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Authors: Alison Maloney
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those who did get a monthly day off, it was a much-anticipated chance for a family reunion. Girls frequently started in service as young as twelve and would miss their parents and siblings
terribly, so their monthly visit was a cause forcelebration and a chance to push the boat out. A kind cook would send each girl home with treats such as preserves, cold meats
and cakes and, after church, the gathered family would enjoy a tasty spread perhaps topped off with some home-grown musical entertainment.
For those in service in a London house, with family living in the city, a journey on a tram, a bus or the ‘tuppenny tube’ would get them home. For those living further away, the
journey was difficult and expensive, especially on a maid’s wage. Although the Cheap Trains Act of 1883 had removed duty from all journeys charged at less than a penny a mile, this applied
mostly to ‘workmen’s trains’ in city and suburban areas. A longer journey, even in second class, would mean a lot of saving had to be done first. For example, a trip from London
to Dover, would take two-and-a-half hours and cost over 6 s . (30p), a great deal of money for someone earning £16 a year. The cost, and the fact that servants were often expected to
return before late dinner was served, even on their one day off, made long distance visits to families impossible.
Enlightened employers, such as one family who engaged Margaret Thomas as a housemaid, allowed an overnight stay away, to combat this problem. In Margaret’s case they also allowed her to
save up her days off over a few months so she could pay a longer visit home.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, it became standard practice to allow a week’s paid holiday, usually whilethe family was away itself. The lower paid staff
would save up all year so that they could afford the train fare home for this precious week and a few small gifts for their parents and siblings. After the First World War, when domestic staff were
demanding fairer pay and conditions, the holiday entitlement rose to two weeks.
CHURCH OUTINGS
Servants were expected to attend a church service on Sunday and anyone refusing would risk being branded ‘wicked’ in the pious era of Queen Victoria. Indeed,
whenever they were in Balmoral, the monarch and her husband Prince Albert insisted their servants accompany them on the mile-and-a-half walk to Crathie church every Sunday, without fail.
Under her son, Edward VII, weekends in the upper echelons tended more to parties, horse racing and the pursuit of fun but mistresses still insisted on chapel attendance for their children and
servants and most middle-class families were regular members of the congregation. A God-fearing staff was an obedient one and religion was not only thought good for the servants’ souls but a
convenient way of keeping them in check.
In some churches the master’s family attended the morning service while the domestics worshipped at evening mass but in most the household attended together. However, they sat in different
areas of the church, with the family settling themselves in a pew reserved each week for the residents of the ‘big house’ and servants relegated to the back or the gallery. Here, as in
the servants’ dining hall, the downstairs hierarchy was regimentally observed, with each servant seated according to their rank.
Sunday Best
Each maid had her Sunday best for church but, unlike the ladies that she waited on, this was not an occasion for flamboyant style statements.
Staff were often instructed on exactly what they should wear and, even if the guidelines were general, they were invariably pressed to wear plain dark colours, with a dark coat and black
shoes. A modest hat or bonnet was also worn as women would never attend church bareheaded.
‘All we maidservants […] had to wear black, navy or dark grey whenever we went out, with small black hats or toques,’ recalled Margaret Thomas. ‘We had our own
terribly, so their monthly visit was a cause forcelebration and a chance to push the boat out. A kind cook would send each girl home with treats such as preserves, cold meats
and cakes and, after church, the gathered family would enjoy a tasty spread perhaps topped off with some home-grown musical entertainment.
For those in service in a London house, with family living in the city, a journey on a tram, a bus or the ‘tuppenny tube’ would get them home. For those living further away, the
journey was difficult and expensive, especially on a maid’s wage. Although the Cheap Trains Act of 1883 had removed duty from all journeys charged at less than a penny a mile, this applied
mostly to ‘workmen’s trains’ in city and suburban areas. A longer journey, even in second class, would mean a lot of saving had to be done first. For example, a trip from London
to Dover, would take two-and-a-half hours and cost over 6 s . (30p), a great deal of money for someone earning £16 a year. The cost, and the fact that servants were often expected to
return before late dinner was served, even on their one day off, made long distance visits to families impossible.
Enlightened employers, such as one family who engaged Margaret Thomas as a housemaid, allowed an overnight stay away, to combat this problem. In Margaret’s case they also allowed her to
save up her days off over a few months so she could pay a longer visit home.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, it became standard practice to allow a week’s paid holiday, usually whilethe family was away itself. The lower paid staff
would save up all year so that they could afford the train fare home for this precious week and a few small gifts for their parents and siblings. After the First World War, when domestic staff were
demanding fairer pay and conditions, the holiday entitlement rose to two weeks.
CHURCH OUTINGS
Servants were expected to attend a church service on Sunday and anyone refusing would risk being branded ‘wicked’ in the pious era of Queen Victoria. Indeed,
whenever they were in Balmoral, the monarch and her husband Prince Albert insisted their servants accompany them on the mile-and-a-half walk to Crathie church every Sunday, without fail.
Under her son, Edward VII, weekends in the upper echelons tended more to parties, horse racing and the pursuit of fun but mistresses still insisted on chapel attendance for their children and
servants and most middle-class families were regular members of the congregation. A God-fearing staff was an obedient one and religion was not only thought good for the servants’ souls but a
convenient way of keeping them in check.
In some churches the master’s family attended the morning service while the domestics worshipped at evening mass but in most the household attended together. However, they sat in different
areas of the church, with the family settling themselves in a pew reserved each week for the residents of the ‘big house’ and servants relegated to the back or the gallery. Here, as in
the servants’ dining hall, the downstairs hierarchy was regimentally observed, with each servant seated according to their rank.
Sunday Best
Each maid had her Sunday best for church but, unlike the ladies that she waited on, this was not an occasion for flamboyant style statements.
Staff were often instructed on exactly what they should wear and, even if the guidelines were general, they were invariably pressed to wear plain dark colours, with a dark coat and black
shoes. A modest hat or bonnet was also worn as women would never attend church bareheaded.
‘All we maidservants […] had to wear black, navy or dark grey whenever we went out, with small black hats or toques,’ recalled Margaret Thomas. ‘We had our own
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