Ch.5 INVENTIONS The Telephone

The invention of the Telephone goes back to around 1873 when Alexander Graham Bell experimented with recording vibrations of speech.

It seemed to have been a long hard struggle, but eventually Bell invented the Telephone as we know it, and from his invention to today, the improvements  made are incredible ! From the old fashioned one piece held to the ear whilst the other piece is spoken into, we now have the mobile phone, which is not just a phone anymore. Is this one invention we would have trouble living without today ?

Ch.5 INVENTIONS The Motor Car

There were a great deal of Inventions during the Victorian Era, some have stayed with us, others have disappeared. I'm looking at the Edwardian Era though, and some of the objects or items we use today (and possibly could not live without) come directly from this time.

For example, the motor car. The first petrol-driven car appeared in 1885, just before Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. However, it wasn't until King Edward VII was on the throne, that the motor car really came into It's own and started to look like the cars we have seen in the old photographs, which have developed into the cars we have today. History tells us that the year 1886 is regarded as the birth of the modern  automobile, by the Benz Patent-Motor-Wagon, by the German inventor Karl Benz (we know this name well, even today --- Mercedes Benz). In the series Downton Abbey, there are a few motor cars that are used, whether driven by a chauffer or by the young masters. Many times we have seen old photographs of these historical cars, which, apparently, were quite difficult to drive, their driving mechanisms being quite different to the cars we have today.

What's In A Day ? The Lord and Lady

How different all of this seemed when compared to his Lordship's day. Being engrossed with the day to day running of the estate (farms, tenants, etc), the Lord has an estate manager to help him, as well as being in contact with solicitors and accountants every day. Also, his Lordship may be in Parliament and sit in the House of Lords, plus he may act locally as a Justice of the Peace. A very busy day but a 'clean' one.

Again, how different her Ladyship's day is to the scullery maid. The Lady has to organize the house, how it is run, although she entrusts a great deal to the housekeeper. If she is a mother, the Lady will have to allocate times in which to see her children, leaving them in the care of a nanny for most of the day. The Lady spends a large part of her morning in meetings with the housekeeper and the cook (separately, of course) and then moves on to her own personal activities --- charitable works, dress-fittings, visiting and keeping up with her considerable correspondence. Busy enough but totally different to the scullery maid's day.
The young master (the son), who is the heir, would be sent to Oxford (for example) and when home, 'learn the family estate'.
For the young lady (daughter) life could become tedious. In the series, lady Edith doesn't know what to do with her time, so much so that her grandmother tells her :"Edith, you are a young woman with reasonable ability, stop wining and find something to do!" I'll bet the parlour maid wouldn't mind having just one day like that.

So here we have the two very different classes or roles. One who worked all hours, doing all sorts of jobs for 'pay'. The other having a much slower life but doing, possibly, what they wanted to do.

                                                       I wonder who was the happiest ?

Chapter Four What's In A Day ? The Servants

The housemaid started her work between 5.30am and 6.00am, taking tea to the Lady's Maid and the Housekeeper and by 6.30am they started to light the fires, clean the 'public' rooms, make the beds, sweep, dust and clean the bedrooms, and the list goes on to even polishing windows and cleaning the marble floors, as well as making sure the fires are stoked properly. This is a 14 to 16 hr day --- and all for £22 a year !
The Scullery Maid never leaves the kitchen when working and is considered the lowest-ranking female servant. Her day begins at 4am. She cleans the grates and lays out the fire to heat the water for cooking on a coal-fired range. The Scullery Maid must dust and clean the kitchen before the cook starts work. Then all day it is washing up, preparing the vegetables and generally making sure the kitchen is as clean as possible. Again, the hardest working servant who got paid the least money --- £10 a year !

The Butler is the highest-ranking servant in the house. He is responsible for all the male staff and is the 'team leader' of the servants. The right-hand man of the Lord, the butler is respectful. His many duties include : serving meals and wine / caring for the wine cellar / checking the lamps and candles / is responsible for the family silver / is on call 24/7. The butler has often worked his way up so his authority is never questioned. £50 a year !

The Housekeeper was considered the highest-ranking female servant, a little lower than the butler and who took her orders from the Mistress or Lady of the house. In charge of all of the female staff, the housekeeper's job seemed to be a never ending task. Being called "Mrs", even if the housekeeper wasn't a married woman, she was looked up to by all of the female staff. The rank of a married woman was considered more important. In the series, Mrs.Hues, the housekeeper, seemed to have more keys than even the butler and was forever either at her desk doing the accounts, or running around, doing some endless task. All of this for £40 a year !

Chapter Three THE LOWER CLASS

The young girl 'downstairs' (maybe a lovely looking parlour maid) who has been raped by the Lord's son and falls pregnant --- does not stand a chance ! The young master of the house is never going to admit to such a thing and, even though the other servants know that it is true, the young girl is sacked, thrown out with no "character" (work reference) and her life is literally ruined. The gentry "hid" this type of thing well and what could the young girl do in her defence 'back then' ?  It didn't seem to play on the young master's conscience that this young girl could end up in the work-house or worse, try an illegal abortion. Either way, her life was going to be cut short. A dramatic story ? Not according to the history books.
Life for the lower classes was just as hard where morals were concerned, as it was for the gentry. The only difference was that the gentry could 'hide' their sins, mainly through money (bribes, for example) whereas the lower class often just had the clothes on their backs. The Legal System was very different in the Edwardian Era.

Those born into the lower class had a very hard life. They had to work all their lives, often for very little money or gratitude. Often, families worked for the same Lord for generations. For example, a farmer may have taken over the farm from his father, still serving the same Lord, the two families being in partnership for hundreds of years. This also applied to the indoor staff. A young maid may have worked her way up to be the housekeeper, working in the same house for over fifty years. There was no benefit System back then, so these poor people had to try to save money or rely on the generosity of the Lord and Lady they worked for. This is possibly why a position in "Service" was always looked up to. Once employed, the servant had clothes (a uniform --- often paid for by themselves, especially the women), a bed (often sharing a room) and at least one good meal a day. The work was non-stop, the hours very long and the servant would get paid once a year, which eventually changed to quarterly payments. This way the servant could send a little money home and save a little. With only one afternoon off a week and being paid quarterly --- what else could he or she do ?

The money system back then was quite different when compared to today. They used the old Imperial System which was pound, shilling and pence. It is quite difficult to compare the wages back then to today. In 1910, the wages were :
The Butler  £50-£100 @year
The Housekeeper  £40-£70 @year
The Cook / Chef  £18-£500 @year
The Valet  £35-£50 @year
The Lady's Maid  £20-£32 @ year
1st Footman  £30-£40  @year
2nd Footman £20-£30 @year
1st Housemaid  £28-£30 @year
2nd Housemaid £22-24  @year
Kitchen maid  £20-£24 @ year
Scullery maid  £10-£14 @year.
Have you noticed that the men got paid more than the women and the ones who possibly worked the hardest got less money (the kitchen and the scullery maids) ? Yet many parents encouraged their sons and daughters to go into Service --- it was highly respectable employment.

Going Back Upstairs

When we visit some of these grand mansions (thanks to the National Trust and the original owners), it is like looking into a forgotten era. It is interesting to read the history of the family and house, even the servants, but I always think "what was life really like back then ?" The history books tell us a certain amount of information about the salaries / work / rules of the house / and so forth. What about the feelings / thoughts / fears or possibly ambitions of both classes ? After all, whether the gentry or servant, all were human ! What about the "realities" of living in the Edwardian Era ? It seemed that even 'them upstairs' were ruled by rules that were unbreakable --- break them and you lost your reputation --- which was everything, especially for the gentry.

The series Downton Abbey is also interesting in the way it brings the "Morals" of the day to our attention. Just as strict upstairs as it was downstairs, you can almost see a human side to this morality. For example, Lady Edith falls in love with a married man (who apparently has a mad wife in a mental institute) and becomes pregnant by him (the fact that the man 'disappears' does not help the situation). She confesses to her aunt who, although shocked, resolves to help her niece and wants to avoid telling Lady Edith's mother. They both try to find a way of hiding the pregnancy by planning an extended trip abroad, where the baby could be born and handed over to a deserving couple. This very story line did happen back in those days.

The simple truth is that in the Edwardian Era, an unmarried mother (not widowed mother I hasten to add) would have been totally "ruined". Even within the gentry, all 'doors' were slammed shut and the young pregnant woman may even have been cast out penniless, or made to marry an older gentleman she could never love, to hide the shame (I wonder which was worse?!) Lady Edith even comes close to having an illegal abortion but changes her mind at the last minute, with her aunt by her side all of the time. The aunt shows remarkable human feeling towards her 'lost' niece. I wonder how much this really happened --- in real life.

Chapter Two Going Back Upstairs

                                        Going back upstairs was like going into a different world.

The gentry lived a life of luxury with beautiful carpets, old wooden but exquisitely carved sideboards and 'comfortable' chairs. The rooms were large and there were many of them, especially if you included the bedrooms. Every room had an open fire-place --- the only way to heat the room back then. There were portraits of the family going back hundreds of years. Mirrors, vases, books, the list would be endless, as each object was handed down over the generations. I can imagine the sheer fear a new maid may have felt when having to dust a very old heirloom for the first time, or the nerves of the new footman holding a tray full of wine glasses, especially when the glasses are two hundred years old. This is the type of world society was born into --- the super-rich (gentry) and the servants (lower class). From the Lord right down to the kitchen maid --- each knew their place.

As has been touched upon, the wealthy Lady looked beautiful and seemed to have a life of ease when compared to the parlour maid, and yet even these Ladies had a role to play. Once married, these Ladies could not divorce (they would be shamed and rejected by their class if they did ). To be left a spinster was equally to be avoided. So often marrying for position or money, how many of these Ladies were truly happy ? Having servants around them all of the time, there was no privacy. Yes, these Ladies were born into wealth, which for most, was a very beautiful, gilded cage.
Once The Great War started, life changed dramatically, even for the gentry. It has often been said that the lazy days of picnicking in the gardens, shaded from the sun, sitting under a specially erected marquee, with servants toing and froing, were gone forever once the First World War started. The grand country houses of the rich were turned into hospitals for the sick and wounded soldiers, even as depicted in Downton Abbey. The gentry needed to be seen to be "doing one's bit" for their country and yet, it was like an invasion of privacy. These massive mansions were lived in homes after all !

The young Ladies got involved, either in nursing or in other ways. In the series, Lady Sybil trains to become a qualified nurse, whereas her sister, Lady Edith, appointed herself to caring for the morale of the wounded soldiers, helping them to write letters to their families, finding books for them to read out of the family library and even going to the village shops to buy things for the soldiers(cigarettes / sweets / etc). Two very different roles which started to break down the class barriers. Lady Sybil had to work alongside the servants being a nurse. Lady Edith going to the village shops like a servant.
It is interesting to note that soldiers from all walks of life were treated within these grand houses. Whilst the general may have been used to such magnificent surroundings, the working class chap must have had his mouth open at the sheer sight of it all. It must have looked "odd" too. Beautiful portraits on the drawing room wall when the room was filled with rows of hospital beds.

All of this shows us how and why life changed all those years ago. Although war of any kind is never a good thing to go through, I can't help thinking how much The Great War "helped" in breaking down, once and for all time, the class distinction --- the Lord fought alongside the footman / the Lady nursed alongside the maid.

Study Three

These servants also had personalities of their own. Most were happy and content to work in Service, perhaps not even thinking of doing anything else. There were a few, though, who wanted to do something different and Service was a stepping-stone, where they could gain experience of work and save a little money. For example, in one of the episodes, one of the housemaids took a 'correspondence' course in typing and shorthand because she wanted to become a secretary. This little maid was quite determined and worked very hard in her spare time. It looks strange to us today but back then, this seemed a completely mad thing to do because "being in Service" was such reliable employment. The maid felt that she had to 'hide' what she was doing, even though, even by the standards back then, she was actually doing nothing wrong. Watching the episode where all of this comes to the butler's (Mr.Carsons) attention is a little beyond my understanding. They thought this so 'wrong' that some of the other servants treated the little maid like a thief --- even though the poor girl was just wanting to 'move on' to a different job. This shows how different the thinking and mentality was back then.

A Study In The Edwardian Era study two

The servants of a large house lived a very busy life. To get a position in "Service" in a large country estate was always considered a "step up on the ladder." Even the kitchen maid could eventually work her way up to becoming cook but it was extremely hard work, and I can't help thinking she had "earned" her place. To work as a servant in a large house was a complete way of life --- the servant lived in the house with the family, in a different part of the house, 'of course.' You were paid wages according to your "Position" within the servants hall --- the butler earned more than the footman / the housekeeper more than the parlour maid. Even 'downstairs' there were positions --- an interesting concept all of its own. As a servant in a large house you had good food, a bed to sleep in and a safe area in which to work. However, the work was extremely hard and the hours just as long, and one afternoon off a week may have been considered as generous. Quite a different way of life when compared to today!

We have to remember that the maids cleaned with different cleaning equipment when compared with today. Although electricity had been invented by this time, even those who could afford to have it installed were very slow to embrace the new invention. Most people were extremely nervous about using it. Lord Grantham, in the series, had electric lights installed in the dining room, sitting room, library, etc, but 'saw no need' for it to be installed downstairs in the servants area, for example, in the kitchen. This shows a very different way of thinking when compared with today. Of all the servants, the cook needs good light but she (or he, the chef) was a servant and, in the eyes of the Lord, could make do with candle light or gas light. I don't think Lord Grantham was being cruel, it was just the way he was taught to think of servants.

Although the hoover was invented by this time, very few embraced the new cleaning equipment, so the maids were forever using brooms and brushes, dustpans and so on. There were no washing machines, so a laundry room was essential. It wasn't just washing by hand --- a good knowledge of 'how' to wash and what cleaning fluids / soaps to use was needed as the fabrics back then were quite different to today. There is a scene, in one of the episodes, where one of the footman used the wrong solution to get a mark out of a dinner jacket and it burnt a hole in the material. Back then, it seemed that "knowledge" played a large part in getting on in "Service".