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From the time of the sixteenth century statutes, the Fellow in charge of the domestic management of the College, particularly the provision of food, was the Steward. By 1882, the office was described as follows: ' manage the domestic affairs of the College and receive and pay all sums of money which become due in the transactions incident to such management'. As such the Steward was responsible for a range of duties and staff, from the provision of food by the Cook, Butler and Buttery man in the Hall and Buttery, to the cleaning of the Combination Room, the porters at the gates, the wine and coal cellars, the cleaning of College rooms by the bedmakers and relationships with College tradesmen. In 1885, the Steward also became directly responsible for the internal management of the kitchens, previously the domain of the Cook, an independent contractor to the College. The accounting role of the Steward was increasingly absorbed by the Bursary and in 1951, the College employed a Steward who was not a fellow. In 1962 the management of domestic affairs was taken over by the appointment of a fellow as Domestic Bursar, and between 1967 and 1984, a Junior Bursar administered the upkeep of the College fabric. The remit of the Domestic Bursar has increased to include both security and personnel issues and policy as well as the management of domestic services and buildings. Day to day running of these matters is devolved to a range of heads of department who report to the Domestic Bursar: the Head Porter, the Butler, the Housekeeper, the Clerk of Works, the Kitchen/Conference manager and the Executive Head Chef.

(A list of the holders of the offices of Steward, Junior Bursar and Domestic Bursar was compiled by Catherine Hall, and published in The Caian, 1990).