Diary Of a House Maid

It was 10.15pm and Sarah had finished all her chores for the day. She was a scullery maid for the affluent household of the Seymour family.

Although exhausted she sat on her bed and put pen to paper of her day at work in the big house.

Saturday 8th October 1898

"I am all in. I rose at 5.30am this morning, washed and dressed and started my day in the scullery. I gave the range a good stoke and got the water boiling for a pot of tea for cook and the upper servants.

I lit all the fires upstairs after cleaning them and emptied the chamber pots and cleaned them. It took longer than normal and I flapped as I must not be seen by the ‘family’.

I am considered the lowest in rank of servants.

Beatrice, the kitchen maid scolded me today for dropping the saucepan I was scouring. My ! It did make a clang. I felt my face turn beetroot. I observe the pastry cooking of Beatrice when I have the opportunity, as hopefully, one day I will be able to improve my position by learning new skills.

Mrs Williams, the cook is always shouting her orders at Beatrice and me. She starts her day discussing the days menu with the lady of the house. The cook is very important.

When I was carrying the heavy can of water upstairs today I nearly tripped. Thank heavens I only spilt a very small amount which I quickly mopped up with my apron. I worry that one day I might trip whilst carrying the coal for the fires in the bedrooms. I cannot imagine the mess it would make.

Oh my! My hands are rough and sore. No doubt due to all the floors and stairs I have to scrub and the pans I have to scour.

I miss my mother and father. I haven’t seen them since last Christmas. I have my father to thank for teaching me to read and write as well as my school. Still, I count my blessings to have a roof over my head and enough food to eat."

__________

Sarah closes her diary and climbs into bed. She shivers and pulls the blankets up around her chin. The beginnings of winter are in the air and causing a chill in the room.

Her thoughts return to her family. Her five brothers and her mother and father. She is the only girl in the family and her brothers used to boss her about but she loves them. They lived in a small terraced house in Hackney, East London and it was very cramped. She had to help with the housework from the age of nine. She would scrub the stone front step until it was so clean you could eat off it.

‘I am only sixteen and yet I feel it’s been a hard life so far. I wonder what it’s like to be rich like Mrs Seymour‘?  thought Sarah as sleep was beginning to envelope her.

Sarah drifted off to sleep as she faced another hard day to come.

Sarah The Skullery Maid

Sarah smoothed her white apron over her long grey dress and looked around the large Victorian scullery.

Since rising at 5.30am she had boiled water on the stove for early morning tea for the upper servants’. She had also had emptied the chamber pots and cleaned them out using a vinegar soaked cloth. When this was done she lit the fires in the house.

Sarah was only 16 and as the Scullery maid she was considered the lowliest employee in the Victorian household.

With her jobs done before breakfast it was now time to set about cleaning the scullery. She scrubbed the kitchen floor, cleaned the pantry, washed the saucepans and dusted the shelves.

When Sarah had a spare second her mind would wander and dream of meeting and falling in love with a rich gentleman who would take her away from all this drudgery.

Sarah quickly dismissed her thoughts before the Kitchen maid scolded her. She answered to her and the cook, although the cook would generally tell the kitchen maid to tell Sarah her chores.

She filled large cans with hot water and carried them up the stairs for use in the rooms.

Sarah’s stomach rumbled with hunger and reminded her it was time to prepare the vegetables.

After waiting on the other servants Sarah has to eat her own dinner in the kitchen to keep her eye on other food cooking on the stove.

The rest of the day was filled with washing up, cleaning the floors and tables. Washing clothes in the big sink using a big bar of soap and a washing board. Once they were dry she would heat the flat iron on the stove and iron the clothes while a second iron was heating up so she did not have to stop ironing.

In the evening after heating the water she would again carry the heavy jugs up the stairs to the rooms.

At about 9pm when the last of her chores were done Sarah would collapse with exhaustion into her bed in the Attic. Too tired even to dream of her Knight in shining armour.