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The wardrobe, along with the chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the king's household. Its chief officer went under the title of Master or Keeper of the Great Wardrobe. As a result, the wardrobe often appropriated large funds from the exchequer, the main financial government office. During the reign of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III, there were several conflicts over the confusion of authority between these two offices. The conflict was largely resolved in the mid-fourteenth century when William Edington, as treasurer under Edward III, brought the wardrobe in under the financial oversight – if not control – of the exchequer.

In the sixteenth century the wardrobe lost much of its former importance. This was due both to the growing sophistication and size of government making it less mobile, and to the lower frequency of military campaigns led by the king in person.

Ther were in fact two wardrobes-the great wardrobe and the more senior household wardrobe, responsible for financing the king's military operations. Many keepers of the great wardrobe were promoted to the household wardrobe.

Keepers of the Household Wardrobe

?-1328: Robert Wodehouse
1328–1329: Richard Bury
1329–1331: Thomas Garton
1331–1334: Robert Tawton
1340-1341: William Cusance
1341–1344: William Edington
1349–1350: William Cusance

Keepers or Masters of the Great Wardrobe

The Master of the Great Wardrobe was a position in the British Royal Household. The holders were responsible for running the Great Wardrobe, an office which provided clothing and textiles to the British Royal Family. Below is a list of known holders until the abolition of the office in 1782.

c1200: Robert of Braybrooke
124?: Sir Thomas (or John) de St Omer
1264: Ralph Sandwich
1295–1307: John Droxford ((1291–1295) Comptroller of the Wardrobe)
1321: Gilbert Wigton
13??: John de Benstede
13??: William de Retford (later made Baron of the Exchequer in 1354)
13??: Thomas de Brantingham, later Lord Treasurer on three occasions (1369–1371; 1377–1381; and 1389)^[1]
13??-1353: Robert Wingerworth
1353–1358: William Dalton
1359–1361: John Newbury
1361–1371: Henry Snaith
1371–1376: John Sleaford
1376–1377: Walter Ralphs
1377–1390: Alan Stokes
1390–?1398: Richard Clifford
1398–1399: John de Macclesfield
1399: William Loveney
1412: Thomas Ringwood (later made High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1419)
144?: Sir John Norreys
c1458–1460 John Wood
1460: Thomas Vaughan
1476–1478: Sir John Say
15??: Thomas Maynman (Keeper of the Wardrobe at East Greenwich)
1515: John Patey (Keeper of the Wardrobe at Richmond)
1545: Sir Ralph Sadleir
1563: Sir Hugh Underhill (Keeper of the Wardrobe at East Greenwich)
1603–1611: George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar
1613–1618: James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle
1619–1622: William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh
1660: Sir Edward Montagu
1671: Sir Ralph Montagu
1685: Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston
1688: Brig. Gen. Sir James Douglas-Hamilton , Earl of Arran
1689: Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu
1709: John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu
1749: Sir Thomas Robinson
1754: William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington
1755: Sir Thomas Robinson
1760: Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Gower
1763: Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer
1765: John Ashburnham, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham
1775: Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baron Pelham of Stanmer

Deputy Masters of the Great Wardrobe

The Deputy Master of the Great Wardrobe was a position in the British Royal Household, the chief subordinate to the Master of the Great Wardrobe. Holders enjoyed a salary of £200 (fixed in 1674), reduced to £150 in 1761. The post seems to have developed into a sinecure, and by 1765, the office of Assistant to the Deputy Master had become established. The post was abolished with the other offices of the Great Wardrobe in 1782.

1660: Thomas Townshend
1680: Robert Nott
1685: Thomas Robson
1689: Robert Nott
1695: Charles Bland
bef. 1707: Thomas Dummer
1750: William Robinson
1754: Hon. Daines Barrington
1756: Sir William Robinson, Bt
1760: Thomas Gilbert
1763: Paul Whitehead
1765–1782: William Ashburnham^[2]

References

^ Steel: 419
^ Sir Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ed. (1985). The House of Commons, 1754-1790. Vol. vol. II. Cambridge: Secker & Warburg. pp. 28–29. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)

Bibliography

Database of Court Officers^{[dead link]}
Steel, Anthony Bedford (1954), The receipt of the Exchequer, 1377-1485, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tout, T. F. (1920–33). Chapters in the Administrative History of Mediaeval England: the Wardrobe, the Chamber and the Small Seals, 6 vol. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

[1] Steel: 419

[Commons-2] Sir Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ed. (1985). The House of Commons, 1754-1790. Vol. vol. II. Cambridge: Secker & Warburg. pp. 28–29. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 In the sixteenth century the wardrobe lost much of its former importance. This was due both to the growing sophistication and size of government making it less mobile, and to the lower frequency of military campaigns led by the king in person.
+Ther were in fact two wardrobes-the great wardrobe and the more senior household wardrobe, responsible for financing the king's military operations. Many keepers of the great wardrobe were promoted to the household wardrobe.
-==Keepers or Masters of the Great Wardrobe==
-The '''Master of the Great Wardrobe''' was a position in the [[Royal Household|British Royal Household]]. The holders were responsible for running the Great Wardrobe, an office which provided clothing and textiles to the [[British Royal Family]]. Below is a list of known holders until the abolition of the office in 1782.
+==Keepers of the Household Wardrobe==
-*c1200: [[Robert of Braybrooke]]
-*124?: Sir Thomas (or John) de St Omer
-*1264: [[Ralph Sandwich]]
-*1295–1307: [[John Droxford]] ((1291–1295) Comptroller of the Wardrobe)
 *?-1328: Robert Wodehouse
 *1328–1329: [[Richard Bury]]
@@ Line 17: / Line 13: @@
 *1341–1344: [[William Edington]]
 *1349–1350: William Cusance
+==Keepers or Masters of the Great Wardrobe==
+The '''Master of the Great Wardrobe''' was a position in the [[Royal Household|British Royal Household]]. The holders were responsible for running the Great Wardrobe, an office which provided clothing and textiles to the [[British Royal Family]]. Below is a list of known holders until the abolition of the office in 1782.
+*c1200: [[Robert of Braybrooke]]
+*124?: Sir Thomas (or John) de St Omer
+*1264: [[Ralph Sandwich]]
+*1295–1307: [[John Droxford]] ((1291–1295) Comptroller of the Wardrobe)
+*1321: Gilbert Wigton
 *13??: [[John de Benstede]]
 *13??: [[William de Retford]] (later made Baron of the Exchequer in 1354)
 *13??: [[Thomas de Brantingham]], later [[Lord High Treasurer|Lord Treasurer]] on three occasions (1369–1371; 1377–1381; and 1389)<ref>Steel: 419</ref>
+*13??-1353: Robert Wingerworth
-*139?: John de Macclesfield
+*1353–1358: William Dalton
+*1359–1361: John Newbury
+*1361–1371: Henry Snaith
+*1371–1376: John Sleaford
+*1376–1377: Walter Ralphs
+*1377–1390: Alan Stokes
+*1390–?1398: [[Richard Clifford]]
+*1398–1399: John de Macclesfield
+*1399: William Loveney
 *1412: [[Thomas Ringwood]] (later made High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1419)
 *144?: [[John Norreys (Keeper of the Wardrobe)|Sir John Norreys]]