The Unseen Maid

By Sherri Stewart

Television series, such as Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs created a huge interest in the lives of English gentry and those who served them. The majority of the residents of stately homes were not the wealthy owners, but servants, and for them, life was hard and certainly far from heavenly. Their daily tasks included keeping the house and grounds immaculate, caring for horses and vehicles, cooking and serving meals, raising children, sewing, washing, and providing creature comforts including coal for the fireplaces, water in the bedrooms, and food and drink whenever it was required.

Such a rigorous schedule meant that housemaids had to get up as early as 5:30 a.m. in order to clean the living areas and light fires before the family appeared. In the kitchens, other maids would be lighting stoves and boiling gallons of water, which had to be carried upstairs by senior maids and valets to fill the china washbasins or hip baths in every bedroom.

The estate was required to be run without any apparent effort at all. So if a guest passed a maid sweeping the stairs, the maid either had to turn her face to the wall or hide behind doorways, because her presence was an admission that the house didn't run itself. Maids had to use the back stairs and side entrances so that they wouldn’t meet the people they served. Attics were used for maids’ rooms, which were cold in winter and hot in summer. Male staff often slept near their work.

Maids typically ate dinner at around 2 p.m. in the servants’ hall. Everyone waited behind their chairs until the butler and housekeeper arrived and signaled they could sit. This pause in the day’s toil provided some free time, but servants were rarely allowed to leave the house. A bell could ring at any time, calling them to provide a service or to perform routine tasks. In effect, there was no end to their working day, and one day off a month was the most they could hope for. Brass bells on heavy coils mounted in the servants’ hall allowed maids to hear the summons to any room in the house. There was no such thing in the servants’ hall as being “off duty.” 

Even by 19^th and 20^thcentury standards, wages were low; however, maids had fewer expenses than other workers because accommodations and food were provided. In less affluent houses, this could mean slim pickings, but in the great aristocratic mansions, maids were well fed. They might have even sampled treats such as ice cream left over from parties the night before. 

 

Visitors to kitchens and servants' quarters can only be amazed at how hard the maids had to work to keep the great stately homes running. Not least of their difficulties was lack of time off. World War I opened up more jobs, especially for women, and as the 20th century progressed, fewer women tolerated the restrictions of a maid’s life. However, for many women, the fear of the unknown world beyond the estate’s gate kept them ever leaving.

https://britishheritage.com/history/servants-lives-below-stairs

Selah Award finalist Sherri Stewart loves a clean novel, sprinkled with romance and a strong message that challenges her faith. She spends her working hours with books—either editing others’ manuscripts or writing her own. Her passions are traveling to the settings of her books and sampling the food. She traveled to Paris for this book, and she works daily on her French and German although she doesn’t need to since everyone speaks English. A widow, Sherri lives in Orlando with her lazy dog, Lily. She shares recipes, tidbits of the book’s locations, and other authors' books in her newsletter.

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