Household-level predictors of the presence of servants in Northern Orkney, Scotland, 1851-1901

Julia A. Jennings, James W. Wood, Patricia L. Johnson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Servants were an important part of the northwestern European household economy in the preindustrial past. This study examines household-level characteristics that are predictive of the presence of rural servants using data from Orkney, Scotland. The number of servants present in a household is related to household composition, landholding size, and the marital status of the household head. In addition, the sex of the particular servant hired reveals that the labor of male and female servants is not fungible. The sex of the servant hired is related to the ratio of male and female household members of working age, the occupation of the head, household composition, and the size of the household's landholding.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)278-291
Number of pages14
JournalHistory of the Family
Volume16
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 18 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • History
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science

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