Great country houses, built by the old aristocracy several hundred years before the Victorian era, supported communities with as many as sixty estate workers and indoor servants. The Victorians enjoyed improving their houses. The wealth of the new middle class, based on mechanisation and factories in the north of England, allowed them to buy houses that previously belonged to the aristocracy.

Servants at the grandest and wealthiest houses bathed in the reflected glow of “their” family’s importance. A butler managed the male servants, reporting directly to the head of the household. Responsible for the wine cellar and the silver, he enjoyed a position of authority over the other servants who addressed him as “Mr.” Lesser servants were known by their surnames, except for the housekeeper and cook who used the honorary title of “Mrs.”

Domestic servants ran the house from behind the green baize door. Maids took orders from the housekeeper, who communicated directly with the mistress of the house. Kitchen staff led by the cook prepared vast quantities of food, not only for the family upstairs but also for the staff, who ate in the servants’ hall. Separate staircases allowed the family to avoid bumping into their servants unexpectedly.

The status of nursemaids and governesses hovered somewhere between upstairs and downstairs. They ate with the children, reported to the mistress of the house, and could exercise a little one-upmanship over the downstairs staff by requesting special meals for the children and themselves, brought up on trays.

Very wealthy young girls “came out” of the schoolroom at sixteen or so, to be presented at Court, at the Queen Charlotte’s Ball in London. Magnificently dressed in white, they curtsied deeply to Queen Victoria herself, practising diligently beforehand for fear of toppling over. The London Season was their marriage market. Balls, dances, concerts and drives along Rotten Row in Hyde Park were opportunities to meet suitable husbands.

In Great Houses, dining took place around eight or nine o’clock in the evening. The family filled the long gap between lunch and dinner with a cup of tea and a biscuit, following the inspired example of Anna, Seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the early 1800s. This repast became the elegant “tea party” where the lady of the house poured tea from porcelain teapots into delicate cups for visitors.

At Christmas, the table in a Great House groaned under the weight of food, including turkey, geese, game, poultry, pork, sausages, oysters, mince pies, plum puddings, apples, oranges, pears, chestnuts, and cakes. The Victorians loved exotic fruit. They imported oranges and lemons all year round from Spain and tangerines from Tangiers. The expense meant that only the rich could afford them for their table.