Kōrero: Household services

The general servant

The general servant

A servant serves afternoon tea to Fred, Mary and Amy Barkas at 180 Salisbury Street, Christchurch, in April 1881. She is probably a ‘general servant’ – referred to as a ‘general’. The term implies she would be the only servant in the household. She would do all the housework, probably with help from her ‘mistress’, particularly with the cooking, because there was so much to do.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library, Frederick Barkas Collection
Reference: MS-Papers-2491-06-034

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Jane Tolerton, 'Household services - Servants in the 19th century', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/21764/the-general-servant (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Jane Tolerton, i tāngia i te 11 Mar 2010