author
Eric Horne
A former footboy who rose through the ranks of England’s grand country houses, Eric Horne offers a witty, revealing look behind the scenes of aristocratic life. His memoir captures the routines, rivalries, privileges, and hardships of domestic service during the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Eric Horne was born in Southampton and began his working life in household service after giving up his ambition to go to sea. Starting as a footboy, he steadily advanced through the ranks to become a butler serving members of the English nobility and gentry.
Horne spent fifty-seven years in service, witnessing the changing world of the country house from the 1860s through the aftermath of World War I. He came close to achieving his ambition of becoming butler to the king and ultimately served several distinguished households, including a Russian princess.
After retiring in 1922, Horne wrote What the Butler Winked At, originally published in 1923. Written in a direct, observant, and often humorous voice, the memoir presents both the glamour of aristocratic households and the uncertain future faced by servants as the old social order began to disappear.