Necessary Woman (Housekeeper) c. 1694-1865

Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870. Originally published by University of London, London, 1975.

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Citation:

'Necessary Woman (Housekeeper) c. 1694-1865', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870, ed. J C Sainty( London, 1975), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol4/p75 [accessed 16 November 2024].

'Necessary Woman (Housekeeper) c. 1694-1865', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870. Edited by J C Sainty( London, 1975), British History Online, accessed November 16, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol4/p75.

"Necessary Woman (Housekeeper) c. 1694-1865". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870. Ed. J C Sainty(London, 1975), , British History Online. Web. 16 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol4/p75.

Necessary Woman (Housekeeper)c. 1694-1865

Provision was made for a Cleaner or Necessary Woman in the establishment of 1694. The salary, originally £20, was raised to £25 in 1755, to £30 in 1779 and to £35 in 1782. (fn. 1) By 1786 the Necessary Woman had apparently assumed responsibility for the duties of the office of Housekeeper which had become a sinecure. (fn. 2) The salary was fixed at £60 in 1796 and raised to £100 in 1800 on the abolition of the office of Housekeeper. (fn. 3) From 1832 the Necessary Woman was officially designated Housekeeper. (fn. 4) The office was abolished in 1865 when provision was made for the duties to be carried out by the wife of one of the Messengers with an annual allowance of £65. (fn. 5)

LIST OF APPOINTMENTS
By 1694 Buck, E.
1706 Lindsey, A.
1720 27 April Lindsey, M.
1722 17 Aug. Roberts, M.
1729 19 Dec. Clack, C.
1762 15 April Clack, J.
1767 26 May Reynolds, E.
1775 3 Aug. Butler, E.
1794 27 March Hill, E.
1816 15 May Robinson, A.
1823 26 March Blackie, H.
1832 14 March Smith, S.
1851 28 May Blount, L. A.

Footnotes

  • 1. Adm. 2/16 p. 414; SPB, ii ff. 50-1; SPB, vii f. 23; SPB, v f. 27.
  • 2. 3rd Rept. on Fees, 119.
  • 3. SPB, viii f. 45; order in council 15 Jan. 1800 (HC 138 p. 4 (1816) xiii, 172).
  • 4. SPB, xiv f. 12.
  • 5. Adm. 12/762, 26 Jan. 1865.