A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PARLOUR MAID

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PARLOUR MAID.

You often complain you have lots of homework. Would you prefer this job?

MORNING TAKS

6.00 Get out of bed, wash, dress, brush hair into a bun.

6.30 Go downstairs. Put the kettle on. Pull up blinds, open windows, clean fireplaces.

7.00 Make early tea and take it to master and mistress.

7.30 Sweep the dining room and dust. Lay the table for breakfast.

8.00 Serve breakfast.

8.30 Go upstairs, strip the beds, open the bedroom windows, have own breakfast.

9.00 Clear breakfast table, wash up, put on clean apron, make the beds, clean the taps, wash the baths and bathroom floors, clean the toilets, dust every bedroom.

12.00 Change dress to serve lunch; lay the lunch table, serve the lunch, clear the table, wash up all the glass and silver, put everything away in its place.

13:00 Clean the pantry sink and floor, eat own lunch.

AFTERNOON TASKS

14.00-18.00

Monday: Help with laundry, wash brushes and combs, clear out pantry.

Tuesday: Clear out dining room, clean windows, clean fireplaces.

Wednesday: Clear out a bedroom and a dressing room.

Thursday: Clean all the silver cutlery, plates and ornaments.

Friday: Clean toilets, passage, stairs and hall.

Saturday: Clean out servant´s bedrooms.

Sunday: Afternoon off

EVENING TASKS

6.00 Lay the table for dinner.

7.00 Serve dinner and wait at table

8.30 Clear dinner table, wash up.

10.00 Eat own supper, wash up.

10.30 Go to bed.

The next day would be exactly the same. You would be paid nearly six pounds a year! Fancy that?

 

FIVE RULES FOR SERVANTS

1. NO FOLLOWERS. That is to say, no boyfriends for the maidservants. The mistress of the house didn´t want strange men hanging around and she didn´t want anyone getting married so she lost their services just as she had got them fully trained.

2. NO DISHONESTY. A common trick was for the mistress to hide a coin under a carpet. If the servant didn´t find the coin then she hadn´t done the sweeping properly- she´d be sacked; if she found the coin and kept it then, she would be sacked for dishonesty!

3. WEAR A UNIFORM. Men had to wear dark suits or evening dress; women had to buy or make a cotton dress for morning wear and a black wool dress with a white cap and apron for the afternoons.

4. STAY INVISIBLE. Servants were to keep out of the way as much as possible; if a lady or gentleman of the house appeared, they had to stand aside to let them pass.

5. STAY FIT. A sick servant cost money to keep fed and housed. The ill or the very old would be dismissed to make room for a fitter or younger person.

So, life as a servant was hard but at least the work wasn´t specially dangerous. Life in the coal mines or the factories could be positively deadly.