Groom in Waiting explained

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 Lord 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

1859 Robert Nigel Fitzhardinge Kingscote (Liberal-West Gloucestershire)
1866 Hon. Charles Hugh Lindsay (Conservative-Abingdon)
1869 Algernon Fulke Greville (Liberal-Westmeath)
1874 Donald Cameron (of Lochiel) (Conservative-Inverness-shire)
1880 William Carington (Liberal-Wycombe)
1883 William Henry Grenfell (Liberal-not MP at the time)
1883 Sir Gerard Smith (Liberal-Wycombe)
1885 Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, Bt (Conservative-Lewes)
1886 Hon. Charles Robert Spencer (Liberal-Mid Northamptonshire)
1886 Lord Burghley (Conservative-North Northamptonshire)
1891 office vacant
1892 office abolished

List of all Grooms in Waiting

Victoria (1837–1901)

In Ordinary

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

Extra

17 July 1837 - 18 December 1842 General Sir Frederick Wetherall
7 November 1842 - 15 December 1850 General The Hon. Sir William Lumley
31 December 1844 - 3 June 1895 The Hon. 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 The Hon. George Liddell
13 April 1884 - 30 June 1884 The Hon. 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

Date
23 July 1901			General Godfrey Clerk	Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
14 November 1905	The Hon. Arthur Walsh
18 July 1907	Rear-Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, Bart.
4 June 1908	Colonel Henry Streatfeild	Sir John Lister-Kaye, Bart.
9 October 1908	Commander The Hon. Charles Cunninghame Graham
30 November 1908	Commander The Hon. Charles Cunninghame Graham		Montague Eliot, Esq.

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

Date
10 June 1910			Commander The Hon. Charles Cunninghame Graham	Edward William Wallington, Esq.	Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
2 January 1911		Captain Philip Hunloke			Captain Walter Douglas Somerset Campbell
14 April 1916					Colonel The Hon. Claude Willoughby
6 July 1917			Rear-Admiral Henry Hervey Campbell
21 March 1919						The Hon. Richard Molyneux
3 December 1920							The Hon. Sidney Greville
12 June 1927
9 June 1931	The Hon. Sir Gerald Chichester
6 May 1932				Colonel Sir Victor Mackenzie, Bart.
11 October 1932					Admiral Sir Henry Buller
26 May 1933			Brigadier-General George Paynter		Admiral Sir Henry Buller

Extra

10 June 1910 - 10 January 1919 Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace
10 June 1910 - 29 June 1918 Admiral Sir John Fullerton
14 April 1916 - 17 April 1919 Sir Walter Campbell
1 May 1924 - 20 January 1936 The Hon. Montague Eliot
9 June 1931 - 20 January 1936 Sir Harry Lloyd Verney

Edward VIII (1936)

In Ordinary

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

Extra

21 July 1936 - 11 December 1936 The Hon. Montague Eliot
21 July 1936 - 11 December 1936 Sir Harry Lloyd Verney
21 July 1936 - 11 December 1936 The Hon. Sir Harry Stonor
21 July 1936 - 11 December 1936 Major Sir Philip Hunloke
21 July 1936 - 11 December 1936 Colonel Sir Victor Mackenzie, Bart.

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^[1] ^[2]
2 March 1937 - 6 February 1952 Arthur Horace Penn, Esq.
2 March 1937 - 30 January 1942 Colonel The Hon. Sir George Sidney Herbert, Bart.
3 August 1937 - 6 February 1952 Captain Richard John Streatfeild (in the room of Commander Sir Harold George Campbell) ^[3]
3 August 1937 - 6 February 1952 Brigadier-General George Paynter

Extra

2 March 1937 - 6 February 1952 The Hon. Montague Eliot
2 March 1937 - 28 February 1950 Sir Harry Lloyd Verney
2 March 1937 - 5 May 1939 The Hon. 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 Mitchell^[4]

Elizabeth II (1952–2022)

In Ordinary

5 August 1952 - 30 December 1960 Sir Arthur Horace Penn^[5]

Extra

5 August 1952 - 19 September 1960 The Rt Hon. The Earl of St Germans

References

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)

Notes and References

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.
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34423/page/4950 London Gazette, 3 August 1937, page 4950.
Headlam. Sir Cuthbert Morley. Bell. Stuart. Northern Area Chairman. Camden . Fifth Series. 1999. 14. 98. 10.1017/S0960116300002232. 9780521661430. 251232023 .
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39616/supplement/4198 London Gazette, 1 August 1952, page 4198.