The household below stairs: Harbingers 1660-1782

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

Citation:

'The household below stairs: Harbingers 1660-1782', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837, ed. R O Bucholz( London, 2006), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp462-468 [accessed 26 November 2024].

Harbingers 1660–1782

The harbingers were responsible for reserving accommodation for the court when it was on progress. The establishment of the harbingers consisted of gentlemen and yeomen, appointed by lord steward's warrant. (fn. 1) Two gentlemen were appointed in 1660. Three served from 1661. In 1662 the remuneration was fixed at wages of £11 8s 1½d and board wages of £60 16s 8d, reduced in 1680 to £38 10s 11½d. In 1685 one gentleman was appointed with a salary of £50. In 1689 the number rose to two with wages of £11 8s 1½d and board wages of £48 11s 10½d. In 1714 it fell to one whose salary was fixed at £60 in 1761. Supernumerary gentlemen harbingers were appointed between 1672 and 1685. (fn. 2)

As many as seven yeomen harbingers appear to have been appointed in 1660. Four were established in ordinary, two supernumerary at wages of £5 and board wages of £36 5s, apiece, in 1662. Board wages rose to £40 for ordinary yeoman harbingers, but fell to £20 for three supernumeraries in 1664. Six ordinary yeomen were named in 1668 at roughly 1662 levels of remuneration. Board wages rose to £45 12s 6d in 1674, then fell to £35 in 1680. James II reduced the number and wages of the yeoman harbingers to three at £30 in salary, but by 1689 this had climbed to five at £5 wages and £45 board wages. Their number fell again to three in 1702, rose to four in 1704, then to five in 1727, before falling to three at £50 per annum in 1761. This number rose to five again by the Establishment of 24 May 1769. (fn. 3) Yeoman harbingers were allowed fees of honour, yielding about £21 per annum for all officers under Queen Anne. (fn. 4)

This office, labelled a sinecure by Gilbert, was finally abolished in 1782. (fn. 5)

Gentlemen 1660–1685

(no account of rank taken)



1660	22 May	Woodgate, N.
1660	14 July	Collins, R.
1661	9 Mar.	Watson, P.
1673	15 Sept.	Cotton, W.
1673	1 Dec.	Perrin, G.
1678	5 May	Evans, T.
1681	23 Dec.	Tozer, W.

Gentleman 1685–1688



1685	13 Apr.	Carlton, E.

First Gentleman 1689–1715



1689	30 Mar.	Perrin, G.
1689	1 Aug.	Tozer, W.
[1701	c. 4 Apr.	Whitfield, M.]
1702	30 June	La Roach, P.

Second Gentleman Harbinger 1689–1714



1689	30 Mar.	Tozer, W.
1689	23 July	Whitfield, M.
1701	1 Apr.	Rowe, T.

Third Gentleman Harbinger 1702–1704



1702	1 July	Whitfield, M.

Gentleman Harbinger 1715–1782



1715	25 July	La Roach, P.
1746	2 June	Gibbon, C.
1760	15 Dec.	Secker, J.
1761	1 July	Rivett, J.
1763	21 Oct.	Baird, J.
1768	1 June	Willis, T.

Supernumerary Gentlemen

(1662–1668; 1672–1673; 1675–1681; 1682–1685; 1686–1688)



1662	1 Dec.	[?] (fn. 6)
1664	1 Oct.	Collins, R.
1664	1 Oct.	Watson, P.
1672	26 Jan.	Cotton, W.
1672	21 Feb.	Perrin, G.
1675	30 Aug.	Evans, T.
1678	23 July	Tozer, W.
1682	2 Aug.	Price, W.
1686	1 Feb.	Tozer, W.

Yeomen Harbingers 1660–1685

(no account of rank taken)



[1660]	23 Aug.	Brereton, T.
[1660]	29 Aug.	Cotton, W.
[1660]	29 Aug.	Binding, H.
[1660]	4 Sept.	House, T.
1660	7 Nov.	Withers, J.
1660	7 Nov.	Mont-d, J.
1660	30 Nov.	Sambourne, T.
1661	23 Dec.	Wetherall, T.
1662	9 July	Webb, R.
1662	30 Dec.	Cooper, H., sen.
1668	1 Oct.	Sambourne, T.
1668	1 Oct.	Wetherall, T.
1672	26 Jan.	Cotton, N.
1673	13 May	Quarles, W.
1678	22 May	Cooper, H., jun.
1680	1 Jan.	De Locke, N.
1680	3 Sept.	Cocke, J.
1680	12 Nov.	Jones, H.
1684	23 June	La Roach, P.

Supernumerary Yeomen Harbingers 1662–1701



1662	1 Dec.	? (fn. 6)
1662	1 Dec.	? (fn. 6)
1664	1 Oct.	Wetherall, T.
1664	1 Oct.	Sambourne, T.
1664	1 Oct.	House, T.
1674	28 May	Cooper, H., jun.
1678	1 Aug.	De Locke, (sup?)
1680	9 Jan.	Cocke, J. (sup?)
1680	6 Nov.	Jones, H. (sup?)
1681	5 Sept.	Gregory, E.
1683	6 Mar.	La Roach, P.
1684	10 Aug.	Massen, J.
1685	1 July	Cooper, H., sen.
1686	1 Feb.	Cooper, H., jun.
1693	7 Mar.	Verhaest, J.

First Yeoman Harbinger 1685–1782

(rankings confused in Household records from c. 1761).



1685	22 Apr.	Perrin, G.
1689	24 April	Wall, W.
1717	28 Mar.	Courant, F.
1720	1 Oct.	Darington, L.
1743	16 May	Parsons, R.
By 1780		Stones, T.

Second Yeoman Harbinger 1685–1705; 1707–1782



1685	22 Apr.	Cocke, J.
1689	26 Mar.	Jones, H.
1702	3 July	Merritt, W.
1707	7 May	Courant, F.
1717	28 Mar.	Darington, L.
1720	1 Oct.	Parsons, R.
1727	1 July	Sheen, J.
1729	20 Oct.	Gibbons, C.
By 1743		Parsons, R.
1743	16 May	Gibbons, C.
1746	3 June	Stones, T.
1768	1 Jan.	Basset, H.
1780	1 May	Bright, H.

Third Yeoman Harbinger 1685–1782



1685	28 June	Jones, H.
1689	26 Mar.	La Roach, P.
1702	1 July	Courant, F.
1707	?9 May	Kelynge, C.
1707	8 Nov.	Darington, L.
1727	1 July	Parsons, R.
By 1735		Campbell, J.
1735	1 Sept.	Gibbons, C.
1743	16 May	Blondeau, L. A.
1750	1 July	Basset, H.
1760	15 Dec.	Bright, H.
1761	1 July	Bassett, H.
1780	26 Aug.	Elliot, R.

Fourth Yeoman Harbinger 1689–1702; 1704–1782



1689	26 Mar.	Tye, J.
1701	1 Apr.	Verhaest, J.
1701	19 Aug.	Hoyte, S.
1704	25 Mar.	Kelynge, C.
1705	28 Apr.	Sherborne, D.
1715	24 Feb.	Brough, R.
1717	28 Mar.	Parsons, R.
1720	1 Oct.	Campbell, J.
1724	15 June	Stewart, C.
1727	1 July	Campbell, J.
By 1735		Gibbons, C.
1735	1 Sept.	Rutter, J.
1742	1 Jan.	Bright, H.
1760	15 Dec.	Dobson, W.
1761	1 July	Bright, H.
1780	1 May	Bassett, J.

Fifth Yeoman Harbinger

(1689–1702; 1727–1760; 1761–1782)



1689	8 May	Merritt, W.
1727	1 July	Stewart, C.
1731	4 Oct.	Rutter, J.
1735	1 Sept.	Jackson, L.
1747	1 Apr.	Tyler, J.
1748	9 Mar.	Dobson, W.
1760	15 Dec.	Bassett, H.
1761	1 July	Dobson, J.
1764	9 Nov.	Willis, T.
1768	3 June	Basset, J.
1780	1 May	Sinclair, A.

NB: There seem to be a number of missing warrants for these positions, leaving gaps. Several harbingers are listed in LS 13/266 as 'promoted', but it is not clear to which position they were preferred. (prob. higher harbinger's positions, but no proof so far).