Young maids at
Whitehall Farm
FOR a young girl in Wethersfield at the turn of the 20th century there
weren’t many jobs on offer. Going ‘into service’ was the most likely.
Elsie Turner, who died in her nineties in 1993, was in at Whitehall Farm,
up by the Mushroom Farm. She describes her working day:
My first job was to clean the ashes out, black-lead the grate do it all
– not the brass – polish it with sandpaper 'till it shone, then light
the fire. Brother Ben brought the wood in and stuff to light it with,
’cos there wasn’t much coal used.
After you lit the fire you had to make the breakfast. You would take the
porridge in. I had to stand while they said a prayer. I didn't eat with
them. When I collected the last bit up we used to have to stand and the
Master, Jo
Hardy, used to get up and say "For what we have received may the
Lord make us truly thankful". I didn't eat breakfast with them and
I had my dinner on my own. I didn't mind that as I had the same as they
did. While they were having breakfast I used to make the beds.
After breakfast did she have time for a rest?
Oh no, I had the dairy to scrub out, it was a huge place, a brick place,
I used to go down on my hands and knees, I used to scrub that out every
day, all the cement shelves, wash all the cream pans. I used to have a
rest after dinner. I could sit and read or go for a walk if I
wanted to.
All sorts, they had so much joints of meat, they were big meat eaters. They had dainty teas.
What time did she start tea?
About 4 o'clock The teas were put in the drawing room. After tea you used to clean the knives and forks.
The men didn't finish in the fields until 8 or 9 at night. Tea was for the ladies. The men just had an ordinary tea. The ladies had tiny sandwiches, a little bun or something.
After tea did she have to wash the dishes?
Oh yes, you never went to bed and left anything dirty. Then you would look around for anything that needed doing. I did a lot of knitting – I made Mrs Hardy two pair of gloves, one black and one grey. They had the fingers all plain till you got to here, then you cast off another 12 stitches, two plain, two purl, you brought it down to cover your coat sleeve, nearly up to the elbow.
"Why are you doing that big bit at the top?" I explained to her it had to go over the coat. "Well, she said, you wouldn't like to knit me a pair, would you?" I said certainly, what sort of stitch would you like? "I'd like one just like that in grey for when I go to the market and another pair for Sundays. When I go to chapel in the horse and cart my hands get ever so cold."
So I made a rather a pretty pattern. I did one plain, one pearl then reversed it. She was ever so pleased. Then I made Bert some and kept his fingers out for when he was on the tractor. Then of course the other men saw and wanted some. I was knitting for ever such a long time that year. I did such a lot – I didn't mind it.
Whitehall Farm in the
1990s
Click on pictures to enlarge
