Butler/Citable Version

The butler is a senior servant in a large household. In modern usage, the butler is in charge of food service, is the custodian of wine, liquor and silver and supervises other servants. The position has existed for centuries. Usually the butler is the most senior staff member, although this has evolved over time. Even today in the grandest homes or especially where the employer owns more than one residence, there is sometimes an Estate Manager over the butler.

In modern houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as Majordomo, Butler Administrator, Staff Manager, and Head of Household Staff may be used.

In the great houses of the past, the household was generally divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room (including the wine cellar) and pantry, and sometimes the entire parlour floor, and a housekeeper who was in charge of the whole house and its appearance. Housekeepers are occasionally portrayed in literature as being the most senior staff member and as even making recommendations for the hiring of the butler.

Origin and development of the post of butler

The word "butler" derives from the Middle English word “buteler”, from Old French "bouteillier", “bottle bearer"), from "buteille", ("bottle"), and before that from Middle Latin “butticula”.

The role of the butler has apparently developed out of the functions of one of the stewards of a household: the attendant entrusted with the care and serving of wine and other stored beverages, which may have been a significant portion of an ancient household's assets. “Steward” came to mean the person in overall charge of the estate; he managed household accounts and collected estate rents.

The story of Joseph in the biblical book of Genesis contains an early reference to butlers and stewards. Joseph, sold as a slave in Egypt, rises to become the head of Potiphar’s household staff, his chief steward, while the Pharaoh’s servant whose dream Joseph interprets is translated into English as the chief butler.

Centuries later, the European butler emerged as a middle-ranking member of the staff of a great house. The butler gradually became the senior male member of a household's staff, although in the very grandest households there was sometimes a house steward senior to the butler, or at the very least the aforementioned Estate Steward. These titles persisted well into the 19th century, and, although their frequency of occurrence waxed and waned with societal changes, particularly with respect to the relative numbers of households of grand wealth, the positions have all survived into the 21st Century.

Responsibility and influence

Traditionally, the butler was hired by the master of the house but usually reported to the lady of the house. In the largest of households, the butler was head of a strict service hierarchy and held a position of power and respect. Such butlers engaged and directed all junior staff. Butlers were addressed by last name by their employers, their employers’ children and guests, but as "Mr. [Surname]" by fellow servants, retainers and tradespersons. These butlers were more managerial than “hands on”; they officiated in service rather than actually serving, for example, 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 that guest's coat and hat. The butler helped his employer into his coat, which had been handed to the butler by a footman. This notwithstanding, even the highest-ranking butler would “pitch in” when necessary (as during a staff shortage) to ensure that the household ran smoothly.

The butler engaged the footmen and assigned their duties. Footmen reported directly to the butler; the first footman (or head footman) was deputy or under-butler and filled in as butler during the butler's illness or absence. In a household without an official Head Housekeeper, female servants and kitchen staff were also directly under his management. Further, in a smaller household the butler usually acted as valet for his employer as well.

The modern butler

In times past, butlers earned their position by working their way up the service ladder. In the documentary The Authenticity of Gosford Park, former butler Arthur Inch described starting as a hall boy. Today, however, there are butler schools; the top graduates may earn USD 50,000 to start. The most highly skilled and experienced butlers are reputed to make USD 250,000 plus benefits.

Some schools distinguish between the “British Butler” prototype and its American counterpart. Starkey International, for example, trains and promotes the latter, believing Americans do not have the “servant mentality” that is part of the British Butler tradition and stresses that their American-style butlers and valets are typically educated and certified.

For hundreds of years butlers were always male and this remains the usual case. There are, however, female butlers and they are sometimes preferred; an example would be in cultures where it is unacceptable to have males working intimately with females in a household. The website of the International Guild of Professional Butlers states that there is a “definite demand” for females in the profession, as Middle and Far Eastern families often prefer female butlers, as do female celebrities. On the other hand, the Ivor Spencer School cautions that females are not easily placed. By contrast, in a 2002 article, Pamela Spruce, principal of the Australian Butler School, is quoted as saying that wealthy modern families tend not to want a man in their homes, although she does not give a reason for this. Mrs. Spruce is also quoted as stating that “…at least 100 homes in Sydney are run by butlers.”

As always, the butler’s job and scope of responsibilities varies with the size of the household and the expectations of the employer. Says Elizabeth Camille, a butler in Sydney: “I still make beds, clean toilets and peg out washing…It’s not all as glamourous as people perceive it to be.”

Butlers in fiction

The real-life butler is discreet and unobtrusive. The butler of fiction, by contrast, is larger-than-life and has become a plot device in literature and a traditional role in the performing arts. Butlers provide often comic relief with wry comments, clues as to the perpetrators of various crimes and they are represented as at least as intelligent, or even more so, than their “betters”. Butlers in fiction almost invariably follow the “British Butler” model, with an appropriate-sounding surname. The Asian (or African-American, or Caribbean) houseboy is a variant, but even these major-domos are based on the British icon.

"The butler" is integral to the plot of countless potboilers and melodramas, 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 characters in film and theatre where a catch phrase is "the butler did it!"

Catalogue of butlers and valets

Non-fictional butlers

• Paul Burrell, butler to the late Diana, Princess of Wales
• Hugh Edgar, butler, The Edwardian Country House, 2002 British historical recreation TV series – Edgar is an architect by profession, but was noted for immersing himself completely in his role.
• Paul Hogan, former Australian diplomat who portrays "the butler" in the US TV series Joe Millionaire – There has been some argument over whether the character in this series is actually a butler, but Hogan himself is now a professional butler.
• Arthur Richard Inch, longtime real-life butler, Butler Technical Consultant for the film Gosford Park
• Ivor Spencer, Toastmaster and etiquette specialist, head of the Ivor Spencer International School for Butler Administrators/Personal Assistants and Estate Managers

Fictional butlers

Alfred Pennyworth, from Batman, unusually known as “Alfred” rather than “Pennyworth”, “Hudson” of Upstairs, Downstairs fame and Crichton, from J.M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton are probably the best-known butlers in English-language literature. Other notables include:

• Lynn Belvedere, from the novel Belvedere, the adapted feature film and its sequels, and the TV series Mr. Belvedere. Belvedere was originally a housekeeper; the gag was that because his first name was “Lynn”, the family was expecting a female. Belvedere is usually taken to be a butler in the television series.
• Benson, from the TV series Soap and Benson
• Bunter, from the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers. Mervyn Bunter was originally batman, then valet to Lord Peter, but following Wimsey’s marriage appears to have transitioned seamlessly to de facto family butler.
• Godfrey, from My Man Godfrey
• Geoffrey, from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Lurch, from The Addams Family
• Niles, from The Nanny
• Stevens, from The Remains of the Day

For a complete listing of butlers and valets with notes, see Catalog of butlers and valets.

See also

• Domestic worker
• maid