The household below stairs: Lord Steward 1660-1837

Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837. Originally published by University of London, London, 2006.

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'The household below stairs: Lord Steward 1660-1837', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837, (London, 2006) pp. 397-398. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp397-398 [accessed 25 April 2024]

In this section

DEPARTMENT OF THE LORD STEWARD or Household Below Stairs

Board of Green Cloth -Lord Steward 1660–1837

The lord steward presided over the Household Below Stairs. In addition to making contracts and overseeing the activity of the board of green cloth, he was the principal judge for all offences committed within the verge. The office of lord steward was in the gift of the Crown. Appointments were made by the delivery of a white staff. (fn. 1) The remuneration attached to the office amounted to £1,460, consisting of wages of £100, board wages of £1,360, lodgings and plate worth £400. From 1733 the lord steward enjoyed an additional salary of £1,540 payable at the Exchequer, bringing the total to £3,000. (fn. 2) In 1812 the Household salary was reduced to £1,103. (fn. 3) In 1830 the Exchequer salary was transferred to the Household and the total remuneration fixed at £2,436 11s. (fn. 4) Early in the period and possibly throughout, the lord steward made thousands of pounds from the sale of office below stairs. (fn. 5)

1660 1 June Ormond, 1st Marquess of
1689 21 Feb. Devonshire, 4th Earlof
1707 6 Sept. Devonshire, 2nd Duke of
1710 21 Sept. Buckingham and Normanby, 1st Duke of
1711 11 June Poulett, 1st Earl
1714 24 Sept. Devonshire, 2nd Duke of
1716 5 July Kent, 1st Duke of
1719 6 Feb. Argyll, 2nd Duke of
1725 1 June Dorset, 1st Duke of
1730 19 June Chesterfield, 4th Earl of
1733 2 May Devonshire, 3rd Duke of
1737 Feb. Dorset, 1st Duke of
1745 3 Jan. Devonshire, 3rd Duke of
1749 7 June Marlborough, 3rd Duke of
1755 7 Jan. Rutland, 3rd Duke of
1761 25 Mar. Talbot, 1st Earl
1782 5 May Carlisle, 5th Earl of
1783 14 Feb. Rutland, 4th Duke of
1783 11 Apr. Dartmouth, 2nd Earl of
1783 26 Dec. Chandos, 3rd Duke of
1789 7 Oct. Dorset, 3rd Duke of
1799 22 Feb. Leicester, 1st Earl of
1802 15 Aug. Dartmouth, 3rd Earl of
1804 30 May Aylesford, 4th Earl of
1812 19 Feb. Cholmondeley, 4th Earl of
1821 11 Dec. Conyngham, 1st Marquess
1830 16 July Buckingham and Chandos, 1st Duke of
1830 23 Nov. Wellesley, 1st Marquess
1833 12 Sept. Argyll, 6th Duke of
1835 1 Jan. Wilton, 2nd Earl of
1835 23 Apr. Argyll, 6th Duke of

Footnotes

  • 1. LS 13/180, f. 124v; LS 13/277. For this office, see PSBC, p. 6; Beattie, pp. 66–8.
  • 2. LS 13/39, p. 22; Beattie, p. 211; CTBP 1731–4, p. 396; T 53/65, p. 382. A grant of an additional £2,000 a year made 10 Mar. 1690 (LS 13/257) seems not to have been renewed on the demise of the Crown in 1702.
  • 3. LS 13/69.
  • 4. LS 2/56–58.
  • 5. See, for example, Sainty and Bucholz I, xxxix.
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