Butler

For other uses see Butler (disambiguation)

The butler is a senior servant in a large household . Usually the butler is the most senior staff member, although in the great houses of the past, the household was sometimes 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.

In modern houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as Majordomo, Butler Administrator, House manager, Manservant, Staff Manager, Estate Manager and Head of Household Staff are sometimes given. The precise duties of the employee will vary to some extent in line with the title given, but perhaps more importantly in line with the requirements of the individual employer.

The earliest literary mention of a butler is probably that of the man whose release from prison was predicted by Joseph in the biblical account of Joseph's interpretation of the dreams of the Pharaoh's servants.

The word "butler" derives from the Old French "bouteillier", (meaning "cup bearer"), from "bouteille", ("bottle") and ultimately from Latin. The role of the butler, for centuries, has been that of the chief steward of a household, the attendant entrusted with the care and serving of wine and other bottled beverages (which in ancient times might have represented a considerable portion of the household's assets).

In Britain the butler was originally a middle ranking member of the staff of a grand household. In the 17th and 18th centuries the butler gradually became the usually senior male member of a household's staff (in the very grandest households there was sometimes a steward who ran the entire estate, rather than just the household, and who was senior to the butler into the 19th century). Butlers used to always be attired in a special uniform, distinct from the livery of junior servants, but today a butler is more likely to wear a business suit or business casual clothing and appear in uniform only on special occasions.

Butlers used to work their way up from the bottom and belong to clubs in larger cities such as London, but today, tend to go to butler schools and belong to guilds such as The International Institute of Modern Butlers and The Guild of Professional English Butlers. Butlers are also to be found not only in private residences, but in hotels, in corporate settings, on yachts, in Embassies, and even running their own Rent-a-Butler agency.

Surname

As a surname "Butler" was originated by Theobald le Botiller FitzWalter (Lord of Preston). Lord FitzWalter accompanied Henry II into Ireland, and was appointed hereditary Chief Butler of Ireland in 1177. This title can be defined as Governor by today's standards. He was granted land holdings of Baggotrath, Co. Dublin, and the Stein River lands around what is now Trinity College Dublin. His son, Theobalde Butler was the first to hold the name and pass it to his descendants.

Butlers in fiction

The real-life butler is supposed to be discreet and unobtrusive. The butler of fiction, by contrast, often tends to be larger-than-life and has become a plot device in literature and a traditional role in the performing arts. Butlers may provide comic relief with wry comments, clues as to the perpetrators of various crimes and are represented and as at least as intelligent and moral, or even more so, than their “betters”. They are often portrayed as being serious and expressionless and in the case that the wealthy hero be an orphan; such as Batman, Chrono Crusade's Satella Harvenheit, or Tomb Raider's Lara Croft; be a father figure to said hero. The fictional butler tends to be given a typical Anglo-Celtic surname and have a British accent.

Nowadays, butlers are usually portrayed as being refined and well-spoken. However, in 19th century fiction (such as Dracula and other novels of the period) butlers generally spoke with a strong cockney or other regional accent.

"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!"

Notable fictional butlers

Hudson, Alfred, and Crichton are among the world's most well-known fictional butlers. Geoffrey from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Rowan Atkinson played the role of Edmund Blackadder, butler to Prince George the Prince Regent, in the TV Series Blackadder the Third.

See List of famous fictional butlers for a list of characters who are butlers.

Notable fictional non-butlers

See valet for a list of characters who are often mistaken for butlers, but (strictly speaking) are valets, rather than butlers, such as Jeeves (though as Jeeves' employer Wooster has noted, when the occasion demands Jeeves "can buttle with the best of them").

Notable 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
• Paul Hogan, former Australian diplomat who portrays "the butler" in the US TV series Joe Millionaire
• Arthur Richard Inch, long-time 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
• Alonzo Fields, White House butler under Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman.

See also

• Housekeeper
• Valet
• Domestic worker

External links

• The International Guild of Professional Butlers
• Diary Of A Butler