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 bedchamber: Menial Bedchamber Servants 1660-1837', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837, (London, 2006) pp. 31-35. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp31-35 [accessed 26 April 2024]
In this section
Menial Bedchamber Servants 1660–1837
The menial Bedchamber servants were appointed by the groom of the stole. The surveyor of the chamber and dresser made £11 8s 1 1/2d plus board wages of £27 per annum. The keeper of H.M.'s bath made £45 per annum. In 1823 three pages' men received salaries ranging from £60 to £75 per annum; later, two pages' men earned £170 7s and £160 18s, respectively, per annum. (fn. 1)
From 1660 to 1685 the seamstress received £20 in wages plus £50 in allowances for necessaries. From 1685 to 1702 and again from 1714 the positions of seamstress and starcher were combined, though held jointly by two women from 1689 to 1702. In 1689 these servants received £81 12s 1 1/2d plus one mess of mutton, one loaf of bread, one gallon of beer, and candles, faggots and (in winter) charcoal. In 1690 the seamstress and starcher were to divide £200 per annum for wages, plus £200 for the `very great Expense & charge in washing Our points and Laces'. Under Anne the seamstress fell to £150 per annum, the starcher to £100. The two positions were combined again in 1714 at £250. Under James II and William III, the laundress received £219 plus £10 6s in livery money; by 1710 this had fallen to £20 plus £119 in allowances. In 1727 Margaret Purcell, the seamstress, starcher and laundress, held by patent for life and received £400 per annum paid by the cofferer. Under George III the seamstress and starcher made £403 10s, the laundress of the body linen, £250. Under his successors a single laundress of the body linen made £170 per annum. By 1836 this had fallen to £100. (fn. 2)
The water pumper at St. James's made £46 5s. 6d. per annum. (fn. 3)
Pages' Men 1813–1837
Surveyor of the Chamber and Dresser 1660–1702
| 1660 | 14 Oct. | Levett, A. |
| 1666 | 22 Feb. | Colinge, B. |
| 1676 | 17 Oct. | Walker, T. |
| 1683 | 30 July | Wellington, G. |
Keeper of H.M.'s Bath occ. 1744
Bather to the Prince Regent occ. 1817
Bather at Brighton 1836–1837
Seamstress and Laundress 1660–1685
Seamstress and Starcher 1687–1702
| 1687 | 22 Dec. | Bromley, E. |
| 1689 | 27 Mar. | Colledge, E. (joint) |
| 1689 | 28 Mar. | Ratcliffe, J. (joint) |
| 1690 | 7 June | Ireland, J. |
Seamstress 1702–1727
Seamstress [in Extraordinary (i.e. in Ordinary w/o fee)] 1664–?1685
| 1664 | 10 Feb. | Bolton, C. |
| 1668 | 24 Jan. | Lord, E. |
| 1670 | 18 Nov. | Rigiomortis, M.., Lady |
| 1671 | 13 Jan. | Jennyns, F. |
| 1671 | 17 July | Penninge, - |
| 1673 | 12 Aug. | Jennyns, F. |
Starcher 1702–1727
Laundress, Seamstress and Starcher 1727–1760
Seamstress and Starcher 1761–c. 1819
| 1761 | 15 Jan. | Goodricke, A. |
| 1779 | 10 July | Gregory, J. M. |
| 1795 | 24 June | Feilding, I. |
| 1812 | 15 Mar. | Erskine, S. |
Seamstress to the Prince Regent 1819–1820
Laundress 1685–1755
Under Laundresses 1672–?1685
Laundress in Ordinary [?w/o fee] 1672
| 1672 | 25 June | Axtell, G. |
| 1672 | 17 July | Wansbrugh, M. (Under Laundress) |
| 1672 | 29 July | Collett, D. |
| 1672 | 2 Aug. | Nicholls, J. (Under Laundress) |
| 1672 | 23 Sept. | Cole, S. |
| 1673 | 3 Mar. | Elliott, S. |