Privy Stairs
The Privy Stairs were the rivermen’s stairs on the Thames attached to the king and queen’s apartments at Whitehall; the stairs were for use of the monarchs when they still resided at the palace. River
access was necessary as the palace faced the Thames rather than the street (Ivimey 163). The stairs were used primarily by visiting foreign dignitaries and courtiers in
order to gain access to the palace without needing to negotiate the streets of London, while a second dock, the Whitehall Stairs, was located downstream and was accessible to the public (Pepys). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word privy in the name of the stairs undoubtedly refers to the meaning
belonging to or reserved for the exclusive use of a particular person or group of people; that is one’s own(OED privy, adj. 2.a). This naming convention, shared by other places such as the Privy Council and the Privy Garden, emphasizes that the stairs were meant only for a select few people and were off limits to the common people.
The first reference to the construction of a riverside dock near the palace was made
in July 1530 regarding payment to
the kinges Carpenter towardes the making of a pryvat bridge at yorke place(Cox and Norman). Because York Place was the name of the palace before it was known as Whitehall, this mention to a bridge could be referring to the construction of either the Privy Stairs or the Whitehall Stairs (Cox and Norman).
Because their use would have been exclusive to the English royalty and those in their
confidence, one can imagine many historic events beginning from the Privy Stairs. English poet and historian Samuel Daniel mentions the Privy Stairs in an account of the investment of Henry Fredrick to his titles as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in 1610:
Peeres of the Realme being all assembled in Parliament, his Maiesty accompanied with the Prince, who was that morning to be inuested in his Principalitie, tooke water at the priuy staires at White hal, and landing together at Westminster bridge, his Maiesty passed directly to the Parliament-house, and the Prince to the Court of Wardes, from whence, after a whiles tarryance for the disposing of things in due order, his highnesse proceeded in this maner to his Creation. (Daniel 6)Daniel’s account demonstrates the usage of the stairs for royal pageantry.
Courtiers would have also employed them on more menial tasks in order to traverse
the city from the palace without having to worry about cutpurses or crowded streets.
Samuel Pepys, a naval administrator, also mentions the stairs, writing on April 22, 1668 in his famous diary that
After done here, and the Council up, I by water from the Privy-stairs to Westminster-Hall; and, taking water, the King1 and the Duke of York2 were in the new buildings(Pepys). In this context, the everyday usage of the Privy Stairs by people connected to the court can be observed. These stairs were not likely used by people seeking transport across the river to the theatre or other amusements, but they rather would have functioned to convey courtiers on business errands when not used by the king or queen themselves. Although they had a long and storied history, the destruction of Whitehall by fire in 1698 and subsequent relocation of the royal residence to Buckingham Palace ended any purpose for the stairs, though they were present until the construction of the Victoria Embankment (Cox and Norman).
References
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Citation
Cox, Montagu H. and Philip Norman, eds. St. Margaret, Westminster, Part II: Whitehall I. Vol. 13 of Survey of London. London: London County Council, 1930. Remediated by British History Online.This item is cited in the following documents:
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Citation
Daniel, Samuel. The order and solemnitie of the creation of the High and mightie Prince Henrie, eldest sonne to our sacred soueraigne, Prince of VVales, Duke of Cornewall, Earle of Chester, &c. as it was celebrated in the Parliament House, on Munday the fourth of Iunne last past. Together with the ceremonies of the Knights of the Bath, and other matters of speciall regard, incident to the same. Whereunto is annexed the royall maske, presented by the Queene and her ladies, on Wednesday at night following. London: William Stansby for John Budge, 1610. STC 13161.This item is cited in the following documents:
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Citation
Ivimey, Alan. A History of London. London: Sampson Low. 1932. Print.This item is cited in the following documents:
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Citation
Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford UP. https://www.oed.com/.This item is cited in the following documents:
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Citation
Pepys, Samuel. Diary of Samuel Pepys. Remediated by Project Gutenberg.This item is cited in the following documents:
Cite this page
MLA citation
Privy Stairs.The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by , U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/PRIV1.htm.
Chicago citation
Privy Stairs.The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0. Ed. . Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed May 05, 2022. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/PRIV1.htm.
APA citation
The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 7.0). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/7.0/PRIV1.htm.
2022. Privy Stairs. In (Ed), RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)
Provider: University of Victoria Database: The Map of Early Modern London Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8" TY - ELEC A1 - Smith, Justin ED - Jenstad, Janelle T1 - Privy Stairs T2 - The Map of Early Modern London ET - 7.0 PY - 2022 DA - 2022/05/05 CY - Victoria PB - University of Victoria LA - English UR - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/PRIV1.htm UR - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/xml/standalone/PRIV1.xml ER -
TEI citation
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<ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/PRIV1.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/PRIV1.htm</ref>.</bibl>
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Making the RA Matter: Pedagogy, Interface, and Practices.
Making Things and Drawing Boundaries: Experiments in the Digital Humanities. Ed. Jentery Sayers. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2018. Print. -
Jenstad, Janelle.
Building a Gazetteer for Early Modern London, 1550-1650.
Placing Names. Ed. Merrick Lex Berman, Ruth Mostern, and Humphrey Southall. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 2016. 129-145. -
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The Burse and the Merchant’s Purse: Coin, Credit, and the Nation in Heywood’s 2 If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody.
The Elizabethan Theatre XV. Ed. C.E. McGee and A.L. Magnusson. Toronto: P.D. Meany, 2002. 181–202. Print. -
Jenstad, Janelle.
Early Modern Literary Studies 8.2 (2002): 5.1–26..The City Cannot Hold You
: Social Conversion in the Goldsmith’s Shop. -
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The Silver Society Journal 10 (1998): 40–43.The Gouldesmythes Storehowse
: Early Evidence for Specialisation. -
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Lying-in Like a Countess: The Lisle Letters, the Cecil Family, and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside.
Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 34 (2004): 373–403. doi:10.1215/10829636–34–2–373. -
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Public Glory, Private Gilt: The Goldsmiths’ Company and the Spectacle of Punishment.
Institutional Culture in Early Modern Society. Ed. Anne Goldgar and Robert Frost. Leiden: Brill, 2004. 191–217. Print. -
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Smock Secrets: Birth and Women’s Mysteries on the Early Modern Stage.
Performing Maternity in Early Modern England. Ed. Katherine Moncrief and Kathryn McPherson. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. 87–99. Print. -
Jenstad, Janelle.
Using Early Modern Maps in Literary Studies: Views and Caveats from London.
GeoHumanities: Art, History, Text at the Edge of Place. Ed. Michael Dear, James Ketchum, Sarah Luria, and Doug Richardson. London: Routledge, 2011. Print. -
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Versioning John Stow’s A Survey of London, or, What’s New in 1618 and 1633?.
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Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Internet Shakespeare Editions. U of Victoria. http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/Texts/MV/.
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Stow, John. A SVRVAY OF LONDON. Contayning the Originall, Antiquity, Increase, Moderne estate, and description of that Citie, written in the yeare 1598. by Iohn Stow Citizen of London. Also an Apologie (or defence) against the opinion of some men, concerning that Citie, the greatnesse thereof. With an Appendix, containing in Latine, Libellum de situ & nobilitate Londini: written by William Fitzstephen, in the raigne of Henry the second. Ed. Janelle Jenstad and the MoEML Team. MoEML. Transcribed.
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Charles II
Charles This numeral is a Roman numeral. The Arabic equivalent is 2II King of England King of Scotland King of Ireland
(b. 1630, d. 1685)King of England, Scotland, and Ireland 1660-1665.Charles II is mentioned in the following documents:
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Samuel Daniel is mentioned in the following documents:
Samuel Daniel authored or edited the following items in MoEML’s bibliography:
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Daniel, Samuel. The order and solemnitie of the creation of the High and mightie Prince Henrie, eldest sonne to our sacred soueraigne, Prince of VVales, Duke of Cornewall, Earle of Chester, &c. as it was celebrated in the Parliament House, on Munday the fourth of Iunne last past. Together with the ceremonies of the Knights of the Bath, and other matters of speciall regard, incident to the same. Whereunto is annexed the royall maske, presented by the Queene and her ladies, on Wednesday at night following. London: William Stansby for John Budge, 1610. STC 13161.
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Daniel, Samuel. The Vision of the 12 Goddesses, Presented in a Maske the 8 of January, at Hampton Court by the Queenes Most Excellent Majestie, and her Ladies. London: T. C. for Simon Waterson, 1604. STC 6265.
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Henry Frederick
(b. 19 February 1594, d. 6 November 1612)Prince of Wales. Son of James VI and I and Anne of Denmark. Brother of Charles I and Elizabeth Stuart of Bohemia. Died of typhoid fever at the age of eighteen.Henry Frederick is mentioned in the following documents:
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Samuel Pepys is mentioned in the following documents:
Samuel Pepys authored or edited the following items in MoEML’s bibliography:
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Pepys, Samuel. The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A New and Complete Transcription. Ed. Robert Latham and William Matthews. 11 vols. Berkeley : U of California P, 1970–1983.
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Pepys, Samuel. The Diary of Samuel Pepys: Daily Entries from the 17th Century London Diary. Dev. Phil Gyford. https://www.pepysdiary.com/.
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Pepys, Samuel. Diary of Samuel Pepys. Remediated by Project Gutenberg.
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James II and VII
James This numeral is a Roman numeral. The Arabic equivalent is 1II This numeral is a Roman numeral. The Arabic equivalent is 6VII King of Scotland King of England King of Ireland
(b. 1685, d. 1688)James II and VII is mentioned in the following documents:
Locations
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The Thames
Perhaps more than any other geophysical feature, the Thames river has directly affected London’s growth and rise to prominence; historically, the city’s economic, political, and military importance was dependent on its riverine location. As a tidal river, connected to the North Sea, the Thames allowed for transportation to and from the outside world; and, as the longest river in England, bordering on nine counties, it linked London to the country’s interior. Indeed, without the Thames, London would not exist as one of Europe’s most influential cities. The Thames, however, is notable for its dichotomous nature: it is both a natural phenomenon and a cultural construct; it lives in geological time but has been the measure of human history; and the city was built around the river, but the river has been reshaped by the city and its inhabitants.The Thames is mentioned in the following documents:
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Whitehall
Whitehall Palace, the Palace of Whitehall or simply Whitehall, was one of the most complex and sizeable locations in the entirety of early modern Europe. As the primary place of residence for monarchs from 1529 to 1698, Whitehall was an architectural testament to the shifting sociopolitical, religious, and aesthetic currents of Renaissance England. Sugden describes the geospatial location of Whitehall in noting that[i]t lay on the left bank of the Thames, and extended from nearly the point where Westminster Bdge. now crosses the river to Scotland Yard, and from the river back to St. James’s Park
(Sugden 564-565).Whitehall is mentioned in the following documents:
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London is mentioned in the following documents:
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Whitehall Stairs
Whitehall Stairs was an important location in early modern London. Providing a point of access to the Thames from Whitehall, the stairs were used by both the public and members of the royal family. Although the stairs are rarely alluded to in early modern literature, they appear in a number of texts about daily life in London during the time period.Whitehall Stairs is mentioned in the following documents:
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PLACE OUTSIDE OF LONDON
PLACE OUTSIDE OF LONDON. While this location exists within the boundaries of modern-day Greater London, it lies outside of the early-modern City of London and is beyond MoEML’s current scope.PLACE OUTSIDE OF LONDON is mentioned in the following documents:
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Westminster Stairs
Westminster Stairs was an important site in early modern London that provided access to the Thames from Westminster Abbey. Used during royal processions and by rivermen throughout daily life, Westminster Stairs was known as being a place of bustling activity.Westminster Stairs is mentioned in the following documents:
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Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall isthe only surviving part of the original Palace of Westminster
(Weinreb and Hibbert 1011) and is located on the west side of the Thames. It is located on the bottom left-hand corner of the Agas map, and is labelled asWeſtmynſter hall.
Originally built as an extension to Edward the Confessor’s palace in 1097, the hall served as the setting for banquets through the reigns of many kings.Westminster Hall is mentioned in the following documents:
Organizations
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Privy Council
The Privy Council advised the reigning monarch on important judicial and political issues. The council still exists today, altough with considerably less authority.This organization is mentioned in the following documents:
Variant spellings
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Documents using the spelling
priuy staires
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Documents using the spelling
Privy Stairs
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Documents using the spelling
Privy-stairs
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Documents using the spelling
Thames