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The Victorian Church (2 vol 1966), covers all denominations online; Clark, G. Kitson The making of Victorian England (1963). online; Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa, eds. The encyclopedia of the Victorian world: a reader's companion to the people, places, events, and everyday life of the Victorian era (Henry Holt, 1996) online
The companions after the Second World War are generally elderly women who grew up in Victorian times without the expectation of having to provide for themselves, but who find themselves impoverished due to the decline of the fortunes of many once well-to-do families as a result of the Great Depression and the investment losses incurred during ...
If Victorian households had enough income at their disposal and they were able to employ household servants, these servants were expected to remain unseen. Servants were expected to do their most unsanitary work during the early hours of the morning or the late hours of the night, avoiding the view of their employers and guests.
The usual classifications of maid in a large household are: Lady's maid: a senior servant who reported directly to the lady of the house, but ranked beneath the housekeeper, and accompanied her lady on travel. She took care of her mistress's clothes and hair, and sometimes served as confidante.
The upper servants in large households often withdrew from the servants' hall to eat their dessert courses in the privacy of a steward's room in much the same way the owners of the house had withdrawn to a solar from the Great Hall in the previous era. Strict orders of precedence and deference evolved which became sacrosanct.
In the Victorian household, the children's quarters were referred to as the 'nursery', but the name of the responsible servant had largely evolved from 'nurse' to 'nanny'. The Nursery Maid was a general servant within the nursery, and although regularly in the presence of the children, would often have a less direct role in their care.
The servants' hall is a common room for domestic workers in a great house, typically referring to the servants' dining room. [ 1 ] If there is no separate sitting room, the servants' hall doubles as the place servants may spend their leisure hours and serves as both sitting room and dining room.
Traditionally, the lady's maid was not as high-ranking as a lady's companion, who was a retainer rather than a servant, but the rewards included room and board, travel and somewhat improved social status. In the servants' hall, a lady's maid took precedence akin to that of her mistress.