The hall boy or hallboy
was a position held by a young male
domestic worker on the staff of a
great house
A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late Victorian or ...
, usually a young teenager. The name derives from the fact that the hall boy usually slept in the
servants' hall.
Like his female counterpart, the
scullery maid, the hall boy would have been expected to work up to 16 hours per day, seven days per week. His duties were often among the most disagreeable in the house, such as emptying
chamber pot
A chamber pot is a portable toilet, meant for nocturnal use in the bedroom. It was common in many cultures before the advent of indoor plumbing and flushing toilets.
Names and etymology
"Chamber" is an older term for bedroom. The chamber pot ...
s for the higher-ranking servants. In the absence of a
boot boy, he also cleaned the
boots not just of the family members but also those of the butler and those of the visitors. The hall boy also waited on more senior servants when they took their meals in the servants hall. He slept on a fold-down bed in the hallway connecting the servants' quarters.
The hall boy was the lowest-ranked male servant, but he could rise to a higher position in the household, eventually becoming a
valet
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 "valet ...
or
butler. Arthur Inch, a former butler who acted as a technical consultant for the film ''
Gosford Park
''Gosford Park'' is a 2001 satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. It was influenced by Jean Renoir's French classic ''La Règle du jeu'' ('' The Rules of the Game'').
The film stars ...
'' and the television series ''
Downton Abbey
''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...
'', stated in an interview that he began his life in service as a hall boy at the age of 15.
See also
*
Cabin boy
* ''
The Edwardian Country House'' – A British enactment show produced by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
in 2002, including a hall boy as one of the re-enactors
References
Domestic work
Obsolete occupations
Child labour
Gendered occupations
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