And LOL, about visitors being so interested in how servants were treated. The episodes A Cry for Help and The Swedish Tiger were both disliked by John Hawkesworth and it is no surprise that he omitted them entirely. Country houses were reliant on an intricate hierarchy of servants, each of whom provided an essential skill. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. King Edward passed away in 1910, but the Edwardian era often includes the following years leading up to World War I, while many historians include the war years, and others still argue that the shift in parliamentary power from the Liberals to the Labour party in 1924 mark the break between Edwardian and Modern Britain. Millionaires of the Gilded Age looked to Europeans–or more specifically, the British–for cues on how to recreate the leisured life in America, copying them from the construction of country estates, to golf clubs, to social seasons, all the way down to the bottom of this lifestyle: domestic servants. My great grandmother was a downstairs servant, so I have always had a real affinity for this series. By Harrison Smith, Nicola Pagett, a British stage and screen actress who dazzled millions of television viewers as Elizabeth Bellamy, a headstrong daughter of Edwardian aristocrats who grows up to become a militant suffragette in the acclaimed period drama “Upstairs, Downstairs,” died March 3 at a hospice center in Esher, a London suburb. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Welcome back! The truth about how most servants lived in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century is quite different than what we see portrayed on Downton Abbey or Upstairs, Downstairs. Examples are the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, which came as a result of people demanding reform in the face of famine and chronic unemployment, and the essay Appeal of one Half of the Human Race, Women, against the Pretensions of the other Half, Men, to Retain them in Political and thence in Civil and Domestic Slavery: in reply to a paragraph of Mr. Mill’s celebrated “Article on Government” published in 1825 by William Thompson and Anna Wheeler shows desire for more gender equality. Season four takes place six months after the end of season three: February 1922 and ends summer 1923, whereas season five is set in 1924 and ends at Christmas 1925. How cool! ( Log Out /  But they share an unexpected link to her past, and one that may tear their burgeoning romance apart forever. They know neither how to do nor how to direct the work of their houses, and are, in consequence, ignorant of what should be required as a fair day’s service from each servant. The American Country House by Clive Aslet ( Log Out /  The other issue plaguing upper class Americans was whom to hire. The new Upstairs Downstairs had been in the works for about three years. Jeremy Musson captures th It is, therefore, not difficult to assume that the Edwardian era was a majestic one, where food, housing and happiness were in unlimited supply. No name of who they were.ntomile. My grandma talked about how they treated her as though she was not a real person and the volume of work when she came over in 1909. A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice "Beautifully written, sparkling with insight, and a pleasure to read, Servants is social history at its most humane and perceptive." The Edwardian drama was the brainchild of actresses Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, inspired by the immense popularity of the B.B.C. Biltmore Insider’s Tour Racial issues didn’t seem to be a big deal, but they ALWAYS asked how the family treated their servants. Reproduced under Fair Use. Servants quarters in an American mansion were generous and attractive, and unlike in English households, were furnished with new furniture and linens (perhaps not the exquisite items owned by the lady of the house, but new and comfortable, nonetheless). My grandma does talk about being a housekeeper, but mainly it’s the quirks of the people she worked for. Emphasis is placed on the frilly, over-the-top nature of Edwardian attire, architecture and social gatherings and one is hard pressed to find a realistic novel dealing with the average Edwardian family. Edwardian gem: Shirley Scott with her children Libby and Edward play croquet on the lawn at Inverleith. The Edwardian era, when shown in the media or described in popular literature, is most often depicted as a period of luxury in the land of plenty. Sphere's publication of Upstairs, Downstairs (Or The Secrets Of An Edwardian Household) in early 1972 was the first UpDown-related book to hit the market.Released in early 1972, it cost 30p, and told the stories covered in the first television season. of—the Downstairs Brain. The staircase is one of the most important parts of a two-story house, and that same logic is true for the brain. The Mackays employed twenty-five indoor staff, and many more outdoor staff, who were housed in their own wing of bedrooms. I wonder why we’re so sensitive about that particular issue. ( Log Out /  But an unlikely spat has broken out between Jean Marsh, actor and co-creator of Upstairs, Downstairs … With Downtown Abbey there is much that is … Perhaps one reason why Americans invented and/or took to labor-saving devices with alacrity can be traced to the difficulty of hiring and retaining large numbers of domestic servants. 'Upstairs, Downstairs' was the surprise television drama hit of 1971 despite originally going out late on Sunday nights with very little fanfare.