New TV series about the life of servants

[Ann from Sussex]

Tonight on BBC2 at 9pm. Servants: the True Story of Life Below Stairs. The second part is also on BBC2 tomorrow at 8pm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/t...o-Preview.html

This looks as though it could be good and especially interesting for us family historians. I bet most of us have servants somewhere in our tree. I certainly have and will be watching this series with interest.

[Crafty Sue]

Thanks for the reminder Ann, I'll be watching.

Sue

[Janet]

Thanks, Ann. It sounds very interesting. Over here they're just now rolling out Call the Midwife on our PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) stations. Since we don't have a television in this house we'll probably have to wait even a while longer for it to be available online. I'll just have to cool my heels!

[Ann from Sussex]

CORRECTION

Sorry I gave wrong info in my first post. My Sunday paper's TV listing magazine from last week which I keep and use said that the second episode would be on tonight (Saturday). It isn't; it is a repeat of last night's episode and the second one will be next Friday. Apologies.

Did any of you watch this programme? I thoroughly enjoyed it - a knowledgable and unassuming presenter with lots of primary sources instead of silly, childish "re-enactments". My grandmother was a parlour maid in the house of an import/export merchant in London on the 1901 census and my mother-in-law entered service as a kitchen maid aged 13 in 1912 in a stately home in Essex. Her ambition was to become a cook but the house became a hospital for wounded soldiers in WW1 and she became a nurse instead. She still became a wonderful cook for her family though!

[Tom Tom]

I watched it and thought it was great.

In my tree I have people from all different classes, from the very highest to the very lowest with everything in between so found it fascinating as I could relate to everything they spoke about.

[Merry]

I haven't seen this yet, but I want to see it now , so wil have to try and catch it on iPlayer.

[Ann from Sussex]

Originally Posted by Merry

I haven't seen this yet, but I want to see it now , so wil have to try and catch it on iPlayer.

Do watch it Merry, it is really interesting and fascinating to learn how things really were for servants.

[Crafty Sue]

I really enjoyed it, especially about the "maid of all work". A distant cousin was employed as one.

Sue

[Olde Crone]

Excellent telly.

My only beef is that she "proved" that servants didn't wear a uniform in the late 1700s. I don't think one set of portraits is proof!

OC

[Phoenix]

Very odd, I heard exactly the same information given in a talk recently, down to Carlyle's House and Petworth.

William Taylor's diary is well worth reading: it, or extracts from it, have been published. I do wonder what sort of home life he had, as he is never with his wife and sons on any of the censuses, and you certainly would not guess his marital state from the diary.