Story Search Results

What the Butler Saw! #42

Anyone who’s seen Downton Abbey will remember Carson the butler. He is exactly how a butler would have been in the 19th century, a grand, authoritarian figure, commanding respect and awe and most of the servants would have been scared to death of upsetting him! He was dressed like a gentleman of the period and generally ran the household with an iron fist. Although most big houses had a house steward who was in charge of accounts and general running of the household, a butler was more commonly engaged by the wealthy. They usually started as footmen and worked their way up fro there.  Most butlers stayed at the same household until they retired and probably...

Rags to Riches #14

...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 and the...

Rags to Riches #14

...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 went off to fight in the First World War then 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 yea...

Rags to Riches #63

...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 frowned upon in those days for the upper classes to mix with the servants.  However, the son caught tuberculosis during the First World War 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...

The Kitchen Maid's Story

...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 hoped for...

Rags to Riches #16

...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...