Many of our ancestors were domestic servants, among the staff in a large establishment, or general menservants or maids in smaller homes. Their clothes often reflected the division of labour within the household and their individual position within the servant hierarchy. Superior male servants, namely house stewards, butlers and valets generally followed current fashions in smart daywear and evening dress, but tended to lag respectfully behind their master. Conversely, the lower menservants such as footmen, coachmen, grooms, postilions and porters in affluent households were usually provided with special identifying livery.

Richly braided livery suits fashioned in the family colours, their heraldic crest embroidered on the coat, derived from medieval custom and became increasingly fashionable in the expanding cities of Georgian Britain. Initially livery followed the style of contemporary dress and comprised a frock coat, waistcoat, breeches, stockings, buckled shoes, powdered wig and a beaver hat. The turned-down coat collar and turned-back cuffs were usually of a contrasting colour, garments further ornamented with costly silver or gold lace and fringing. Over time, liveries became increasingly extravagant: ostentatious, personalised servants’ livery visibly expressed a family’s wealth and status, just when fashionable gentlemen themselves were themselves favouring a subtler ‘country’ look of plain frock coat, riding breeches and boots.

In some houses, elaborate livery was worn only between noon and early evening, that is, during social visiting hours or when guests were entertained; otherwise footmen and other lower servants wore plain frock coats and aprons when undertaking regular duties away from the public eye. Precise arrangements concerning provision of clothing varied: often two different livery suits – formal and everyday – were provided, the servant then buying his own shoes, linen, stockings and wig out of his wages. By the late 1700s lower servants’ picturesque livery had diverged considerably from regular male dress, becoming a ‘fossilised’, colourful form of archaic costume somewhat resembling formal court dress.

In Victorian residences mainly only footmen wore sumptuous silver- or gold-laced coats, velvet breeches, silk stockings and buckled shoes or pumps, although sometimes the butler, coachmen and postilions also wore such outfits. In old landowning families livery colours were a long-established tradition, but nouveau riche households often invented garish ‘family colours’ for their retainers. By the early 1900s a dark tail coat, black, white or traditional striped waistcoat and a white bow tie were usual for footmen’s formal wear in prosperous households, although ornate 18th century-style livery was still favoured by the nobility.

Jayne Shrimpton is a professional dress historian and picture specialist, and author of several family photo and dress history books. Read her features on the Edwardian home and Edwardian photos in Issue 8 of our print edition, out now – see discoveryourancestors.co.uk