Many thousands of people today have servants in their family trees. This is not surprising since, by 1871, there were more than 1.3 million listed on the census and, until World War One, domestic service was the largest single employment sector for women. But how did our ancestors find their ‘places’ – their jobs? The answer depends to a large extent on where they lived and wanted to work, and the period in which they were working.

18th century domestic service
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Britain had not yet become an urban nation. Before the development of railways and newspapers, it was difficult to make long journeys and to find out about jobs far from home so servants usually looked for work close by. Learning about a vacancy through word of mouth and being personally recommended to an employer were the main ways of finding a place at this time. In small villages and towns, everyone knew everyone else so the local vicar, shopkeeper or schoolmaster might be able to find a first place in service for a young girl. Personal contacts were also important for the mistresses of landed estates who regularly corresponded with their relatives and acquaintances to exchange information about servants and to ask if they knew of any suitable candidates.

Another way in which the 18th century servant could find work was at the annual ‘statute’, ‘hiring’ or ‘mop’ fair. Usually held in September or October in market towns across Britain, farm servants traditionally found employment for the coming year at these fairs. Prospective servants stood in the marketplace holding emblems of their occupations, waiting to be chosen by a local farmer or squire. Female servants who attended the fairs were usually dairymaids, but sometimes cooks and housemaids also sought work there. The employer would give each servant a shilling in proof of the hiring, leaving him or her free for the rest of the day to enjoy the fun of the fair.

The heyday of domestic servants
With the expansion of the railway network in the mid-Victorian period, it was no longer necessary for servants to settle for a place in their home town. Now it was easier than ever for them to travel further afield for a job with better prospects or higher wages, and the development of national and provincial newspapers brought tantalising advertisements of vacancies to even the smallest towns and villages. The bright lights of London and other large British cities were always attractive, as were seaside resorts such as Brighton and Blackpool. They were popular for both male and female servants who wanted to broaden their horizons and see something of life. At the same time, there was a surge of demand for their services from middle-class households for whom servant-keeping was a symbol of respectability.

Of those 1.3 million domestic servants on the 1871 census, only 105,745 were male. Domestic service was always an occupation dominated by women, and male servants, such as butlers, footmen and valets, were usually employed in gentlemen’s service, not in ordinary middle-class homes. This was because only the wealthy could afford to keep them; their wages were higher than those of female servants and from the late 18th century until 1937, their employers had to pay a tax on them.

The census reveals that many domestic staff worked far away from their place of birth. This was particularly the case for those employed in wealthy country houses because it was often necessary to move to gain promotion. For example, in 1871, the servants at Himley Hall, Staffordshire came from as far away as Norfolk, Yorkshire and Monmouthshire. In common with other landed families, the Earl of Dudley, who owned Himley Hall, also kept a London residence so it’s not surprising to find some servants originally came from Middlesex.

The tradition of hiring fairs started to die out from the mid-19th century but they were still held in some areas until the end of the Victorian period. Personal recommendation remained a useful way to find domestic work and in her Book of Household Management (1861), Isabella Beeton advised “the mistress to make inquiry amongst her circle of friends and acquaintances, and her tradespeople. The latter generally know those in their neighbourhood, who are wanting situations, and will communicate with them, when a personal interview with some of them will enable the mistress to form some idea of the characters of the applicants”. However, two other methods of finding employment also became commonplace by the mid-19th century.

Newspaper advertisements
The ‘situations vacant’ columns in newspapers were an extremely popular way of finding a place. Advertisements could be very specific about the attributes required including age, height and appearance, especially for ‘above stairs’ servants such as footmen and parlourmaids. Here is an example from the Times (31 August 1880):

PARLOURMAID for a gentleman’s family in the country (Lincolnshire) REQUIRED at once. A little housework, with attendance on a lady. An excellent waitress. Good character and nice appearance indispensable. Height 5ft 5. Age from 25. Wages £20, all found. Address, E.M., Becklands, near Grimsby.

Advertisements frequently specified ‘country girls preferred’ because maids from rural areas were considered more biddable and less ambitious than their city cousins. The phrase ‘all found’ usually meant that tea, sugar, beer and washing were included in the wages, plus all meals and lodging. Some advertisements specified ‘no beer’ while others listed wages without extra allowances.

Many wealthy households kept a pair of footmen and when advertising for a new one, they specified an exact height so that their male servants would match; keeping the height the same also meant there was no need for new liveries to be made.

Servants’ registry offices
Dating back to the late 18th century, servants’ registry offices operated in the same way as today’s employment agencies. From the mid-Victorian period, there was a proliferation of new registries in large cities and smaller provincial market towns to meet the demand for servants from the middle classes. These offices were frequently run by ex-servants who had retired from domestic service.

Ladies wanting servants would contact a servant’s registry with their requirements, such as the type of servant and salary provided. The office would then match up male and female servants with employers. Servants’ registries also advertised in newspapers, often in discreetly worded messages placed on behalf of the gentry. In most cases, both mistress and servant paid a fee for the service. Charities such as the Girls’ Friendly Society, the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants (MABYS) and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) also ran registries.

A good ‘character’

To be able to move on to a place with higher pay or better prospects, servants needed a good ‘character’. This was the reference which employers provided when a servant left a place, and it was referred to in newspaper advertisements in terms of the number of years served.

Unfortunately, there was no legal requirement for mistresses to provide references. If a ‘character’ was not forthcoming to show to a future employer, it would automatically be assumed that the servant was an unsatisfactory employee. By the same token, a mistress might write an untruthfully positive reference just to be rid of a troublesome maid, passing the problem on to the next employer.

In the last quarter of the 19th century, education expanded the horizons of young girls and new employment opportunities were available for them in factories and shops.

This led to a reduction in servant numbers and to the so-called ‘servant problem’. The forces of supply and demand meant that those who stayed in domestic service could be choosy about their places and were no longer prepared to settle for low pay and poor working conditions.