Today's Lesson Is The Valet

After the Butler and the Housekeeper, the Valet and the Lady’s Maid were the two most senior “domestic servants” in the Victorian and Edwardian Eras. They had the ‘ear’ of their Master and Mistress which gave them some influence with the Lord and Lady of the House. This was either a good thing or a bad thing with the other staff within the household. The valet answered only to his master but still worked closely with the butler.

The valet’s day started early and was a long one. He was up before his master and waiting, (sometimes into the early morning hours), for his master to return from a dinner to ‘put him to bed’. The valet would be up early in the lord’s dressing-room to make sure everything was ready to ‘dress’ his employer, he needed to make sure that everything ‘was at hand’ as this included shaving and hairdressing. When his master was dressed and left the room, the valet would tidy up and make sure that ‘everything was in order’. The valet was in charge of the Lord’s wardrobe being good at ironing and sewing, as well as making sure that the brushes and combs were clean and put away in the correct drawer.

The valet now got on with the rest of the day, carrying out the instructions or commissions that his master had already given him during dressing. This could include anything from delivering messages to booking train tickets to making sure the lord’s passport was correct. A good knowledge of languages, especially French, was definitely a plus for the valet, who was expected to go with his master abroad, either for a holiday or for business.

Sometimes the Lord would ‘confide’ in his valet, knowing that he could be trusted not to repeat any confidences. He was someone who could listen to the master without judging him.

The valet was looked at as a personal attendant to the Lord who employed him. Some valets started as a junior footman, learning his trade as he worked up the ladder, maybe even being assigned to one of the sons to start off his valet’s duties.

One of the skills the valet needed was of a financial nature. The Lord trusted his valet to pay bills (or make sure they were paid on time), as well as buying items for his master, booking travel or theatre tickets, etc. This put the valet in a position of great trust, which made the other servants look up to him, treating him with more respect than other servants.

The trained valet could expect wages up to (and sometimes over) £30 a year, which when compared to today was £3,200, which was a great deal of money for a servant in the Victorian Era.

The job was clearly not a 9 to 5 one, and the valet would get up early in order to ‘get ahead of himself’ most days. He ‘lived in’ the House of his master, in the servants quarters, and would have his meals with the other servants, in the Servants Dining Hall, (especially in a large country house or manor). He didn’t wear livery, but dressed ‘in the manner of a country gentleman’. Some valets even had ‘manners’ far above the Lord they served. The valet was often referred to as the “gentleman’s gentleman”.

For a young lad of fourteen, just setting out as a very junior footman, the valet was (almost) the top of the ladder and he would aspire to ‘work his way up’, which required patience because to achieve this could take anything up to 20 years!