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I think being in a service profession was a good job back then. My grandfather was an executive of a company, but his brother was a chauffeur, and considered part of the household for which he worked.
My grandmother, who was widowed young by the grandfather above, worked as a housekeeper for several older people, even though she didn't need the money.
Ha, clearly I can't read! If they were from less rural areas it's not surprising they could read. My g-grandmother lived in Sligo and went thru age 14. My g-grandfather from small town in Cork was illiterate, no access to schooling.
I think being in a service profession was a good job back then. My grandfather was an executive of a company, but his brother was a chauffeur, and considered part of the household for which he worked.
My grandmother, who was widowed young by the grandfather above, worked as a housekeeper for several older people, even though she didn't need the money.
I have to disagree. Being is service was secure and reasonable but someone would not be in service if they didn't need money. Class was very important.
I think being in a service profession was a good job back then. My grandfather was an executive of a company, but his brother was a chauffeur, and considered part of the household for which he worked.
It was a respectable job that paid the bills, but I don't know if I'd call it a "good" job. Depends what you mean by "good". Live-in servants weren't paid much (comparatively with the people they worked for), it was often very hard work, long hours, and they weren't always treated very well by their employers. A chauffeur probably had it easier than a laundry maid though. There were certainly levels of class even within the household servants. A scullery maid was the lowest rank, and paid the least.
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My grandmother, who was widowed young by the grandfather above, worked as a housekeeper for several older people, even though she didn't need the money.
It sounds like by housekeeper, you mean your grandmother spent a few hours a day at different houses doing some cleaning? I can see someone doing that to keep themselves busy even if they don't need the money. But that's a more modern use of the word housekeeper and is not the same as a live-in servant who lived with their employers and worked all day, really only breaking for food and sleep. They had to be up before their employers, getting the house and food ready for the day, and they didn't go to bed till after their employers did. That's the kind of servitude this topic is about, where the term housekeeper refers to the highest rank female in charge of supervising the other servants. While supervision was an easier job, I'm doubting that's what your grandmother did if she didn't need the money.
What would the groundskeeper at Ashford Castle in Ireland be considered? He lived from 1840 to 1920
You mean what sort of rank would he have among the household servants? It's hard to say because since he worked outdoors and not actually within the house, he wouldn't have really been considered a part of the household staff. The various ranks of household servants existed to maintain order and define roles, but the groundskeepers would have been removed from that because they didn't work with the other staff indoors. If he was the head groundskeeper, that would be an important job though. Reading about the castle on Wikipedia, it sounds like the owner during the period your refer to would have been Lord Ardilaun, who was an avid gardener. So your groundskeeper might have been more important to the Lord than an average groundskeeper elsewhere.
You mean what sort of rank would he have among the household servants? It's hard to say because since he worked outdoors and not actually within the house, he wouldn't have really been considered a part of the household staff. The various ranks of household servants existed to maintain order and define roles, but the groundskeepers would have been removed from that because they didn't work with the other staff indoors. If he was the head groundskeeper, that would be an important job though. Reading about the castle on Wikipedia, it sounds like the owner during the period your refer to would have been Lord Ardilaun, who was an avid gardener. So your groundskeeper might have been more important to the Lord than an average groundskeeper elsewhere.
Thank you. That's what I was asking and wasn't sure if he was part of the household staff or not. I've been so busy trying to get info on him, his wives and children that I hadn't been to wiki to read about the castle. He's my sons great, great, great grandfather
When reading about it I realized I saw a TV show that had the restoration. I'll have to try to find it so that my son can see it
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