How can a man get a servant... in an unusual way?

What century is this set in? And where?

Because at the right time and place the steward could have been sold to the Master. Or in a different time he could have been pressganged.

He saved the young man's life, not even meaning to? Not sure how that could work but I am sure it could, for instance, he is doing something nautical and normal but the kid is in the way, unseen, and the kid is somehow kept from being severed by the bowline or the like due to the man's quick reflexes upon noticing him. This would have to be filled in with appropriate shipboard detail of which I am wholly ignorant.

Then the kid kind of won't leave him alone, keeps showing up and doing stuff for him and so the man decides to just make him his (term - valet? Steward?)

That's what came to my mind. Sounds like a good book, when you're done.

What country and what year would be important to know to answer this question.

How close do you want the servant to be? A valet or body servant would be closer to a master than a steward.

ETA: I cross posted with you. And don't know diddly about the French navy.

Did the admiral acquire this servant before he joined the Navy? Or more recently? (I assume more recently if the servant is in his 20s).

There are a bunch of ways a sailor man might save a captain or admiral's life. Or perhaps the admiral just liked the man and promoted him to be his manservant and allows the liberty (and it is a large liberty) of the servant proselytizing. Or maybe he's a son or nephew of a loyal family retainer.

General ways of acquiring a servant:
- Servant can be hired by a parent, sibling, or spouse, who thinks the person intended to employ the servant needs help/needs cared for. In this case, a religious parent or sibling worried for the admiral's soul might want to supply a religious companion for him.
- Servant can be a poor relation, or could be transferred from the household of a relative, neighbor, or good friend which can no longer afford him or has a personality conflict or sexual issue between him and someone else in the household.
- Servant can be a grown-up orphan recommended into employment by a clergyperson with some connection to the orphanage.
- Servant can be first met as a temporary employee that comes with a job or inheritance of a property or business.
- Servant can be first met as an ally in a bar fight or similar minor trouble, or a helper to someone lost or having a traveling mishap.
- And it's not relevant to this particular case, but the most common place for an upper class person to get a servant is if the servant is a child of one of their parent's servants; often the two knew each other as children.

If you're looking for an unusual way for him to gain a servant I vote for some version of what kylabelle suggested - if we're voting

How about this: He won another man's "most prized possession" in a game of chance. The noble presumed it was an expensive object that could be sold and discovered when the "possession" was delivered, it was the manservant.

Late to the game: a pity it was the French Navy because I was going to suggest something I found when researching a gang of English 18th C highway men. They were convicted and one of them was hanged but one of them was reprieved at the last minute. He later received "his Majesty's most gracious pardon, on condition of being transported during his natural life". According to The London Magazine, he was then delivered to an officer to serve in one of the regiments abroad.

My idea was that he might have been delivered to a naval officer and thus come to be the valet of your character. That would have been an unusual way, but this was in England, not France so it might not work. Maybe the French judicial system was less creative?

You could tie this to the servant's piety. At the time, conflicts weren't as bad as during the Reformation, but religion was still a very touchy subject. If he decided to proselytize to or denounce the wrong group, he would be in serious danger. The admiral could then swoop in, declare the young man his steward, and defuse the situation with the appropriate diplomatic gestures. Combine this with some f the suggestions above for why he would want the young man under his service, and you have a reasonably unique background.

Flicka said:

Late to the game: a pity it was the French Navy because I was going to suggest something I found when researching a gang of English 18th C highway men. They were convicted and one of them was hanged but one of them was reprieved at the last minute. He later received "his Majesty's most gracious pardon, on condition of being transported during his natural life". According to The London Magazine, he was then delivered to an officer to serve in one of the regiments abroad.

My idea was that he might have been delivered to a naval officer and thus come to be the valet of your character. That would have been an unusual way, but this was in England, not France so it might not work. Maybe the French judicial system was less creative?

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ETA: the reason he was reprieved may be that he was entirely naive and really innocent and just stumbled into the situation unknowingly, possibly misconstruing it and offering help (à la the Good Samaritan) to the bandits. That could still be criminal but might motivate why he was given a second chance.

It'd make his reason for being there tied into the core traits of his personality and establish him as someone whose good heart and naive personality is forever getting him into trouble.

Just a thought.

1719.... Such a fun century for odd adventures. How about ... your admiral is attacking a pirate ship and almost bites the dust as a member of the boarding party, only to be saved by a strangely religious pirate? (I seem to recall it wasn't unusual for pirates to force men into service.)

I know how a woman can get a man servant, she gets him to marry her. Before sending angry emails, see statement below.
NOTE: All comments and opinions expressed here are of the individuals in question, and do not represent this website or any representative of Absolute Write Cooler, or basically anyone who is living in this century.

WAR Wrestler said:

I know how a woman can get a man servant, she gets him to marry her. Before sending angry emails, see statement below.
NOTE: All comments and opinions expressed here are of the individuals in question, and do not represent this website or any representative of Absolute Write Cooler, or basically anyone who is living in this century.

Click to expand...

How is this relevant to the subject under discussion in this thread?

I apologize, I could not resist.

However, back to topic.
The way someone becomes in servitude, could be more important then rest of the story.
In Arhur Conan Doyles, "The adventure of a crooked man" how the character becomes a "slave" or "Pack mule" is more important than the crime that Sherlock Holmes has to investigate. In fact, the crime is a result of the character becoming who he was.