As I was growing up, I first saw a Butler in the 1970s TV Series Upstairs Downstairs with Gordon Jackson as the dour Scottish Butler Hudson. Much later in Downton Abbey we saw the hardnosed but soft centred Mr Carson played by the wonderful Jim Carter.

Research

While undertaking research for clients I have come across a number of Butlers and it’s been interesting to understand their backgrounds and the families they worked for.

Where did the role of the Butler come from?

We know the Butler as the principal male servant in a grand house but where did the job come from? The word Butler, comes from the Old French boteillier “officer in charge of wine”.

Over time the position evolved from taking care of the wine cellar to being the top job for a man among the servants. The Butler would oversee dining arrangements, serve wine at dinner and supervise the footmen who would serve the food. The butler would choose the wine and serve it at dinner. He would also attend to the needs of the family and any guests in the dining and drawing room and be available to attend to their every demand, whatever the time of day, at the tinkle of a bell.

The Butler would normally wear a uniform to separate him from the more junior servants; the photograph is of William Endersby, the grandfather of one of my clients, taken sometime in the 1930s. The butler would also be responsible for other male servants – the footmen, the coachmen and the grooms. The housekeeper would be responsible for the female servants.

Who was William Endersby?

William Endersby worked with the Broughton family at Bakeham House in Englefield Green, Surrey in the 1930s.  Baptised James William Endersby, he was born in November 1908 in a farming community in Bedfordshire (now a district of St Neots, Cambridgeshire). Although baptised James, he was known as William for the rest of his life. William’s unmarried mother Mary was a housemaid who worked away from home while William was brought up by his grandfather; a farm labourer.

From the research undertaken it was likely that William started working as a servant for the Broughton family as a young man; they are connected with the nearby Anglesey Abbey in Cambridge.  In 1934 William was recorded in the Electoral Registers for Chertsey in Surrey, living at Bakeham House. He married the Broughton family children’s nanny in the spring of 1936 after which he moved into “the Lodge” a private house on the Broughton’s estate.  By 1945 William had set up a decorating and building repair business in nearby Englefield Green where he lived until he passed away in 1964.

Butler turned Publican

Arthur Shopland was the licensee of the Queen’s Arms public house in Addlestone from around 1937 to 1956. It was his marriage record that showed he had been a Butler of a private house in West Clandon in Surrey.

It is not uncommon to see former servants, such as Butlers, became publicans; they often saw a pub as a way of providing a job until their retirement and a roof over their head.

Did you have a Butler in your family?

If you would like to find out where they worked and what sort of house they worked in, give me a call or fill out my Enquiry Form for a FREE 30 minute consultation.

Records used  in the research:

GRO birth, marriage, death
Parish Registers
Kelly’s Directory
Electorial Registers
Who’s Who
1939 Register
Census records of England & Wales