The Parlour Maids Mini-Project 2020
The 2020 mini project was Parlour Maids. Members taking part were sent the name of a Parlour Maid from the 1881 census closest to where they live that I could find (yes, the Road Atlas is still used), and an Information Sheet explaining what they needed to know to take part and the questions needing answering.
To start members thinking about the life of a Parlour Maid a couple of quotes were given: “In middle class households, the parlourmaid, prettily attired in black alpaca and white lace, with long streamers flowing from her neat little cap, did the jobs done by the more formal footmen in the houses of the aristocracy.”1
These were the duties of a parlour maid at Mr Williams, of Wilmslow, Somerset’s house between 1905 and 19252 :
Parlourmaid
To be downstairs at 6.30 a.m. Summer. 6.45 a.m. Winter.
Open shutters first.
Do dining room fire, and dust room.
Lay breakfast by 8.15 a.m.
Dust Hall and Stairs, Morning Room and Drawing Room.
After own breakfast clear Dining Room breakfast.
Help make beds. Make own bed.
Mondays: Trim lamps. help given with cleaning lamp chimneys. Wash glass and silver. Clean drawing |Room and grate. Lay fire.
Tuesdays: Clean Dining Room silver. Afternoon: own day off.
Wednesdays: 1st week – clean Dining Room.
2nd week – clean Hall, and polish brass and oak.
3rd week – clean extra silver.
Thursdays: Clean and polish silver.
Fridays: Clean Parlourmaid’s Pantry.
Saturdays: Clean Morning Room and China Pantry. Dust Stairs and Dining Room after lunch.
Sundays: Light Drawing Room fire if needed. Alternate Sundays: get afternoon tea and wash up. Lay supper table. Time off after 6 p.m. or 2 p.m. on alternate Sundays.
Generally: Answer front door. Wait at meals, clear and wash up. Bring in coal and logs, as needed.
To be in by 10 p.m. on days off.
The two main questions were "Is she the type of Parlour Maid in the 1st quote or a more general House Maid, perhaps given the grander title of Parlour Maid for the purpose of the Census report?" and "The community where she worked: was there a geographical concentration of servants in that area and what do you think that say’s if anything about that community?"
As usual the response from FACHRS members has been enthusiastic and many have sent in their completed research through 2020 in the form of a narrative. This mini project officially closes at the end of February 2021, so research is still coming in.
Parlour Maid articles have appeared in the August and November 2020 Newsletters and the February 2021 so far.
When all the research is received, the data will be analysed, and a Final Project Report produced for the FACHRS Newsletter. The narratives and Information Sheets will be placed in the Parlour Maids page in the Members’ Pages on the website.
Brita Wood (February 2021)
1)Dawes, Frank Victor. (1984) Not in Front of the Servants A True Portrait of Upstairs, Downstairs Life. Revised. London: Hutchinson.p. 68.
2Ibid. pp. 90-91.
To be downstairs at 6.30 a.m. Summer. 6.45 a.m. Winter.
Open shutters first.
Do dining room fire, and dust room.
Lay breakfast by 8.15 a.m.
Dust Hall and Stairs, Morning Room and Drawing Room.
After own breakfast clear Dining Room breakfast.
Help make beds. Make own bed.
Mondays: Trim lamps. help given with cleaning lamp chimneys. Wash glass and silver. Clean drawing |Room and grate. Lay fire.
Tuesdays: Clean Dining Room silver. Afternoon: own day off.
Wednesdays: 1st week – clean Dining Room.
2nd week – clean Hall, and polish brass and oak.
3rd week – clean extra silver.
Thursdays: Clean and polish silver.
Fridays: Clean Parlourmaid’s Pantry.
Saturdays: Clean Morning Room and China Pantry. Dust Stairs and Dining Room after lunch.
Sundays: Light Drawing Room fire if needed. Alternate Sundays: get afternoon tea and wash up. Lay supper table. Time off after 6 p.m. or 2 p.m. on alternate Sundays.
Generally: Answer front door. Wait at meals, clear and wash up. Bring in coal and logs, as needed.
To be in by 10 p.m. on days off.