Story Search Results

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #36

...d in attendance at the chapel ready for morning prayers. All the family and staff had to attend although it was only prayers spoken by Colonel Meynell – no singing or music. By mid-day she had again changed her outfit to an afternoon dress and made her way to the workroom to assist the lady’s maid in mending, sewing and general repairs to Miss Dorothy’s wardrobe. It seems to me that people were forever changing their clothes in those days! For the servants their morning dress was plain and serviceable covered with a large apron, for doing all the chores around the house. Their afternoon dress was still plain but usually black and trimmed with a lace colla...

What the Butler Saw! #37

...y-awaited dance at the Servants’ Ball at Christmas time – most large houses had one and Hoar Cross Hall was no different. The Ball was held in the Long Gallery and this was the one time when the family mixed with the servants. With mulled wine flowing freely and mistletoe hung here about, the young ladies would be very excited to be standing near to a young, good looking footman!  But it wasn't just the young ladies of the house - the story goes that when the butler went down to the wine cellar to fetch more wine for the party, he heard a lot of giggling.  When he peeked  through the door he saw one of the young gentleman of the house in a passionate embr...

Ghouls Galore! #18

...g shadows dance in the corners. The more experienced people did a bit of chanting and then they all waited to see what happened. We carried on partying downstairs turning the music up loud – to be honest, I didn’t really want to know what was going on in the attic, that whole part of the building terrified me! The attic roof where banging was heard   After about 30 minutes we ventured up the spiral staircase a little way to see what was happening. As we couldn’t hear anything we went a little further and peeked around the corner and looked down the long corridor which ran the length of the attic. By now we were all full of ‘dutch courage’ makin...

An Edwardian Schoolroom Maid #40

...d in attendance at the chapel ready for morning prayers. All the family and staff had to attend although it was only prayers spoken by Colonel Meynell – no singing or music. By mid-day she had again changed her outfit to an afternoon dress and made her way to the workroom to assist the lady’s maid in mending, sewing and general repairs to Miss Dorothy’s wardrobe. Lady Dorothy with Miss Dorothy on the left   It seems to me that people were forever changing their clothes in those days! For the servants their morning dress was plain and serviceable covered with a large apron, for doing all the chores around the house. Their afternoon dress was still p...

Victorian Courtship - fans #91

...a single dance at a Ball given by the Duchess de Berry at the Tuileries Palace in France in 1829.  The aristocracy could be very influential in those times and clearly this helped launch the fan anew.  Also, in the 1850s the French fan maker Duvelleroy, the official fan supplier to Queen Victoria, published a leaflet explaining the language of fans to the masses in England and some say this was done to boost sales rather than imparting the secret codes – I guess we’ll never know the answer to that!  Incidentally, the Duvelleroy fan company, started in 1827 is still going to this day – so fans couldn’t have lost their popularity that much if they’r...