If absenteeism persuaded more and more landowners to entrust their estates to stewards, rather than relying on ‘mere’ bailiffs or rent-collecting managers of the home farm, in what manner of men did they choose to place their trust? Once appointed, stewards, as we have seen, enjoyed a social status which reflected their employer's rank. As one steward, after successfully negotiating the release of an estate servant from the press gang, succinctly expressed it to his master: he had observed ‘much respect to you and to me for your sake’. Inevitably the steward of a senior nobleman carried far more weight than the steward of a mere gentleman or even a baronet, however wealthy. Nevertheless the men who were employed had their own status before they were hired. In general it can be said that landowners sought men of substance, education and experience drawn from the ranks of gentlemen, or at least from the substantial yeomanry.