Gran Was A Lady's Maid
by Sue Barr
Ada Noyes, ladies maid
My Grandmother, Ada Noyes, ladies maid, was so proud of the days she worked at The Grange at West Cross in the days before the Great War. She worked her way up from Kitchen maid to Tweenie, Housemaid then Parlour maid and eventually Lady's maid to Lord Glantawe's daughter, Miss Elaine.
She told us stories of riding with Miss Elaine in the landau (and she felt like a lady herself!) stories of the stern Butler and cheeky, over-familiar footman. There was a poor unfortunate boy servant who was showing off in the kitchen by throwing freshly podded peas up in the air and catching them in his mouth, except one went the wrong way and poor lad choked to death... She told of how she would go around the garden, with the gardener choosing which blooms for him to cut for Miss Elaine's rooms. Her proudest story was of the day the King came to visit. Gran actually met him! This would have been King Edward VII.
Grange House, West Cross
The Grange stood on the site of the present-day Civil Emergency Bunker on TA land, on the Mumbles Road between Blackpill and West Cross.
Grange House Dining Room
Then there were stories about how she trained a new Kitchen maid and how she told her the way to wash glassware so that it would shine with very little polishing. (Rinse in cold water and leave to drain overnight on a tea towel, next morning a little rub and it gleams). Stories of her having to get up at 6am, washing in cold water and if by chance her voluminous underskirt went on inside out it stayed that way all day, because she didn't have time to change it around. How, when she accompanied Miss Elaine to various functions at other grand houses, she and all the other Lady's maids had a hierarchy of their own and were treated with a little bit of reverence within the kitchens of houses they visited with their Lady. Comparing Gran's stories with the T.V. programme Upstairs Downstairs, the programme was pretty accurate. The Butler was in charge, then the cook, etc etc but the Lady's maids were a little apart from them and treated as guests in the kitchen.
The Grange, Dining Room
Gran worked at The Grange until 1910, when she married my Grandfather and moved to Coventry. What a change her life must have taken. From 1910 until 1926 she produced nine children, eight of whom lived into ripe old age. Her second daughter was my Mother. There are now 150 plus members of my family, descended from Gran, in all parts of the world.
From ever since I can remember I used to love to visit Gran and couldn't wait for the adults to finish their chatting so I could ask her to tell me, again, about her days as Miss Elaine's Lady's maid.
Her proudest story was of the day King Edward VII came to visit. Gran actually met him.
King Edward VII.
Acknowledgments
Gower XL