SupercalifragilisticexpialiBLOGger: Edwardian Life in the House

GENERAL HOUSE RULES

Sex and Marriage

Attitudes to sex and marriage were very different in the Edwardian period if we compare them with ours today. Marriage was the norm, and divorce was rare. In Britain in 1910, there were only 1000 divorces a year, compared with around 100,000 divorces a year in Britain today.

Divorce

Perhaps the Edwardians had "stronger" marriages than we have today. Certainly both the laws and attitudes concerning marriage were different then, and were weighted in favor of marriage and not divorce. Some would say they were also weighted in favor of men. If a man committed adultery, this was not seen as enough grounds for a divorce - he would have to desert his wife as well. But if a woman cheated on a man, a divorce could be granted right away.
Moreover, regardless of the reason for a divorce, the man would remain the sole legal guardian of any children. Even more unusual to our modern eyes, following a divorce, a woman only had the right to any money or property which she could prove was separately hers - any joint money went to the man. The system was such that it was very difficult for a woman to get a divorce from an unhappy marriage because if she did, she would probably lose not only her money but in all likelihood, her children as well.

Turning a Blind Eye

With divorce so unusual, particularly among the upper classes, a blind eye was often turned towards adultery. In a time when a husband and wife would not be expected to share a bedroom, extramarital affairs were commonplace. In fact, in the notorious "Saturday to Monday" parties that took place in country houses were expected. Name tags were put on guests doors specifically so that the male guests could find their mistresses rooms at night. A bell was often rung at 6am so that gentlemen could find their way back to their own bedrooms before the maids came round to make the fires.

Edward VII himself had many mistresses, and it was well known amongst the "fast set" that he was unlikely to attend a social event or shooting party unless one of his "official" mistresses had also been invited.

Sex Below Stairs

But below stairs, things could not have been more different. Male and female servants were kept apart as much as possible. Not only were their bedrooms at opposite ends of the house (the women in the attic, the men in the basement), but any romance below stairs would lead to an instant dismissal - and more often than not it would be the woman who would be blamed.
There are numerous accounts of maids who were thrown out of houses by their masters after being discovered to be pregnant by a fellow servant or by a "follower." In fact, almost half of all illegitimate children born in 1911 were born to women in service. If such a thing did happen, it was a very serious matter. With no social security or National Health Service, and if she had no family to go to, such an "unemployable" woman would often end up at the workhouse, or worse, could be forced into prostitution as the only way to stay alive.
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Leisure Time

The House Party

In Edwardian Britain, there was no more typical an event for the leisured classes to host than a house party. For two or three days, the head of a house will treat his guests to the hunting, shooting and fishing on his estate. And in the evenings, they will be entertained with music, parlor games and elaborate banquets

Such parties were often known as "Saturday to Monday" house parties rather than "weekend" parties. This is because using the word "weekend" might imply that those invited could have jobs to go to during the week...

Hunting

1907 hunting party

In 1910, 350 hunts existed in Britain, almost twice as many as today. It was one of the few country sports in which women played an active role and had become so popular that foxes were even imported from Europe to meet demand. The anti-hunt movement was a fledgling organization concerned largely with horse beating and vivisection. For the vast majority, fox-hunting was seen as a harmless and ancient tradition.

Shooting

Led by King Edward VII's example, the newly wealthy landowners liked nothing more than shooting game on their country estates. At the turn of the century, Edward VII hosted a shoot where he and nine others killed 1300 birds in a single day.

Landowners even competed over who could shoot more game. In fact estates were being bought and sold on the quality of the "sporting facilities" - the amount of pheasants or trout available, rather than the amount of money they could bring in through farmland or cattle.

In order to shoot, the birds were beaten out of their hiding places towards the guns by the estate gamekeeper, other estate workers and local men recruited for the day's sport. The tweed-suited shooting party would raise their guns and bring down as many grouse, pheasant or partridges as they could, which were then retrieved by gun dogs.

Fishing

The Tweed, one of the more populated fishing spots in 1910, provided the opportunity to catch salmon, trout or grayling. These days there is a catch-and-release policy on the Tweed, so unlike Edwardian times, when the rivers were better stocked with salmon anyway, no one catching a fish can take it home for lunch as an Edwardian country gentleman might.

Horse Racing

There was no greater outlet for wealthy excesses of the day than horse racing. Once a sport of the masses, it had now become the sport of kings. And if the king did it, men of quality sought to do it also. A thoroughbred race horse became the essential fashion item for the wealthy male. Gambling at the races was something enjoyed by all classes. At the races, gentlemen were known to place single bets of more than £10,000 (500 times the annual wage of a footman) but around 80% of working class men also bet on a regular basis.

Theatre and Dancing

Visits to the theatre were more common while staying in London, but provincial performances were also popular. An upper-class family is expected to attend the local theatre, and to possibly host musical concerts during their country house parties

Cinema

Cinema was in its infancy at the start of the 20th Century. Wealthy families were among the first to commission private demonstrations, creating the earliest moving image records of British domestic life. The lower orders saw it less as a form of documentary than entertainment. In a society raised on books and parlor games, it became an immediate sensation.
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Food

Food Upstairs

Men and women of upper-class families are expected to not just behave like rich Edwardians - they're expected to eat like them as well. And the food of the wealthy was designed, like so much else in the house, to impress and help the family maintain their social status.
Many upper-class households had its own French Chef de Cuisine employed just to prepare meals for the family and their guests.

The Chef and his Food

Only very rich families could afford to employ male chefs - and the fact that the Chef de Cuisine is French would have been a real status symbol. It hopefully ensures that important people in the country flock to the families dinner parties. Dinner parties were so important to the reputation of Edwardian families, that chefs could earn up to 10 times more than the butler. In return, they were expected to produce the finest food in Britain. As a result, the families served such French luxuries as truffles, oysters, game, patisseries, fine chocolates and champagne. And as they are emulating a time when a dinner party could easily stretch to eight courses, trying to lose weight isn't really an option.
Because the chefs would have been employed as a kind of artist, there were often complaints that they were too demanding, had short fuses and were known to scream at their helpers. But because they were "creative", such behavior was almost expected. The servants downstairs would be served much plainer food - they eat their main meal of the day at midday, rather than in the evening like the family.

Serving Food

Although the Chef de Cuisine is a chef in real life, those serving the family at dinner have very little experience. For example, the butler could really an architect, the first footman is a sales manager, and the second footman is a genetics graduate! They struggle with demands put on them to serve the chef's creations correctly in true Edwardian style.

For example, at a big dinner party catering for 20, around 50 pieces of silver, china and crystal could be used by each guest - that's a thousand items to be delivered at the correct time from kitchen to table. And each precious item must be counted in and out of the silver safe at every meal. If anything is lost the servants could be locked out of the house while their rooms are searched. According to a guide from the time ('Williams', The Footman And Butler, Their Duties And How To Perform Them), footman would be expected to:

"wear thin-soled shoes that their steps may be noiseless, and if they should use napkins in serving (as is the English custom) instead of gloves, their hands and nails should be faultlessly clean...and [a footman] should wrap one corner of a damask napkin around the thumb, that he may not touch the plates and dishes with the naked hand. A good servant is never awkward. He avoids coughing, breathing hard or treading on a lady's dress; never lets any article drop, and deposits plates, glasses, knives, forks and spoons noiselessly."

Etiquette at Table

The family themselves are under a lot of pressure at the dinner table. Good manners while eating would be essential to avoid embarrassing their guests. An example of some of the rules they should follow are found in a book of manners (Etiquette: Rules & Usages of the Best Society, Anon, 1886):

"Greediness should not be indulged in. Indecision must be avoided. Do not take up one piece and lay it down in favor of another, or hesitate. Never allow a servant...to fill your glass with wine that you do not wish to drink. You can check him by touching the rim of your glass... Bread is broken at dinner. Never use a napkin in place of a handkerchief for wiping the forehead, face or nose. Everything that can be cut without using a knife should be eaten with the fork alone. Never lay your hand, or play with your fingers upon the table. Do not toy with your knife, fork or spoon, make crumbs of your bread, or draw imaginary lines upon the tablecloth. It is not in good taste to urge guests to eat, nor to load their plates against their inclination."

According to Mrs Humphry in Manners for Women (1897), "dinner would end when the signal to leave the table is given in the merest nod or smile to the lady who has been taken down by the host. She is sure to be on the look-out for it; but if she is not, it is sufficient to rise, whereupon all the ladies get up at once." The etiquette guru continues that it is worth making "a decided effort to catch the eye of the principal lady, as she might consider it a slight if the hostess were to make the move without the usual co-operation. It might be put down to ignorance."

The ladies should withdraw from the dinner room to take coffee in the drawing room, leaving in the same order in which they had entered, while the men enjoyed port, brandy and cigars before rejoining them.
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A Typical Day in the House

The following is a typical day in an Edwardian house broken down for you...complete with character names to help keep all the servant positions in order.

6:00am
First up are the scullery maid - who gets the kitchen range hot enough to boil the water for tea - and Kenny the hallboy who cleans the boots and empties the chamber pots.

6:30am
The alarm rings in the housemaids' room at the top of the house for Becky and Jess. Their early tasks include struggling into corsets and putting on their bloomers. The housemaids are then expected downstairs in the basement kitchen where Becky the first housemaid makes tea and toast for lady's maid Miss Morrison and housekeeper Mrs Davies.

After trudging up 89 stairs to deliver tea and toast, Becky is back down again to clean the main rooms on the ground floor. She tidies, dusts and polishes the furniture and runs the Ewbank sweeper over the carpets in the morning room, the dining room and the drawing room. And all this before breakfast!

Meanwhile, second housemaid Jess has to get the fires going all round the house. She can only do this if Kenny remembered to bring in the coal from the coal hole and chop the logs and kindling the night before. 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 Antonia the kitchen maid who puts breakfast together for the servants. And soon chef de cuisine M Dubiard appears and makes breakfast for the family.

8:15am
The bell for the servants' breakfast sounds and upper and lower servants all make their way to the servants' hall in the basement where Antonia serves bowls of porridge, cups of tea and bread and butter. As soon as breakfast is finished, Miss Morrison, who has already taken tea and toast to Lady Olliff-Cooper in her bedroom, must hurry upstairs to run a bath for her mistress, help her dress and do her hair.

Becky slips upstairs too to do the same for Miss Anson, Lady Olliff-Cooper's spinster sister who does not have a lady's maid of her own, while Mr Edgar the butler, who has presided at breakfast, knocks on Sir John's door, to carry out his morning role as valet and barber. Footmen Charlie and Rob bring up the food and lay the table in the dining room for the family's breakfast.

9:15am
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 Sir John 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 French chef, consisting of fruit, eggs, sausages, perhaps a pair of kippers, some kedgeree or perhaps deviled kidneys. They are served by Mr Edgar, the butler, and Charlie, the first footman, in full livery. Upstairs, Rob the second footman gives breakfast to Master Guy and Mr Raj Singh, his tutor.

10:00am
Monsieur Dubiard has been preparing the family's lunch for some time now, and Mrs Davies the housekeeper has been competing with him for space on the kitchen range while she tries to bake some bread. She washes her hands, changes into a clean apron and hurries up to the morning room for her daily meeting with Lady Olliff-Cooper to discuss the day's business - what's for lunch, when m'lady will go riding, and who's coming for dinner. Meanwhile, Mr Edgar the butler begins his daily meeting with Sir John in the business room.

10:30am
Each of the servants now settles into their regular chores - Miss Morrison, the lady's maid, works on a dress for Lady Olliff-Cooper; Becky cleans the bedrooms, Jess sorts out the laundry, Rob, the second footman, is on front door duty, ushering in guests while Charlie, the first footman, is down in the butler's pantry polishing silver, chatting with Kenny, the hallboy, who is sharpening the knives.
Mrs Davies has phoned her food orders to the suppliers and deliveries have been made into the cool, tiled larders.

Meanwhile in the kitchen it is hot, steamy and a hive of activity. The scullery maid is, as usual, washing up pots and pans and trying to keep up with M Dubiard as he both cooks lunch and plans dinner. At the same time Antonia, the kitchen maid, is cooking the servants' main meal of the day to be served at twelve o'clock (known as dinner).

11:00am
The servants gather in the servants' hall for morning tea. Mr Edgar and Mrs Davies, loaded with instructions from their masters, use the opportunity to 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 family's lunch.

12.00pm
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 Edgar, the footmen, and of course the kitchen staff are all involved...

1:00pm
The family are served lunch by Mr Edgar and both footmen - always a three-course meal.

2:00pm
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. Jess checks on her fires, Miss Morrison obeys her third or fourth summons of the day upstairs, this time to help Lady Olliff-Cooper change into her tea gown. Miss Anson and Mr Jonathan want to go riding, so Becky goes to help Miss Anson get ready, and Charlie is summoned to help Mr Jonathan. Down in the stables, Tristan the groom saddles the horses.

3:00pm
While Mrs Davies is in the kitchen making scones and cakes for the family's tea, the lower servants are supposed to have a couple of hours to themselves, if their tasks are finished.

5:00pm
The family take tea in the drawing room, often with their guests.

6:00pm
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.

7:00pm
As first footman, Charlie sounds the gong at 7pm to alert the family and their guests that it is time to go up to dress for dinner.

8:00pm
Dinner is served upstairs. Five courses, with wine, and a footman or two and a 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.

During family dinner, Becky 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.

9:00pm
The footmen clear from dinner while the maids start on the crockery, once this is finished the footmen can start on the glass, silvers and cutlery, ensuring that male and female servants work separately at all times. Miss Morrison and Becky will stay up until the ladies are ready to retire, and when the bell rings, they will go to help Lady Olliff-Cooper and Miss Anson prepare for bed.

10:30pm, or often much later
The last task of a long day is for Mr Edgar to check that all the lights are off, secure the shutters and lock all the outside doors.
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Servants' Wages

How much were servants paid in during the Edwardian Era?
The table below shows you how much servants would have been paid for a year's work around 1905, and how much money that would be today.

Butler	£60	$5482
Housekeeper	£45	$4111
Chef	£80	$7310
Ladies maid	£32	$2924
Kitchen maid	£24	$2192
First footman	£26	$2375
Second footman	£24	$2192
First housemaid	£28	$2557
Second housemaid	£22	$2009
Scullery maid	£12	$1097
Coachman	£18	$1644
Hallboy	£16	$1462

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How 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 unnoticed. By not acknowledging them, you will spare them the shame of explaining their presence.

How to Address your Servants

It is customary for the Butler to be addressed courteously by his Surname, "Robertson".

It is customary for the Housekeeper to be given the title of "Missus ~", regardless of whether she is single or married.

It is customary for the Chef de Cuisine to be addressed as such, or by the title "Monsieur ~".

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.

It is customary for a Tutor to 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 for Housemaids.

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 endeavor to make themselves invisible to you. As such they should not be acknowledged.