In service

Occupations and the like.

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annie1
Posts: 155
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:39 pm
Location: perthshire

In Service

Post by annie1 » Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:23 am

Hi Mo-Ann& Jenny,

My mother was in-service, as was her mother and she told me that there was an actual register for maids etc, when she was 14 her mother had her name down on this register, which was in a Bakers shop in Aberdeen.
The people from quite grand houses used this to find thier staff, you could find maids from newspapers too, but this was the way to go if you wanted to work for the more elite!
Once you were in-service and working, changing from house to house was done by word of mouth.

My mother still has the letter from a Duke and Duchess offering her the position of 4th housemaid, with a veiw to becoming promoted later. Her mother did not let her go as she thought at 15, she was still too young to take on the position.
The Butler was the no1, apart from when he was in the kitchen and Cook was in charge.

Most staff lived in, maids mainly had just a room with bare essentials, Butlers and Head Housekeepers had the best, sometimes self contained flats.
Like all jobs you get good employers and some not so good to you, she had a taster of both, even in grand estates!!!

Ann
Working on
Rust, Brown & Reid, Aberdeen
Knowles, Murray,Stephen& Mackie, Kincardine
Doig, Reid, Wilson & Keddie, Fife

DavidWW
Posts: 5057
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 9:47 pm

Re: In Service

Post by DavidWW » Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:31 pm

annie1 wrote:.....snipped..........Most staff lived in, maids mainly had just a room with bare essentials, Butlers and Head Housekeepers had the best, sometimes self contained flats. .....snipped..........

Ann
The butler and his family, like one of my ggf's, often lived in the lodge.

On the Wooden House estate, just outside Kelso, the rest of the staff were in rooms in the basement, with bars on the windows, to prevent any unacceptable night-time activities :!: :wink:

The dining room of this house still has the original 20 place table, with the dumb waiter in the corner, and I can just picture George in his full finery including white gloves, supervising a large dinner party; this after, earlier in the day, decanting the wines in the wine cellar in the basement, using the candle technique to ensure that no sediment was carried over into the decanters, - this and other equipment that George must have used still existed when I was there, but unfortunately the wine cellar was otherwise empty :cry:

David

annie1
Posts: 155
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:39 pm
Location: perthshire

Post by annie1 » Thu Sep 06, 2007 11:54 am

David,

My Mother also told me that the Bulter was the only one who could get away with talking back to the head of the house, in fact she spoke of one Colonel, who took most of his Butlers advice and looked up to him, they must have been highly regarded.
One night my mother sneaked out :D , leaving a window open slightly, to walk three miles for a dance, where there was no alcohol, she was back by nine pm and the housekeeper was waiting for her, ooh did she get a telling off :cry: My children laughed at that one!!
I found a photo of one of the big houses she worked in as a young girl, to her it now looked small, but as a fourteen year old it must have seemed massive, compared to a farm cottage.

Ann
Working on
Rust, Brown & Reid, Aberdeen
Knowles, Murray,Stephen& Mackie, Kincardine
Doig, Reid, Wilson & Keddie, Fife

ninatoo
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:42 am
Location: Australia

Post by ninatoo » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:16 pm

Hello Mo-anne,

I found a book on the site below called "Servants in Ayrshire" which might prove useful to you. The chapter headings include:

The Master and Servant Relationship
Hiring and Firing
Conditions of Service
The Concerns of Everyday Life

It is downloadable and free and well worth the look. Scroll down a bit to find it here:

http://www.ayrshirehistory.org.uk/Bibli ... _monos.htm

Nina
Researching: Easton ( Renfrewshire, Dunbarton and Glasgow), Corr (Londonderry and Glasgow), Carson (Co. Down, Irvine, Ayrshire and Glasgow), Logan (Londonderry and Glasgow)

LesleyB
Posts: 8184
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Post by LesleyB » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:57 pm

Good site there Nina :D
- I've added it to the Working Lives links

Best wishes
Lesley

ninatoo
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:42 am
Location: Australia

Post by ninatoo » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:00 am

Thanks Lesley! I probably got the site from here somewhere though! :P :D

On a different note...I didn't get notification of a reply for this thread. My profile is still the same, so I don't know what went wrong.

Nina
Researching: Easton ( Renfrewshire, Dunbarton and Glasgow), Corr (Londonderry and Glasgow), Carson (Co. Down, Irvine, Ayrshire and Glasgow), Logan (Londonderry and Glasgow)

LesleyB
Posts: 8184
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Post by LesleyB » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:50 am

Seems to happen once in a while, not sure why... :roll:

ninatoo
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:42 am
Location: Australia

Post by ninatoo » Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:00 am

Well I got this one ... :wink:

Nina
Researching: Easton ( Renfrewshire, Dunbarton and Glasgow), Corr (Londonderry and Glasgow), Carson (Co. Down, Irvine, Ayrshire and Glasgow), Logan (Londonderry and Glasgow)

Mo-anne
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 8:40 am
Location: Poland

Post by Mo-anne » Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:18 am

Nina - this is great - thanks a lot.

Mo-anne

ninatoo
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:42 am
Location: Australia

Post by ninatoo » Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:06 am

A pleasure Mo-anne. I liked it too, since a lot of my own have been in service.

Nina
Researching: Easton ( Renfrewshire, Dunbarton and Glasgow), Corr (Londonderry and Glasgow), Carson (Co. Down, Irvine, Ayrshire and Glasgow), Logan (Londonderry and Glasgow)