Servants: The True Story of Life Below Stairs - Knowing Your Place | History Is Ours

Servants: The True Story of Life Below Stairs - Episode 1 - Knowing Your Place

Servants the true story of life below stairs is a history documentary series about history's servants. A century ago, 1.5 million British people worked as servants, astonishingly more than worked in factories or farms. But while servants are often portrayed as characters in period dramas, the real stories of Britain’s servants have largely been forgotten. Presented by social historian Dr Pamela Cox - herself the great-granddaughter of servants - this three-part series uncovers the reality of servants’ lives from the Victorian era through to the Second World War.

Dr Pamela Cox looks at the grand houses of the Victorian ruling elite - large country estates dependent on an army of staff toiling away below stairs. The Victorians ushered in a new ideal of servitude - where loyal, selfless servants were depersonalised stereotypes with standardised uniforms, hairstyles and even generic names denoting position. In the immaculately preserved rooms of Erddig in North Wales, portraits of servants like loyal housekeeper Mrs Webster hint at
an affectionate relationship between family and servants, but the reality for most was quite different. In other stately homes, hidden passages kept servants separate from the family. Anonymity, invisibility and segregation were a crucial part of their gruelling job - and the strict servant hierarchy even kept them segregated from each other.

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