Life Below Stairs in the Victorian and Edwardian Country House

Treasure Hunt, the blog that features the National Trust Collections, has written a post about the new book by Sian Evans, Life Below Stairs in the Victorian and Edwardian Country House. Click here to see the fabulous images in the book and to read the review.

The Housekeeper as Guide to a Great Country Estate

At the top of the servant hierarchy stood the butler and the housekeeper, who ruled their domains belowstairs.

Jane Austen gave Mr. Darcy's housekeeper a prominent role as she escorted Lizzie and the Gardiners through the great rooms of Pemberley, talking fondly and familiarly about her master. Her kind recollections were so opposite Lizzie's, whose confused mind and bewildered emotions were unable to take in all that conflicted with her prejudiced opinions of Mr. Darcy, that it set up the scene in which she unexpectedly encounters him in the gardens.

In reality, the role of tour guide was not uncommon for the housekeeper of a great country estate. In this portrait painted by Thomas Barber of Mrs. Garnett, the housekeeper of Keddleston Hall, and which hangs in front of the house to this day, she holds a guidebook. Ever since Keddleston Hall was built in the 18th century, it has been open to visitors. In fact, Samuel Johnson described his encounter with Mrs. Garnett (see linked post above)as he visited that great house.

In Regency Manor, the role of the upper servant as guide is described as thus:

...upper servants, in particular the housekeeper, served as tour guide on days when the houses were open to the public that “The fees derived from this source (the charge for seeing the house), by upper servants in some principal show-houses in the kingdom must amount to a handsome income; and I am told on good authority, that a late housekeeper in this castle, left by will, to a younger son of the family, at the close of a long service, a fortune of many thousand pounds, chiefly accumulated this way.” The castle in this instance was Warwick castle.

View Kedleston Hall here

Maids of All Work

On December 1, 1798, Jane Austen wrote her sister Cassandra:

We are very much disposed to like our new maid; she knows nothing of a dairy, to be sure, which, in our family, is rather against her, but she is to be taught it all. In short, we have felt the inconvenience of being without a maid so long, that we are determined to like her, and she will find it a hard matter to displease us.

In days of yore even the lowliest families that could afford it would hire a maid of all work, usually a young girl from an impoverished family. If you recall in Mansfield Park, Fanny Price's real mother and father employed such a maid. To go without one meant hauling one's own water, laying the fire, sweeping (which must have been endless), and accomplishing the myriad tasks needing to be done in an age that lacked electricity and internal plumbing.
Next to the scullery maid (who in a large household with many servants, was relegated to perform the meanest duties), the maid-of-all-work had one of the least desirable jobs in the servant hierarchy. Because she was the only servant or one of only a few, all the hard, backbreaking household tasks fell to her. Even Mrs. Beeton, whose expectations of servants was strict, commiserated with this maid's lot, saying: Her life is a solitary one, and in, some places, her work is never done. She is also subject to rougher treatment than either the house or kitchen-maid, especially in her earlier career.

Learn more about the maid of all work here:

A Day in the Life of a Maid of All Work

Maid of All Work: Her Tasks (Victorian Era)

Click here for my previous posts on servants

The Cock of Cotton Walk and Maid of All Work, 1820: A Satiric Verse

Illustrations from Pyne's Microcosm

The Dairy Maid and the Master of Uppark

While the British people during Jane Austen's time adhered to a strict class system, every once in a rare blue moon and much like a fantastic plot in today's romance novels, a titled gentleman would marry a servant. According to the National Trust,

Sir Harry Fetherstonhaugh... lived a prodigal life at Uppark entertaining lavishly and included the Prince Regent among his frequent guests. In 1810, however, he withdrew from society and devoted his attentions to discussing improvements to the house and grounds with Humphry Repton. At the age of over 70 he took the extraordinary step of marrying his dairy maid, and left the entire estate to her on his death in 1846. She, in turn, left it to her unmarried sister and together they made provision for the estate to pass, after the life tenancy of a neighbour, to the second surviving son of another friend and neighbour, the fourth Earl of Clanwilliam, on the condition that he should assume the name of Fetherstonhaugh.

The dairy at Uppark, Sussex, designed by Humphry Repton. When Sir Harry passed by one day... he heard the dairymaid's assistant, Mary Ann Bullock, singing. Sir Harry presented himself and asked for her hand in marriage. Mary Ann Bullock, aged twenty-one, was sent to Paris to be educated before being married to Sir Harry in September 1825. (Household Management, National Trust, p 30. ISBN 0-7078-0241-5)

How is this tale connected to Jane Austen and her world? By the merest thread. In Mansfield Park, Mr. Rushworth discusses changes for Sotherton Court after he had toured Compton, where he had viewed the improvements of the grounds by Humphry Repton. This short scene illustrates "the popular and expensive trend of improving one’s grounds to give the appearance of wealth both outside and inside the country home." (Kerrie Savage, JASNA)

Learn more about Uppark and its restoration after a massive fire.

Every Day Chores of Laundry and Scullery Maids, and Washer Women

In reading Undressing Mr. Darcy, this phrase leaped off my computer screen:

Another of Beau Brummel’s innovations was the semi-starched cravat: a neck cloth folded and arranged exquisitely carefully beneath chin and shirt front. It is reported washerwoman fainted when he introduced this. And no wonder, on top of everything they had to wash, iron, and mend they now had this semi-starched neck cloth: not full starch so it could be done with all the others, no, it had to be semi starched.

Until recently I would not have singled out this phrase, but as I have been reading about scullery maids (click on link), the enormity of their tasks (and those of washer women and the lowly house maids) have begun to hit me in a real sense. Imagine cleaning dishes or doing laundry in an era when there was no running water piped into the house. The very rich might have a private cistern or well nearby, but for the majority of households during the 19th century and before, water had to be carried into the house from a distance. The town pump or well, while centrally situated in a village or city square, might not be conveniently located near one's house. In addition to the village well, households in the country could also rely on local streams, rivers, or lakes for their source of water, but again, these bodies of water were probably located some distance away.

Whatever the chore, water had to be carried back to the house by the servants of an upper class house or by the mistress or a maid of all work of a modest household. According to Digital History, Washing, boiling and rinsing a single load of laundry used about 50 gallons of water. Over the course of a year she walked 148 miles toting water and carried over 36 tons of water. Homes without running water also lacked the simplest way to dispose garbage: sinks with drains. This meant that women had to remove dirty dishwater, kitchen slops, and, worst of all, the contents of chamberpots from their house by hand.

One can just imagine how many buckets of water were required for one hot steaming bath. It is no wonder, then, that people of that era took infrequent baths.

It is also documented that the women of those bygone days universally dreaded laundry days. In fact, because of the sheer enormity of the task, people had a habit of changing their shirts and underwear only once a week. A chemise, which was worn next to the body, was washed more frequently than a gown. These shapeless undergarments were made of white linen, muslin, or cotton so that they could take the frequent harsh treatment of boiling and pounding in lye without losing shape or color. According to Reflections on Early Modern Laundry, "undergarments were not permanently gathered at the neckline and sleeves, but made with casings and drawstrings so the garment could be laid out flat for drying and ironing."

In the absence of electric dryers, laundry had to dry naturally. This could be a problem during cold dank winters when clothes took forever to dry. One can now understand why Beau Brummel's penchant for wearing white, lightly starched cravats (and he often went through a bundle before being satisfied of the results) would make a laundress faint.

Here are two more descriptions of washing and doing laundry before modern conveniences took over. The first one is from Digital History:

On Sunday evenings, a housewife soaked clothing in tubs of warm water. When she woke up the next morning, she had to scrub the laundry on a rough washboard and rub it with soap made from lye, which severely irritated her hands. Next, she placed the laundry in big vats of boiling water and stirred the clothes about with a long pole to prevent the clothes from developing yellow spots. Then she lifted the clothes out of the vats with a washstick, rinsed the clothes twice, once in plain water and once with bluing, wrung the clothes out and hung them out to dry. At this point, clothes would be pressed with heavy flatirons and collars would be stiffened with starch.
The most interesting bit of information about laundering in the 19th century and before was the following excerpt from Reflections on Early Modern Laundry:

First, remember that many of the fabrics that they used, especially the wools, are things that we now usually dry-clean because they are difficult to wash. Woolen garments had to be washed separately in cold water to avoid shrinkage and pilling. I will not even address the issue of trying to clean silks, brocades, and other luxury fabrics ...

Dyes were not color-fast, and fabrics shrank at different rates. If you read the descriptions of how to wash a "good" dress, the laundress started by removing the trimming and the buttons. Then she separated the lining from the garment itself (picking the seams). If the skirt was full enough that the weight of the wet fabric would cause it to stretch unevenly, she took the skirt off the bodice and took the gores apart at the seams. Then she washed it, dried it, checked to see if the lining and the garment still matched up in size, made any necessary adjustments, and sewed it back together.


Laundry: Reflections on Early Modern Laundry: This online article explains how laundry techniques hardly changed at all between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Digital History: Housework in late 19th Century America:Find a detailed description of the 19th century American housewife's duties on this site. They are not so vastly different than those of the ordinary housewife in England.

Victorian Baths: Addresses how cleanliness and hygiene were tackled during the late 19th century.

Click on the English Heritage Site for a view of a laundry room.

Paintings of laundry maids by Henry Robert Morland, circa 1785

The Scullery Maid

Why describe the lowliest of the servants in a Regency household first? Because heretofore so much has been written about the butler and the housekeeper, who, along with the stewart, stand on top of the servant food chain. We know them by heart and they are no longer mysterious.

A scullery maid's life was generally one of drudgery and servitude, She arose very early in the morning (often at 5:00 or 6:00 a.m.) and after a day of scrubbing and carrying water and heavy pots, she would stumble into her simple attic bed at 10:00 p.m.

According to PBS's Manor House, the Scullery Maid's Daily Duties include the following (Granted, the Edwardian Period comes well after the Regency Period, but in respect to servant duties time moved slowly and the customs of great houses changed just as slowly. The wages would have been different, though the daily schedules remained largely the same) :

Morning Duties

You must rise at six o'clock and wash and dress, with your hair tied neatly back beneath your cap.

Your bed must be made and you must be downstairs at work within half an hour of waking.

You first task of the day is to stoke the Kitchen range to a good heat, to boil water for early morning tea.

You must then empty the chamber pots of all the female Servants, and wash them around with a vinegar soaked rag kept only for this purpose.

You should also assist the Lower Servants in preparing the early morning tea for the Upper Servants.

You must then set about cleaning the Kitchen passages, the Pantries, the Kitchen and Scullery.

When the Chef de Cuisine arrives in the Kitchen at half-past seven you will be expected to curtsey and bid him "Good Morning".

At a quarter-to eight you should lay the table in the Servants' Hall for Breakfast.

Breakfast is served in the Servants' Hall at a quarter past eight. You should clear the table afterwards and wash the dishes.

At a quarter-past nine you must appear in a presentable state, attired in a clean apron, for Morning prayers in the Main Hall. This is the only time that it is acceptable for you to be seen above stairs, and it is compulsory for all members of Staff to attend.

Your duties resume in the Kitchen at ten o'clock, when you must wash up all the dishes from the Servants' Breakfast, as well as the pans and kitchen utensils used in preparing both the Servants' and Family's Breakfasts.

At half-past ten you should lay the table in the Servants' Hall for tea.

At eleven o'clock tea is served in the Servants' Hall. You should clear the table afterwards and wash up.

You should then assist the Kitchen Maid and Chef with preparations for the Servants' Dinner and Family's Luncheon, should they require you to.

You must ensure the Kitchen is kept spotless at all times and continuously wash up after both the Chef de Cuisine and the Kitchen Maid as they make their preparations.

At Midday you are to take your Dinner in the Kitchen with the Kitchen Maid so that you may watch over the Family's Luncheon, whilst the Chef takes his Dinner in the Servants' Hall with the other Servants. The Second Footman will lay the table, serve, and clear away the dirty dishes.

Afternoon Duties


Your duties resume at one o'clock when you must begin washing up after the Servants' Dinner, and the Family's Luncheon.

Providing your work is done, you may have one hour at your leisure between half-past two and half-past three.

At half-past three you should lay the table in the Servants' Hall for Tea.

Tea is served in the Servants' Hall at four o'clock, you should clear the table afterwards.

At half-past four, you should resume your duties in the Kitchen, washing up after the Servants' Tea and the utensils used in preparation for the Family's Tea.

You must assist the Kitchen Maid with any food preparation for the Family's dinner and Servants' Supper and continuously wash up any pots and pans used.

After the Family's Dinner has been served you must clean the Kitchen Passages, Pantries, Scullery and Kitchen.

Supper is served in the Servants' Hall at half-past nine. The Second Footman is to lay the table, serve, and clear away afterwards.

Providing you work is done, from half past nine until you are required to go to bed, you may enjoy your leisure.

The duties of a scullery maid were physically demanding and never stopped during the day. She cleaned the kitchen floor as well as stoves, sinks, pots and dishes. The young maids lit bedroomfires first thing in the morning, and carried heavy buckets of warm water up the stairs for bathing. Below is a description from The Servants by Ellen Micheletti

"There were several kinds of maids - chambermaids, parlormaids and maids-of-all-work. These young women were the ones who swept, dusted, polished, cleaned, washed, fetched and carried from early morning till late at night. In Frank Dawes' book Not In Front of the Servants, he gives a schedule of the week for maids that has them working from 6:30 am till 10:00 pm with one half-day off a week. They had to do all the cleaning and polishing with none of the labor saving devices we take for granted. There was no such thing as polish for instance. Furniture polish was made from linseed oil, turpentine and beeswax. Carpets had to be brushed by hand, lamps had to be cleaned and filled and fires had to kept lit and tended. This necessitated maids lugging large amounts of coal up flights of stairs to all the fireplaces, and a large estate could have many, many fireplaces."

In this audio clip, a former scullery maid describes her job, which she likens to a form of slavery. (Click on the bold words to listen.) From the descriptions from several sources, I surmise that a scullery maid's job description remained the same for several centuries, including the Georgian, Regency, Victorian, and Edwardian Eras. A modest household could often only afford a maid of all work. Such a servant worked alongside her mistress and led a hard life indeed.

On this website, Hitchingbrook House: Life in an Edwardian Countryhouse describes in great detail the rules for servants as well as a typical day in 1901. Click on the bold words to enter the website.

Beeton's Book of Household Management

The full title of this book is: The Book of Household Management: Comprising Information for the Mistress, Housekeeper, Cook, Kitchen-maid, Butler, Footman, Coachman, Valet, Upper and under house-maids, Lady’s-maid, Maid-of-all-work, Laundry-maid, Nurse and nurse-maid, Monthly, wet, and sick nurses, etc. etc. also, sanitary, medical, & legal memoranda;with a history of the origin, properties, and uses of all things connected with home life and comfort.

Yes, this original source, available for free online, was written during the Victorian era, but the gems of knowledge contained within its pages help to illuminate the daily tasks and duties of the British wife and hostess. Written by Mrs. Isabella Beeton and originally published by her husband, S. O. Beeton (in 24 monthly parts, 1859–1861) this book provides matchless insights, such as those contained in the following excerpt:

"AFTER-DINNER INVITATIONS MAY BE GIVEN; by which we wish to be understood, invitations for the evening. The time of the arrival of these visitors will vary according to their engagements, or sometimes will be varied in obedience to the caprices of fashion. Guests invited for the evening are, however, generally considered at liberty to arrive whenever it will best suit themselves,—usually between nine and twelve, unless earlier hours are specifically named. By this arrangement, many fashionable people and others, who have numerous engagements to fulfil, often contrive to make their appearance at two or three parties in the course of one evening."

Learn more about this book and Mrs. Beeton, who died at 30 after giving birth to her 4th child, in Wikipedia.