A Victorian Christmas

A Little Christmas History

So I wrote this before Christmas but didn’t get a chance to post it. I couldn’t really leave it until next year so Twixtmas it is!

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

A Christmas carol was published in 1843 and has become one of our most beloved Christmas stories. As we celebrated our second Christmas in this home I wondered about all the Christmas celebrations that have occurred here over the years.

Back in 1843 this house was part of the Raby estate and owned by the Duke of Cleveland. He employed a land agent who lived here with his family and managed the estate for the Lord. He would have collected rent from all the tenants, dealt with any concerns and run his own farm here. At that time the land agent was John Ashdown and judging by his memorial in the church next door he had a good relationship with the tenants of the estate. “This tablet is placed by the Shropshire tenantry as a tribute of respect, of esteem and of gratitude.” So, in fact, nothing at all like Ebeneezer Scrooge at the beginning of the story!

From the 1841 census, I can tell he lived here with his wife Sarah and their five children. Isabella was 25, Samuel and Helen were both 20, and they may have been twins. (Samuel became the land agent after his father died.) George was 15, and Laura was 12. Martha Wood was a female servant aged 30, and there were three 15-year-old servants as well. Two housemaids were both named Mary (which must have been terribly confusing!), and a male servant named Allen Lloyd was also present. I imagine Martha Wood was somewhat of a mother and teacher to the three teenagers. I hope she didn’t have her hands too full! It seems very young to us now for these children to be working and living away from home. However, it would’ve been considered a very good job at that time, especially in a rural area like this. Servants were usually single young women who earned a wage and skills that they could take forward. It was very hard work but gave these girls an opportunity to apply for jobs in larger houses if they wanted to continue in service. Many of them were very attached to the families they worked for though and would have a job for life if they wanted.

In the 1840s Christmas celebrations were starting to become quite the event. Many of the traditions that we have today were begun around that time. The decorating of a tree was becoming commonplace and the house would have been decorated with evergreens, holly and mistletoe. The servants would probably be expected to work on Christmas day and serve the family and any guests the Christmas meal. They would then have had Boxing Day off and have been given ‘boxes’ with their Christmas gifts. The younger servants would usually have gone home to their families especially if they lived locally. There was a family named Lloyd who lived in the village at that time and I think Allen was their eldest son. All the servants were born in Shropshire though and so would probably have had some family nearby.

The church service would’ve been an important part of the day. From our house you can follow the path through the garden gate into the churchyard and with it being so close I suspect the whole house including the servants would’ve been there on Christmas morning. The family from our house has always sat in the front pew on the right-hand side and they probably did back then. The servants would have sat at the back of the church. I suspect in 1841 the church would have been full on Christmas morning, these days there are fewer of us.

The family may have exchanged small gifts although usually these were only for the children. With their youngest child being 12 years old and the others considered adults it’s possible the Ashdowns didn’t exchange gifts at all—certainly nothing like the piles of gifts under the tree today.

Charity would’ve been a big part of the day and it’s possible that John and his family took the time to check on some of the estate’s tenants who perhaps weren’t doing so well. I like to think he was that benevolent!

They would of course have a big family meal. Maybe a turkey although they were still quite hard to get hold of. A goose would’ve been more probable. And of course a Christmas pudding with a sprig of holly and brandy that was set alight. We will still do that tomorrow. The mince pies would’ve had meat in them though and ours definitely do not!

I love thinking about all the people who have lived their lives in these rooms. I get the impression that it has generally been a happy home and I hope that my family continues to fill this house with joy and laughter.

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas. I’m having a bit of a break now until January 1st and then it’s back to the painting and decorating!