Victorian Bournemouth (226) has speculated on how experienced men, although designated as servants, guided respectable and privileged people in making decisions about the chrysanthemum show’s management. To explain how this may have succeeded, it offered, as an analogy, how the army’s non-commissioned and commissioned officers made shared decisions. Relevant experience overcame the need for deference and induced mutual respect. Victorian masters referred to their servants by surname alone. In contrast, the speeches congratulating James Spong’s organisational efforts used the title ‘Mr’.