Despite their importance to the early modern economy, female servants’ experiences – including their patterns of work and conditions of employment – have received little attention. This paper draws on evidence recorded in church court witness testimony, excavating experiences of over 1000 female servants between 1532 and 1649. Moving beyond regulatory codes of service prescribed by law and decoupling ‘female servant’ and ‘domestic’, this paper argues that service for women was more varied, fluid and contingent than existing scholarship recognises. In early modern England, service as a form of labour was in flux, raising questions about the ‘institution’ of service and its role in controlling and regulating youth and poverty.
Panning out from England, the paper then interrogates the term ‘servant’ and its application across the world. I explore the potential of situating the experiences of early modern English servants within a global frame and ask: is it possible to write a global history of service for women?

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