Story Search Results

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #45

...full time job. The kitchen gardens and greenhouses would have provided a lot of the produce they ate as well as the pheasants and other game birds that were reared to be eaten. There was also a carp pool for their fish stock. In total there were about 50 servants employed by the Meynell family which included cooks, housemaids, chambermaids, a lady’s maid, a governess, a nanny, a butler, footmen and a house-keeper among others. All staff were expected to attend the 9am service which was held in the Chapel in the house. They were also expected to attend services at the church which had been built in the grounds; however, they weren’t allowed to walk down the d...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story

...cured the job at the Hall.  Inez’s parents were themselves in service; her mother had been a lady’s maid and her father was a butler for the Spanish Ambassador in London – from which source Inez assumes her Christian name originated. There was little choice but to go into service in those days (her sister, Beatrice, was also a nursery maid with the Earl and Countess of Lichfield), and she was engaged on a salary of £18 per annum.  Her mother made her uniform, which comprised of a morning dress and an afternoon dress, and Lady Dorothy Meynell supplied her cap.  She was the personal maid to Lady Dorothy’s eldest daughter, Dorothy, who was just four ye...

The Kitchen Maid's Story #36

...had many jobs as a servant, including one in a castle in the Highlands! She was, in her own words, 'a good housemaid but never a good servant'. With memories of hungry children fresh in her mind she could never get used to the wanton waste of food left on plates, in the homes she worked in. Her mistresses were always untidy with stockings, shoes and underwear “flung everywhere” and powder “spilt lavishly” – this always rankled with her and she never really got used to the ways of the aristocracy.   Jean as a young woman   She gradually travelled down the country and eventually found a job in London. Although she was still a scullery maid, sh...

The Kitchen Maid's Tale #41

...had many jobs as a servant, including one in a castle in the Highlands! She was, in her own words, a good housemaid but never a good servant. With memories of hungry children fresh in her mind she could never get used to the wanton waste of food left on plates, in the homes she worked in. Her mistresses were always untidy with stockings, shoes and underwear “flung everywhere” and powder “spilt lavishly” – this always rankled with her and she never really got used to the ways of the aristocracy. She gradually travelled down the country and eventually found a job in London. Although she was still a scullery maid, she worked under a skilled chef who tau...

The Kitchen Maid's Story

...had many jobs as a servant, including one in a castle in the Highlands!  She was, in her own words, a good housemaid but never a good servant.  With memories of hungry children fresh in her mind she could never get used to the wanton waste of food left on plates.  Her mistresses were always untidy with stockings, shoes and underwear “flung everywhere” and powder “spilt lavishly” – this always rankled with her and she never really got used to the ways of the aristocracy. She gradually travelled down the country and eventually found a job in London.  Although she was still a scullery maid, she worked under a skilled chef who taught her much and she...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #34

...cured the job at the Hall.  Inez’s parents were themselves in service; her mother had been a lady’s maid and her father was a butler for the Spanish Ambassador in London – from which source Inez assumes her Christian name originated. There was little choice but to go into service in those days (her sister, Beatrice, was also a nursery maid with the Earl and Countess of Lichfield), and she was engaged on a salary of £18 per annum.  Her mother made her uniform, which comprised of a morning dress and an afternoon dress, and Lady Dorothy Meynell supplied her cap.  She was the personal maid to Lady Dorothy’s eldest daughter, Dorothy, who was just four ye...