Going Into Domestic Service

Very few have them today, whereas in the 19th Century, one and a half million people worked as them (1 in 4 worked as one). I am talking about “Servants.” Today, we seem fascinated about this subject = how the maid lived? How old was the kitchen maid? What did the footman actually do? I personally have always been interested because my grandmother worked as a maid “in a big house” and I remember her trying to teach me how to serve dinner: “always serve on the left and pick up on the right.”

“Upstairs, Downstairs”, “Gosford Park”, “Downton Abbey” all represent this “class” quite accurately. Alastair Bruce, who was the historical expert on Downton Abbey, tells us: “These people worked from the moment they got up in the morning until they went to bed at night. Underlining that there wasn’t really time off in the way that we expect today. There is constant activity. It’s quite a juxtaposition, the frantic activity downstairs, delivering the calm, peace, and serenity of the family who are living in the house.” The Quaker philanthropist Seebohm Rowntree concluded: “the keeping of or not keeping of servants’ was the defining line between the working classes and those of a superior standing.”

To some of the upper-class, those in Service were ‘just’ a necessity, to others those in Service were ‘human.’ For example, Queen Alexandra invited 10,000 of London’s ‘maids-of-all-works’ to tea parties across the capitol to mark the Coronation, leading the way in showing kindness and consideration towards these hard working maids. It was reported by The Times that between 10th July and 2nd August, the girls gathered for “tea, white and brown bread and butter, jam, lettuces and watercress, seed cake, iced plum cake and strawberries.” The weather, though, was typically English --- it poured with rain the whole time. For the maids, this was a real treat as they as they were ‘allowed’ to wear their own clothes instead of the uniforms they wore every day, and they showed their appreciation by raising their cups to the new King and Queen.

“I am the son of a butler and a lady’s maid --- perhaps the happiest of all combinations, and to me the most beautiful thing in the world is a haughty, aristocratic house, with everyone kept in his place. If I were equal to your ladyship, where would be the pleasure to me? For it would be counterbalanced by the pain of feeling that the footmen Thomas and John were equal to me.” (“Crichton the Butler” in J.M.Barrie’s play “The Admirable Crichton”, 1902). This was the attitude of many who were in Service. In the Victorian Era and the Edwardian Era --- you either had servants or was a servant yourself. In those days, society just could not ‘function’ without this way of living. When a working-class girl approached school-leaving age, it was the done thing to go into Service. It was ‘secure’ employment with a bed, good meals (usually) and a ‘comfortable living,’ especially when compared to the Workhouse. If you could acquire a position ‘in a big house,’ there was a certain amount of esteem connected to the position.

Something that we find shocking today is the fact that most of these servants started work at a very young age. Before 1880, there was no official school-leaving age and children as young as 8 years of age went into Service. When the school-leaving age became compulsory, the age in which these children started work rose, for example, in 1921, the leaving-age was 14 and at this age, they went into Service (mostly girls). Today, it’s 18 and even older if we go to college. Back then, it was a necessity for the children to support the family income. Also, elementary education was not free until 1891, so it was difficult for the poorer-classes to afford to send their children to school. This is another world to us who have been through school, left at 16/18 and never even thought about work (unless we wanted a Saturday job and even then, the legal age to work today is 16). Back in those days, sending a daughter to school was less important than educating a son, as a boy could bring in more money. In some cases, the girl stayed at home to help mother look after the house and the other eight younger children. A lot of the time though, the girl went into Service, it seemed the ‘safest’ option. The Workhouse children were given a rudimentary education (by the Poor Law authorities) and were apprenticed or sent into Service from the ages of 11 to 13.

For the young women (of the working-classes), Service was an opportunity to get out of the house, leaving home and gaining some independence --- an escape from ‘parental control.’ Finding a place in Service was usually done by the parents or guardian, teacher or a charity, and sometimes through a relative or friend who already has a position in Service. A mistress might enquire amongst her circle of friends, or an ‘upper-servant’ might ask a well-known tradesman, if they knew of any-one ‘of a good character’ who were looking for a ‘position in Service.’ Interestingly, another avenue to look into was ‘a servants’ registry office.’ These offices go back to mid-Victorian times and were often run by retired servants who knew the ‘qualities’ needed to work in Service. The registries did well as both the employer and the one seeking employment paid a fee. Most of these registries were honest and ‘above-board,’ but there were reports of the few that used the pretence of looking for domestic servants when really the place was a brothel, luring the innocent young girls and women into prostitution and to their ruin. This was stopped (within London) when in 1907, those within the London County Council area, were licensed annually and the license was withdrawn if there were too many complaints. A more popular way of finding a position within Service was the ‘Situations Vacant’ columns in the national and provincial newspapers. For the mistress, looking for new servants, this was a tried and tested method and they often put adverts in The Morning Post and The Times. “PARLOURMAID for a gentleman’s family in the country (Lincolnshire) REQUIRED at once. A little housework, with attendance on a lady. An excellent wage. Good character and nice appearance indispensable. Height 5ft 5. Age from 25. Wages £20, all found. Address; E.M., Becklands, near Grimsby.” The £20 wages was annually! --- A little different from today’s advertizements. The servant was always on the lookout for a position that was ‘comfortable,’ where there was a good wage and good working conditions, and a considerate employer (not much has changed over time here).

There was no job security back then though. The servant was at the mercy of the employer and there were no Laws yet to protect the servant. A servant could lose their position for any amount of reasons: the mistress is moving house and wants new staff / there is a change in the master’s finances / the ‘employer’ was not happy with the job done or the servant themselves was insubordinate or defiant or just didn’t like the work. The Lower servants’ jobs depended on maintaining a good working relationship with the Upper servants as a simple misunderstanding or crossword could mean instant dismissal. This was particularly difficult for those who ‘lived-in’ as they had no home of their own, and every day they had to be on their best behaviour.

When first starting out in “Service”, the young person (girl or boy) underwent a kind of apprenticeship whilst learning the job. This meant that their wages were very low to start with. In 1899, the average wage for a female servant, under the age of 16, was just £6 + 5s per annum (England and Wales, excluding London). In Glasgow, Edinburg and Dundee, the average wage was slightly higher at £7 + 3s. These young girls (as more girls than boys went into Service) had never been away from home before and were nervous and even afraid, living in a strange household, amongst people they did not know yet. These young girls had a lot of courage if not much confidence. Remember, going into Service was considered ‘secure employment’ and was safer and better than the Workhouse. It was especially hard if the girl was a ‘maid-of-all-work’ and had to work alone, with no one to show her the ropes. This young girl had to learn by herself --- and quickly if she wanted to keep her position.

One example was Mrs Wrigley, who was sent to her first position at the very young age of nine: “Instead of being a nurse I had to be a servant-of-all-work, having to get up at six in the morning, turn a room out and get it ready for breakfast. My biggest trouble was I could not light the fire, and my master was very cross and would tell me to stand away, and give me a good box on my ears --- I fretted very much for my home. Humble as it was, it was home. Not able to read or write, I could not let my parents know, until a kind old lady in the village wrote to my parents to fetch me home from the hardships I endured. I had no wages at this place, only a few clothes.” What shocks me is, not just that a nine year old girl is expected to maid a whole house (on her own!), but also that she could not read or write.

If the girl was lucky, she may have a mother or grandmother, who having been in service themselves, could give her some ‘tips’ and ‘hints’ on how to move on in Service. In 1868, Louisa Mist (nee Angel) wrote to her granddaughter, who was 12/13 years of age at the time, Topsy Dorcas Mist who had just gone into Service for the first time, working for Miss Prewett: “O my child do keep your place, such a good place and Miss Pruet in her letter said she assisted you to make your frock, and I make no doubt but that she would show you to make you things too, and such good wages for a girl of your age. I hope you will keep your place a long time and if you are not let out on Sundays, only to church, what a good thing, how many temptations you escape by being quiet at home. Please give my kindest love and respect to Miss Pruet and your fellow servant and accept the same from your loving Grandmother L.Mist.” These young girls had to grow up very quickly!

The ultimate in Service was to work for a ‘gentleman’ but most worked in much smaller households where just one or two servants were employed. These included the professional classes = doctors, lawyers, clergy, bank managers, clerks and schoolmasters, as well as tradesmen and shopkeepers. An interesting fact is that hotels, schools and hospitals also employed servants. As domestic servants were cheap and plentiful (until the end of the 19th Century), families with any kind of social ‘pretensions’ employed at least one servant. Keeping a servant or servants was a very visible status symbol but also a very practical need. At this time there were no ‘modern appliances’ (hoovers, washing machines, hot running water), so a servant was an essential assistance in running a respectable home.

The male servant received higher wages because the Master had to pay a tax on them. Therefore, only the wealthy employed a male servant or servants. These servants were more of a status symbol. A survey in 1899 by Clara Collet (Money Wages of Indoor Domestic Servants) tells us that the majority of male domestic servants worked in ‘large households employing over six servants, and the vails (tips in money) received by them were a very much larger item in their earning than in the case of women in such households.’ The ‘vails’ (tips in money) were given to the footmen, valets and butlers by the house-guests they had served. In 1891, just 5 per 10,000 of the male population over the age of 10 were employed for indoor domestic service. In contrast, 1,169 per 10,000 females were employed in domestic service. Eventually, the female servants took on the duties of the male servants because they were cheaper to employ. Male servants were now in demand for the outdoor work as gardeners, grooms and chauffeurs (this was on landed estates).

You could ‘get on’ in Service if you were prepared to work many years before being promoted. The footman could work his way up to be an under-butler and then eventually the butler. The scullery maid could become a kitchen-maid and then a ‘plain’ cook. If a housemaid or parlour maid was lucky enough to be able to read and write and was a good needlewoman, she could eventually become the housekeeper or a lady’s maid. However, the opportunity to be promoted within the same household was rare, so servants usually had to move on to another establishment. For the servants who worked alone or with just one other servant, this was impossible because of the lack of ‘professional’ training.

Today, we live such different lives that we can only ‘wonder’ at our grandmothers ‘living in Service.’ Our fascination with ‘Domestic Service’ seems endless as we read each new book that comes out on this one subject alone. Grateful that the Law has raised the school leaving age to 18, I can’t help feeling sorry for the little 9 year old girl who left home to work for strangers as a ‘maid-of-all-work’ and she couldn’t even read or write! I’ll never complain about my job ever again.

(My research comes from the books: Life Below Stairs and Britain’s Stately Homes.)