Thursday 16 November 2023

Working Life in Aus in the 1890's

 

Hello everyone want know more about working life in the 189's Australia continue reading.

Back then the middle and upper classes of people employed large numbers pf people, such a family might employ up to a dozen people in jobs such as coachman to drive the family carriage along with a groom to care for the horses, a gardener and general handyman. Inside the home there would be a cook, several parlour maids and chambermaids. The children would also have nursemaids and maybe even a governess.

Of course in less affluent households there would be less staff to do all the same work. Domestic work of course was considered women's work.

Now less us remember these were the days before wall to wall carpet instead homes had rugs and carpet squares that had to be taken outside and beaten every day.

The women employed as domestic servants had to sweep, scrub and polish floorboards in the hallways, drawing rooms, smoking rooms, dining rooms and of course bedrooms. There was not to be a speck of dust in order for the mistress of house to find.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries interior decorations was at its fussiest. Apparently there were cloths covering nearly everything with something called an antimacassars used to protect chairs from a mans hair oil. Then there were the coverings used for small tables often using velvet, and even the windows and mantelpieces would be draped with heavy material all of which would have to be cleaned regularly by the housekeeper.

Of a morning the remains of the previous night's open fires had to be removed and the fireplaces cleaned and blackening applied. Whatever that means........

The bed clothes had to be shaken and the beds and pillows aired. Servants were expected to do not only strenuous but down right disgusting jobs. Chamber pots had to be emptied into the outside toilet, in those days the toilet would be situated near the back fence so the council “nightman” also called a “pan man” could remove the pans. In fact many homes relied on the “pan man” to remove human waste. In fact my husband Tim can remember the “pan man” coming round and replacing the full pan with an empty one.



12 comments:

  1. I've never heard of a pan man before you shared the info here, Jo-Anne! That does not sound like a pleasant job whatsoever. I guess they're the older version of our trash men today. Makes me give thanks for running water and flushing toilets!
    Blessings!

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    1. Yes the old pan man wasn't something I was use to, unlike Tim who can remember hearing the him come and take the cans away leaving a fresh one

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  2. This reminds me of a PBS show back in the 1990's that had a A modern English family embark on a real-life time-travel adventure to late Victorian London. They had to keep to what was used in 1900 and before. IT was interesting. They also had a series called Manor House 21 people from the 21st century are being brought together in an Edwardian Country House. 6 of them are the Upstairs family and the 15 others are the servants. For three months, these people have only the rulebook and each other.

    Then there was Frontier House, Colonial House and Turn Back Time.
    Really interesting reality-based show on Public TV. Now I'm wanting to rewatch these series. They were so good.

    Really interesting how times have changed.

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    1. I know the shows you mentioned I watched them, and really liked them, I find such shows very interesting

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  3. I'd never heard of a pan man, either. But having all the servants sounds like the upper class British and the well-to-do in the US. Even the upper middle class might have had a hired cook/maid in the early 1900s or someone to tend to the children or a gardener. I can't imagine it, but the rich still have several people working for them still today.

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    1. I find the thought of having maids and such around my home odd but it is not what I am use to

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  4. Those were the days Jo-Anne when women worked all day in the house.
    Glad times have changed.

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    1. I am glad times have changed as well, don't like the idea of spending hours doing laundry and housework

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  5. I'd sure be out of place there... I'm just glad misty stopped shedding, lol

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    1. Yeah many of us would stick out and come across as stuck up I expect just by what we think is normal

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  6. I am very very grateful that doesn't have to be done any longer. For the people who were employed to do it and really just for everyone all around.

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