<p>A logical guess is that in the first series, before the war, the staff size was large enough that all but the senior members of staff had to double up. Through and after the war, the staff, if not the cast size, would have both been reduced and more members of staff would either come in from town or have cottages on the estate. As a result, fewer people would need to double up. </p><p>By the last series, even Andy had his own room. Presumably that would be the case with the remaining female staff as well. </p><p>As an aside, the butler would typically sleep with the silver and wine, to see to it that nothing got stolen, since it was his head if it did. DA shows his room to be up with the other male staff.  </p>

<p>I only have this show and Gosford Park to go on, both of which were written by J. Fellows, so I can't say I'm an expert by a long shot. </p><p>
</p><p>My take is that it's almost exclusively by rank as long as the staff person is single. </p><p>
</p><p>I agree with the other poster that the changing times post war also contributed to staff not having to share a room anymore. In the 1st episode Mary gets a visitor who is really coming to see Thomas, to steal love letters he wrote to Thomas. As I recall in Thomas' room there were 2 beds. We are now in the final season and Thomas has 1 bed. Yet even though Thomas as a man is far more mature in the final season than he was in season 1, he essentially has similar if not the same duties and job as he had in season 1. </p><p>
</p><p>In Gosford Park it is more obvious which rooms belong to the head butler, head cook and head maid or whatever Mrs. Hughes is called. I'm sorry I can't think of the proper term right this moment. My point is that in terms of why servants get which room they get it is far easier to see the rank delineation (is that even a word?) in Gosford Park than it is in DA. </p>

<p>Thomas' furniture change... In the first season he had 2 beds, then on season 3 he only has one and on season 6 he has 2 again (unless if it's someone else's bedroom or something like that, to keep an eye on him after the suicide attempt). </p>

<p>I noticed that too but assumed that they are just dumping odd unwanted furniture where there is a space. Agree with PP that it is odd that Carson has a small room up top, not near the silver where he ought to be. </p><p>Also, with other PP that it is difficult to see any progression in Thomas' duties. When he becomes butler at the end of series 6 he will be in charge not only of the silver and dining room but also of the wine buying: is there any evidence that Carson has ever tried to develop his palate by inviting him in for a quick snifter? (as far as I can see, the person who does get to share the rather nice Margaux left over by the Crawleys is invariably Mrs Hughes, though it's hard to see how it's going to help her in her profession). </p><p>As for the rank/room thing, presumably it also allows for some variation due to practical considerations: since the senior staff sort-of-subconsciously know about Thomas from a very early stage, they are hardly going to ask some young footman to share a room with him. </p><p>Another thing that bugs me is the proportion of male to female staff. Carson is adamant that he needs 2 footmen to function, but if they are down to ...what ?1 housemaid, ?2housemaids, who on earth keeps those rooms dustfree and the beds made? Is there even a scullery maid around? Who lights the fires? Who plucks the chickens- Daisy seems to be busy with fancy canapes and sauces these days. </p>

<p>I think it depends of the rank of each servant, Mrs Hughes and Carson had their own room and even a "office", we must remember that being the butler and head housekeeper in a house like Downton was a big deal for a person who went to work in service.  </p><p>Add to that, we must remember the number of people working there, in the beggining it was full staff, after the war many people went to work to factories, offices, and the owners couldnt afford full staff. Many houses started to hire many people from the village, Chatsworth house. a country house that makes look Downton/Highclere like a cottage, had only 2 maids who sleep there in the 30´s, the majority of the staff were people of the surrounding village, the wifes and daughters of gardeners, farmers, etc.  </p><p>I think that when the series started William and Thomas shared a room, because they were footman, like when Alfred and Jimmy shared. Anna shared with Gwen, and with Ethel after. I think that when Anna was promoted to lady maid she was given her own room.  </p>

<div class="quote">81.159.49.6 wrote:
<p>As for the rank/room thing, presumably it also allows for some variation due to practical considerations: since the senior staff sort-of-subconsciously know about Thomas from a very early stage, they are hardly going to ask some young footman to share a room with him. </p><p>Another thing that bugs me is the proportion of male to female staff. Carson is adamant that he needs 2 footmen to function, but if they are down to ...what ?1 housemaid, ?2housemaids, who on earth keeps those rooms dustfree and the beds made? Is there even a scullery maid around? Who lights the fires? Who plucks the chickens- Daisy seems to be busy with fancy canapes and sauces these days. </p> </div> <p>Well, as time pass, they don't need such amount of servants for doing stuff. Like having a washing machine and less members of the family everyday at the house (and ditto members such Tom doesn't need valets), it means less workers. </p><p>As for Thomas, if he shared a room with William, that would be like a war, with Thomas pissing off William for everything and doing nasty pranks with the sheets XDDD (I would have liked to see that XDDD) </p>

<p>The housemaids wouldn't have been doing the laundry anyway- the jobs done by indoor maids are the jobs that take pretty much the same time in any century: dusting, making beds, keeping the house clean. A lot of the cleaning jobs will need doing however many live in the house until you start putting rooms in dustsheets and living in a small section of the house, and there is no sign that the Crawleys are prepared to go that far.  Many of the jobs done by the kitchen staff stay the same: peeling potatoes and plucking chickens are always going to be as messy and time consuming as they have been. </p><p>The fact that the younger men don't need valets just underlines what I said about there being less practical  need for male indoor staff. But male staff make a good show, so Carson likes them. I wonder if Thomas will be more pragmatic and more inclined to listen to Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore. There is no particular suggestion that he looks down on women, so maybe that will be one of his strengths. </p>

<p>One of the problems is that the contemporaneous Highclere castle had about three times as many servants as represented in DA. The kitchen staff, for example, consisted of a chef, a sous chef, three cooks, and a requisite compliment of kitchen maids. There were 12-14 butlers, under butlers and footmen, and a small army of maids of various types. </p><p>Due to both labor saving technology and financial exigency, staffs were reduced over the time period represented in DA which does show it relatively in proportion, but the reduction highlights just how understaffed DA is relative to actual large estates of the time. </p>