The keys and cane would hang from the housekeeper's waist.The housekeeper was the most important female servant.

The keys were for all sorts of cupboards, rooms and boxes.

There was a key for the linen store(sheets, pillowcases, tablecloths etc.).

There was a key to 'Pug's Parlour'. This was the housekeeper's private sitting room where the upper servants went to eat their pudding, leaving the lower servants in the Servant's Dining Hall.

There was even a key to the tea caddy. The housekeeper would take out a measured amount of tea each day and keep the rest locked away.