26 May 1874 }}
24 February 1876rowspan=15| Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hugh Lindsay
1 October 1876rowspan=3| Captain Charles Edmund Phipps
21 December 1877rowspan=3| Major Arthur Frederick Pickard
9 December 1879rowspan=19| Major-General Sir Michael Biddulph
1 January 1880rowspan=4| Lieutenant Arthur Bigge
22 March 1880rowspan=16| Captain Fleetwood Edwards
20 May 1880rowspan=4| Lieutenant Colonel William Carington MP
24 July 1880rowspan=18| Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
9 May 1881rowspan=12| Lieutenant Colonel Lord Edward Clinton
29 December 1882rowspan=2| Colonel Henry Ewart
3 March 1883rowspan=2| Colonel Gerard Smith MP
30 June 1884rowspan=14| Alexander Grantham Yorke
8 July 1885rowspan=1| Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 4th Baronet
10 February 1886rowspan=1| Charles Robert Spencer MP
13 August 1886rowspan=2| Brownlow Cecil, Baron Burghley MP
8 April 1889rowspan=4| Major Henry Legge
24 November 1891rowspan=2|
31 December 1891rowspan=8| Admiral John Edmund Commerell
21 May 1892rowspan=7| Colonel Lord William Cecil
1 October 1893rowspan=6| Captain Malcolm Drummond
1 February 1895rowspan=5| Captain Charles Harbord
6 June 1895rowspan=4| Colonel Henry Donald Browne
16 December 1895rowspan=1| Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Davidson
30 June 1896rowspan=1| General Henry Lyndenoch Gardiner
25 December 1897rowspan=1| Lieutenant-General Godfrey Clerk

Extra

=Edward VII (1901–1910)=

In Ordinary

class="wikitable"
Date
23 July 1901rowspan=2| Lieutenant Colonel Lord Edward Clintonrowspan=6| Sidney Grevillerowspan=6| Harry Stonorrowspan=1| Admiral Sir John Fullertonrowspan=3| Sir Alexander Condie Stephenrowspan=5| General Godfrey Clerkrowspan=6| Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
14 November 1905rowspan=1| Arthur Walsh
18 July 1907rowspan=4| Sir Archibald Edmonstone, Bart.rowspan=1| Rear-Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, Bart.]]
4 June 1908rowspan=1| Colonel Henry Streatfeildrowspan=3| Sir John Lister-Kaye, Bart.
9 October 1908rowspan=2| Commander Charles Cunninghame Graham
30 November 1908rowspan=1| Montague Eliot

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

class="wikitable"
Date
10 June 1910rowspan=1| Captain Seymour John Fortescue{{ London Gazette | issue = 12317 |page=1 | date =3 January 1911|city=e}}rowspan=1| Sidney Greville{{ London Gazette | issue = 12317 |page=1 | date =3 January 1911|city=e}}rowspan=11| Harry Stonorrowspan=3| Commander Charles Cunninghame Grahamrowspan=11| Colonel William Lambtonrowspan=8| Edward William Wallington, Esq.rowspan=2| Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
2 January 1911rowspan=6| Harry Lloyd-Verney{{ London Gazette | issue = 12317 |page=1 | date =3 January 1911|city=e}}rowspan=10| Captain Philip Hunloke{{ London Gazette | issue = 12317 |page=1 | date =3 January 1911|city=e}}
14 April 1916rowspan=7| Colonel Claude Willoughby
6 July 1917rowspan=7| Rear-Admiral Henry Hervey Campbell
21 March 1919rowspan=7| Richard Molyneux
3 December 1920rowspan=1| Sidney Greville
12 June 1927
9 June 1931rowspan=4| Sir Gerald Chichester
6 May 1932rowspan=3| Colonel Sir Victor Mackenzie, 3rd Baronet
11 October 1932rowspan=2| Admiral Sir Henry Buller
26 May 1933rowspan=1| Brigadier-General George Paynter

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[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34408/page/3854 London Gazette, 15 June 1937, page 3854.][https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34423/page/4950 London Gazette, 3 August 1937, page 4950.]
  • 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) [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34423/page/4950 London Gazette, 3 August 1937, page 4950.]
  • 3 August 1937–6 February 1952 Brigadier-General George Paynter

Extra

  • 2 March 1937–6 February 1952 Montague Eliot
  • 2 March 1937–28 February 1950 Sir Harry Lloyd Verney
  • 2 March 1937–5 May 1939 Sir Harry Stonor
  • 2 March 1937–1 April 1947 Major Sir Philip Hunloke
  • 2 March 1937–18 April 1944 Colonel Sir Victor Mackenzie, Bart.
  • 3 August 1937–27 November 1951 Sir Frank Herbert Mitchell{{cite journal|last=Headlam|first=Sir Cuthbert Morley|editor-last=Bell|editor-first=Stuart|title=Northern Area Chairman|journal=Camden |series=Fifth Series|year=1999|volume=14|page=98|doi=10.1017/S0960116300002232|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8g5HdscI2kC&dq=%22frank+mitchell%22+order+of+the+garter&pg=PA98|isbn=9780521661430|s2cid=251232023 |url-access=subscription}}

=Elizabeth II (1952–2022 )=

In Ordinary

  • 5 August 1952–30 December 1960 Sir Arthur Horace Penn[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39616/supplement/4198 London Gazette, 1 August 1952, page 4198.]

Extra

References

{{reflist}}

  • [http://www.luc.edu/depts/history/bucholz/DCO/index.html Database of Court Officers]
  • The Constitutional Year Book 1900 (William Blackstone & Sons 1900)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)

Category:Positions within the British Royal Household

Category:Gendered occupations