Series S - Records of the College steward

The steward, as defined in the College statutes from the sixteenth century onwards, was the fellow in charge of the domestic management of the College, principally the provision of food. 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.

The College employed a Steward until the post-war period. The duties at Fellowship level were absorbed by a Junior or Domestic Bursar, and the Bursary increasingly took direct control of accounting, while the practical day to day management became the responsibility of heads of department, such as the Housekeeper, the Catering Manager and the Fellows' Butler.