The most important innovation in the administration of the royal chamber in the sixteenth century was the creation of the post of the Gentleman in the Privy Chamber on the French model (gentilhomme de la chambre).
This post was created around 1518 by amalgamating the posts of the two earlier officers - Esquires of the Household and the Knights of the Body.
The duties of the gentlemen of the privy chamber or "gentlemen weyters" (later these gentlemen waiters would belong to the chamber) were required to "dilligently attend upon . . . [the king's] person . . . doeing humble, reverent, secrett,and lowly service". In other words, this service consisted primarily in giving company to the sovereign and in dressing and undressing him. though they performed a varierty of chores.
The Privy Chamber became a separate household department under the command of one of the two chief gentlemen who also assumed the title of the groom of the stole. The primary duty of the groom of the stole (or stool) was to see that "the house of easement be sweet and clear". He, however, emerged eventually as the manager of the privy chamber as well as the privy purse. The gentlemen were assisted by the grooms of the privy chamber who, under the supervision of the gentlemen ushers, attended to the cleanliness of the rooms.
The Groom of the Stool was a medieval English groom (i.e. a male servant) who had the task of cleaning the Monarch's rear after a bowel movement.
In the early years of Henry VIII's reign, the title was awarded to minions of the King, court companions who spent time with him in the Privy Chamber. These were 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 one unobstructed access to the King's attention.
Sir Henry Norreys, a Groom of the Stool under Henry VIII, was executed for an alleged affair with Anne Boleyn.
Henry's successor, King Edward VI, abolished the position.
A similar position, the Porte-coton existed at the French royal court.
Groom of the Stole
This is an incomplete list of those who have served as Groom of the Stole in the British Royal Household.
History
The title originally referred to the chamberpot (or stool) of whomever the person served. Later it came to represent the long robe of the Monarch (from the Latin stola, meaning garment).
The holder of the position was the senior Lord of the Bedchamber (the equivalent appointment to the King or Prince-consort of the Queen's Mistress of the Robes); the post was discontinued on the accession of King Edward VII in 1901, to whom one had been appointed while he was Prince of Wales.
Incumbents
Grooms of the Stole to Charles II
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: Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough
Grooms of the Stole to William III
1689–1700: Baron Hans Bentinck (later Earl of Portland)
1700–1702: Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney
Grooms of the Stole to Queen Anne
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
1683–1697: John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton
1702–1704: Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney
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
1723–1727: Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin
Grooms of the Stole to George II
1727–1735: Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin
1735–1751: 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
1775–1782: 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
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, 1st Duke of Abercorn
1859–1861: John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer
Grooms of the Stole to The Prince of Wales
1862–1866: John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer
1866–1877: ?
1877–1883: Sir William Knollys
1883–1901: James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn
References:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/W/worstjobs/tudor.html
www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,7-2004442076,00.html
www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/Tudor%20Royal%20Household.htm
www.brereton.org/professor_eric_ives.htm