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Valet
A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, ''valet de chambre'' was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet" by itself most often refers to a normal servant responsible for the clothes and personal belongings of an employer, and making minor arrangements. In the United States, the term most often refers to a parking valet, and the role is often confused with a butler. Word origins In English, ''valet'' as "personal man-servant" is recorded since 1567, though use of the term in the French-speaking English medieval court is older, and the variant form ''varlet'' is cited from 1456 ( OED). Both are French importations of ''valet'' or ''varlet'' (the "t" being silent in modern French), Old French variants of ''vaslet'' "man's servant", originally "squire, young man", assumed to be from Gallo-Romance Vulgar Latin *''vassellittus'' "young noble ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valet Parking
Valet parking is a parking service offered by some restaurants, stores, and other businesses. In contrast to "self-parking", where customers find a parking space on their own, customers' vehicles are parked for them by a person called a '' valet''. This service either requires a fee to be paid by the customer or is offered free of charge by the establishment. Explanation A valet is usually an employee of the establishment or an employee of a third-party valet service. When there is a fee, it is usually either a flat amount or a fee based on how long the car is parked. It is customary in the United States to tip the valet who actually parks the car. Valet parking is most often offered (and is most useful) in urban areas, where parking is scarce, though some upscale businesses offer valet parking as an optional service, even though self-parking may be readily available. For example, in wealthy suburban areas like California's Silicon Valley, some hospitals (like Stanford Univ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valet De Chambre
''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on the patron, or looked after his clothes and other personal needs, itself potentially a powerful and lucrative position, others had more specialized functions. At the most prestigious level it could be akin to a monarch or ruler's personal secretary, as was the case of Anne de Montmorency at the court of Francis I of France.Reginald Blomfield and L. C., "Valet de Chambre," '' The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs'', vol. 21, no. 109 (Apr., 1912), p. 55. For noblemen pursuing a career as courtiers, like Étienne de Vesc, it was a common early step on the ladder to higher offices. For some this brought entry into the lucrative court business of asking for favours on behalf of clients, and passing messages to the monarch or lord heading t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Johnson (servant)
Sydney Johnson (/1923 – 17 January 1990) was a Bahamian-born personal attendant who notably served as the valet and footman to Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, and his wife, Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, for more than thirty years. He later worked for the Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. Life Johnson was born on the island of Andros in the Bahamas; his birth year is variously reported as 1921 or 1923. At approximately age 16, Johnson was working as a beach attendant when he met the Duke of Windsor while the duke was serving as governor of the Bahamas during World War II, and began working as a footman for the duke and duchess. Following the war, he moved to Paris with the duke and duchess and was promoted to valet, and served them for over thirty years. While acting as personal valet to the duke, he would also wear a uniform and serve as a footman at formal dinners hosted by the duke and duchess. He married a French woman in 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor and Housekeeper (domestic worker), housekeepers caring for the entire house and its appearance. A butler is usually male and in charge of male servants, while a housekeeper is usually female and in charge of female servants. Traditionally, male servants (such as Footman, footmen) were better-paid and of higher status than female servants. The butler, as the senior male servant, has the highest servant status. He can also sometimes function as a chauffeur. In older houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as ''majordomo'', ''butler administrator'', ''house manager'', ''manservant'', ''staff manager'', ''chief of staff'', ''staff captain'', ''estate manager'', and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandre Bontemps
Alexandre Bontemps (; 1626–1701) was the valet of King Louis XIV and a powerful figure at the court of Versailles, respected and feared for his exceptional access to the King. He was the second of a sequence of five Bontemps to hold the position of ''Premier valet de la Chambre du Roi'' ("First valet of the king's bedchamber") in uninterrupted succession between 1643 and 1766, when an early death, leaving no successor, broke the line. There were four head or Premier valets de chambre, of whom Bontemps became the most senior in 1665, and thirty-two valets. Life His father, Jean Baptiste Bontemps (1590–1659), had been surgeon to Louis XIII of France before becoming a Premier Valet in 1643. Alexandre succeeded him on his death in 1659, dying in office in 1701, by which time he was a count and marquis, holding several key offices controlling both the palaces and towns of Versailles and Marly, the Swiss Guard who guarded the King and his palaces, and the household of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady's Maid
A lady's maid is a female personal attendant who waits on her female employer. The role of a lady's maid is similar to that of a gentleman's valet. Description Traditionally, the lady's maid was not as high-ranking as a lady's companion, who was a retainer rather than a servant, but the rewards included room and board, travel and somewhat improved social status. In the servants' hall, a lady's maid took precedence akin to that of her mistress. In Britain, a lady's maid would be addressed by her surname by her employer, while she was addressed as "Miss" by junior servants or when visiting another servants' hall. A lady's maid's specific duties included helping her mistress with her appearance, including make-up, hairdressing, clothing, jewellery, and shoes. A lady's maid would also remove stains from clothing; sew, mend, and alter garments as needed; bring her mistress breakfast in her room; and draw her mistress's bath. However, she would not be expected to dust and clean e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batman (military)
A batman or orderly is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. Before the advent of motorized transport, an officer's batman was also in charge of the officer's "bat-horse" that carried the officer's kit during a campaign. This British English term is derived from the obsolete ''bat'', meaning "pack saddle" (from French language, French ''bât'', from Old French ''bast'', from Late Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''bast'', from Late Latin ''bastum''). Duties A batman's duties could include: * acting as a "runner" to convey orders from the officer to subordinates * maintaining the officer's uniform and personal equipment as a valet * driving the officer's vehicle, sometimes under combat conditions * acting as the officer's bodyguard in combat * digging the officer's Defensive fighting position, foxhole in combat, giving the officer tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great House
A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late Victorian or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom and the Gilded Age in the United States. Definition There is no precise definition of "great house", and the understanding varies among countries. In England, while most villages would have had a manor house since time immemorial, originally home of the lord of the manor and sometimes referred to as "the big house", not all would have anything as lavish as a traditional English country house, one of the traditional markers of an established "county" family that derived at least a part of its income from landed property. Stately homes, even rarer and more expensive, were associated with the peerage, not the gentry. Many mansions were demolished in the 20th century, since families that had previousl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domestic Worker
A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly dependents, and other household errands. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service". Some domestic workers live within their employer's household. In some cases, the contribution and skill of servants whose work encompassed complex management tasks in large households have been highly valued. However, for the most part, domestic work tends to be demanding and is commonly considered to be undervalued, despite often being necessary. Although legislation protecting domestic workers is in place in many countries, it is often not extensively enforced. In many jurisdictions, domestic work is poorly regulated and domestic workers are subje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Majordomo
A majordomo () is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large or significant residence. A majordomo may also, more informally, be someone who oversees the day-to-day responsibilities of a business enterprise. Historically, many institutions and governments—monasteries, cathedrals, and cities—as well as noble and royal houses, also had the post of majordomo, who usually was in charge of finances. Additionally, the Hispanos of New Mexico use the related term ''mayordomo'' to refer to the manager of an ''acequia'' system for a town or valley. Also, when translated into English, "mayordomo" means butler. Etymology The origin is from , and it was borrowed into English from Spanish or Old Italian . Also, it is found as French , modern Italian , Portuguese and Galician , and Romanian and Cat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footmen
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.The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 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. Roles The name was applied to a household servant who waited at table and attended, rode on his employer's coach or carriage in case of untoward incidents. 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 highwaymen. The ''first footman'' was the designation given to the highest-ranking servant of this class in a given household. The first footman woul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
