Where are they now?
Are you the descendant of a servant who worked at Audley End House, Essex?
If so, we would like to hear from you.
English Heritage has launched a nationwide search to trace the descendants of servants who worked at Audley End House near Saffron Walden in Essex between 1860 and 1890.
This follows the recent opening of the Audley End service wing after a £1 million restoration programme with new research into the lives of those who ran Audley End on a day to day basis.
English Heritage Historian Andrew Hann discovered that, contrary to popular belief, servants at Audley End were in highly sought-after jobs with potentially lucrative careers. There were other major benefits to being in service: not least of which, was a longer life. Thanks to the availability of good food, clothing and accommodation, life expectancy was almost twice that of the average working class Victorian, which was only around 40 years.
The story of Audley End Cook Avis Crocombe shows the potential advantages: born into rural poverty she was promoted to cook at the age of 43, earning the equivalent of £40,000 today. By 1901, at the age of 63, she had her own boarding house, with servants.
Andrew and his team now want to trace descendants of Audley End’s servants to find out whether their time at the house changed their family’s fortunes and to uncover more of the secret history behind life below stairs.
English Heritage historians led by Andrew Hann will assess the information supplied and English Heritage are hoping to uncover information that will then go on display at the House and on the English Heritage website.
“Life in service was very transient so staff came to Audley End from as far a-field as Guernsey and Scotland, staying two years or less before moving on,” says English Heritage Historian Andrew Hann, “We are asking people across the country to explore their past and see if they have a connection to the House.
Andrew continues: “An estate such as Audley End could never have functioned without its army of servants – yet until now, their voices have not been heard in the stories of the House – we want to change that.”
Anyone with information should email: audleyend@mission-21.com by 1 September 2008.
To help you with your research, please download the following lists of service staff resident at Audley End c.1881.
Audley End House and Gardens
Sir Thomas Audley was given the Walden Abbey estate by King Henry VIII and he adapted the Abbey buildings as his private home. This was re-built to create a vast mansion in the 15th century, of which the present house is only a third.
Nevertheless, Audley End remains one of England’s grandest country homes with over 30 lavishly decorated rooms to explore.
The sumptuous, gothic style interior is largely due to the third Baron Braybrooke who, after inheriting the estate in 1825, re-vamped the interior décor with the inclusion of his extensive collection of paintings by Masters such as Holbein and Canaletto among other features.
The property is now owned and maintained by English Heritage.
