Hall boy

A hall boy or hallboy was the lowest ranked male domestic worker on the staff of a great house. Hallboys were usually children or young teenagers. They were called "hallboys" because their main duties were in the servants' hall, and they sometimes slept there too.

Hallboys were similar in position to scullery maids. They worked every day, up to 16 hours per day. They often had the worst chores in the house, like emptying chamber pots for the higher-ranking servants, and (if there was no boot boy) cleaning people's boots.

A hall boy could rise through the ranks and, if fortunate, eventually become a valet or butler. Arthur Inch, butler technical consultant for the film Gosford Park, stated in an interview that he began his life in service as a hall boy at the age of 15.