The household below stairs: Knight Marshal 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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Citation:

'The household below stairs: Knight Marshal 1660-1837', 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/pp518-521 [accessed 26 November 2024].

'The household below stairs: Knight Marshal 1660-1837', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837. Edited by R O Bucholz( London, 2006), British History Online, accessed November 26, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp518-521.

"The household below stairs: Knight Marshal 1660-1837". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837. Ed. R O Bucholz(London, 2006), , British History Online. Web. 26 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/pp518-521.

In this section

Knight Marshal 1660–1837

According to The Present State of the British Court,

The Knight Marshal is an Officer employ'd in the King's Court or Marshalsea, and the Marshal's Men under him are properly the King's Bailiffs. They arrest in the Verge of the Court, when a Warrant is back'd by the Board of Green-cloth. The Knight Marshal and his Men have place in all publick Cavalcades, at Declaring of War, Proclaiming Peace, publick Entries and Processions made by the Soveraign. (fn. 1)

Above all, the knight marshal and his men were responsible for maintaining order within the court. The knight marshal was appointed by the Crown for life by letters patent under the great seal frequently in the form of grants in reversion. Board wages were fixed at £21 5s 10d in 1662. In 1685 a salary of £26 was provided. This was raised to £500 in 1790 but reduced to £271 in 1816. (fn. 2)

The undermarshals (also known as marshal's men, provost marshals or, later in the period, deputy marshals) were stationed at palace gates. They were appointed during good behavior by the knight marshal. Six such officers were granted 10s per diem, plus livery, in 1662. The Establishment of 1 Oct. 1668 granted them board wages of £30 8s 4d, apiece. This fell to £18 5s, apiece, in 1680. Their number fell to five at £20, apiece, in 1685, then rose to six again in 1691. This remained their number and remuneration through the eighteenth century. Two additional undermarshals were appointed in 1800 in response to the Union with Ireland. The undermarshals' salaries rose to £120 by 1817. (fn. 3)

Knight Marshal 1660–1837

1660 11 July Throckmorton, Sir W.
1667 22 Apr. Wyndham, Sir E.
1681 3 Mar. Villiers, Sir E.
1689 4 July Villiers, Sir E.
1700 11 July Meadows, P.
1757 5 Dec. Meadows, S.
1792 15 Nov. Boscawen, H.
1795 10 Nov. Burges, Sir J.B.
1824 11 Oct. Lamb, Sir C.M.

Under Marshals

(or Marshal's Men, Provost Marshals or, from 1816, Deputy Marshals) (1668–1837)

1691 23 May Wright, M.
By 1691 Leicester, J.
By 1691 Bulstrode, T.
By 1691 Byrt, S.
By 1691 Nicholz, --
By 1691 Booth, W.
By 1692 Treu, J.
1692 25 Dec. Jewster, W.
By 1693 Gwatkin, W.
1693 29 Sept. Bockett, T.
By 1700 Appleby, J.
1700 6 Apr. Salmon, J.
1703 5 Feb. Gwatkin, R.
1706 5 Aug. Jenkins, J.
By 1707 Mitchell, H.
1707 6 June Watson, E.
1709 12 Dec. Frankland, J.
1711 9 Feb. Grey, T.
1713 22 April Wright, C.
1713 2 Sept. Gregory, J.
1714 21 April Gardyner, J.
1715 21 Oct. Ryder, W.
1719 4 Mar. Hotchkis, R.
1720 24 Feb. Lucas, W.
1721 20 Sept. Martin, J.
1722 11 Dec. Agar, W.
1723 6 Nov. Burley, W., jun.
1724 24 Feb. Wallington, J.
1726 24 Jan. North, J.
1727 17 May Silkirk, O.
1730 1 Sept. Hawkins, J.
1731 15 May Cartwright, T.
1732 21 June Tomlinson, C.
1736 1 Dec. Nisbett, G.
1737 6 Jan. Redgate, G.
1737 15 Sept. Huddle, E.
1737 17 Oct. North, C.
1738 27 Feb. Lynn, E.
1738 28 Sept. Calfe, J.
1739 26 Feb. Cooper, R.
1742 9 July Smart, T.
1743 21 Mar. Allen, E.
1744 1 Nov. Gwyn, P.
1754 21 June Cackett, H.
1756 22 Sept. Speed, R.
1758 14 Dec. Lee, R.
1759 10 Dec. Carter, R.
1764 2 May Mackender, H.
1766 4 Apr. Scraggs, R.
1766 23 May Homan, H.
1767 22 Apr. Franklin, R.
1770 3 Jan. King, T.
1774 1 Feb. Shipman, W.
1775 6 Nov. Smith, R.
1779 28 Jan. Simons, W.
1781 8 Feb. Norris, J.
1785 24 Mar. King, W.
1785 10 Nov. Millard, J.
1788 11 May Marriott, S.
1788 26 July While, N.
1789 28 May Hale, E.
1791 16 Mar. Sanders, S.
1792 19 June Jarrett, T.
1794 20 Feb. Church, E.
1798 10 Sept. Bruce, A.
1798 23 Oct. Sayer, J.
1799 30 Oct. Skerritt, G.
1800 20 Aug. Cluhey, F.
1800 21 Aug. Greenfield, G.
1800 18 Sept. Cross, J.
1800 16 Oct. Cobb, T.
1800 16 Oct. Cruchley, J.
1801 2 Jan. Henderson, T.
1801 2 Jan. Jenkins, W.
1801 5 Feb. Cross, W.
1802 27 May Quin, B.
1803 22 Sept. Young, R.
1804 14 July Young, C.
1804 14 July Younge, J.
1804 15 Oct. Nodin, W.
1805 31 Jan. Skelton, W.
1806 17 Sept. Moss, R.
1807 18 July Knapman, W.
1807 17 Aug. Bird, T.
1808 24 Feb. Crowley, P.
1809 1 June David, M.
1811 19 Apr. Hardy, E.
1811 30 July Birch, F.
1813 20 Jan. Anderson, S.T.
1814 14 July Goringe, C.
1815 10 Mar. Dyer, G.
1816 5 Apr. Jolly, J.
1817 2 Nov. Gilbert, R.
1821 29 June Rutland, J.
1837 20 Jan. Turner, T.

Footnotes

  • 1. PSBC, p. 17. For the relationship to the court of the Marshalsea, see ibid. and M. P. Szromba, '“The Wicked Man Shall Not Abide in My House”: The Courts of the Verge and the English Monarchy, 1615–1800', Loyola University Ph.D. Thesis (2003), chaps. 1–4.
  • 2. LS 13/31, f. 13v; LS 13/38, f. 11v; LS 13/39, p. 24; LS 13/62, f. 5; LS 13/184, pp. 140–1; LS 2/41.
  • 3. LS 13/117, pp. 120–21, 182; LS 13/252, f. 71v; LS 13/35, f. 13v; LS 13/37, f. 12v; LS 13/38, f. 11v; 40; LS 13/182, pp. 253–4; LS 13/257, p. 73; LS 2/43, f. 2. In 1813 they were compensated for the loss of allowances in kind worth £8 8s apiece: LS 13/184, p. 420.
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