11/12/2023
Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey were a real thing for Worsley. We can't give you the lowdown on real life at the big house but we can show you the site and sights that are part of the legacy of Worsley New Hall and the Egerton family.
Another gem from John Davies.
New Hall: 1st picture - domestic servants, 2nd picture chauffeurs, footmen and garage staff, 3rd picture the hall itself.
If you’ve ever watched Upstairs, Downstairs or Downton Abbey, you’ll know that there was a strict hierarchy below stairs, which included the butler, cook, housekeeper, lady’s maid, chauffeur, footmen and various maids, such as parlour maid, chamber maid, kitchen maid, house maid, and lesser servants like the laundry maid and scullery maid.
The servants in the picture look lovely in their dresses and aprons, but it was a hard life. A typical day would see a house maid get up at 6am, wash, dress and put her hair into a bun. At breakfast, lunch and dinner, she helped set the table, serve the meals and then clear the table afterwards. A maid might serve tea when required, but like all servants, she had to perfect the art of being invisible – staying out of sight if possible, or, when in the presence of the master/lady of the house, keeping silent or standing still against the wall with head slightly bowed.
The maid would make the beds and then spend much of her day cleaning, dusting, scrubbing, polishing and sweeping all the rooms, hallways, stairs, fireplaces, bathrooms and toilets. The house maid was also expected to help in the kitchen, doing dishes and laundry, and to always be on hand to fetch and carry. She grabbed her own meals in between all these tasks and would fall into bed around 10pm.
The work was often dirty and a maid might have to change her apron several times a day. She sometimes put on a clean dress to serve at table. She would have to buy or make all these dresses and aprons herself, although as a special treat, she might be given some cloth as a Christmas present.
Everyday, it was the exact same routine, except on a Sunday, when there was a rota for the domestic staff to get the afternoon off. This was your life, week in, week out, year on year, without a single day off for a holiday.
It's wrong to call it "slavery" as there was no buying, selling or legal ownership of people. People had a choice to enter "service" or not. It was common for girls to go into service from the age 10-13 and to stay into their 30s and 40s, when most left to get married. It was less common for a woman to spend her whole working life in service, although some did. Today we may regard it as gross exploitation, but at the time domestic service was regarded as secure, well-paid work in comfortable and pleasant surroundings. After deductions for food and board, a Victorian maid might get £6 to £12 a year, which was was plenty enough to attract lots of applicants if a position was advertised. In 1891, there were 1.3 million women and girls working as domestic servants in England. But it does say a lot about the absence of any other, better alternatives for Victorian working women, that so many felt that a life of endless drudgery was not their worst option.
There were very strict rules for female servants. You were under constant scrutiny - your appearance, your work, your demeanour. No “followers” (boyfriends) were allowed. If a maid ever wanted to marry, she usually had to give up her job. It was also never advisable to fall sick, to get pregnant, or even to show any signs of old age, as these were all reasons for dismissal. Your attic room could be searched at any time. Sometimes a trap was laid: a penny placed under a rug. If you found it and kept it, you’d be sacked for dishonesty. If you left it, you could be sacked for not cleaning under rug.
Not all households were so bad, but the mistreatment of servants was commonplace. Younger maids were especially vulnerable to being bullied or sexually exploited. There's no doubt that some staff put up with it and suffered in silence, knowing their word would count for nothing compared to that of those in authority over them. Walking out, or being sacked, meant no reference. That meant you had very little chance of ever finding another maid’s job anywhere else.
Salford workhouse always had plenty of male and female inmates who had “domestic servant” as their previous employment.
