Victorian England measured social acceptability in terms of the number of servants employed in a household. It is perhaps unsuprising then that this frequently overlooked body of workers actually formed the largest occupational group in the country at the end of the nineteenth century. In this illustrated account, Pamela Horn draws upon a wealth of contemporary sources and 'servants' books' as well as personal reminiscences by servants and employers. She presents a comprehensive record of recruitment and training; the duties expected by servants, and the wide range of conditions under which they worked, some of which led to happy retirement, others to prostitution or squalid death. It is a compelling picture of a vanished social system.
- ISBN10 0862992966
- ISBN13 9780862992965
- Publish Date September 1986 (first published September 1975)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 May 2011
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher The History Press Ltd
- Imprint Sutton Publishing Ltd
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 248
- Language English