Footman

A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage.

[2] 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.

Usually the footmen performed a range of duties which included serving meals, opening and closing doors, carrying heavy items, or moving furniture for the housemaid to clean behind.

[3] Once a common position in great houses, the footman became much rarer after World War I as fewer households could afford large retinues.

The role is now virtually a historic one, although servants with this designation are still employed in the British Royal Household, wearing a distinctive scarlet livery on state occasions.