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{{Short description|Occupation at the University of Cambridge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Clare College, back of Old Court.jpeg|thumb|[[University of Cambridge]] ([[Clare College]])]]
The term "'''bedder'''" is short for "bedmaker" and is the official term for a housekeeper in a college of the [[University of Cambridge]].<ref name=Stubbings>{{cite book| author=Frank Stubbings| title=Bedders, Bulldogs and Bedells: a Cambridge Glossary| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2udnDNt_iIoC&q=bedmaker&pg=PA12 |isbn=978-0-521-47978-3 |year=1995 |pages=10–12| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> The equivalent at the [[University of Oxford]] is known as a "'''scout'''".<ref>[https://archive.today/20120918111859/http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Hotel/Oxford-_-Bed_Breakfast_and_Dreamy_Spires_At_Oxford_University-67c92e9a78828e70845db629c3c6975d-125195 Bed, Breakfast and Dreamy Spires At Oxford University], Via Michelin, 15 June 2009</ref> The equivalent at [[Trinity College, Dublin]] was known as a "'''skip'''", until the practice was abandoned in the early 1970s.<ref>[http://issuu.com/trinitynews/docs/issue_3/17 Words We Don't Use Much Any More], Trinity News</ref> The colleges of the [[University of Durham]] have also replicated the [[Oxbridge]] model and refer to housekeeping staff as bedders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/university.college/college/regulations/CollegeInfoRegs08-9.doc |title=Information and Regulations 2008-2009, para 41 |publisher=dur.ac.uk |format=[[DOC (computing)|DOC]] |pages=9 |accessdate=2009-03-31 |quote=Your room is serviced once a week and bins emptied twice a week.  Students must ensure that their room is tidy so that the Bedder (Cleaner) can vacuum the floor, clean and dust. }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> There is no equivalent at the vast majority of other British or American universities, though the universities of [[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[Yale]], and [[Princeton]] have previously offered similar positions to care for their students' needs.

==History==
In early times, bedders were often employed directly by students and fellows rather than the college, but they are now part-time college employees. An edict of the University of Cambridge issued in 1635 banned bedders aged under fifty, although this policy has long since been abandoned. Until the late Victorian age, women could not become undergraduates, and there were even regulations preventing [[Fellow]]s from marrying, so the edict may have been intended to leave bedders beyond suspicion of any impropriety. Rumours persist that there was once a broader "Bedder Test",<ref name=notservant>[http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/investigations/0001004-im-a-bedder-not-a-servant.html I'm a bedder, not a servant], ''[[The Cambridge Student]]'', 21 February 2008</ref> but there is no evidence that colleges ever preferred women of unappealing mien.<ref name=Stubbings/>

Historically, a '''gyp''' (undergraduate's manservant) supplemented the role of the bedder at Cambridge, Durham, and other institutes of education.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Delbos
 |first1               = J. M. 
 |orig-date            = 1923
 |title                = Historic Cambridge
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=NipdoacBMYUC
 |publication-date     = 1933
 |access-date          = 7 August 2022
 |quote                = The 'Gyp' was the undergraduate's manservant: if tipped well enough he could make his rooms warm and palatial. The 'Bedder' with her colourful nose woke him in the morning.
}} 
</ref>

==Development==
Even in the early 20th century, before modern utilities were installed in the colleges, the role required heavier labour, cleaning coal fires and carrying water for washing. Nowadays, bedders often change bed linen, vacuum the rooms, empty bins and perform other domestic services, although their role varies from college to college. Some do not make beds at all,<ref name=Stubbings/> but others go so far as to wash students' dishes.

==Conditions==
The job earns more than the minimum wage, but it is sometimes hard to fill vacancies as the role appears demeaning to modern British women, and staff from other countries are also recruited.<ref name=notservant/> The role requires a high degree of trust.<ref>[http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/651 Bedder -the devil you know?], ''[[Varsity (Cambridge)|Varsity]]'', 6 October 2007</ref> Some bedders see their role as including a [[pastoral care|pastoral]] element, looking out for the needs of young people far from home.<ref name=notservant/>

Perks of the job include discount cards (at Cambridge), Christmas presents from students, and occasional more generous gifts from delegates staying in the rooms for corporate conferences in between University terms.<ref name=notservant/>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Cleaning and maintenance occupations]]
[[Category:Domestic work]]
[[Category:Terminology of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Terminology of Durham University]]