In the Victorian period, there were more domestic servants than at any other time in history, and most of them were women. The 1851 census reveals that 575,162 females and 74,323 males were in service. More women worked as servants than in any other job.

The number of servants employed in a single family ranged from 50, in a great house, down to a single "maid-of-all-work" in a lower middle-class home. Only the working classes did not employ servants.

Mrs Beeton's chapter on servants was written for two types of reader. There were the upwardly mobile members of the growing middle class, employing servants for the first time, and unsure what to expect from them. The book was also aimed at the servants themselves, giving detailed practical instructions on how to clean boots, pour wine and sharpen knives. Mrs Beeton also offered general advice on behaviour, writing, "Masters as well as servants sometimes make mistakes; but it is not expected that a servant will correct any omissions."

Read Mrs Beeton's chapter on Domestic Servants here

Valet and lady's maid

Wealthy Victorians expected everything to be done for them. Valets and lady's maids helped their masters and mistresses dress in the morning and undress at night. Every morning, the lady's maid did her mistress's hair, strapped her into a tight corset and helped her put on her dress. Meanwhile, the valet laid out his master's clothes and brought him hot water, soap and a freshly stropped razor for shaving. Mrs Beeton explained how a valet should see his master off in the morning:

Having thus seen his master dressed, if he is about to go out, the valet will hand him his cane, gloves, and hat, the latter well brushed on the outside with a soft brush, and wiped inside with a clean handkerchief, respectfully attend him to the door, and open it for him, and receive his last orders for the day.

Housekeeper and butler

The senior female servant was the housekeeper, who was always called "Mrs" by the other servants, whether she was married or not. She kept the household accounts, and hired and fired the lower female servants, who were usually afraid of her. Her male equivalent was the butler, who was responsible for the wine cellar, and served wine at dinner. Mrs Beeton described how important this duty was, for "nothing spreads more rapidly in society than the reputation of a good wine-cellar". The butler dressed like a gentleman, though he wore the wrong type of tie (e.g. black rather than white) so that the diners would not mistake him for a fellow guest.

Footmen

Footmen answered the door, delivered letters, waited at dinner and polished the silver. They presented the public face of the household, and so they were chosen for their good looks and height. They powdered their hair and wore knee breeches with silk stockings, often padded to make their calves look shapely.

Housemaids

The housemaids did the cleaning. They blackleaded the fireplaces and carried pails of coal to make new fires each day. They also made beds, emptied chamber pots and swept the carpets. Mrs Beeton recommended "sprinkling the carpet with well-squeezed tea-leaves, or a little freshly-pulled grass" to "lay the dust" before sweeping.

Maid-of-all-work

The hardest working servant was the "maid-of-all-work", employed by lower middle-class people, such as clerks and tradesmen. She was the one servant whom Mrs Beeton felt sorry for:

Her life is a solitary one, and in, some places, her work is never done. She is also subject to rougher treatment than either the house or kitchen-maid, especially in her earlier career: she starts in life, probably a girl of thirteen, with some small tradesman’s wife as her mistress, just a step above her in the social scale.

Hannah Culwick, a maid-of-all-work for a Kilburn upholsterer, kept a diary. This is the entry for July 14, 1860, a typical working day, which lasted from 6.30am untill 11pm:

Opened the shutters and lighted the kitchen fire - shook my sooty things in the dusthole and emptied the soot there, swept and dusted the rooms and the hall, laid the cloth and got breakfast up- cleaned two pairs of boots - made the beds and emptied the slops, cleared and washed the breakfast things up - cleaned the plate - cleaned the knives and got dinner up - cleared away, cleaned the kitchen up - unpacked a hamper - took two chickens to Mrs Brewer's and brought a message back - made a tart and picked and gutted two ducks and roasted them - cleaned the steps and flags on my knees, blackleaded the scraper in the front of the house - cleaned the street flags too on my knees-had tea-cleared away-washed up in the scullery-cleaned the pantry on my knees and scoured the tables-scrubbed the flags round the house and cleaned the window sills-got tea at 9 for the master and Mrs Warwick in my dirt but Anne (a fellow-servant) carried it up - cleaned the privy and passage and scullery floor on my knees - washed the door and cleaned the sink down- put the supper ready for Ann to take up, for I was too dirty and tired to go upstairs.

The wonder is that she had the energy to write it all down!