Detail of the Butler's Occupations, Soho House, 1811

Description:This is the front page of a list of the Butler's occupations was drawn up in 1811 and subsequently altered in pencil when some duties were reassigned to the footman. The list itself is also available on the site.

Before Breakfast the butler was expected to clean and replenish the candlesticks, wash the glasses, dust the furniture, get the breakfast and take it in and wait. After Breakfast he was to wash the tea things, clean the Plate, answer the Bells, feed the fires, dress the dinner tray, lay the cloth, decant the wine, set off the sideboard, arrange the dinner and wait at table. After dinner he was to clear the table, wash the glasses, get the tea, wash the tea things and dessert plates. The he was to shut the windows and hang the bells, take in supper, ensure that all the doors, fires and lights were safe.

Additional duties were to manage the brewing and to convey messages and despatches to the Manufactory.

Soho House was by then the home of Matthew Robinson Boulton, the son of Matthew Boulton the industrialist. The duties expected of his butler are fairly standard. There were some perks to the job though! The butler would have the keys to the wine cellar and many would help themselves. Boulton once had a butler he described as 'tolerable honest in most things excepting wine!'