Victorian Servant System
Victorian Servant
“He who is not a good servant, will not be a good master.”-Plato. The butler, servant, and the service system played a huge role in the Victorian Era. In this time, the Service System was very important. It is the only way some houses got anything around the house done. Many households would be a wreck or would not be able to stay running without the master's servants. The service system played a huge part in the Victorian Era. Most people in the service system were female. In the smaller houses, the butler would have to combine a number of different jobs, including the footman, valet, and page boy. Some of those duties would have been: “Waiting on the table at mealtimes, looking after the silver in the house, locking up the house at night, caring for the wine cellar, cleaning the knives and the shoes, answering to visitors who called, cleaning the furniture, looking after his master’s clothes, taking letters from/to his master and mistress, and winding clocks” (The Victorian Servant). If the victorians did not have a servant, butler, …show more content…
There were 7 different sections in the service system. There was Servants (servants were the main ones in the system), Butlers, Housekeepers, Cooks, Valets, Footmen, Maids, and others that fell under those sects. The servant was usually hired for a year-around term. After they served that term they could retire or choose to do another term. The mister/mistress would find a place for them to stay on their property. They got paid by the quarter. During the term, the servants were supposed to dedicate all their time to please the mister and mistress unless given consent. In the service system, each sect worked in different parts of the house or property. There was not just one type of servant, there were all different kinds, different names, different duties, and different genders of service men and
“He who is not a good servant, will not be a good master.”-Plato. The butler, servant, and the service system played a huge role in the Victorian Era. In this time, the Service System was very important. It is the only way some houses got anything around the house done. Many households would be a wreck or would not be able to stay running without the master's servants. The service system played a huge part in the Victorian Era. Most people in the service system were female. In the smaller houses, the butler would have to combine a number of different jobs, including the footman, valet, and page boy. Some of those duties would have been: “Waiting on the table at mealtimes, looking after the silver in the house, locking up the house at night, caring for the wine cellar, cleaning the knives and the shoes, answering to visitors who called, cleaning the furniture, looking after his master’s clothes, taking letters from/to his master and mistress, and winding clocks” (The Victorian Servant). If the victorians did not have a servant, butler, …show more content…
There were 7 different sections in the service system. There was Servants (servants were the main ones in the system), Butlers, Housekeepers, Cooks, Valets, Footmen, Maids, and others that fell under those sects. The servant was usually hired for a year-around term. After they served that term they could retire or choose to do another term. The mister/mistress would find a place for them to stay on their property. They got paid by the quarter. During the term, the servants were supposed to dedicate all their time to please the mister and mistress unless given consent. In the service system, each sect worked in different parts of the house or property. There was not just one type of servant, there were all different kinds, different names, different duties, and different genders of service men and