| Duties |
The 1st Footman | Footmen
at |
Pay and Accommodation | The footman’s livery |
The Footman
The footman was essentially
the butler’s understudy. His main duties were to wait at table, clean the
household plate, answer the drawing-room and parlour bells, and accompany
the carriage on outings. Footmen were chosen for their good-looks and height,
and were dressed in ostentatious livery. In the best households they were
perfectly matched in height and trained to act in unison, knocking on doors
or serving dishes with a synchronised flourish. They were expected to have
fine calves, and often wore ‘falsies’ to make their legs more attractive.
The footman’s day
began at 6.30 or
During the day, he
was on hall-duty, answering the door to callers, taking cards and announcing
guests. He was expected to deliver letters and cards on arrival and dispatch
her lady-ship’s letters promptly. If a carriage was ordered, day or night, he
went out with it.
At mealtimes, he
assisted the butler in laying the table. He rang the dressing-bell half an hour
before dinner, and later rang the dinner-bell, before taking up position to the
left behind the master’s chair, to assist in serving. After dinner, he cleared
the plates and glasses before serving tea to the ladies in the drawing room and
attending to the needs of the men in the smoking room. He lit the candles and
lamps at dusk, and last thing at night, he handed the bedroom candles to each
member of the household as they retired to bed. His day was not over yet, however, as before going to bed he had to wash his hair
free of sticky powder.
If there was more
than one footman, the 1st footman served her ladyship, who often
called him James, regardless of his Christian name! He carried her tray to her
room when she wanted breakfast in bed, and stood behind her chair at dinner, to
emphasise her rank and status. He accompanied the mistress on her journeys and
visits, opening and closing the carriage door, warming her seat with a hot
water-bottle, and wrapping a blanket around her knees. Before setting off, he
received directions at the carriage door and passed them to the coachman, whom
he sat beside.
When his mistress
visited friends and neighbours, it was the footman who knocked at the door
or left calling cards. On outings, he walked behind her
The
“Did
I tell you we are now entirely without footmen, as the only one we had, which
was John, that you may remember in London, took it into his head to hire
himself to Mr. Eden the night before we left Dublin, and we were obliged to
come away without…Lord Carlow doesn’t mean to have any valet-de-chambre but a footman, which I am very glad of, as if he
dresses hair well enough, he will be of much more use than an upper servant. I
always regret Michael, for I have never had a footman I liked since”…
(Gleanings
from an Old Portfolio, I.157)
Advertisement for a footman
in
the Leinster
Express,
Footmen at
In his diaries
dated from 1907-44, Viscount Carlow remembers another footman at the house in
the early 20th century, Ned Whelan. Ned’s father was a labourer on
the estate and Ned was employed as a footman because of his great height,
rising in the ranks to become a valet to the Earl:
“Ned
Whalen, an unreliable rogue of roughly 6 foot 4 inches in height became a
footman in the house, afterwards to be promoted temporary valet to Papa.”
However, Ned
didn’t last long in the position, as the Viscount adds, “his unreliability got the
better of him and he soon vacated his post.”
We have no record
of what footmen at
Livery
The footman’s attire was referred to as livery
(deriving from the old French livree, meaning delivered, as Medieval
noblemen ‘delivered’ free uniforms to their servants). As the footman was
always on show, he was expected to be immaculately dressed. He had two sets
of formal livery, which were provided by his master: undress livery, worn
when doing menial tasks about the house, and dress livery, worn to impress
guests when waiting at the table.
With his powdered
hair and fancy livery, the footman made quite an impression, especially when
paired with another of matching height and good looks.
Powdering
his hair
In the best
houses, footmen were required to powder their hair daily. It was an undignified
process in which lots of soap and water was worked up into a stiff lather and
then carefully combed through the hair in even rows before the violet powder
was applied. The powder was notoriously itchy and scratching was, of course,
strictly forbidden.
Late at night, the
footman had to wash and oil his hair to free it from the clogging detritus,
before starting the process again the following morning. Because of a tax on
hair powder which was in place until 1869, some employers made their footmen economise
by using ordinary household flour! To the relief of many a footman, the practice
of powdering hair finally fell out of fashion in the early 20th
century.