A Victorian Housekeeper

The senior female servant,
the Housekeeper supervised the
hiring and firing of the woman staff.

Referred to as "Mrs"
whether married or not,
she looked after the household accounts,
purchased supplies, cured, bottled,
and preserved food.

She met daily with the Lady of the house to go over
the books and preside over
the Servant's Tea, using that time
to relay any necessary information

to members of the staff.
She oversaw the storeroom, china closet,
still room, and linen cupboard.
If the laundry was sent out, she carefully recorded
each piece as it went out and came back.

Easy to identify,
the Housekeeper wore a black silk uniform
and large set of keys
safely at her waist.

Keys prevailed in importance, as
many expensive items, tealeaves,
spices, and pickled meat
remained locked up.

Her last duty in the evening would be to
oversee the washing and storing of
the dinner china.

In 1872,she would have earned $300 a year.