# Cofferer of the Household

The cofferer of the Household was formerly an office in the English and British Royal Household. Next in rank to the Comptroller, the holder paid the wages of some of the servants above and below stairs, was a member of the Board of Green Cloth, and sat with the Lord Steward in the Court of the Verge. The cofferer was usually of political rank and always a member of the Privy Council.
The office dates from the 13th century, when it was known as Cofferer of the Wardrobe. The Keeper of the Wardrobe was at this time increasingly occupied with matters of state, and so his chief clerk gradually took on additional responsibilities for accounting and bookkeeping, and came to be referred to as the Cofferer. As such, he became in effect the working head of the Wardrobe, and acted when required as locum tenens to the Keeper. The Cofferer had his own staff of clerks, who later came to be known as the Clerks of the Green Cloth (after the green cloth covering of the table in the accounting office).
By the end of the 14th century the Wardrobe had ceased to be an independent office of influence at Court; its officers were made subsidiary to the Lord Steward and duly re-designated as being 'of the Household' (rather than 'of the Wardrobe'). The Cofferer retained his role as principal accounting officer under the Lord Steward.
The office of Cofferer was abolished by the Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782. By the same means 'provision was made for more economical methods of keeping the accounts of Civil List expenditure under the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury': thenceforward the accounts of the Lord Steward's Department were included in the Estimates.

## List of incumbents

| Name | Entered office | Left office | Notes |
| Roger Repington | | | In office during the reign of Empress Matilda in the 12th century |
| William Louth | 1274 | 1280 | |
| William March | 1280 | 1284 | |
| Henry Wheatley | 1284 | 1287 | |
| Walter Langton | 1287 | 1290 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1290 |
| John Droxford | 1290 | 1290 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1295 |
| Philip Everdon | 1290 | 1295 | |
| Walter Barton | 1295 | 1297 | |
| Ralph Manton | 1297 | 1303 | |
| Walter Bedwyn | 1303 | 1307 | |
| Peter Collingbourn | 1307 | 1308 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1312 |
| John Ockham | 1308 | 1309 | |
| Robert Wodehouse | 1309 | 1311 | Controller of the Wardrobe, 1314 |
| John Ockham | 1311 | 1314 | |
| Nicholas Huggate | 1314 | 1315 | Controller of the Wardrobe, 1326 |
| Henry Hale | 1316 | 1316 | |
| Robert Wodehouse | 1317 | 1318 | |
| Unknown | (1318–1320) | (1318–1320) | |
| Richard Ferriby | 1320 | 1323 | Controller of the Wardrobe, 1331 |
| Unknown | (1323–1327) | (1323–1327) | |
| Richard Bury | 1327 | 1328 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1328 |
| John Houton | 1328 | 1331 | |
| William Norwell | 1331 | 1334 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1335 |
| John Cokham | 1334 | 1335 | |
| John Houton | 1335 | 1337 | |
| Richard Nateby | 1337 | 1338 | Controller of the Wardrobe, 1338 |
| William Dalton | 1338 | 1344 | Controller of the Wardrobe, 1344 |
| Richard Eccleshall | 1334 | 1349 or 1350 | |
| Unknown | (1350–1359) | (1350–1359) | |
| Thomas Brantingham | 1359 | 1361 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1368 |
| Unknown | (1361–1369) | (1361–1369) | |
| Richard Beverley | 1369 | 1376 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1376 |
| John Carp | 1376 | 1390 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1390 |
| John Stacy | 1390 | 1395 | |
| Thomas More | 1395 | 1399 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1401 |
| Unknown | | | |
| John Spencer | 1413 | 1413 | Keeper of the Great Wardrobe, 1413 |
| William Kinwolmarsh | | | In office during the reign of Henry V |
| Unknown | | | |
| John Kendale | 1461 | 1470 | |
| John Elrington | 1471 | 1474 | Keeper of the Wardrobe, 1474 |
| Richard Jeny | 1479 | | |
| James Blundell | 1479 | 1481 | |
| John Belle | 1483 | 1485 | |
| Laurence Warham | In office in 1485 | In office in 1485 | |
| John Payne | 1486 | 1492 | |
| William Fisher | 1492 | 1494 | |
| William Cope | 1494 | 1505 | |
| Edward Cheseman | by 1508 | | |
| John Shurley | 1509 | 1527 | |
| Sir Edmund Peckham | 1524 or 1527 | 1547 | |
| John Ryther | 1547 | 1552 | |
| Thomas Weldon | 1552 | 1553 | |
| Sir Richard Freeston | 1553 | 1557 | |
| Michael Wentworth | 1558 | 1558 | |
| Thomas Weldon and Richard Ward | 1558 | 1559 | |
| Thomas Weldon | 1559 | 1567 | |
| Richard Ward | 1567 | 1578 | |
| Anthony Crane | 1578 | 1580 | |
| John Abingdon | 1580 | 1582 | |
| Gregory Lovell | 1582 | 1597 | |
| Sir Henry Cocke | 1597 | 1610 | |
| Sir Robert Vernon | 1610 | 1615 | |
| Sir Arthur Ingram | 1615 | 1615 | Suspended |
| Sir Marmaduke Dayrell | 1615 | cont. | |
| Sir Marmaduke Dayrell and Sir Henry Vane | 1625 | 1632 | |
| Sir Henry Vane and Sir Roger Palmer | 1632 | 1632 | |
| Sir Roger Palmer | 1632 | 1643 | |
| William Ashburnham | 1642 | 1646 | |
| Commonwealth | (1649–1660) | (1649–1660) | |
| William Ashburnham | 1660 | 1679 | |
| Henry Brouncker, 3rd Viscount Brouncker, from 1684 Viscount Brouncker | 1679 | 1685 | |
| Sir Peter Apsley | 1685 | 1689 | |
| Francis Newport, 1st Viscount Newport, from 1694 Earl of Bradford | 1689 | 1702 | |
| Sir Benjamin Bathurst | 1702 | 1704 | |
| Francis Godolphin, from 1706 Viscount Rialton | 1704 | 1711 | First period in office; succeeded as Earl of Godolphin in 1712 |
| Samuel Masham, from 1712 Baron Masham | 1711 | 1714 | |
| Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin | 1714 | 1723 | Second period in office |
| William Pulteney | 1723 | 1725 | Created Earl of Bath in 1742 |
| Henry Clinton, 7th Earl of Lincoln | 1725 | 1728 | |
| Vacant | (1728–1730) | (1728–1730) | |
| Horatio Walpole | 1730 | 1741 | Created Baron Walpole in 1756 |
| Thomas Winnington | 1741 | 1744 | |
| Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys | 1744 | 1744 | |
| Edmund Waller | 1744 | 1747 | |
| Henry Pelham-Clinton, 9th Earl of Lincoln | 1747 | 1754 | Succeeded as Duke of Newcastle in 1768 |
| Sir George Lyttelton, 5th Baronet | 1754 | 1756 | Created Baron Lyttelton in 1756 |
| Thomas Osborne, 4th Duke of Leeds | 1756 | 1761 | |
| James Grenville | 1761 | 1761 | |
| Percy Wyndham-O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond | 1761 | 1765 | |
| Richard Lumley-Saunderson, 4th Earl of Scarbrough | 1765 | 1766 | |
| Hans Stanley | 1766 | 1774 | |
| Jeremiah Dyson | 1774 | 1776 | |
| Hans Stanley | 1776 | 1780 | |
| Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Viscount Beauchamp | 1780 | 1782 | Succeeded as Marquess of Hertford in 1794 |