Except for agricultural labourer, domestic servant was the most common occupation recorded in the 1851 census. Two decades later it took the top spot, with a servant population of 1,237,149, and the fame of some servants far exceeds the profession’s ostensible status. For example, Bridget Holmes was the ‘necessary woman’ who scrubbed royal chamberpots through the reigns of Charles I, Charles II, James II, William III and Mary II, while Mohammed Abdul Karim, ‘the Munshi’, attended Queen Victoria for the last 14 years of her reign.
However, the life of the domestic servant was tough. A footman at Londonderry House in Mayfair once wore a pedometer during the London Season. In one day he walked 18 miles without even leaving the house.
Here we’ve listed rare primary sources, as well…