dripping because that was too coloured – in a frying pan, a very deep one, and when it was boiling and blue smoke came off, you dropped these crisps in, one by
one, because if you dropped two in at a time they stuck together, they wouldn’t separate out. By the time you got the last one in, the first ones were already cooked, so it was a
mad rush to drop them in and get the first lot out again.
Margaret Powell, Below Stairs
THE SEASON
From the middle of May to the middle of August, society families moved to their London homes for the ‘Season’. The summer was an endless round of balls, dinner
parties, trips to the ballet and the opera, racing at Ascot and Epsom and the Henley Regatta. For the London staff it meant a hugely increased workload, more dinner parties to cater for and the
occasional ball too. With so much socializing, the maid’s bedtime was often midnight or later and she would have to be up with the lark toscrub floors and black-lead
the kitchen range. The master and mistress often brought servants with them to help out during the Season, leaving a skeleton staff at the country estate to keep the house ticking over, but it was
non-stop work from dusk to dawn nonetheless.
Arthur Inch, in service for more than fifty years, was a footman at Londonderry House during one London Season, and spent a busy day wearing a pedometer as he rushed up and down the stairs and
along the vast corridors. He calculated that he had walked eighteen miles without ever leaving the house.
As well as the extra dinners, there were hundreds of balls during the London Season. The parents of a debutante who was ‘coming out’ that year often rented in the capital and threw a
ball to introduce their daughter to Society and, more importantly, to eligible bachelors. There could be as many as four balls in one night. For the servants, this meant laying on a lavish supper,
and staying up very late indeed. In 1912, Lady Charlotte Bonham Carter’s mother threw a ball in a house in Eaton Square she had taken for her daughter’s first season. ‘Supper had
to be taken downstairs unless it was a very grand house, like Surrey House,’ remembered Lady Charlotte in Lost Voices of the Edwardians. ‘Supper generally began at twelve and
might consist of a clear soup, quails with white grapes and potatoes. It was a light but really delicious meal and you could take it whenever you liked.’ The servants who were up until the
early hours clearing up must have been pleased this was a rare event.
Footman Eric Horne revealed in his memoirs What the Butler Winked At , ‘A London season is very tiring to servants. There is not only the day work but the
night work as well. They would keep out regularly until one, two or three o’clock but we had to start work at the same time as the other servants. Often during the London season we were kept
so short of our hours of sleep that I used to go to sleep on the carriage.’
The season ended in August when the grouse-shooting season began and most men went north for shooting parties.
SHOOTING PARTIES
The Edwardian shooting parties were lavish events that required yet more catering from the servants. The valets or footmen would accompany the men in order to load their
guns and the maids would be up at the crack of dawn to cut sandwiches for the party. When the men returned with the spoils, the hallboy or scullery maid would be charged with plucking the birds and
hanging them in the pantry or game larder until cook was ready to prepare them for dinner. As the shooters left early, the butler and remaining footman would take their lunch out to them on the
moors or they would return to the house for a more substantial meal.
The Duke of Portland’s footman Frederick Gorst remembered shooting parties at Welbeck Abbey. ‘We footmenserved them from our stations at the sideboard which
held roast game in season, leg of lamb, game pie, roast chicken and roast ham. There were always
one, because if you dropped two in at a time they stuck together, they wouldn’t separate out. By the time you got the last one in, the first ones were already cooked, so it was a
mad rush to drop them in and get the first lot out again.
Margaret Powell, Below Stairs
THE SEASON
From the middle of May to the middle of August, society families moved to their London homes for the ‘Season’. The summer was an endless round of balls, dinner
parties, trips to the ballet and the opera, racing at Ascot and Epsom and the Henley Regatta. For the London staff it meant a hugely increased workload, more dinner parties to cater for and the
occasional ball too. With so much socializing, the maid’s bedtime was often midnight or later and she would have to be up with the lark toscrub floors and black-lead
the kitchen range. The master and mistress often brought servants with them to help out during the Season, leaving a skeleton staff at the country estate to keep the house ticking over, but it was
non-stop work from dusk to dawn nonetheless.
Arthur Inch, in service for more than fifty years, was a footman at Londonderry House during one London Season, and spent a busy day wearing a pedometer as he rushed up and down the stairs and
along the vast corridors. He calculated that he had walked eighteen miles without ever leaving the house.
As well as the extra dinners, there were hundreds of balls during the London Season. The parents of a debutante who was ‘coming out’ that year often rented in the capital and threw a
ball to introduce their daughter to Society and, more importantly, to eligible bachelors. There could be as many as four balls in one night. For the servants, this meant laying on a lavish supper,
and staying up very late indeed. In 1912, Lady Charlotte Bonham Carter’s mother threw a ball in a house in Eaton Square she had taken for her daughter’s first season. ‘Supper had
to be taken downstairs unless it was a very grand house, like Surrey House,’ remembered Lady Charlotte in Lost Voices of the Edwardians. ‘Supper generally began at twelve and
might consist of a clear soup, quails with white grapes and potatoes. It was a light but really delicious meal and you could take it whenever you liked.’ The servants who were up until the
early hours clearing up must have been pleased this was a rare event.
Footman Eric Horne revealed in his memoirs What the Butler Winked At , ‘A London season is very tiring to servants. There is not only the day work but the
night work as well. They would keep out regularly until one, two or three o’clock but we had to start work at the same time as the other servants. Often during the London season we were kept
so short of our hours of sleep that I used to go to sleep on the carriage.’
The season ended in August when the grouse-shooting season began and most men went north for shooting parties.
SHOOTING PARTIES
The Edwardian shooting parties were lavish events that required yet more catering from the servants. The valets or footmen would accompany the men in order to load their
guns and the maids would be up at the crack of dawn to cut sandwiches for the party. When the men returned with the spoils, the hallboy or scullery maid would be charged with plucking the birds and
hanging them in the pantry or game larder until cook was ready to prepare them for dinner. As the shooters left early, the butler and remaining footman would take their lunch out to them on the
moors or they would return to the house for a more substantial meal.
The Duke of Portland’s footman Frederick Gorst remembered shooting parties at Welbeck Abbey. ‘We footmenserved them from our stations at the sideboard which
held roast game in season, leg of lamb, game pie, roast chicken and roast ham. There were always
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