Footman

2025-07-08T07:27:35Z

2603:8000:9900:6FFE:9D18:C5A0:9F38:5817: /* Servants */ punctuation

{{Short description|Male domestic worker}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:State Opening of Parliament 2008 I (3082920424).jpg|thumbnail|Royal footmen in the United Kingdom wearing their ceremonial livery at the [[State Opening of Parliament]] procession, 2008]]
A '''footman''' is a [[male]] [[domestic worker]] employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage.

==Etymology==
Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman delivered messages.<ref name=COD>The Concise Oxford Dictionary, {{ISBN|0-19-861132-3}}</ref> He might run beside or behind the carriages of aristocrats, running alongside the coach to make sure it was not overturned by such obstacles as ditches or tree roots. A footman might also run ahead to the destination to prepare for his lord's arrival.<ref>Olmert, Michael (1996). ''Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser & Curiouser Adventures in History'', p.87. Simon & Schuster, New York. {{ISBN|0-684-80164-7}}.</ref>

==Roles==
The name was applied to a [[household]] [[domestic worker|servant]] who waited at table and attended, rode on his employer's coach or carriage in case of untoward incidents.<ref name=COD/> In many cases, a footman was expected to serve as an armed bodyguard. Many were skilled with pistols to defend their employer's coach against [[Highwayman|highwaymen]].

The ''first footman'' was the designation given to the highest-ranking servant of this class in a given household. The first footman would serve as deputy [[butler]] and act as butler in the latter's absence, although some larger houses also had an under-butler above the first footman.

In a larger household, various footmen might be assigned specific duties (for which there might be a traditional sequence), such as the silver specialist. Usually the footmen performed a range of duties which included serving meals, opening and closing doors, carrying heavy items, or moving furniture for the [[maid|housemaid]] to clean behind. The footmen might also double as [[valet]]s, especially for visiting guests.

==Servants==
Male servants were paid more than female servants and footmen were something of a luxury and therefore a status symbol even among the servant-employing classes. They performed a less-essential role than the [[cook (domestic worker)|cook]], [[maid]] or even [[butler]], and were employed only by the grandest households. Since a footman was for show as much as for work, his good looks were highly prized, including a tall stature and well-turned legs, shown off by the traditional footman's dress of stockings below knee [[breeches]]. Footmen were expected to be unmarried and tended to be relatively young; they might, however, progress to other posts, notably that of butler. One 19th-century footman, William Tayler, kept a diary which has been published. He was, in fact, married, but he kept it secret from his employers and visited his family only on his days off.<ref>{{cite book|last=Burnett|first=John|title=Useful toil: autobiographies of working people from the 1820s to the 1920s|year=1994|edition=second|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-10399-2|pages=172 to 181}}</ref>

Once a common position in [[great house]]s, the footman became much rarer after World War I as fewer households could afford large [[retinues]]. The role is now virtually a historic one, although servants with this designation are still employed in the [[British Royal Household]], wearing a distinctive scarlet [[livery]] on state occasions.<ref>"Except at public functions, the last time I saw a footman in livery was in 1921": George Orwell writing in the ''Tribune'' of 3 March 1944</ref>

===Famous fictional footmen===
{{See also|List of fictional butlers}}

* In [[Lewis Carroll|Lewis Carroll's]] novel ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', the Queen of Hearts' Fish Footman delivers a [[croquet]] invitation to the Duchess's Frog Footman, which he then presents to the Duchess.
* George ([[Richard E. Grant]]), first footman in service to Sir William McCordle ([[Michael Gambon]]), in the 2001 film ''[[Gosford Park]]'', directed by [[Robert Altman]].
* [[List of Downton Abbey characters|Thomas Barrow]] ([[Rob James-Collier]]) and [[List of Downton Abbey characters|William Mason]] ([[Thomas Howes (actor)|Thomas Howes]]) serve as first and second footman, respectively, to [[List_of_Downton_Abbey_characters#Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham|Robert Crawley]], Earl of Grantham ([[Hugh Bonneville]]) in the [[Julian Fellowes]] period drama ''[[Downton Abbey]]''.

==See also==
* [[The Only Running Footman]]
* [[List of obsolete occupations]]

==Sources==
* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=footman&searchmode=none EtymologyOnLine]

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Domestic work]]
[[Category:Obsolete occupations]]
[[Category:Gendered occupations]]

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Footman