The Diary Of A Ladys Maid

A very busy day. Lord and Lady Carrington arrived from England. Miss Harbord, 3 Gentlemen in Suite, 3 children, two nurses, two maids, 2 valets. Every room occupied. 47 to dinner-in State dining room-and 500 in the evening. All went off capitally. We got to bed soon after 2 a.m.' The reliable, hard-working and loyal Emma Southgate began her diary when she journeyed across rough seas and under stormy skies from England to Australia in 1884. She travelled as lady's maid to Lady Loch, wife of the newly appointed Governor of Victoria. When they arrived in Melbourne and took up residence in the magnificent Government House, Emma had the presence of mind to continue her record of daily life. The legacy of her diligence is published here for the first time. Through Emma's words we can relive the halcyon days of colonial times: sumptuous parties in elegant ballrooms and receptions on rolling lawns; stylish travel through the colonies of Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia; holidays in a grand home at Mount Macedon; important international visitors; and the social whirl that accompanied occasions such as Melbourne Cup week. These events are charmingly described in Emma's diaries from a behind-the-scenes point of view-the weariness of having to serve tea to thousands of 'ladies and gentlemen', visits to the poor and excursions to the beach, illnesses among staff and the kindnesses of her employers. Emma's authentic evocation of her life sparkles. Unpretentious and forthright, Emma's words captivate the reader as they bring to life the people, the places and the times. Besides Emma's accounts, Helen Vellacott has placed the newspaper reports of the day that show the official view-often quite different from Emma's observations. In this way, and with intriguing additional comment and information, Diary of a Lady's Maid gives us an insight into early Australian society.

Although the story opens and closes in present-day Spain, the real beginnings are set in the early 1900s when, in Africa, the well-equipped army of the British Empire was being humbled by a few Boer farmers whose only uniform was a slouch hat and a bandolier over everyday work clothes. In England, with the wealth of the aristocracy in decline, Lord and Lady Blanchford-Carter decided to augment their dwindling finances by transforming part of their stately mansion into a high-class brothel for the upper echelons of society. Into this strange household came the young and innocent Helen Sarsfield to commence employment as a scullery maid. In Ireland, Helen's twin brother enlisted in the Connaught Rangers, and would soon depart for Africa, leaving behind his sweetheart in an Ireland rife with talks of insurrection; a place where James Connolly was reminding people that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 edition. Excerpt: ...in calculations--Bribery on the part of trades-people--From whose pocket the bribe is taken--Course to be adopted when bribes are offered--Have no dealings with those who offer bribes--Consideration to be shown to tradespeople, and how--Hardships suffered by dressmakers, etc.--Pressure unadvisable even for mourning--Timely notice saves hurry and pressure--Gossip about the family to be avoided--Gossip about those in a higher position than ourselves too general in England--Gossip generally originates with servants. N the course of your service, you will have a good deal to do with your lady's tradespeople. At first, you will be employed to convey orders to them, which will be good practice in the art of carrying messages. You will also have some easy shopping to do; to match ribbons, and buy sewing-silks, tapes, linings for gowns, and such things, in which it is not easy to make mistakes. Begin carefully and well, that you may become qualified for the more important shopping that will be a part of your duty hereafter. Have a neat bonnet and shawl or cloak ready to be put on quickly when you are sent out. Make sure what sort of things you are to get, --whether the sewing-silk is to be coarse or fine; what breadth the tape is to be; how much a yard you may give for the ribbon; and so on. If your employer should think you rather particular about your orders, she will soon find that this is better than bringing home articles which cannot be used. If you are troubled with a bad memory, you will make a list of what you have to buy, and carry a pencil, that you may set down at the moment what you pay for each, if they are trifles too small to be put into a bill. The most satisfactory way, however, is to have a bill made out to bring home with you....

The Lady's maid of the title is Elizabeth Wilson and the Lady is Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Elizabeth is a young woman who is intelligent, astute and aspiring to a better life and this book describes her life within the confines of her occupation.

“Fascinating . . . The reader is treated to a revealing account of the passionate romance between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning through the eyes of an intimate observer.”—Booklist Young and timid but full of sturdy good sense and awakening sophistication, Lily Wilson arrives in London in 1844, becoming a lady’s maid to the fragile, housebound Elizabeth Barrett. Lily is quickly drawn to her mistress’ s gaiety and sharp intelligence, the power of her poetry, and her deep emotional need. It is a strange intimacy that will last sixteen years. It is Lily who smuggles Miss Barrett out of the gloomy Wimpole Street house, witnesses her secret wedding to Robert Browning in an empty church, and flees with them to threadbare lodgings and the heat, light, and colors of Italy. As housekeeper, nursemaid, companion, and confidante, Lily is with Elizabeth in every crisis–birth, bereavement, travel, literary triumph. As her devotion turns almost to obsession, Lily forgets her own fleeting loneliness. But when Lily’s own affairs take a dramatic turn, she comes to expect the loyalty from Elizabeth that she herself has always given. Praise for Lady's Maid “[A] wonderful novel . . . fully imagined and persuasive fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review “Absorbing . . . heartbreaking . . . grips the reader's imagination on every page . . . [Margaret] Forster paints a vivid picture of class, station, hypocrisy and survival in Victorian society.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Extremely readable . . . The author's sense of the nineteenth century seems innate.”—The New Yorker “Highly recommended . . . an engrossing novel of the colorful Browning ménage.”—Library Journal “Delightful . . . entertaining.”—Vogue

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