in an Edwardian Country House
(adapted extracts from the Channel Four programme The
Edwardian Country House.)
below stairs, would rarely be seen by the upstairs owners of the house.
Look at the census returns for Hinchingbrooke
and count how many servants there were and how many of the family they
looked after. Without the servants the house could not function. However
the ownersprovided employment and sometimes advancement.
was the most important of the downstairs people. He kept the servants
away from the owners and the gentry and liaised between the two groups.
He was responsible for the servants and answerable to the gentry. Look
out for William Knighton, Butler and
Steward 1861, Steward in 1871; Henry Cooper
was Steward in 1881 and Butler in both 1891 and 1901. The Eighth
Earl took particular care of his butler in 1907
Servants' Rules | How to Treat Your Servants
| A Typical Day | Typical Wages
Never let your voice be heard by the ladies and gentlemen of
Always 'give room' if you meet one of your employers or betters
on the stairs.
Always stand still when being spoken to by a lady and look at the
person speaking to you.
Never begin to talk to ladies and gentlemen
Servants should never offer any opinion to their employers, nor
even to say good night.
Never talk to another servant in the presence of your mistress.
Never call from one room to another.
Always answer when you have received an order.
Always keep outer doors fastened. Only the Butler may answer the
Every servant must be punctual at meal times.
No servant is to take any knives or forks or other article, nor
on any account to remove any provisions, nor ale or beer out of the Hall.
No Gambling, or Oaths, or abusive language are allowed.
The female staff are forbidden from smoking.
No servant is to receive any Visitor, Friend or Relative into the
Any maid found fraternising with a member of the opposite sex will
be dismissed without a hearing.
The Hall door is to be finally closed at Half-past Ten o'clock
The servants' hall is to be cleared and closed at Half-past Ten
Any breakages or damage to the house will be deducted from wages.
to Treat Your Servants
Master and Servant Relationship
All Family members should maintain appropriate relationships with the
Staff. As Upper Servants will work directly to the Family, a trusting
and respectful relationship should be established.
Your Footmen are a proclamation of your wealth and prestige. They are
representatives of your Household and Family and as such it is advantageous
that you develop a good relationship. However, as Lower Servants, they
do not expect to be addressed outside the receipt of instructions.
While the Housemaids will clean the House during the day, they should
make every care and attention never to be observed by you doing their
duties. If by chance you do meet, you should expect them to "give
way" to you by standing still and averting their gaze, whilst you
walk past, leaving them un-noticed. By not acknowledging them, you will
spare them the shame of explaining their presence.
How to Address your Servants
The Butler should be addressed courteously by his Surname.
The Housekeeper should be given the title of "Missus ~".
The Chef de Cuisine should be addressed as such, or by the title
It is customary for your Lady's Maid to be given the title of "Miss
~", regardless of whether she is single or married. It is however
acceptable for the Mistress to address her by her Christian name.
A Tutor should be addressed by the title of "Mister ~".
It is very much the custom in the old houses that, when entering
into new Service, Lower Servants adopt new names given to them by their
Masters. You may follow this tradition and rename certain members of your
Staff. Common names for matching Footmen are James and John. Emma is popular
It is not expected that you take the trouble to remember the names
of all your Staff. Indeed, in order to avoid obliging you to converse
with them, Lower Servants will endeavour to make themselves invisible
to you. As such they should not be acknowledged.
Typical Day in 1901
the census returns for 1901 to see
the list of servants at Hinchingbrooke in April 1901. Other servants such
as the valet and lady's maid may be with the Earl and his wife, perhaps
at their town house in London.
Scullery maid Louisa Smith gets the
kitchen range hot enough to boil the water for tea.
The Hallboy or
Harry the odd job man cleans the boots and empties the chamber pots.
Housemaids Elizabeth Wass, Lily Hagram and Mary
Usher dress in their attic rooms then come downstairs in the
basement kitchen to make tea and toast for the
Countess of Sandwich's Lady's maid and
Elizabeth Howe the housekeeper.
First Housemaid Elizabeth Wass delivers
tea and toast, then down again to clean the main rooms on the ground floor.
She tidies, dusts and polishes the furniture and runs the sweeper over
Meanwhile, the second housemaid, Lily Hagram,
has to get the fires going all round the house using the coal from the
coal hole, the logs and kindling chopped by the Hallboy
or Harry Hill the odd job man the
Louisa Smith the scullery maid should
already be in the scullery, making sure all the washing-up from the night
before has been done and the floor is swept. She's joined by the kitchen
maid Sarah Ann Taylor, who puts breakfast together for the
servants. Now the chef appears and
makes breakfast for the family.
The bell for the servants' breakfast sounds and the servants meet in the
servants quarters for bowls of porridge, cups of tea and bread and butter.
As soon as breakfast is finished, the lady's maid, who has already taken
tea and toast to the Countess of Sandwich
in her bedroom, must hurry upstairs to run a bath for her mistress, help
her dress and do her hair.
The butler, Henry Cooper, knocks on
the Earl of Sandwich's door, to carry
out his morning role as valet and barber.
Footmen George Gregor, George Andrews and Charles
Dale bring up the food and lay the table in the dining room
for the family's breakfast.
The bell rings for family prayers. This is the one time of the day that
some of the lower servants will see their masters. The downstairs staff
gather in the main hall, and wait for the family to read prayers. This
is also a time when the Earl will be able to announce congratulations
or punishments to his staff.
As soon as prayers are over, the family go in and sit down to a full Edwardian
breakfast prepared by their Cook Sarah Rogers
or French chef (in 1881 it was Felix
Dazar), consisting of fruit, eggs, sausages, perhaps a pair
of kippers, some kedgeree or perhaps devilled kidneys. They are served
by Mr Cooper, the butler, and
George Gregor, the first footman, in full livery.
Upstairs, George Andrews, the second footman
gives breakfast to those children who are not away at boarding school.
Monsieur Dazar has been preparing
the family's lunch for some time now, and "Missus"
Elizabeth Howe the housekeeper bakes bread.
She changes into a clean apron and hurries up to the morning room for
her daily meeting with The Countess
to discuss the day's business - what's for lunch, when m'lady will go
riding, and who's coming for dinner.
Meanwhile, Mr Cooper the butler begins
his daily meeting with the Earl in
the business room.
Each of the servants now settles into their regular chores -
Jane Dunford the lady's maid works on a dress for the Countess;
Elizabeth cleans the bedrooms, Harriet
and Florence sort out the laundry,
George Andrews, the second footman, is on front door duty,
ushering in guests while George Gregor, the first
footman, is down in the butler's pantry polishing silver, chatting
with Harry, the "odd job man",
who is sharpening the knives.
Missus Howe has phoned her food orders
to the suppliers and deliveries have been made into the cool, tiled larders
assisted by Ann the dairy maid and
Charlotte the stillroom maid who
looks after the tea, coffee, preserves and cakes.
James Barron the Head gardener will have seen to it that fresh
vegetables are provided from the grounds.
Meanwhile in the kitchen it is hot, steamy and a hive of activity. Louisa
the scullery maid is washing up pots and pans and trying to
keep up with M Dazar as he both cooks
lunch and plans dinner. At the same time Sarah
Ann, the kitchen maid, is cooking the servants' main meal of
the day to be served at twelve o'clock (known as dinner).
The servants gather in the servants' hall for morning tea. Mr
Missus Howe, with instructions from their masters, issue their
own orders to the lower staff, before sending them off to continue their
morning duties. The footmen now turn towards laying the table for the
The servants sit down for their well-deserved dinner. But there's not
much time to hang around since the family take lunch at 1 p.m. and
Mr Cooper, John the under butler, the three footmen, and the
kitchen staff are all involved
The family are served lunch by Mr Cooper and
the footmen - always a three-course meal.
After lunch, the meal has to be cleared and the washing-up done in the
butler's pantry while the scullery maid washes the servants' crockery,
then everything has to be put away again. Lilly
and Mary check on the fires, the lady's
maid (Jane Dunford in 1881) obeys her third or fourth summons
of the day upstairs, this time to help the Countess change into her tea
Other members of the family and their house guests want to go riding,
so Elizabeth goes to help the ladies get ready, and George is summoned
to help the gentlemen. Down in the stables, Arthur,
William and George the grooms saddle the horses.
While Mrs Davies is in the kitchen
with Charlotte making scones and cakes
for the family's tea, the lower servants may be lucky enough to have a
couple of hours to themselves.
The family take tea in the drawing room, often with their guests, some
of whom may have arrived in the coach and horses driven by coachman
George Papworth and suported by a groom.
The basement is buzzing again: the servants eat supper at 6 pm - a smaller
meal than at midday. A five-course dinner is to be served upstairs at
8 pm, so everyone is hard at work, including
laundry maids Harriet and Florence who must wash and replace
napkind and table cloths after every meal.
As first footman, George sounds the
gong at 7pm to alert the family and their guests that it is time to go
up to dress for dinner
Dinner is served upstairs. Five courses, with wine, and footmen and butler
in attendance. If there are guests, those servants will be expected to
stay upstairs to wait on the family during the rest of the evening as
well so it's fortunate Hinchingbrooke has three footmen and an under butler
to support Cooper.
During family dinner, Elizabeth will
be hard at work once again clearing up the bedrooms after the family and
any guests have spent an hour getting changed in them. She picks up clothes,
draws the curtains, and lays out the night wear.
The footmen clear from dinner while the maids start on the crockery and
laundry. Once this is finished the footmen can start on the glass, silvers
and cutlery, ensuring that male and female servants work separately at
The Lady's maid and Elizabeth the first house
maid will stay up until the ladies are ready to retire, and
when the bell rings, they will go to help the Countess prepare for bed.
10.30pm, or often much later
The last task of a long day is for Mr Cooper
to check that all the lights are out and the doors secured.
Outside the House the gardens have been tended by James
Barron, Head Gardener and his assistants Stevens,
James, William and Thomas.
Annual Wages - 1901
|Member of staff
||Yearly wages 1910 in £
||Yearly wages approx value 2002 in £
For other estimates see:John J. McCusker, "Comparing
the Purchasing Power of Money in Great Britain from 1600 to Any Other
Year Including the Present" Economic History Services, 2001, URL
the wages above and the number of servants listed in the 1901
census calculate how much Lord Sandwich paid out per year in
wages for his staff. (Count grooms as coachmen, laundry maids as