Servants and service

About this book

"Servants and service" by Ruth Lamb is a domestic advice manual written in the late 19th century. It lays out a practical and strongly Christian view of household service, urging young women and their mistresses toward honorable conduct, trust, and a shared “family” spirit. The work blends moral counsel with day‑to‑day guidance on work habits, relationships, and responsibilities, especially in the nursery and across the household.

The opening of the book explains its origin in the Girl’s Own Paper and notes that a later legal chapter is by another writer, then elevates domestic service as both honorable and responsible, grounding it in Christian duty, trust, and the idea that servants are part of the family; it cites biblical models and urges prayerful choice of places with Sabbath privileges. It warns against gossip and spite when leaving, and values character and neat, modest habits—illustrated by hiring anecdotes—over mere experience. It criticizes “hair-splitting” attitudes of “not my place,” promotes cheerful helping, good manners, and shows the advantages of service compared with factory or shop work. It devotes strong counsel to nursery work—favoring warmth, playfulness, truthfulness about accidents, and pure speech—and to the servant’s influence over children, along with mutual forbearance among staff and wise choices about when to speak up or stay silent. Further chapters stress thoroughness, economical use of time and property, confessing breakages, shared punctuality, fair and private fault-finding, avoiding hasty notices, practising real politeness at home, and giving truthful, balanced references.