The Rise and Fall of the Victorian ServantVictorian England measured social acceptability in terms of the number of servants employed in a household. It is perhaps unsuprising then that this frequently overlooked body of workers actually formed the largest occupational group in the country at the end of the nineteenth century. In this illustrated account, Pamela Horn draws upon a wealth of contemporary sources and 'servants' books' as well as personal reminiscences by servants and employers. She presents a comprehensive record of recruitment and training; the duties expected by servants, and the wide range of conditions under which they worked, some of which led to happy retirement, others to prostitution or squalid death. It is a compelling picture of a vanished social system. |
Contents
The ServantKeeping Classes and Their Problems | 17 |
Getting a Place | 32 |
Female Servants | 49 |
Copyright | |
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annum attend bedrooms Beeton Berkshire board wages Book of Household breakfast butler carriage carry census Charles Booth chef clean clothes coachman cook County Record Office daily despite diary dinner domestic servants domestic service Domestic Workers door dress duties early employed employers employment England Englefield House establishments expected female domestic female servants fire Flora Thompson footman gardener girls groom hall Hannah Cullwick head house steward Household Management housekeeper housemaid indoor kitchen kitchenmaid labour Lady Lady Cynthia Asquith lady's maid laundry-maid letter livery London Longleat maid-of-all-work male servants Marchioness of Bath master meals men-servants middle-class Miss mistress morning Munby nanny nineteenth century no's Northamptonshire Nuneham Courtenay nurse nursemaid o'clock organised Oxford Oxfordshire paid parlourmaid scullery-maid Servant's Practical Guide stairs Taplow Court union valet Victorian wages washing week Welbeck Abbey wife women workers workhouse young servant