Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Question from Marty - Yeoman of the Queen's Chamber in Elizabeth's reign

What were the duties and wages of a "Yeoman of the Queen's Chamber" in the earlier years of Elizabeth? How were they selected and appointed?

3 comments:

kb said...

Yeoman of the queen's chamber would have been an appointment obtained through patronage. Appointees would have been related to a lady-in-waiting, her family or the family of someone she patronized. The wages would be in the Lord Chamberlain's accounts which I don't have handy but also would have included food and lodging - although no privacy.

Marty said...

Thanks, this is helpful. Was such a yeoman of the chamber essentially a "gofer" doing whatever little chores the Queen wanted plus hanging around and being witty and ornamental?

kb said...

At Elizabeth's court, everyone did whatever she wished regardless of title. Although yeoman, and to a larger extent grooms of the chamber, were not expected to be witty. For wit, the queen turned to her courtiers. Yeomen were workers. You might find this link helpful for a more generalized description of yeoman at Cowdray House.

http://elizabethan.org/compendium/61.html