MY LIFE AT HOME AND MY WORK AS A SERVANT

A lady explains how life was for her as a child at home.  She explains how she left school at 14 years old in 1933 to work in service (as a servant) in the “big house”. 

It was a privilege to record this lady, now deceased, who will forever be remembered  in these clips.  She was in service to the gentry, the true life of upstairs downstairs.  She was a barefoot child who could only go to school when the police charity ball funded her clogs.  Her father was a night-soil cleaner at a time when toilets were a shared convenience.  She explains the intimate and the odd and makes us realise how easy our modern life is.

There must be many older people who have similar interesting stories to tell and it is our duty and privilege to record and communicate their stories.  You can help save our community’s memories by talking to old people and recording on your camera or phone or computer and sending it to peterincumbria at gmail dot com

Sadly this fascinating lady has died but her story shows how important it is to act now to preserve unique and unrepeatable memories.

The video clips were taken in 1999 at the old museum – it then now moved to be beside Millom railway station – in 2025 location unknown. The project was to illustrate the oral histories for Cumbria Archives Millennium project but the ladies were so helpful and fascinating that I put the clips together for future generations to realise what the past was by hearing those who lived then.  

This oral history was recorded for the Voices of Cumbria Millennium Project in 2000 commissioned by Cumbria Archives and was illustrated by Peter Nicholson using various images from various collections in Cumbria. Please re-use freely.