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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Servants
Dear group
I've read quite a lot of Agatha Christie over the past years (being a longtime fan). AC's England, especially in the pre-WWII books, contain a social system that I only know from her books and the movies.
Anyway, AC often refers to various servants. I've tried to understand what the various servants/helps are suppose to do (their durties and relative ranks). Dictionaries are sometimes a help, but not always.
Could ye good people here perhaps provide me with some help? Instead of spending endless hours on Google, I thought that i might possibly learn more about these things by talking/writing to/with people who know better.
I'd appreciate any corrections and especially additions to the below. (They all derive from AC's books.)
HOUSEKEEPER
woman in charge of running the household
MAID
female servant below the rank of housekeeper
HOUSEMAID
(resident) maid who does housework
KITCHENMAID
girl who helps around in the kitchen
PARLOURMAID
maid whose main resp. is to dust paintings and statuettes
CHAMBERMAID
maid who cleans bedrooms
BETWEENMAID
?
COOK
servant who prepares the food
NURSE
well, a nurse
NURSE-ATTENDANT
nurse?s assistent?
GOVERNESS
woman teacher in private household
COMPANION
someone employed to provide company
DAILY HELP
non-resident household help
BUTLER
head servant; male servant in charge of wines, tables, etc.
GARDENER
man who does the gardening
UNDER-GARDENER
man who does the gardening
VALET
manservant acting as personal attendant
VALET-ATTENDANT
manservant acting as personal attendant
MANSERVANT
male servant, esp. a valet
EQUERRY
?
FOOTMAN
male servant, esp. one in livery
PAGE, PAGEBOY
boy who runs errands
STAND-BY
servant who is ready at all hours
CONCIERGE
?
jouni maho
I've read quite a lot of Agatha Christie over the past years (being a longtime fan). AC's England, especially in the pre-WWII books, contain a social system that I only know from her books and the movies.
Anyway, AC often refers to various servants. I've tried to understand what the various servants/helps are suppose to do (their durties and relative ranks). Dictionaries are sometimes a help, but not always.
Could ye good people here perhaps provide me with some help? Instead of spending endless hours on Google, I thought that i might possibly learn more about these things by talking/writing to/with people who know better.
I'd appreciate any corrections and especially additions to the below. (They all derive from AC's books.)
HOUSEKEEPER
woman in charge of running the household
MAID
female servant below the rank of housekeeper
HOUSEMAID
(resident) maid who does housework
KITCHENMAID
girl who helps around in the kitchen
PARLOURMAID
maid whose main resp. is to dust paintings and statuettes
CHAMBERMAID
maid who cleans bedrooms
BETWEENMAID
?
COOK
servant who prepares the food
NURSE
well, a nurse
NURSE-ATTENDANT
nurse?s assistent?
GOVERNESS
woman teacher in private household
COMPANION
someone employed to provide company
DAILY HELP
non-resident household help
BUTLER
head servant; male servant in charge of wines, tables, etc.
GARDENER
man who does the gardening
UNDER-GARDENER
man who does the gardening
VALET
manservant acting as personal attendant
VALET-ATTENDANT
manservant acting as personal attendant
MANSERVANT
male servant, esp. a valet
EQUERRY
?
FOOTMAN
male servant, esp. one in livery
PAGE, PAGEBOY
boy who runs errands
STAND-BY
servant who is ready at all hours
CONCIERGE
?
jouni maho
Top answer
Jouni Filip Maho typed thus: [nq:1]Dear group I've read quite a lot of Agatha Christie over the past years (being a longtime fan). AC's England, ... people who know better=.
- Jouni Filip Maho typed thus: [nq:1]Dear group I've read quite a lot of Agatha Christie over the past years (being a longtime fan).
- AC's England, ...
- people who know better=.
- I'd appreciate any corrections and especially additions to the below.
- )[/nq] I can comment on some of these, but you have to understand that we've=20 never actually employed a servant of any type.
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54 Answers
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Jouni Filip Maho typed thus:
[nq:1]Dear group I've read quite a lot of Agatha Christie over the past years (being a longtime fan). AC's England, ... people who know better=. I'd appreciate any corrections and especially additions to the below. (They all derive from AC's books.)[/nq]
I can comment on some of these, but you have to understand that we've=20 never actually employed a servant o
[nq:1]Dear group I've read quite a lot of Agatha Christie over the past years (being a longtime fan). AC's England, ... people who know better=. I'd appreciate any corrections and especially additions to the below. (They all derive from AC's books.)[/nq]
I can comment on some of these, but you have to understand that we've=20 never actually employed a servant o
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[nq:1]I ain't a Madam; I'm a concierge.[/nq]
Boids! Filthy, disgustin' boids!
Boids! Filthy, disgustin' boids!
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[nq:1]Jouni Filip Maho typed thus:[/nq]
[nq:2]COOK servant who prepares the food[/nq]
[nq:1](female)[/nq]
This is not a ***-specific label; I don't believe "chef" would have been used of a male cook, for example.
[nq:2]CONCIERGE[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't remember seeing this in AC. It's used in US English to refer to a sort of Janitor in an apartment block.[/nq]
She used it in at
[nq:2]COOK servant who prepares the food[/nq]
[nq:1](female)[/nq]
This is not a ***-specific label; I don't believe "chef" would have been used of a male cook, for example.
[nq:2]CONCIERGE[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't remember seeing this in AC. It's used in US English to refer to a sort of Janitor in an apartment block.[/nq]
She used it in at
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[nq:2]CONCIERGE[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't remember seeing this in AC.[/nq]
Would Monsieur Hercule Poirot have one when in Belgium?
R.
[nq:1]I don't remember seeing this in AC.[/nq]
Would Monsieur Hercule Poirot have one when in Belgium?
R.
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[nq:1]I can comment on some of these, but you have to understand that we've never actually employed a servant of any type.[/nq]
I take it that "we" refers to the people on AUE?
Doesn't the Royal Family still employ a lot of servants? Or do they have new, modernised labels nowadays?
jouni maho
I take it that "we" refers to the people on AUE?
Doesn't the Royal Family still employ a lot of servants? Or do they have new, modernised labels nowadays?
jouni maho
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[nq:2]I can comment on some of these, but you have to understand that we've never actually employed a servant of any type.[/nq]
[nq:1]I take it that "we" refers to the people on AUE? Doesn't the Royal Family still employ a lot of servants?[/nq]
They do, but I bet they sometimes wish they could do without. I've heard the POW doesn't (can't?) take his own clothes off.
R.
[nq:1]I take it that "we" refers to the people on AUE? Doesn't the Royal Family still employ a lot of servants?[/nq]
They do, but I bet they sometimes wish they could do without. I've heard the POW doesn't (can't?) take his own clothes off.
R.
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[nq:1]Dear group I've read quite a lot of Agatha Christie over the past years (being a longtime fan). AC's England, ... people who know better. I'd appreciate any corrections and especially additions to the below. (They all derive from AC's books.)[/nq]
It might be worth taking a look at the chapter in Mrs Beeton on "Domestic Servants". She goes into great detail about the duties of the variou
It might be worth taking a look at the chapter in Mrs Beeton on "Domestic Servants". She goes into great detail about the duties of the variou
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