Free The Real Life Downton Abbey by Jacky Hyams Page A

own ideas unless asked. She is treading a fine line; she cannot, for one minute, forget that she is only a servant.
NURSERY STAFF: THE GOVERNESS OR THE TUTOR
    These roles are very much about the care and education of the children in the family, so these people are, to an extent, less involved with the other staff. But the governess or tutor, because they are educators, are upper servants, often from better backgrounds than the lowers, perhaps coming from families of impoverished clergy or respectable traders that have fallen on hard times.
    They are just as snobbish about their status as their employers. As a result, the governess is often resented by the lower staff, who dislike her airs and graces. Frequently they are required to travel with their bosses if the entire family goes abroad or visits relatives in the country. They never venture into the servants’ hall, where the lowers eat and socialise. Depending on the employer, they may be invited to dine with the family.
    The big nursery area itself is very much a separate world in another part of the big house. Depending on the number of children in the house, any number of servants may be employed there.
    If there are two small children in the house, for instance, this will usually involve a staff of four servants to look after them: a nanny and under nurse, a nursery maid and another maid to wait on them all. Their living/working quarters may consist of a day nursery, a night nursery, a lavatory, a room for the nanny (which she might be required to share with one other servant) and a small kitchen.
    In the evening, the governess, like her employer, always changes clothes for dinner – if there are guests for this occasion this could mean evening dress – and if not dining with the family, she eats with the uppers. The nanny and other nursery staff do not mix with the other servants: they eat all their meals in the nursery. And they only speak to the downstairs servants if they run into them. Which isn’t very often.
THE CHAUFFEUR
    The role of the chauffeur is new in the Edwardian era. Effectively, he replaces the coachman and what he can earn varies considerably; if he already has experience as a chauffeur with another big household, he can command more.
    Like the governess, the chauffeur is often resented by certain other staff: people working in the stables, for instance, resent the idea of the ‘new fangled’ motorcar and the huge changes it ushers in. But he is a member of the household, nonetheless, usually with his own room – though sometimes he might have a cottage on the estate – and a schedule which means being available at all times to transport the family wherever they wish and maintaining the upkeep of the car, getting spare parts if needed; he must also ensure there’s enough petrol to drive the family around. He usually reports to the butler.

T HE L OWER S ERVANTS
THE FOOTMAN
    A successful footman can, with hard work, jump rank to a valeting or even a butler’s role, which is why Thomas (Rob James-Collier), the scheming first footman in Downton Abbey, reacts with anger when he doesn’t get the promotion to valet he’d hoped for.
    Footmen have many duties and work long hours upstairs and downstairs, yet theirs is also an ornamental role: there’s a lot of standing around, looking good. Height is very important. A footman over five-foot, ten-inches can command more money than a shorter man of that rank.
    Their uniforms, white tie, starched shirt front and tails with brass buttons, sometimes stamped with a family crest, are provided by their employer – unlike the maids who must pay for their own uniform. They may work as a team of three, (ranked First, Second and Third Footman, all in order of status) on a rota system, ‘close waiting’ (looking after family members) on one day, the next day ‘waiting’ (household duties) and a third day ‘carriage (or motorcar) waiting’ (out and about with the family).
    Upstairs, they serve at table,