Please see the original Database of Court Officers for complete details. This is a mirror of the DCO for preservation purposes.

Scope of the Project:

For purposes of the DCO, the royal household consists of officers in the monarch's household under the supervision, direct or indirect, of the lord chamberlain (including those in the Bedchamber, Chapel Royal, Great Wardrobe, Jewel Office, Robes, and, prior to 1685, the Tents and Toils; the gentlemen pensioners and yeomen of the guard; keeper of the Privy Purse; lord almoner and sub-almoner), lord steward or master of the horse which involved swearing-in and a regular form of remuneration, such as wages, board or diet. Unpaid gentlemen of the privy chamber, officers in the Works, the heralds and purveyors, craftsmen and tradesmen paid entirely via bills have, for the time being, been excluded.

How to Use the DCO:

The linked .pdf files noted below contain all the material contained in the Officeholders volumes, including an introduction explaining the parameters of office-holding and giving a brief survey of the history and cost of the court for this period.

Scholars seeking the history, duties, emoluments and successive holders of a particular office (the lord chamberlain; the master of the musick; the grooms of the privy chamber, stables's footmen, etc.) or staff of a department (for example, the Bedchamber) or sub-department (say, the Pantry) should consult the chronological lists (Chamber-1, Chamber-2, etc.).

Those interested in the career of a particular officer should consult the indices, or search across all the files. Use the search box in the upper left of this page, limited to "this series".