Many people have helped in the process of writing this book. At the early research stage, Andrew Hann of English Heritage, Helen Lloyd of the National Trust, Jeremy Musson, Virginia Nicholson, Pamela Sambrook and Merlin Waterson kindly let me pick their brains. For the individual stories, my thanks to the following:
For the Prologue set at Hatfield House, I’m grateful to the Marquess of Salisbury and archivists Vicki Perry and Sarah Whale. For the story of Dorothy Doar at Trentham Hall, Pamela Sambrook generously alerted me to Mrs Doar’s letter in the Sutherland archive; thanks also to staff at Staffordshire County Record Office and the Trentham Estate.
At Uppark for Sarah Wells, thanks to Helen Roadnight for her patience with my queries about the house; also to Sophie Chessum and James Rothwell of the National Trust, staff at the West Sussex Record Office, and the University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library. At Erddig for Ellen Penketh’s tale, Jill Burton was exceptionally generous with her research and in egging me onwards. Thanks also to Graeme Clarke and Sara Lewis of the National Trust; Beryl Jones, distant relative of housekeeper Harriet Rogers; staff at Flintshire Record Office, Denbighshire Archives and Shropshire Archives; Victor Tunkel of the Selden Society, George Turnbull of Manchester Transport Museum, Wrexham County Borough Museum, and Ruthin Gaol.
For Wrest Park and Hannah Mackenzie, I am indebted to Nan Herbert’s family, also to her great-granddaughter Hannah Palmer for encouragement. The help and enthusiasm of Andrew Hann at English Heritage was fundamental; thanks also to Wrest Park’s committed volunteers Mike Brown, Jane Heywood and Debbie Radcliffe. Ross Mackenzie, Hannah’s great-nephew, was warmly hospitable; researchers Jo Foster and Catherine Tremain left no stone unturned; Barbara McMahon checked J. M. Barrie’s diaries at Yale; Caitlin Emery and Holly Collins of Newport Mansions Preservation Society hunted for Hannah among the Vanderbilts. For fleshing out Cecil Argles, the land agent who fell for Hannah, my thanks to Judith Argles, Charles Marsham Argles and Mike Turner. Sue Light of www.scarletfinders.co.uk was helpful on British military nurses, as were staff at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service, and the Imperial War Museum Collections.
For Charleston and Grace Higgens, I’m exceptionally grateful to Anne Olivier Bell, Diana Higgens and Virginia Nicholson for their hospitality and memories. Alistair Burtenshaw, Darren Clarke and Wendy Hitchmough at Charleston were helpful; gardener Mark Divall let me poke around his attic flat and Grace’s kitchen. For the Epilogue set at Holkham Hall, thanks are due to Viscountess Coke for her trust in letting me into her home, to housekeeper Nicky Garner for her time and patience, and to Celia Deeley and Christine Hiskey.
I regret that many wonderful (and splendidly named) housekeepers within living memory did not, in the end, make it into this book. Mrs Tricker (and her sparring partner, the nanny Florence Screech) at Merevale Hall in Warwickshire were brought to life for me by Sir William Dugdale, an interview kindly set up by his children Laura, Matthew and Matilda. Mrs Lickiss, the last remaining servant at Haigh Hall, Lancashire during the Second World War, was crisply evoked by the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres and his brother the Hon. Tom Lindsay. For memories of Dorothy Dean, first housekeeper at Chatsworth asked to look after the public, I am grateful to the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Helen Marchant and Christine Robinson. Clare Macpherson-Grant Russell, Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire, shared memories of family treasure Mrs McCardie, housekeeper at Ballindalloch Castle, who dropped dead of a heart attack days after retiring, aged 73, after fifty years’ service. Judy Macdougall had fascinating stories of housekeeping in the laid-back seventies at a large National Trust house in Buckinghamshire, her tenure coming to an abrupt end when her master remarried. I dearly wish it were possible to tell this housekeeper’s tale, but most of the participants are still alive.
More general thanks are due to Karen Wiseman at Blenheim, Rachel Boak, Juliet Carey and Colette Warbrick at Waddesdon, the Marquess of Cholmondeley and Sam Lloyd at Port Lympne, Matthew Beckett of www.lostheritage.org.uk and Tracey Jewitt of Greycoats Agency. I am grateful to the staff of the National Archives, the British Library, the Foundling Museum, the Museum of Brands, the Museum of London and the Royal London Hospital Museum. Thanks also for advice, leads and general encouragement from Jacqueline Aldridge, Catherine Bailey, Dirk Bennett, Hattie Ellis, Oren Gruenbaum, Christina Hardyment, Fiona Hill, Sue Hills, Pam Ingleby, Elisabeth Jay, Natasha Kerr, Bronwen Riley, Katie Roden, Michael and Judy Watson, Jane Whetnall and Hannah Williams. Several friends read chapters and gave feedback: Lucy Brewster, Fiona Napier, Penel Lee and Rachel Doyle. Especial thanks to Sophie Carter, Casilda Grigg and Catherine Tremain–and to my husband Nick Glass for his invaluable criticism and steadfast encouragement.
Graham Coster commissioned this book and steered it to fruition: I am grateful for his wise insights and spot-on instincts. At Aurum, I’d like to thank my unflappable and meticulous editor Melissa Smith, together with Charlotte Coulthard and Iain Macgregor; also my copy editor Jenny Page. The book could not have happened without the enthusiasm and drive of my agent Georgina Capel.
When I started researching The Housekeeper’s Tale in 2010 my children were aged four and one; they soon learned to parrot back at me my exasperated refrain, ‘I’m not a servant!’ It has sometimes seemed more than a little ironic to be writing about housekeepers without a housekeeper, so I’d like to thank the women whose help has enabled me to work: my child-minder Jasminka Livaja from Croatia, and my Brazilian cleaner Marcia Santos.