A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SERVANT
at The Granite House, St John’s Wood.
A record based on an interview with Nancy Fursman (nee Winn) of how a typical working day unfolded for a person working as a “domestic” or servant, which in this case, occurred in the service wing and the residence it served in the years around 1929.
At this time, it was the start of the Great Depression and it goes without any explanation that those times were tough.
Nancy Winn, at 16 years of age, was employed at The Granite House to carry out all the domestic duties for Mr. & Mrs. Kennedy and their daughter and occasionally at weekends and other special occasions. The Kennedy’s had a grazing property near Kilcoy and they rented The Granite House from Mr. Anglim as their city residence.
Each morning, seven days a week, Nancy would dress herself in her work clothes and leave home in Orchard Road between 5.30 and 6.00am. She would walk across the bridge over Enoggera Creek and up a dirt access road from the bridge direct to the house and enter via the side verandah at the rear of the main house into the kitchen. Milk was delivered daily, early in the morning before she arrived. A quart of milk (1.3L) was left in a billycan outside the kitchen on the verandah which she then placed in an ice-chest on the verandah. On arrival, she would put on a white apron with a bib front and light up the fire in the stove, making and serving early morning cups of tea in the dining area which was a section at the rear of the ballroom. Mrs. Kennedy would then go for her early morning walk across the creek to the Chapel (of the Marist Fathers) and return before breakfast.
Breakfast would be prepared by Nancy. Sometimes cereal such as cornflakes was served but never cooked porridge or the like, followed by scrambled or poached eggs on toast and tea. This was all prepared in the kitchen and taken on a tray to the dining table. Nancy would then be able to have her breakfast in the kitchen. After this, she would retrieve all the breakfast things, clean the table and wash up in the scullery, a side room off the kitchen, and put the items away.
Her other duties were the cleaning of rooms and putting away clothes, stacking the shoes and the like. One day a week was washing day and was spread over the whole day. In the afternoon, dry clothes were taken off the line, sorted and folded in the kitchen with some being ironed on the kitchen table and handed to the Kennedy’s for storing. The floors would then require cleaning. All rooms had carpet squares and around the perimeter was sheet linoleum. As well as the carpet to be cleaned, the lino was to be washed and at times polished. This was done on hands and knees with wax and rags, to give a mirror finish.
Lunch was then prepared in the kitchen and served in the dining area. This generally consisted of cold meats, vegetables or salad with bread and tea. Again, Nancy would then sit down at the kitchen table and have a similar meal. It was then cleaning up and collecting the dishes on a tray and washing up in the scullery.
At times, she would prepare a list of goods required to be purchased from the local store which Mrs. Kennedy ordered and had delivered. These goods would then be stored in the pantry adjacent to the kitchen. Every second day, the butcher delivered an order of meat, which was ordered by telephone. The baker delivered bread twice a week, so Nancy was not required to bake bread in the baker’s oven. Nancy would ask the yardman to chop the wood that she required for the fire in the stoves. The wood was stored just outside the kitchen and Nancy would take it inside as required.
Afternoon tea was prepared and served if any of the Kennedy’s were at home. There was also the sweeping of the timber verandah to be done.
In the afternoon, Nancy started to prepare the evening meal which was a cooked meal, consisting of either a stew, chops, fried steak or sausages together with vegetables. At the weekend there was a roast on Saturday with the cold meat served on Sunday. Puddings were also served. During the meal, Nancy would also have her dinner sitting at the kitchen table. The weekends were often social times and guests were invited regularly.
When Nancy first started, she had little prior training as a cook but she learned to cook as she went and the Kennedy’s ate what she served with apparently few complaints. She became proficient at making sponge cakes with jam fillings.
All the scraps from the kitchen were placed outside on a big tray for the Kennedy’s two pet kangaroos. The used bottles and tins were stored outside and were then taken away.
After the evening meal, it was then cleaning the table, collecting the remains and washing up the dishes and cooking pots in the scullery before putting them away. As a general rule, she had completed her work by 7.00pm and then walked home. There were no streetlights and she did not carry one as she found her way home in the dark.
For all this work she was paid 15 shillings ($1.50) a week, each Wednesday. Hopefully, Mrs. Kennedy would have the money to do so, otherwise Nancy was asked to wait another week. (Note: The Reserve Bank calculates that the 15/- is worth $50.58 in today’s value.)
The Kennedy’s did not produce anything on the property for use in the household – such as having their own chooks for eggs or a vegetable garden.
On Wednesday afternoons, it was Nancy’s half day off during which she was able to do her own personal chores. No other time was she allowed time off, not even to go to church if she wished. In fact, Sunday was an important social church day and the Kennedy’s often invited guests around and Nancy had to prepare additional meals for them.
Nancy was employed by the Kennedy’s for about two years until Mr. Anglim died in June 1931 and the Kennedy’s were required to vacate the property.
Note: Mr. Anglim, who had resided in a few rooms in the Embassy Dance Hall, became ill and the Kennedys brought him to the Granite House and Nancy, together with a live-in nurse, tended Mr. Anglim. She was surprised that one day he gave her a ten-shilling note ($1.00) to thank her for her efforts. He spent the last few weeks in a bedroom there before he went to hospital where he later died.
Morris Moorhouse © 2011