Story Search Results

Rags to Riches #12

...son of a servant girl during the First World War. Even his birth is a story in itself as his mother worked at a nearby stately home as a servant and fell for the son of the house.  My mum told me all about it years later – how they had fallen in love and were ‘walking out’ together even though it was forbidden in those days for the aristocracy to mix with the servants.  However, the son caught tuberculosis and sadly died so my grandmother had to bring my dad up alone with help from her own parents, and without getting married (this is where my dad gets his double-barrel surname from).   When my dad was about 4 years old my grandmother married a sailor...

The Kitchen Maid's Story #37

...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 taught her mu...

Rags to Riches #15

...son of a servant girl during the First World War. Even his birth is a story in itself as his mother worked at a nearby stately home as a servant and fell for the son of the house. My mum told me all about it years later – how they had fallen in love and were ‘walking out’ together even though it was forbidden in those days for the aristocracy to mix with the servants. However, before they could be married the son went off to the First World War and caught tuberculosis - he sadly died so my grandmother had to bring my dad up alone with help from her own parents, and without getting married (this is where my dad gets his double-barrel surname from). When my...

RAGS TO RICHES! #15

...home as a servant and fell for the son of the house.  My mum told me all about it years later – how they had fallen in love and were ‘walking out’ together even though it was forbidden in those days for the aristocracy to mix with the servants.  However, the son caught TB and sadly died so my grandmother had to bring my dad up alone with help from her own parents without getting married (this is where my dad gets his double-barrel surname from).   When my dad was about 4 years old my grandmother married a sailor and they had a little girl, my Aunty Dorothy.  He told me how his grandparents brought him up but how poor they were and because of this they...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #20

...HOAR CROSS HALL – LIFE BELOW STAIRS:       This week I’ve done a history blog about the servants who lived at the Hall from the 1870s to the 1950s when the Hall became empty.  They were an essential part of keeping a big house running but were often not appreciated by the aristocracy as they went about their day to day duties. The life of a servant in Victorian times was a hard one.  They had to rise at 5am to clean and light all the fires and dust and polish the floors, then do a day’s work, often not getting to bed much before midnight.  No wonder they didn’t live to a great age in those days!  By the end of the 19th century there were nearly...

Moving on - the end of an era #33

...f the old servants’ quarters – it was barely recognisable!  In 2005 we went back again with my mum and two of our children, Lee and Hannah.  Again, it was great fun to explore the house and grounds and show my children where I had lived as a child.  I was particularly fascinated to see the attic rooms as these had always looked so spooky and were obviously haunted – how strange to see those dusty old rooms decorated and carpeted! Last year we were back again to make the video for the tour of the house to accompany my blogs.  Again, it was lovely to be there and spend two whole days having a good look around the house that held so many memories, good...