garden. It was the housekeeper, Mrs Gurnard, in Venetia who organised a large hamper to be carried to the Priory when Aubrey was thrown from his horse, and she who refused to take orders about the running of Undershaw from the social-climbing Mrs Scorrier. Although they did not wear uniform, most housekeepers were plainly dressed in dark colours and were usually paid about £25 a year, with their own room or set of rooms. With the steward, the housekeeper presided at the table in the servants’ hall and in the housekeeper’s room where she ate with the rest of the upper servants.
The lady’s maid was also known as an abigail or dresser, and was the personal attendant to the lady of the house who directly employed her. She was required to wait on her mistress before breakfast to ensure that she had hot water and was ready to rise. She then laid out her lady’s clothes, helped her dress, did her hair, attended to any clothes that needed mending, special cleaning or ironing, tidied things away and made sure her mistress was looking her best before going downstairs. During the day she attended to her lady’s wardrobe and other household tasks, such as making lotions and cosmetics, or accompanied her mistress while shopping or walking. A lady’s maid had to be well dressed, quick, efficient and discreet as she was often in her employer’s confidence as well as her company. Some lady’s maids developed a close personal relationship with their mistresses and, while they remained respectful, took on the role of confidante and advisor. In Lady of Quality , Annis Wychwood’s formidable abigail, Jurby, had attended her mistress since childhood and knew her better than her own family.
Starting at 6.30 a.m. in summer and 7.00 a.m. in winter, the footman began his day filling the coal scuttles in the main rooms, cleaning the household’s shoes and boots, polishing plate and laying the breakfast table. In The Corinthian it was the under-footman who discovered, as he went about his morning duties in Sir Richard Wyndham’s library, the shawl, the cravat and the telltale strands of guinea-gold hair that set Sir Richard’s family in such a bustle. At every meal it was the footman’s job to lay the table, carry in the food, wait at table, stand while the family ate and then clear away. Back in the kitchen, they washed the glasses and silverware before starting the whole routine again. In houses with more than two footmen, the third footman and below did the rougher jobs such as fetching wood, coal and water and cleaning the boots, while the first and second footmen cleaned plate, trimmed lamps and candles, answered the door (after midday) or went out on carriage duty (sitting or standing behind the carriage). As Frederica discovered, a footman could also be required to attend a member of the household on a walk or shopping trip, following on foot at an appropriate distance. Footmen slept in the basement or cellar and wore a formal livery of knee-breeches, tail-coat, stockings and a powdered wig.
Next to the kitchen, scullery and laundry maids, the housemaid was one of the hardest workers in the house. She was up by 6.00 a.m. to light the fire in the kitchen, open the shutters and start sweeping, cleaning and dusting the hallways, living rooms and stairs and polishing the banisters, grates, fenders and furniture. Before her master or mistress got up she lit the fires in their bedrooms and, after they had gone down to breakfast, made their beds, dusted and swept their rooms and emptied the chamber-pots and wash-basins. Maids were expected to fulfill their duties as quietly and unobtrusively as possible and were often so good at moving quietly about the house while they worked that in Arabella the sound of fire-irons crashing in the hearth was so unusual that it woke the heroine from a sound sleep. The kitchen maid mainly worked as an assistant to the cook, preparing food, cleaning utensils and sweeping the kitchen. The scullery maid
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley