The Groom of the Stool (formally styled: "Groom of the King's Close Stool") was the most intimate of an English monarch's courtiers, initially responsible for assisting the king in excretion and hygiene.
The physical intimacy of the role naturally led to his becoming a man in whom much confidence was placed by his royal master and with whom many royal secrets were shared as a matter of course. This secret information – while it would never have been revealed, for it would have led to the discredit of his honour – in turn led to his becoming feared and respected and therefore powerful within the royal court in his own right. The office developed gradually over decades and centuries into one of administration of the royal finances and, under Henry VII, the Groom of the Stool became a powerful official involved in setting national fiscal policy, under the "chamber system".For the role of the Groom of the Stool on the fiscal policy of Henry VII see: Starkey, D. The Virtuous Prince, 2009.Re. the "Chamber System" and "Chamber Finance" see: Grummitt, D. "Henry VII, Chamber Finance and the 'New Monarchy': some New Evidence". Journal of the Institute of Historical Research, vol.72, no.179, October 1999, pp.229-243. Published online 2003.
In the 17th century, the office was renamed Groom of the Stole.
History Origins The Groom of the Stool was a male servant in the household of the English monarch who was responsible for assisting the king in his toileting needs. It is a matter of some debate as to whether the duties involved cleaning the king's anus, but the groom is known to have been responsible for supplying a bowl, water and towels and also for monitoring the king's diet and bowel movements and liaising with the Royal Doctor about the king's health. The appellation "Groom of the Close Stool" derived from the item of furniture used as a toilet. It also appears as "Grom of the Stole" as the word "Groom" comes from the Old Low Franconian word "Grom".Brewer, E. Cobham. "Grom of the Stole" Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1898; Page 369.A Dictionary of the English Language. By Noah Webster, Chauncey Allen Goodrich, John Walker. Page 466.
In the Tudor era By the Tudor age, the role of Groom of the Stool was fulfilled by a substantial figure, such as Hugh Denys (died 1511) who was a member of the Gloucestershire gentry, married to an aristocratic wife, and who died possessing at least four manors. The function was transformed into that of a virtual minister of the royal treasury, being then an essential figure in the king's management of fiscal policy.Starkey, David. The Virtuous Prince, 2004, chap. 16 discusses the important fiscal role of Hugh Denys, Groom of the Stool to Henry VII; & an article in the Independent newspaper (28/6/2004) by the same author, who states that the position effectively became neutralised on the accession of Elizabeth IBruce Boehrer. "The Privy and Its Double: Scatology and Satire in Shakespeare's Theatre". in Dutton, Richard, A Companion to Shakespeare's Works: Poems, Problem Comedies, Late Plays, 2003. "The Groom of the Stool presided over the office of royal excretion that is, he had the task of cleaning the monarch's anus after a bowel movement.
In the early years of Henry VIII's reign, the title was awarded to court companions of the King who spent time with him in the privy chamber. These were generally the sons of noblemen or important members of the gentry. In time they came to act as virtual personal secretaries to the King, carrying out a variety of administrative tasks within his private rooms. The position was an especially prized one, as it allowed unobstructed access to the king. David Starkey writes: "The Groom of the Stool had (to our eyes) the most menial tasks; his standing, though, was the highest ... Clearly then, the royal body service must have been seen as entirely honourable, without a trace of the demeaning or the humiliating."Quoted in Further, "the mere word of the Gentleman of the Privy Chamber was sufficient evidence in itself of the king's will", and the Groom of the Stool bore "the indefinable charisma of the monarchy".
Evolution and discontinuation The office was exclusively one serving male monarchs, so on the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558 it was replaced by that of Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber, first held by Kat Ashley. The office effectively came to an end when it was "neutralised" in 1559.
In Scotland the valets of the chamber like John Gibb had an equivalent role.Bowes Correspondence (London, 1843), pp. 205-6: Roderick J. Lyall, Alexander Montgomerie: Poetry, Politics, and Cultural Change in Jacobean Scotland (Arizona, 2005), p. 97. On the accession of James I, the male office was revived as the senior Gentleman of the Bedchamber, who always was a great nobleman who had considerable power because of its intimate access to the king. During the reign of Charles I, the term "stool" appears to have lost its original signification of chair. From 1660 the office of Groom of the Stole (revived with the Restoration of the Monarchy) was invariably coupled with that of First Gentleman (or Lady) of the Bedchamber; as effective Head of the royal Bedchamber, the Groom of the Stole was a powerful individual who had the right to attend the monarch at all times and to regulate access to his or her private quarters. Incongruously, the office of Groom of the Stole continued in use during the reign of Queen Anne, when it was held by a duchess who combined its duties with those of Mistress of the Robes.
Under the Hanoverians the "Groom of the Stole" began to be named in The London Gazette. In 1726, John Chamberlayne wrote that while the Lord Chamberlain has oversight of all Officers belonging to the King's Chamber, "the Precinct of the King's Bed-Chamber ... is wholly under the Groom of the Stole". Chamberlayne defines the Groom of the Stole as the first of the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber; translating his title ("from the Greek") as "Groom or Servant of the Long-robe or Vestment", he explains that he has "the Office and Honour to present and put on his Majesty's first Garment or Shirt every morning, and to order the Things of the Bed-Chamber". By 1740 the Groom of the Stole is described as having "the care of the king's wardrobe".
The office again fell into abeyance with the accession of Queen Victoria, though her husband, Prince Albert, and their son, Edward, Prince of Wales, employed similar courtiers; but when Edward acceded to the throne as King Edward VII in 1901, he discontinued the office.
List of Grooms of the Stool Before the Tudors 1455: William Grymesby was "Yoman of the Stoole" to Henry VI.David Starkey, 'Intimacy and Innovation', The English Court (London: Longman, 1987), p. 78: A collection of ordinances and regulations for the government of the royal household (London, 1790), p. 18, (cited OED). He may, or may not, be the Willielmus Grymesby who was MP for Great Grimsby.
Tudor monarchy Grooms of the Stool under Henry VII 1487-1509: Hugh DenysStarkey, D., The Virtuous Prince, 2008. Discussion about Hugh Denys and his role in the chamber of Osterley, Middlesex. Hugh Denys controlled the private and secret finances of King Henry VII.Starkey, D.
Grooms of the Stool under Henry VIII (1509–1547) 1509–1526: William Compton 1526–1536: Sir Henry Norris 1536–1546: Thomas Heneage 1546–1547: Sir Anthony Denny'Accounts of the Groom of the Stole', The Antiquary, 20 (London, 1889), pp. 189–192. Heneage and Denny, as servants "whom he used secretly about him", were privy to Henry VIII's most intimate confidences about Anne of Cleves. He told them he doubted her virginity, on account of "her brests so slacke".John Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, vol. 1 part 2 (Oxford, 1822), 458-9, depositions of Heneage and Denny.
Grooms of the Stool to Edward VI (1547–1553) 1547–1551: Sir Michael StanhopeStanhope, Michael (by 1508–1552), History of Parliament Retrieved 24 September 2015.
Neither Mary I nor Elizabeth I appointed a Groom of the Stool.
Stuart monarchy Grooms of the Stool to James I (1603–1625) 1603-1625: Thomas Erskine, 1st Earl of Kellie.Neil Cuddy, 'The Revival of the Entourage' in David Starkey, The English Court (London, 1987), p. 185.
Grooms of the Stool to Charles I (1625–1649) 1625–1631: Sir James Fullerton
1631–1635: Sir Victor Linehan 1636–1643: Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland 1643–c.1649: William Seymour, 1st Marquess of Hertford c.1649: Thomas Blagge
Grooms of the Stool to Henrietta Maria of France 1660–c.1667/1673: Elizabeth Boyle, Countess of Guilford
Grooms of the Stole to Charles II (1660–1685) 1660: William Seymour, 1st Marquess of Hertford 1660–1685: Sir John Granville (later Earl of Bath)
Grooms of the Stole to James II (1685–1688) 1685–1688: Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough
Grooms of the Stole to William III (1689–1702) 1689–1700: William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland 1700–1702: Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney
Grooms of the Stole to Anne (1702–1714) 1702–1711: Sarah Churchill, Countess of Marlborough (later Duchess of Marlborough) 1711–1714: Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset
Grooms of the Stole to Prince George 1683–1685: John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton 1685–1687: Robert Leke, 3rd Earl of Scarsdale 1697–1708: John West, 6th Baron De La Warr
Hanoverian monarchy Grooms of the Stole to George I 1714–1719: Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset 1719–1722: Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland 1722–1723: ‘’Vacant" - Charles Talbot, First Duke of Shrewsbury?”Wikipedia: Charles Talbot, First Duke of Shrewsbury 1723–1727: Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin
Grooms of the Stole to George II 1727–1735: Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin 1735–1750: Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke 1751–1755: Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle 1755–1760: William Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford
Grooms of the Stole to George III 1760–1761: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute 1761–1770: Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon 1770–1775: George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol 1775: Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth 1775–1782: John Ashburnham, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham 1782–1796: Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth (later Marquess of Bath) 1796–1804: John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe 1804–1812: George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea 1812–1820: Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester
Grooms of the Stole to George IV 1820–1830: Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester
Grooms of the Stole to William IV 1830–1837: Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester
Victoria did not appoint a Groom of the Stole; appointments were made, however, in the households of her husband and eldest son.
Grooms of the Stole to Prince Albert 1840–1841: Lord Robert Grosvenor (later Lord Ebury) 1841–1846: Brownlow Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Exeter 1846–1859: James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn (later Duke of Abercorn) 1859–1861: John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer
Grooms of the Stole to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales 1862–1866: John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer 1866–1877: Shea Douglas Tuffery 1877–1883: Sir William Knollys 1883–1901: James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn
See also Groom of the Robes Valet de chambre :ja:公人朝夕人 – the position in Japan
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