Story Search Results

An Edwardian Schoolroom Maid #40

...cured the job at theHall. 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...

Moving Out #32

...d get odd jobs for him to do at the weekends. One of his friends was a builder and he was doing up a house that belonged to the bass player from a chart band, who were really big in the seventies. They also owned a Ferrari between them and this was often parked in the drive, as the band shared the use of the car. My dad put Kev’s name forward to re-wire the house (as he had trained as an electrician) and he spent the next few weekends fixing up the electrics alongside builders, plumbers and carpenters. When it was all finished they put in their bills only to find out that the band were planning to leave the country – without paying anyone!   The band's...

Bacon's 'Essay on Gardens' # 56

...hose sole job was to simply sweep the pathways! The gardener responsible for planting the yew hedges was a Mr Rowley and this must have been a full time job as they were cut into amazing shapes such as birds and horses or the letter 'M' for Meynell. Bacon would have been proud of these gardens grown and nurtured from scratch in 1871 and as he said himself, “A garden is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man”.   Don't miss next week's instalment:  'Summer Balls and Garden Parties'   If you would like to follow my story from the beginning click here and please feel free to share with your friends.Follow me on a personal tour of my childhood ho...

Here comes the bride (Part 2)

...– good job Percy the parrot wasn’t around!  He did such a professional job that all Kev’s relatives thought we’d hired him for the day and couldn’t believe that he was our friend! As the party continued on into the night people gradually went home until there was just us and our friends left at 5am.  Bodies were everywhere – someone had fallen asleep on the Entrance Hall steps, another couple were flat out on a sofa in the Long Gallery.  Two more hadn’t quite made it up the main staircase and others were snuggled up on the Library sofas, books and drinks long abandoned. It had been a fantastic day, with no more fights or arrests.  The next d...

Moving Out#32

...d get odd jobs for him to do at the weekends.  One of his friends was a builder and he was doing up a house that belonged to the bass player from a pop band, who were really big in the seventies.  They also owned a Ferrari between them and this was often parked in the drive as the band shared it.  My dad put Kev’s name forward to re-wire the house (as he had trained as an electrician) and he spent the next few weekends fixing up the electrics alongside builders, plumbers and carpenters.  When it was all finished they put in their bills only to find out that the band were planning to leave the country – without paying anyone! The builders were none too p...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross

....  Their job was simply to sweep the pathways all day and keep the leaves at bay! There were two elderly chaps, Mr Knight and Mr Dukes, who were solely responsible for the south garden – however, their task was complicated by the fact that they couldn’t get on with one another!  Grass was cut by a horse drawn mower, a task carried out by the chauffeur of all people!    We heard that back in the early days the head gardener was pushed around in a wheelchair when he was older inspecting the lawns – apparently if he saw a weed amongst the grass blades he would tell one of the gardeners to pluck it out straightaway! Emily Meynell Ingram employed a Mr Ro...