The Groom of the Stool was the most intimate of an English monarch's courtiers, responsible for assisting the king in excretion and hygiene.
The 1st Earl of Holland, Groom of the Stool to Charles I, until 1643
William III's close-stool. Hampton Court collection
Hugh Denys of Osterley in Middlesex, was a courtier of Kings Henry VII and of the young Henry VIII. As Groom of the Stool to Henry VII, he was one of the King's closest courtiers, his role developing into one of administering the Privy Chamber, a department in control of the royal finances which during Denys's tenure of office also gained control over national fiscal policy. Denys was thus a vital player in facilitating the first Tudor king's controversial fiscal policies.
1506 Denys monumental brass in Olveston Church depicting father & elder half-brother of Hugh Denys. Dexter(viewer's left) Maurice Denys (d. 1466), father. sinister, his son and heir Sir Walter Denys (d. 1505). The Denys armorials are shown in the first quarter.
Hugh Denys, Groom of the King's Close Stool, was present in 1509 at the deathbed of Henry VII at Richmond Palace. He is depicted above his armourials, quartered with Corbet, in this contemporary drawing by the courtier Sir Thomas Wriothesley, fourth on the King's right hand. The youthful features represented are deceptive, for by 1509 Denys was an old man, two years from his own death. Sir Richard Weston of Sutton Place is shown 5th. on the King's Left hand, whose daughter Margaret would marry Sir Walter Denys (d. 1571) of
Indenture drafted by Syon Abbey 1530, transferring bequest of Hugh Denys from Sheen Priory. BL Harley MS 4640, f.1r
