If one played by the rules and wasn’t afraid of rough work!Įstimates based on census results from the first decade of the 1800s say domestic servants (household staff) numbered around 910,000 with some 110,000 being male. In a world of harsh working conditions and strict social divides, gainful employment on an estate provided an excellent salary, security, and prestige a job to be proud of and possibly evolve into a professional career. ![]() Service to an English estate, particularly for an esteemed aristocrat or respected gentry class family was considered a prime occupation. The greater the responsibilities and closer the association with the master or mistress of the household, the higher a servant’s standing. A definite hierarchy existed, servants acutely aware of rank and class distinctions amongst themselves. Grand estate servants and staff were divided into inside and outside personnel, and the inside staff divided again into upper and lower levels. ![]() “The sensible master and the kind mistress know, that if servants depend on them for their means of living, in their turn they are dependent on their servants for very many of the comforts of life and that, with a proper amount of care in choosing servants, and treating them like reasonable beings, and making slight excuses for the shortcomings of human nature, they will, save in some exceptional case, be tolerably well served, and, in most instances, surround themselves with attached domestics.” ~ Mrs. L -> R: 3 housemaids, footman, lady’s maid, butler, housekeeper, valet, footman, 3 housemaids.
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