Country House Servant

Country House Servant
Title Country House Servant PDF eBook
Author Pamela A Sambrook
Publisher The History Press
Pages 235
Release 2002-05-13
Genre History
ISBN 075249466X

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One 19th century footman complained about the work involved in drawing more than 40 baths for his household, yet Lady Grenville felt no compunction in describing her footman as a "lazy flunkey". For centuries a large body of domestic servants was an often unappreciated foundation for the smooth running of a household. Today, the warrens of "domestic offices" intrigue visitors. This book makes sense of these and the social structures behind them. It describes the skills, equipment, cleaning methods and work organization of the housemaid, laundrymaid, footman, valet and hall-boy - the servants who spent their days polishing fine furniture, and washing brilliant chandeliers, but also sponging filthy riding habits, and washing babies' nappies. The author also looks at how servants spent their leisure time. One footman enjoyed rowing on the lake every morning before work, while others had to sit up late at night sewing their own work-dresses. Contemporary manuals, diaries, accounts and first hand recollections provide a vivid insight into what life was really like for those in domestic service. A wealth of photographs, engravings and panels illustrate the domestic workings of country houses, many now looked after by the National Trust. This is an absorbing book for social historians and visitors to country houses alike.

The British Country House in the Eighteenth Century

The British Country House in the Eighteenth Century
Title The British Country House in the Eighteenth Century PDF eBook
Author Christopher Christie
Publisher Manchester University Press
Pages 374
Release 2000
Genre Architecture
ISBN 9780719047251

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This work explores the British country house between 1700-1830 and looks at the lives of the noblemen and the servants who inhabited them. Reference is made to the whole of the British Isles and there is a discussion of their political significance.

The World of the Country House in Seventeenth-century England

The World of the Country House in Seventeenth-century England
Title The World of the Country House in Seventeenth-century England PDF eBook
Author John Trevor Cliffe
Publisher Yale University Press
Pages 254
Release 1999-01-01
Genre History
ISBN 9780300076431

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This engaging and beautifully illustrated book takes us back to the domestic world of the landed gentry in seventeenth-century England. Relating countless stories and case histories drawn from a wide range of primary sources, the book describes the physical environment, staffing, and functioning of gentry households, the inhabitants and their activities, and the role of these houses in the social and economic life of their localities. J. T. Cliffe begins by exploring the exterior and interior of houses and the outbuildings, parks, and gardens that surrounded them. He then investigates the people who lived in the country houses and the relationships between them. He provides colorful details about the responsibilities of the squire and his wife; the duties, remuneration, food, clothing, accommodation, and treatment of servants; and the special duties of estate stewards, coachmen, chaplains, and tutors. Cliffe explains various aspects of housekeeping, such as the tradition of hospitality and the factors militating against it. He also discusses other kinds of activity: religious practices; outdoor sports and indoor pastimes, including music and billiards; and such intellectual pursuits as antiquarian research, poetry, and scientific experiments. He concludes with a fascinating survey of scandal in the world of the gentry, telling of domestic strife, financial disaster, lunacy, and other disasters that marred this idyllic existence.

Convict Maids

Convict Maids
Title Convict Maids PDF eBook
Author Deborah Oxley
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 358
Release 1996-06-17
Genre Business & Economics
ISBN 9780521446778

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This analysis of female transports to Australia reveals their significant contribution to the new economy.

Comfort in the Eighteenth-Century Country House

Comfort in the Eighteenth-Century Country House
Title Comfort in the Eighteenth-Century Country House PDF eBook
Author Jon Stobart
Publisher Routledge
Pages 281
Release 2021-09-21
Genre History
ISBN 1000438740

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Country houses were grand statements of power and status, but they were also places where people lived. This book traces the changes in layout, the new technologies, and the innovations in furniture that made them more convenient and comfortable. It argues that these material changes were just one aspect of comfort in the country house: feeling comfortable was just as important as being comfortable. Achieving this involved the comfort and solace to be found in daily routines, religious faith and, above all, relationships with family and friends. Such emotional comforts, and the attachment to things and places that embodied and memorialized them, made country houses into homes.

Servants

Servants
Title Servants PDF eBook
Author Lucy Lethbridge
Publisher A&C Black
Pages 401
Release 2013-03-14
Genre History
ISBN 1408834073

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'Hugely enjoyable' - Kathryn Hughes, Guardian Glorious ... Full of eyebrow-raising and laughter-inducing vignettes' - Daily Telegraph Servants is the social history of the last century through the eyes of those who served. From the butler, the footman, the maid and the cook of 1900 to the au pairs, cleaners and childminders who took their place seventy years later, a previously unheard class offers a fresh perspective on a dramatic century. Here, the voices of servants and domestic staff are at last brought to life: their daily household routines, attitudes towards their employers, and to each other, throw into sharp and intimate relief the period of feverish social change through which they lived. Sweeping in its scope, extensively researched and brilliantly observed, Servants is an original and fascinating portrait of twentieth-century Britain; an authoritative history that will change and challenge the way we look at society.

Keeping Their Place

Keeping Their Place
Title Keeping Their Place PDF eBook
Author Pamela A Sambrook
Publisher The History Press
Pages 155
Release 2005-07-21
Genre History
ISBN 0752494686

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In 1851 there were over a million servants in Britain. This book reveals first-hand tales of put-upon servants, who often had to rise hours before dawn to lay fires, heat water and prepare meals for their employers, and then work into the small hours. Yet there are also heart-warming stories of personal devotion, and reward, and of how the servants enjoyed themselves in their time off. There are moments of great poignancy as well as hilarity: a steward's dawning realisation that the housekeeper he befriended is a thief; a young footman chasing a melon as it rolls through a castle's corridors into the moat; the smart manservant weeping at the station as he bids farewell to his mother. This was an era when footmen were paid extra for being six foot or over, and female servants had to wear black bonnets to church. Drawing on letters, diaries, and autobiographies "Keeping Their Place" provides a vivid insight into the day-by-day lives of country house servants between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.