Expert’s Choice
Michelle Higgs, author of Servant Ancestors and Since specific servant-related records are few and far between, you need to turn to more general sources to find out about the working lives of ancestors in domestic service. My favourite website for this is the British Newspaper Archive ( british newspaperarchive.co.uk), where you can browse and search back issues of hundreds of local and national newspapers; Pro members of findmypast. co.uk can also access the same newspapers.
One of the best things about the archive is that you can look for specific newspapers covering the area your forebear worked in, and the same period in time. It’s always worth searching for your ancestor’s name. If that fails, try inputting the search terms ‘servant’, ‘domestic servant’, ‘maid’, ‘domestic service’ or particular occupations within the industry, such as ‘cook’ or ‘laundry maid’.
The ‘Situations Vacant’ and ‘Situations Wanted’ columns should give you an idea of the kinds of jobs that were available in that particular area, and the pay they offered. There are frequent reports of incidents and criminal cases in which servants were victims, witnesses or perpetrators. For those who worked in gentlemen’s service in country houses, obituaries of long-serving members of staff can often be found, as well as details of bequests for servants in employers’ wills.
Finally, newspapers’ correspondence columns were the only place where servants could air their grievances about overwork and mistreatment by employers in public. These letters make fascinating reading, with the servants’ voices ringing out loud and clear; check subsequent issues too, since such correspondence often prompted plenty of debate.