Butler (NYS
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A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a
domestic worker A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the
dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...
, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its appearance. A butler is usually male and in charge of male servants while a housekeeper is usually a woman and in charge of female servants. Traditionally, male servants (such as footmen) were better paid and of higher status than female servants. The butler, as the senior male servant, has the highest servant status. He can also sometimes function as a
chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...
. In older houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as ''
majordomo A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...
'', ''butler administrator'', ''house manager'', ''manservant'', ''staff manager'', ''
chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
'', ''staff captain'', ''estate manager'', and ''head of household staff'' are sometimes given. The precise duties of the employee will vary to some extent in line with the title given, but perhaps, more importantly in line with the requirements of the individual employer. In the grandest homes or when the employer owns more than one residence, there is sometimes an estate manager of higher rank than the butler. The butler can also be assisted by a head footman or footboy called the under-butler.


Background

The word "butler" comes from Anglo-Norman ''buteler'', variant form of Old Norman ''*butelier'', corresponding to Old French ''botellier'' "officer in charge of the king's wine bottles", derived of ''boteille'' "bottle" (Modern French ''bouteille)'', itself from Gallo-Romance BUTICULA "bottle". For centuries, the butler has been the attendant entrusted with the care and serving of wine and other bottled beverages, which in ancient times might have represented a considerable portion of the household's assets and led to the position becoming chief steward of a household. In Britain, the butler was originally a middle-ranking member of the staff of a grand household. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the butler gradually became the senior, usually male, member of a household's staff in the very grandest households. However, there was sometimes a steward who ran the outside estate and financial affairs, rather than just the household, and who was senior to the butler in social status into the 19th century. Butlers used always to be attired in a special uniform, distinct from the
livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
of junior servants, but today a butler is more likely to wear a business suit or business casual clothing and appear in uniform only on special occasions. A ''silverman'' or ''silver butler'' has expertise and professional knowledge of the management, secure storage, use and cleaning of all
silverware Silverware may refer to: * Household silver including **Tableware **Cutlery **Candlesticks *The work of a silversmith * Silverware is also a slang term for a collection of trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achieveme ...
, associated tableware and other paraphernalia for use at military and other special functions.


Origin and history

The modern role of the butler has evolved from earlier roles that were generally concerned with the care and serving of alcoholic beverages.


Ancient through medieval eras

From ancient through medieval times, alcoholic beverages were chiefly stored first in earthenware vessels, then later in wooden barrels, rather than in glass bottles; these containers would have been an important part of a household's possessions. The care of these assets was therefore generally reserved for trusted slaves, although the job could also go to free persons because of heredity-based class lines or the inheritance of trades. The biblical book of Genesis contains a reference to a role precursive to modern butlers. The early Hebrew Joseph interpreted a dream of Pharaoh's שקה (shaqah) (literally "to give to drink"), which is most often translated into English as "chief butler" or "chief cup-bearer." In ancient Greece and Rome, it was nearly always slaves who were charged with the care and service of wine, while during the Medieval Era the ''pincerna'' filled the role within the noble court. The English word "butler" itself comes from the Middle English word ''bo(u)teler'' (and several other forms), from Anglo-Norman ''buteler'', itself from Old Norman ''butelier'', corresponding to Old French ''botellier'' ("bottle bearer"), Modern French ''bouteiller'', and before that from Medieval Latin ''butticula''. The modern English "butler" thus relates both to bottles and casks. Eventually the European butler emerged as a middle-ranking member of the servants of a great house, in charge of the ''buttery'' (originally a storeroom for "butts" of liquor, although the term later came to mean a general storeroom or pantry). While this is so for household butlers, those with the same title but in service to the Crown enjoyed a position of administrative power and were only minimally involved with various stores.


Elizabethan through Victorian eras

The ''Steward'' of the Elizabethan era was more akin to the butler that later emerged. Gradually, throughout the 19th century and particularly the Victorian era, as the number of butlers and other domestic servants greatly increased in various countries, the butler became a senior male servant of a household's staff. By this time he was in charge of the more modern ''wine cellar'', the " buttery" or ''pantry'' (from French ''pain'' from Latin ''panis'', bread) as it came to be called, which supplied bread, butter, cheese, and other basic provisions, and the ''ewery'', which contained napkins and basins for washing and shaving. In the very grandest households there was sometimes an Estate Steward or other senior steward who oversaw the butler and his duties. '' Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management'', a manual published in Britain in 1861, reported:
The number of the male domestics in a family varies according to the wealth and position of the master, from the owner of the ducal mansion, with a retinue of attendants, at the head of which is the chamberlain and house-steward, to the occupier of the humbler house, where a single footman, or even the odd man-of-all-work, is the only male retainer. The majority of gentlemen's establishments probably comprise a servant out of livery, or butler, a footman, and coachman, or coachman and groom, where the horses exceed two or three.
Butlers were head of a strict service hierarchy and therein held a position of power and respect. They were more managerial than "hands on"—more so than serving, they officiated in service. For example, although the butler was at the door to greet and announce the arrival of a formal guest, the door was actually ''opened'' by a footman, who would receive the guest's hat and coat. Even though the butler helped his employer into his coat, this had been handed to him by a footman. However, even the highest-ranking butler would "pitch in" when necessary, such as during a staff shortage, to ensure that the household ran smoothly, although some evidence suggests this was so even during normal times. The household itself was generally divided into areas of responsibility. The butler was in charge of the dining room, the wine cellar, pantry, and sometimes the entire main floor. Directly under the butler was the ''first footman'' (or ''head footman''), although there could also be a ''deputy butler'' or ''under-butler'' who would fill in as butler during the butler's illness or absence. The '' footman''‒there were frequently numerous young men in the role within a household‒ performed a range of duties including serving meals, attending doors, carrying or moving heavy items, and they often doubled as '' valets''. Valets themselves performed a variety of personal duties for their employer. Butlers engaged and directed all these junior staff and each reported directly to him. The '' housekeeper'' was in charge of the house as a whole and its appearance. In a household without an official head housekeeper, female servants and kitchen staff were also directly under the butler's management, while in smaller households, the butler usually doubled as valet. Employers and their children and guests addressed the butler (and under-butler, if there was one) by last name alone; fellow servants, retainers, and tradespersons as "Mr. urname. Butlers were typically hired by the master of the house but usually reported to its lady. Beeton in her manual suggested a GBP 25–50 (US$2,675‒5,350) per-year salary for butlers; room and board and livery clothing were additional benefits, and tipping known as ''vails'', were common. The few butlers who were married had to make separate housing arrangements for their families, as did all other servants within the hierarchy.


In the early United States

From the beginning of slavery in the United States, in the early 17th century,
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
were put to task as domestic servants. Some eventually became butlers. Gary Puckrein, a social historian, argues that those used in particularly affluent homes authentically internalised the sorts of "refined" norms and personal attributes that would reflect highly upon the social stature of their masters or mistresses. One of the first books written and published through a commercial U.S. publisher by an African American was by a butler named Robert Roberts. The book, ''The House Servant's Directory,'' first published in 1827, is essentially a manual for butlers and waiters, and is called by Puckrein "the most remarkable book by an African American in antebellum United States". The book generated such interest that a second edition was published in 1828, and a third in 1843. European indentured servants formed a corps of domestic workers from which butlers were eventually drawn. Although not the victims of institutionalised slavery, many of them had not volunteered for domestic service, but were forced into it by indebtedness or coercion. As with African American slaves, they could rise in domestic service, and their happiness or misery depended greatly on the disposition of their masters.


The modern butler

Beginning around the early 1920s (following World War I), employment in domestic service occupations began a sharp overall decline in western European countries, and even more markedly in the United States. Even so, there were still around 30,000 butlers employed in Britain by World War II. As few as one hundred were estimated to remain by the mid-1980s.
Social historian Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...
Barry Higman argues that a high number of domestic workers within a society correlates with a high level of socio-economic inequality. Conversely, as a society undergoes levelling among its
social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...
es, the number employed in domestic service declines. Following varied shifts and changes accompanying accelerated
globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
beginning in the late 1980s, overall global demand for butlers since the turn of the millennium has risen dramatically. According to Charles MacPherson, President of Charles MacPherson Associates and owner of The Charles MacPherson Academy for Butlers and Household Managers, the proximate cause is that the number of millionaires and billionaires has increased in recent years, and such people are finding that they desire assistance in managing their households. MacPherson emphasises that the number of wealthy people in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
has increased particularly, creating in that country a high demand for professional butlers who have been trained in the European butlering tradition. There is also increasing demand for such butlers in other Asian countries, India, and the petroleum-rich Middle East. Higman additionally argues that the inequality/equality levels of societies are a major determinant of the nature of the domestic servant/employer relationship. As the 21st century approached, many butlers began carrying out an increasing number of duties formerly reserved for more junior household servants. Butlers today may be called upon to do whatever household and personal duties their employers deem fitting, in the goal of freeing their employers to carry out their own personal and professional affairs. Professional butler and author Steven M. Ferry states that the image of tray-wielding butlers who specialise in serving tables and decanting wine is now anachronistic, and that employers may well be more interested in a butler who is capable of managing a full array of household affairs‒from providing the traditional dinner service, to acting as valet, to managing high-tech systems and multiple homes with complexes of staff. While in truly grand houses the modern butler may still function exclusively as a top-ranked household affairs manager, in lesser homes, such as those of dual-income middle-class professionals, they perform a full array of household and personal assistant duties, including mundane housekeeping. Butlers today may also be situated within corporate settings, embassies, cruise ships, yachts, or within their own small "Rent-a-Butler" business or similar agency. Along with these changes of scope and context, butlering attire has changed. Whereas butlers have traditionally worn a special uniform that separated them from junior servants, and although this is still often the case, butlers today may wear more casual clothing geared for climate, while exchanging it for formal business attire only upon special service occasions. There are cultural distinctions, as well. In the United States, butlers may frequently don a polo shirt and slacks, while in Bali they typically wear sarongs. In 2007, the number of butlers in Britain had risen to an estimated 5,000. That number rose to 10,000 by 2014, consistent with increased worldwide demand.


Training

Butlers traditionally learned their position while progressing their way up the service ladder. For example, in the documentary ''The Authenticity of Gosford Park'', retired butler Arthur Inch (born 1915) describes starting as a hall boy. While this is still often the case, numerous private butlering schools exist today. Additionally, major up-market hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton offer traditional butler training, while some hotels have trained a sort of pseudo-butler for service in defined areas such as "
technology butler Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
s", who fix guests' computers and other electronic devices, and "bath butlers" who draw custom baths.


Gender and butlering

Butlers have traditionally been male, and this remains the norm. Probably the first mention of a female butler is in the 1892 book ''Interludes being Two Essays, a Story, and Some Verses'' by Horace Smith. In it Smith quotes the noted writer and Anglican clergyman Sydney Smith, who between 1809 and 1829 struggled to make ends meet in a poorly paid assignment to a rural parish in Yorkshire:
"I turned schoolmaster to educate my son, as I could not afford to send him to school. Mrs. Sydney turned schoolmistress to educate my girls as I could not afford a governess. I turned farmer as I could not let my land. A man servant was too expensive, so I caught up a little garden girl, made like a milestone, christened her Bunch, put a napkin in her hand, and made her my butler. The girls taught her to read, Mrs. Sydney to wait, and I undertook her morals. Bunch became the best butler in the country.
Today, female butlers are sometimes preferred, especially for work within West Asian and
Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
families where there may be religious objections for men to work closely with women in a household. Western female celebrities may also prefer a female butler, as may households where the wife is driving the decision to hire a butler. Despite these trends, the Ivor Spencer School asserts that female butlers are not easily placed, on the whole. In ancient times, the roles precursive to butlering were reserved for chattel or those confined within heredity-based class structures. With the advent of the medieval era, butlering became an opportunity for social advancement‒even more so during Victorian times. Although still based upon various antecedent roles as manifested during different eras, butlering today has frequently taken over many of the roles formerly reserved for lower-ranking domestic servants. At the same time it has become a potentially lucrative career option.


Notable butlers

* Eugene Allen, White House butler who served under seven U.S. presidents *
Leslie Bartlett Leslie Bartlett (died 2004) was a butler, toastmaster and founder of the London School of British Butlers. He also was an advisor to the 1995 film ''The Grotesque (film), The Grotesque''. References

2004 deaths Year of birth missing Briti ...
, butler, toastmaster; and founder of The London School of British Butlers * Paul Burrell, butler to
Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
*
Alonzo Fields Alonzo Fields (April 10, 1900 – March 22, 1994)Sam Stiegler, "When Speaking About Me, 'Don’t Talk too Long and Don’t Tell the Truth': A Biography of Mr. Alonzo Fields (1900–1994), West Medford Afro-American Remembrance Project, 2005Availa ...
, White House chief butler from 1932 to 1953 *
Grant Harrold Grant William Veitch Harrold (born 1978 in Airdrie, Scotland) is a former butler to Charles III now a British etiquette expert, and broadcaster. Career He worked as a butler for Charles III from 2004 to 2011, when King Charles was Prince of ...
butler to Charles, Prince of Wales from 2004 to 2011


In visual art

Butlers have been occasionally depicted in visual art. A famous painting, '' Heads of Six of Hogarth's Servants'' (c. 1758), is unique among such works. In it, the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth depicted his household servants, all surrounding the butler. In showing the group in a close-knit assemblage rather than in the performance of their routine household duties, Hogarth sought to humanise and dignify them in a manner akin to wealthy-class members, who were the normal subjects of such portraits. While this was a subversive act that certainly raised many eyebrows in his day‒Hogarth conspicuously displayed the work in his estate home in full view of guests‒at the same time he had painted his servants' facial expressions to convey the sincerity and deference expected of servant-class members. In contemporary art, "The Butler's in Love" series by U.S. artist
Mark Stock Mark Stock (August 4, 1951 – March 26, 2014) was an American painter. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1951. The son of an Army officer, Stock lived in many states across America before settling in St. Petersburg, Florida. He received h ...
is especially poignant. In the series, Stock portrays the butler as sick with love, but the possibility of fulfillment is hopeless: the love is a forbidden love, perhaps felt for the lady of the house, and so it must be suffered alone in silent concealment. In addition to the ongoing mannerisms and facial expressions of the butler, a seated lady once appearing in a curtained room and a recurring lipstick-stained
absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Historical ...
glass over which the butler obsesses provide the interpretive clues. In selecting a butler as his subject, Stock sought to provide a "universal character", a pathos-laden figure that could be widely related to and that could depict the universality of loneliness felt by someone who can only look in from the outside. Stock began the series in 1985 to express his difficult feelings during a personal experience of unrequited love. One of the paintings was inspiration for a
3-D 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...
short film, "The Butler's in Love" by actor/director David Arquette, shot in 2008 at San Francisco's historic Westerfield Mansion.


In fiction

The real-life modern butler attempts to be discreet and unobtrusive, friendly but not familiar, keenly anticipative of the needs of his or her employer, and graceful and precise in execution of duty. The butler of fiction, by contrast, often tends to be larger than life and has become a plot device in literature and a traditional role in the
performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
. Butlers may provide comic relief with wry comments, clues as to the perpetrators of various crimes, and are represented as at least as intelligent and moral as their “betters,” or even more so. They are often portrayed as being serious and expressionless and in the case that the wealthy hero is an orphan‒such as
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, Chrono Crusade's Satella Harvenheit, or Tomb Raider's Lara Croft‒may be a father figure to said hero. Regardless of the genre in which they are cast, butlers in fiction almost invariably follow the "British butler" model and are given an appropriate-sounding surname. The fictional butler tends to be given a typical Anglo-Celtic surname and have an English accent. The Asian, African American, or Caribbean houseboy is a variant, but even these major-domos are based on the British icon. Today, butlers are usually portrayed as being refined and well-spoken. However, in 19th century fiction such as ''
Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
'', butlers generally spoke with a strong Cockney or other regional accent. "The butler" is integral to the plot of countless potboilers and
melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...
s, whether or not the character has been given a name. Butlers figure so prominently in period pieces and whodunits that they can be considered
stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...
s in
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and theatre, where a catchphrase is "The butler did it!" The best-known fictional manservant, and the archetype of the quintessential British butler, is himself not a butler at all. Reginald Jeeves, the iconic creation of author P. G. Wodehouse is a "
gentleman's gentleman A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "vale ...
" and general factotum. Probably the best-known fictional butlers are Alfred from the ''
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
'' comic and films; Hudson of
Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...
television fame; Mr Carson from the Downton Abbey television series; and Crichton from J. M. Barrie's '' The Admirable Crichton''. Lesser-knowns include Mr. Belvedere from the novel ''Belvedere'', which was adapted into a feature film with sequels and later a television series; Lurch, from the television series '' The Addams Family'', based on Charles Addams' '' The New Yorker'' cartoons; Beach, from the Wodehouse series about Blandings Castle; Niles, the butler at the Sheffield house in American sitcom '' The Nanny'', Geoffrey from
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart t ...
, Bailey (an English canine butler) from the children's animated television series '' Arthur'' and Benson from the two series '' Soap'' and '' Benson''. Not all fictional butlers portray the "butler stereotype", however.
Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...
, who played the butler Jennings in the film '' Gosford Park'' was coached in brooding detail by Arthur Inch, a longtime real-life butler. Mr. Stevens, the butler played by Anthony Hopkins in the film ''
Remains of the Day ''The Remains of the Day'' is a 1989 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author Kazuo Ishiguro. The protagonist, Stevens, is a butler with a long record of service at Darlington Hall, a stately home near Oxford, England. In 1956, he take ...
'', was also acted with remarkable realism. A female butler, Sarah Stevens, is the principal character in Linda Howard's 2002 ''Dying to Please'', a murder/romance novel. Howard gives detailed and generally accurate descriptions of butlering in the work.


Examples

* Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler from
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
*
Angus Hudson Angus Hudson is a fictional character from the ITV drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', portrayed by actor Gordon Jackson from 1971 until 1975. Biography Hudson was the authoritarian Scottish butler of the Bellamy household at 165 Eaton Place, ...
, from the television show ''
Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...
'' * Austin, from the game Gardenscapes *
Benson DuBois ''Benson'' is an American sitcom television series that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 13, 1979, to April 19, 1986. The show stars Robert Guillaume in the title role of Benson DuBois, the head of the hou ...
, the Tate butler in the hit 1970's sitcom, '' Soap'' * Butler, the butler for Prince Salde Canarl Shellbrick III off of the puzzle game ''
Puyo Puyo Fever 2 is a video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. The game was released as a sequel to the previous title, ''Puyo Pop Fever''. The gameplay remains relatively unchanged, but several new modes are introduced. The game features nine di ...
'' * Cadbury, butler to Richie Rich * Chadwick, from '' Jamaica Inn'' * Charles Carson, butler to the Crawley family in '' Downton Abbey'' * Charley Raunce, who succeeds to the position from footman when Eldon the Butler dies, in the novel ''
Loving Loving may refer to: * Love, a range of human emotions * Loving (surname) * ''Loving v. Virginia'', a 1967 landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case Film and television * ''Loving'' (1970 film), an American film * ''Loving'' (1 ...
'' by Henry Green. * Cogman, a human-sized sociopathic Autobot Headmaster who acts as Sir Edmund Burton's butler. * Domovoi Butler, butler/bodyguard to Artemis Fowl in Eoin Colfer's '' Artemis Fowl'' book series. * Edmund Blackadder, butler to Prince George the Prince Regent, in the TV Series '' Blackadder the Third'' * Edwin Jarvis, Tony Stark's butler from
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
* Giles, the butler for ABC's '' Whodunnit?'' TV series *
Hayate Ayasaki This article lists the characters from the Japanese manga and anime series ''Hayate the Combat Butler''. Ayasaki household ; : :Hayate is the title protagonist 16-year-old butler of the Sanzenin family. Hayate Ayasaki has had to work to support ...
, The titular protagonist of '' Hayate the Combat Butler'' * Higgins, from the sitcom '' Our Man Higgins'' and the radio comedy on which it was based, '' It's Higgins, Sir'' *
Hugh Edgar Hugh Edgar is an English architect who worked on several archival projects in the United Kingdom and as a consultant around the world. He completed the design for the National Museum of Antiquities for Scotland. He was the RIBA representative t ...
, a butler in ''
The Edwardian Country House ''The Edwardian Country House'' is a British historical reenactment reality television miniseries produced by Channel 4. First aired weekly in the UK beginning in April 2002, it was later broadcast in the United States on PBS stations as ''Man ...
'', 2002 British historical recreation TV series * John Lawless, a central character in the 1967
Sherman Brothers The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard M. Sherman (born June 12, 1928). Together they received various accolades in ...
' musical movie '' The Happiest Millionaire'' played by 60 teen idol Tommy Steele. *
Nestor Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...
, the butler of Marlinspike Hall in '' The Adventures of Tintin'' * Niles, the butler in the TV Series '' The Nanny'' *
Ronove In demonology, Ronove is a Marquis and Great Earl of Hell, commanding twenty legions of demons. He teaches art, rhetoric, languages, and gives good and loyal servants the favour of friends and foes. He is depicted as a monster holding a staff, ...
, the demon butler and highest-ranking furniture of the Golden Witch;
Beatrice Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated ...
and the Endless Sorcerer, Battler from ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni'' * Sebastian Beach, from the Blandings Castle stories by P. G. Wodehouse, frequently conspires with the clever Gally Threepwood *
Sebastian Michaelis Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...
, a demon disguised as a man bound by contract to his master in the ''
Black Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. It has been serialized in Square Enix's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Monthly GFantasy'' since September 2006. The series follows Ciel Phantomhive, the twelve-year-old Ea ...
'' manga and anime series * Smithers, Veronica Lodge's fictional butler * Spencer, butler in '' Power Rangers Operation Overdrive'' * Mr. Stevens, the protagonist of Kazuo Ishiguro's
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
-winning novel, '' The Remains of the Day'' and movie of the same name * Subaru Konoe, the female butler of Kanade Suzutsuki who is disguised as a male in the '' Mayo Chiki!'' anime, manga and light novel * Underling, the butler in the 2006 Broadway Musical '' The Drowsy Chaperone'' * Wadsworth, the protagonist in the movie '' Clue'' * Willikins, butler to
Samuel Vimes His Grace, The Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel "Sam" Vimes is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' series. Vimes is depicted in the novels as somewhere between an Inspector Morse-type 'old-school' British policeman, a ...
in the '' Discworld'' series by Terry Pratchett.


See also

* Butler of Scotland *
Chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...
*
Domestic worker A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
* Footman * Household * Housekeeper *
Maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...
* Valet


References


Notes

* ''This article is based on material from "" by Stephen Ewen, which is licensed under the Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License''. * ''The article there is a mirror copy of "A Brief History of Butlers and Butlering" by Stephen Ewen''.


Further reading

* * * * * * {{Authority control Domestic work Gendered occupations