The hierarchy of British domestic servants in a large manor in 1890 and their wages
During the 1990s and early 2000s Hollywood and Britain released several successful movies about life in the 1800s. Public interest in these films prompted BBC to produce made for TV reality shows showing what life was like during this era, notably The 1900 House and The Manor House. These shows got me wondering about the hierarchy of British domestic servants at the turn of the last century and how much they earned.
The chart that follows shows the hierarchy of the servants of a major manor house in 1890. Such an estate would consist of a family headed by a gentleman of titled nobility, such as a duke, or an extremely wealthy business man, such as the president of Lloyds of London or the Bank of England. Men of this level would have incomes of at least 10,000 pounds sterling a year, equivalent today after adjusting for the 1890 exchange rate of $4.87 US dollars per pound and a century of inflation to $1,200,000 per year. If this amount seems too small to support at large household of servants (around 1890 the Duke of Westminster had a staff of 50 indoor and another 50 outdoor servants) it has to be acknowledged that the disparity between the rich and the poor was much greater then than now. The average servant earned a mere 25 pounds a year or $2,700 in today's economy. Cheap labor is what made large staffs possible.
It was impossible to categorize every type of servant at the turn of the century. Many great houses had specialty niches into which they placed a servant that might not fit in any other house. While the basic structure of the servant hierarchy was similar from house to house, the complexity of the great houses was such that a one-size-fits-all approach was not possible. The following chart focuses only on the principle servants.
Two salaries are listed for each position. The first is what the position paid in 1890 pounds, the second is what that salary would equal today after adjusting for the 1890 exchange rate and inflation to 2005. These values are based on the averages cited in several different references and should only be considered as approximations. Individual salaries varied significantly depending on the servant's appearance, attitude, capabilities and the size of the house in which they worked.
Professional Staff Hierarchy
Land Steward
Responsible for managing the farms, collecting rents
and undertaking all those activities associated with
making the estate profitable. This would be a highly-
educated gentleman who was regarded not as a
servant but a professional employee with a status
higher than the family lawyer. In addition to an
annual salary of 100-300 pounds ($11,000-
$33,000) he would have a private house on
the estate.
House Steward
Responsible for all purchasing, hiring, firing and paying
the servant staff. He would not be considered a servant
but a professional man like a lawyer. Fifty to 100 pounds
($5,500-$11,000) per year.
Upper Staff Hierarchy
Butler
The highest ranking official servant. Responsible for running
the house. Forty to 60 pounds ($4,300-$6,400) per year.
He also received considerable "gratuity" money from venders
selling goods to maintain the house. In smaller estates the
butler assumed the house steward's responsibilities.
Housekeeper
Responsible for the female staff and maintaining the house's furnishings.
Her salary was usually 5 to 10 pounds less than the butler's
($3,700-$5,400) per year.
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