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well off?
| Profile | Posted by | Options | Post Date |
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Baby | Report | 14 Sep 2005 16:41 |
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would a household have to have been quite well off to have a servant? |
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Merry | Report | 14 Sep 2005 16:45 |
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Not really! Some just got their keep. Also if you see a servant in a house, it's possible they were lodging there and working elsewhere. They should be down as a lodger/boarder of course, but the census can be misleading lol Merry |
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Unknown | Report | 14 Sep 2005 16:51 |
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In Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, Fanny's poor family in Portsmouth have a servant. It was considered a socially respectable thing to do. During the 1st WW when many servants were required for the war effort, women who didn't go out to work were encouraged to do their own housework. After WW1 it was much harder to recruit servants, as there were other jobs about which paid better and weren't so demanding. A better indication of wealth is the kind of servant. A household with just a 'servant' isn't as well to do as one with a lady's maid, parlour maid, kitchen maid, cook, butler and footmen! nell |
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Kate | Report | 14 Sep 2005 18:03 |
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But surely Fanny's 'poor' family were only poor compared to her aunt's family, they weren't working class. Kate. |
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Unknown | Report | 14 Sep 2005 18:23 |
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Obviously not, which is why they had a servant. nell |
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Gwyn in Kent | Report | 14 Sep 2005 18:31 |
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For some of my relatives, I've just thought of 'Servant' as their listed employment, not necessarily anything to do with the rest of the household. If a young woman went daily to help at The Big House for example, she may well live at home or with relatives nearby. |
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Unknown | Report | 14 Sep 2005 20:29 |
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Some of my Lyons had a servant aged 15...meanwhile their daughter was working as a servant for another family...they were brickys so don't think they were well off x |
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An Olde Crone | Report | 14 Sep 2005 23:01 |
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Considering that a live-in Maid of all work received an ANNUAL salary of between £5 and £10, and considering that many poor families sent their very young children out to service - it saved feeding them and brought in a few useful coppers, then all except the really poor could afford a Servant. The Servant was often a relation of some sort and you could turn it round to say that the family employing her were in fact helping the girl's family out. Olde Crone |
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