07-24-2021, 05:44 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
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Demographics of servants etc
Demographics only in a loose sense - though actual demographics would be interesting too...
I'm interested in a population-level overview of domestic servants, in eras where all well-to-do households had at least some sort of maid, cook or similar - particularly 17th to early 20th centuries. Specifically: roughly what proportion of households had servants? What proportion had more than one or two? (Not very well-defined, since servants don't have to be live-in, I guess.) Obviously it varies, but any examples/generalities welcome. This is a world-building question rather than specifically GURPS, or even role-playing, but hopefully of some wider interest. Any good general sources for this kind of information? GURPS supplements would be great, but pointers to academic sources would be good too. Thanks!
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Paul Blackwell |
07-24-2021, 02:38 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
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07-26-2021, 04:55 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
Quote from Agatha Christie, she never thought she would be so rich as to afford a car or so poor she couldn't afford a servant.
If you lived in a boarding house you effectively shared servants. The landlady and her maid(s) and possibly cook cleaned your room, cooked your meals and possibly did your laundry. |
07-26-2021, 06:37 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
From Comme il Faut, a supplement on Victorian society for R. Talsorian's Castle Falkenstein rpg, pp. 34-36:
"Servants are often the backbone of the economy -- we're talking up to 16% of the workforce in a place like England, ... "A good-sized house may employ upwards of ten to twenty servants (or "domestics"). That's typical of a well-to-do manor; a palace or a schloss may have as many as a hundred people scurrying around doing the work of keeping things running." |
07-27-2021, 09:16 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lancashire, UK
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
This page has some interesting analysis of UK census information, including various references to servants:
Vision of Britain There will be lots of information like this available for Britain over the last hundred years or so. The tricky bit is finding the specific stuff one is interested in. |
07-27-2021, 01:38 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
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Paul Blackwell |
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07-27-2021, 01:40 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
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Paul Blackwell |
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07-28-2021, 12:40 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lancashire, UK
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
Happy to help - the ONS in the UK is pretty free with their info, the trick is getting hold of it and the analysis.
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08-01-2021, 03:58 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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08-02-2021, 09:31 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Demographics of servants etc
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Also, I'm reminded that dairymaids were suprisingly well paid for female servants - apparently they required a great deal of skill and a good one had the capacity to make a lot of money for their employer. |
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