Dinner is Served:Roles of English Servants by Therese Stenzel, copyright 2007
Need
a Butler to decant the wine at dinner? A Lady's Maid to do up a row of
buttons? A Footman to carry a silver soup tureen into the dining room?
English servants can bring an authentic note to a period novel when the
strict hierarchy and specific roles of each servant bow to historical
accuracy.
Movies like GosfordPark, Remains of the Day, and Berkeley Square
are great resources for understanding the intricate lives of servants
in the 1800's and 1900's. A rigid set of rules dictated when they arose,
bathed, ate, who they spoke to, and how they dressed. For example at
mealtimes, the Upper Servants; Butler, Housekeeper, Cook, Valet, and
Lady's Maid met in the Housekeeper's room and filed into the servant's
hall in order of station. The Butler sat at the head of the table, and
the Housekeeper took a seat at the opposite end. The male servants sat
in order of position on one side and the female servants down the other,
but only after the Butler gave them permission. He would carve the meat
and send the plate to the Housekeeper who served the vegetables. The
Second Footman took the plates round to each servant in order of
seniority. After dinner, the Upper Servants retired for coffee and fine
desserts in the Housekeepers Room while the Lower Servants; Footman,
House, Kitchen, and Scullery Maids washed up after the meal.
Considered the most senior servant, the Butler
existed as "Mr. Jennings" to the servants and "Jennings" to his
employer. He presided over the male staff, supervised the footmen in
their serving of meals, the wine cellar, the "plate" (or family
silverware,) and each morning ironed his Master's newspaper. He
performed most of his duties from a special room called the Butler's
Pantry. There the plate and china resided when not in use. The Butler
would be the one to take a gentleman or lady visitor directly into the
drawing room whilst making sure that the tradesman, workers, or other
staff waited in the hall. He maintained responsibly for ringing the
"dressing bell" to let guests know it was time to put on their dinner
attire. He would oversee the setting of the table, trimming candlewicks,
filling lamps with oil, and cleaning the silver. The last duty of the
day would be to check that all fires and lights were safely damped out
and all doors locked. In 1872, a Butler would earn $750 a year.
The senior female servant, the Housekeeper
supervised the hiring and firing of the woman staff. Referred to as
"Mrs" whether married or not, she looked after the household accounts,
purchased supplies, cured, bottled, and preserved food. She met daily
with the Lady of the house to go over the books and preside over the
Servant's Tea, using that time to relay any necessary information to
members of the staff. She oversaw the storeroom, china closet, still
room, and linen cupboard. If the laundry was sent out, she carefully
recorded each piece as it went out and came back. Easy to identify, the
Housekeeper wore a black silk uniform and large set of keys safely at
her waist. Keys prevailed in importance, as many expensive items,
tealeaves, spices, and pickled meat remained locked up. Her last duty in
the evening would be to oversee the washing and storing of the dinner
china. In 1872, she would have earned $300 a year.
The Lady's Maid,
called "Miss" whether married or not, (or her mistress could choose to
call her by her Christian name,) was often chosen for her looks and
youth, although, having a French Lady's Maid remained the height of
respectability. Her main responsibilities consisted of attending to her
Ladyship's grooming, dressing, packing and laying out her clothes,
washing and repairing undergarments, and fixing her hair in the latest
fashion. These duties consumed the day as the Lady of the house could
spend four to five hours dressing for various meals. The Lady's Maid
would also oversee the tidying of her Ladyships' boudoir. At times
considered a sort of companion to her mistress and yet treated as a
servant, she lived a lonely life. Being better educated than the average
maid, permitted to wear her mistress' cast off clothing, and served
breakfast each morning by a Second Housemaid, the other maids often
resented her. Her last duty would be to wait up until her ladyship
retired to assist in undressing, loosening, and brushing her hair. In
1872, she would have earned $150 a year.
A Valet
would look after his master's clothing ensuring his wardrobe remained
in good order. Sometimes referred to as a gentleman's gentleman, his job
consisted of laying out clothing, keeping shoes and hats clean and in
good repair, standing behind his employer at dinner, running his bath,
and traveling with him. He also had the precarious responsibly of
shaving his master with an open cut-throat razor. Most of his job would
have taken place in the Brushing Room where you would find boot trees,
hatboxes, wire brushes, polishes, and mothballs. In this room, the Valet
would have ironed top hats, whitened riding breeches, brushed wool
coats, and washed and stretched his master's gloves. His last duty would
be to wait up until his Lordship retired to assist in his undressing.
In 1872, he would have earned $300.
Many Cooks
supervised large staffs to produce three sometimes four elaborate meals
a day for the Family and to impress guests. She met daily with the Lady
of the house to discuss menus as a minimum of six courses were expected
and up to twenty-two could be served on special occasions. In addition,
the Cook would be required to provide food for nursery meals, cricket
teas, picnics, and dinner parties. Lighting a fire was much more
difficult without the ease of matches. Every evening she would preserve
embers until morning with a metal dome. Only extremely rich families
could afford to hire a male cook or the ultimate status symbol, a French
Chef. The last duty of the day would be to prepare the Family's evening
meal. In 1872, a male cook would have earned $500, a female cook $350.
The Groom oversawthe
care of the horses. If no Coachman served on staff, he would also
maintain and drive the carriages. Mornings were spent mucking out the
stables, feeding, and cleaning the horses, and preparing a horse or
carriage when a member of the Family wished to go riding. Any time a
horse or carriage went out, it had to be immediately cleaned and
properly stored so that it was ready at a moments notice. He also
fashioned and mended harnesses. He did not live in the house, but in
accommodations above the stable. Unless the Family went out for the
evening and needed the carriage, his last duty would be to feed the
horses and put them in the stable. In 1872, he earned $300.
The Footmen had
duties in and outside the estate. Responsible for carrying coal,
cleaning silverware, announcing visitors, and waiting at table, he also
attended the Lady of the house when she went calling by leaving the
visitor cards at the front door while she passed the time in the
carriage. They often wore vividly ornate uniforms with colorful hats
trimmed in gold braid, short knee britches, white gloves and stockings
until the late 1800's when their uniforms were simplified. Since they
served in pairs, height was vastly important and a tall footman earned
more than a short one. The First Footman acted as a sort of valet to the
eldest son serving him breakfast, running his bath, preparing clothes,
and shaving him. He would also lay the breakfast on the sideboard (the
English are not waited on at breakfast,) clear the table after each
meal, and clean the glass and plate. He also served afternoon tea to the
Family in the drawing room. A Second Footman would have handled the
more mundane duties of cleaning the staff boots, emptying the male
chamber pots, and valeting the youngest son of the house. His last duty
would be to clear and clean dinner china. In 1872, he would earn $150 a
year.
Housemaids
kept the estate immaculate, bedrooms supplied with water for washing,
bathing, and insured fires continued to burn. They scrubbed and emptied
chamber pots, drew curtains, turned down beds, dusted and polished,
cleaned bedrooms, and tidied the public rooms. They performed grueling
monotonous labor as the floors had to scrubbed by hand, fireplaces
cleaned out daily, grates polished with black lead, and water lugged
from the kitchen and then carried room-to-room. Larger households would
employ a First Housemaid for the lighter work and Second and Third
Housemaids for the more physical work. The center of her cleaning was
the Housemaid's closet. It contained such supplies as foot brushes,
stove brushes, banister brushes, carpet brushes, shoe brushes, furniture
brushes, velvet brushes, closet brushes, oil brushes, carpet brooms,
bed brooms, hair brooms, and wall brooms. She also served the
Housekeeper her morning tea. The last job of the evening would be to
fill hot water bottles and place them in the Family's and Upper Servants
beds to warm them. In 1872, they earned they earned $100-150.
A Kitchen Maid's
first job was to prepare the breakfast trays for the Upper Servants and
to assist the Cook in preparing the Family's breakfast. She is
responsible for making all the breads, sauces, and vegetable dishes for
the Family's luncheon, all servants meals and to store any leftovers.
She prepared a light evening meal for the children of the house and
assisted the Cook in the preparations for the Family dinner. She is only
allowed upstairs once a day for compulsory prayers. All her time is
spent in the kitchen or her room. Her last duty would be to store away
leftover from the Family dinner. In 1872, she earned $75-100 a year.
The Scullery Maid, considered
the lowest servant in the house, worked eighteen hours a day. Usually
in her early teens, she would be the earliest to rise, with the first
task to stoke the kitchen range to a fierce heat so the teakettle boiled
quickly for morning tea. She must empty all chamber pots of the female
staff and assist the Lower Servants in preparing breakfast for the Upper
Servants. She had to clean the kitchen passages, pantries, kitchen, and
scullery, lay the servant's hall table for breakfast, clear and wash up
afterwards, including all pots, pans, and kitchen utensils used. She
would continue lay tables, clear, and wash up throughout the day. A
dinner for five utilized 180 separate pieces of porcelain, silver, and
crystal, each item needing to be washed and safely stored away. Allowed
upstairs only once a day for compulsory prayers, it is the only time she
would see her employers. In 1872, she would have earned $50-75.
Dairy Maids
churned butter into milk, made clotted cream, butter, milked the cows
and delivered it up to the estate, turn curds into cheese and kept the
diary clean using only sand and hot water.
Laundress was in charge of cleaning clothes and household washing. Smaller homes had their laundry sent out.
Nanny's
cared and dressed the younger members of the family. Took children on
excursions to get plenty of fresh air and would be assisted by nursery
maids. In larger establishments, a footman would be assigned to the
nursery. Nanny slept in the nursery in a separate room next to her
charges.
The Governess taught
children until the boys left for boarding school. The girls remained in
the schoolroom. Although a Governess would have the demeanor and
deportment of a lady, usually educated cultured, properly mannered and
well bred as well as young and fresh faced, they were treated as
servants, because of this, they were often very lonely. There lady-like
deportment often created romances in the family.
Maid-of-All-Work
was hired if you could only afford one servant. She did a little bit of
everything combining the work done by the Cook, Housemaid, Lady's Maid,
Laundress, and Nursemaid.
Page is a young boy hired to run errands and answer the door. He served as a junior grade Footman.
