More on Aubrey House and its denizens
No one ever comments on my blogs about my dollhouse, so maybe it is only interesting to me. Sigh. I don't care. I promised a blog on the servants and I am a woman of my word. And the word is... entranced. I love my little corner of the dining room where Aubrey House dwells. I sit there to read, (after competing with Patches and Hobbes for the use of the comfy chair), and to gaze into the little late Victorian/early Edwardian world I have "created".
I chose the surnames for my characters very carefully, and a bit whimsically. As a rabid Lord of the Rings fan, I put a bit of a Tolkien bend on the selection of names. For example, Avery means "elven ruler"; Aubrey means "ruler of the elves"; Owen means "well-born"; and Wesley means "man of the west".
The servant surnames are just as apropos. Henry means "ruler of the house"; Emmett means "hard working"; Raymond means "wise guardian" and Thomas means "dependable".
I make up back stories for all my characters. For example, the Avery sisters, Katherine Avery Wesley, Marcia Avery Aubrey and Alice Avery, are, in my back story, wealthy orphans who were the wards of Walter Owen after the death of their parents. Katherine married late, but well, and Marcia's husband Rhett, a bit of an entrepreneur, went into business with Walter and helped make the Owens ever richer than they were. He did nicely for himself as well, but is "new" money whereas the Owens' and the Averys are "old money." Even so, you can see that the Owens/Avery/Aubrey connections are very close, and it should be no surprise that everyone is hoping Alice Avery will marry Eric Owen.
Enough about the rich crowd. This blog is supposed to be about the servants.
This is where they work.
Hazel Thomas in the dining room
Where they live
(with the exception of the nanny, Jane Raymond, who "lives" in the nursery with Christie and Beth).
The servants cottage, "side yard", Aubrey House
Mary and Ruth Henry are mother and daughter. Mary has been with the Avery family since she was 15. Her daughter Ruth was the result of a youthful indiscretion but the Averys, uncharacteristically of employers of the day, did not dismiss Mary. They sent her away for her confinement. Mary's own mother raised Ruth until Ruth was old enough to enter into service herself. Mary and Ruth are very close. Neither has ever married. Neither has ever worked for any other family but the Averys. They came to Aubrey House when Marcia did.
Maids Hazel Thomas and Susan Emmett share the upstairs bedroom in the servants cottage. They are both in their early 20s. Susan is apprenticing with Ruth in the kitchen as well as acting as maid; she hopes to be a cook one day, as cooks are in higher demand than maids, earn more money and get more respect. Hazel is hoping to meet a nice man and leave service. It could happen.
All the servants take their meals at the main house. In the kitchen.
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