The Domestic Servant in Eighteenth-Century England

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-90716-1
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 254 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 395 g

Reihe: Routledge Revivals

Although the importance of domestic servants in eighteenth-century England has long been recognized, The Domestic Servant in Eighteenth-Century England (first published in 1956, reviving the 1980 edition here) is the first attempt to investigate comprehensively what was the largest occupational group at that time. A wide variety of source material has been used—the diaries, memoirs, letters, magazines, newspapers and literary works, as well as pamphlets and treatises on social and economic problems of the day. A wealth of data has also been drawn from contemporary works on service, servants, and household management. The study is thus able to reconstruct the principal lineaments of the servant ‘class’ and to demonstrate the significance of the group in relation to the society of which it formed a part. Such aspects of the group as its composition, size and structure, the means by which it was recruited, the hopes and ambitions of its members, the nature of their social status, and the conditions under which they lived and laboured are all fully treated. The result of this thorough examination is a cogent work of sociological history.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hecht, J. Jean

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction  1. The demand and supply of servants 2. The servant hierarchy 3. The relationship of master and servant 4. The conditions of service: housing, diet, clothing 5. The conditions of service: recreation  6. The rewards of service: pecuniary profits 7. The rewards of service: social advancement  8. The servant class as a cultural nexus

Über Autor(innen)

J. Jean Hecht was a specialist in sociological history and a member of the faculty of Columbia University. He was the principal founder of the Conference in British Studies and the Anglo-American Associates. The Trans-Atlantic Council awarded him its Churchill medal for his efforts to promote the study of English history and culture in the United States.