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Author: Tim Tate
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
ISBN: 1782197826
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 185
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Book Description
'I THOUGHT I'D GONE TO A PRISON'This was Hilda Newman's first impression when, at the age of 19, she left her parents' little terraced cottage in Lincolnshire and embarked on a new life as a lady's maid at Croome Court, the enormous stately home of Lord and Lady Coventry.The year was 1935: the twilight of the English aristocracy. It was a time of wealth and glamour; of lavish balls and evening gown; of tiaras and a Coronation. As personal maide to Lady Coventry, Hilda had a unique insight into the leisured life of one of Britain's most noble families.In her fascinating memoir of life upstairs and down, Hilda takes us back to a gilded era which would be brutally swept away by the Second World War. Hers is a very personal story of being transplanted from a tiny house with no bath or hot water to an eighteenth-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by parkland landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.But it also the remarkable story of the family who service she entered - and that of Croome Court itself: during World War Two, it housed the Dutch Royal Family - who had fled the Nazi occupation - and it was also home to the top-secret RAF base where radar was developed. This is Hilda's story.
Author: Tim Tate
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
ISBN: 1782197826
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 185
Get Book
Book Description
'I THOUGHT I'D GONE TO A PRISON'This was Hilda Newman's first impression when, at the age of 19, she left her parents' little terraced cottage in Lincolnshire and embarked on a new life as a lady's maid at Croome Court, the enormous stately home of Lord and Lady Coventry.The year was 1935: the twilight of the English aristocracy. It was a time of wealth and glamour; of lavish balls and evening gown; of tiaras and a Coronation. As personal maide to Lady Coventry, Hilda had a unique insight into the leisured life of one of Britain's most noble families.In her fascinating memoir of life upstairs and down, Hilda takes us back to a gilded era which would be brutally swept away by the Second World War. Hers is a very personal story of being transplanted from a tiny house with no bath or hot water to an eighteenth-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by parkland landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.But it also the remarkable story of the family who service she entered - and that of Croome Court itself: during World War Two, it housed the Dutch Royal Family - who had fled the Nazi occupation - and it was also home to the top-secret RAF base where radar was developed. This is Hilda's story.
Author: Tim Tate
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
ISBN: 1782196102
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
A fascinating memoir of life as a lady's maid in a big house in the 1930s, covering the beauty of the house, the housing of royals escaping the Nazis, the hard work of staff, and the experience of joining the army to serve a Countess Hilda Newman was a maid to Lady Coventry at the Worcestershire stately home of Croome Court in the 1930s. In her fascinating memoir of life below the stairs (as well as glimpses from inside the big house), she reveals what it was like living and working in the 18th Century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by parkland landscaped by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. During World War II Croome Court housed the exiled Dutch Royal Family, who escaped the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. It was also the top-secret RAF base Defford, where radar was developed and repairs were carried out on aircraft fighting in the Battle of Britain. Hilda remembers life both upstairs and down, from the grand long gallery designed by Robert Adam and the tapestry room (since removed and transferred to the Metropolitan Museum in New York), to the hard labor demanded of serving staff and what it was like in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women's branch of the British Army, which she joined to serve the Countess in 1940.
Author: Adrian Tinniswood
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571350976
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 129
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Book Description
A delightful journey through the glamorous story of the English country house party by the bestselling historian. Croquet. Parlour games. Cocktails. Welcome to a glorious journey through the golden age of the country house party - and you are invited. Our host, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched royal tours to the flamboyant excess of the Bright Young Things. With cameos by the Jazz Age industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician - whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas - Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into weekending etiquette and reveals the hidden lives of celebrity guests, from Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill, in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating. The result is a deliciously entertaining, star-studded, yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by war - and a uniquely fast-living period of English history. Praise for The Long Weekend: 'Delicious, occasionally fantastical, revealing in ways that Downton Abbey never was. It is as if Tinniswood is at the biggest, wildest, most luxuriantly decadent party ever thrown, and he knows everyone.' Observer 'A deliciously jaunty and wonderfully knowledgeable book. Tinniswood displays a terrific insider's grasp of gossip . A meticulous, irresistible story.' Spectator 'Elegant, encyclopedic and entertaining . A confident and skilled historian who understands the mores of his era and wears his learning lightly . Deserves to be on every costume drama producer's bookshelf.' Times
Author: Andrew Stewart
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1912174650
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 137
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Book Description
“Well-researched . . . tells the story of the military bodyguard known as the ‘Coats Mission’ led initially by Major Jimmy Coats, Coldstream Guards.” —The Guards Magazine Following the surrender of France in June 1940 Britain prepared to defend itself against a potential German invasion. In great secrecy a decision was taken to establish an elite bodyguard to protect the British Royal Family. Led initially by Major Jimmy Coats, a Coldstream Guards officer and celebrated winter sportsman, it was given the innocuous title of “The Coats Mission,” but its proposed role was perhaps the most important assigned to any unit in the British armed forces. It was intended that this group would evacuate King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the two princesses, Margaret and her sister Elizabeth, to a place of safety away from London. For the next two years it trained and prepared for the role in the face of what was believed to be a very real threat, and this study, drawing on previously unseen documents, interviews and archival material, provides its history and explains how the Royal Family’s protection was viewed. Beginning with the prewar shelter preparations for the Royal Households and running through the increased anxiety of the 1940 invasion threat and Blitz, the renewed danger in 1941 and then the progressive reduction in the special measures in the years that followed, The King’s Private Army offers the first dedicated account of a largely unknown but potentially critical element of the defense of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. “Superb.” —Books Monthly
Author: Alicia Healey
Publisher: National Trust
ISBN: 1911358774
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 188
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Book Description
Your wardrobe is crammed with clothes but you’ve got nothing to wear. Sound familiar? Let us introduce you to The Lady’s Maid. A modern-day Mary Poppins of fashion, she knows what to wear, how to wear it and how to make do and mend with minimal fuss and lashings of style to ensure you and your clothes always look their fabulous best. Alicia Healey trained at Buckingham Palace before travelling the world working as a lady's maid and wardrobe consultant for high-profile clients including a Middle Eastern Royal family. She’ll help you to declutter your closet, turn clothing chaos into calm and build a capsule wardrobe for every season with timeless, versatile garments. For every special occasion, she’s got your back: whether it’s a job interview, a wedding, a day at the races or even meeting royalty. Let The Lady’s Maid help you take the stress out of dressing, pack like a pro, deal with every kind of clothing crisis, and defeat the dreaded moth.
Author: Adrian Tinniswood
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465098657
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
From an acclaimed social and architectural historian, the tumultuous, scandalous, glitzy, and glamorous history of English country houses and high society during the interwar period As WWI drew to a close, change reverberated through the halls of England's country homes. As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, the shadows lengthened on the lawns of a thousand stately homes. In The Long Weekend, historian Adrian Tinniswood introduces us to the tumultuous, scandalous and glamorous history of English country houses during the years between World Wars. As estate taxes and other challenges forced many of these venerable houses onto the market, new sectors of British and American society were seduced by the dream of owning a home in the English countryside. Drawing on thousands of memoirs, letters, and diaries, as well as the eye-witness testimonies of belted earls and bibulous butlers, Tinniswood brings the stately homes of England to life as never before, opening the door to a world by turns opulent and ordinary, noble and vicious, and forever wrapped in myth. We are drawn into the intrigues of legendary families such as the Astors, the Churchills and the Devonshires as they hosted hunting parties and balls that attracted the likes of Charlie Chaplin, T.E. Lawrence, and royals such as Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. We waltz through aristocratic soiré, and watch as the upper crust struggle to fend off rising taxes and underbred outsiders, property speculators and poultry farmers. We gain insight into the guilt and the gingerbread, and see how the image of the country house was carefully protected by its occupants above and below stairs. Through the glitz of estate parties, the social tensions between old money and new, the hunting parties, illicit trysts, and grand feasts, Tinniswood offers a glimpse behind the veil of these great estates -- and reveals a reality much more riveting than the dream.
Author: Tim Tate
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250274672
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
The thrilling never-before-told story of Agent Sniper, one of the Cold War's most effective counter-agents Michal Goleniewski, cover name Sniper, was one of the most important spies of the early Cold War. For almost three years, as a Lieutenant Colonel at the top of Poland’s espionage service, he smuggled thousands of top-secret Soviet bloc intelligence and military documents, as well as 160 rolls of microfilm, from behind the Iron Curtain. Then, in January 1961, he abandoned his wife and children to make a dramatic defection across divided Berlin with his East German mistress to the safety of American territory. There, he exposed more than 1,600 Soviet bloc agents operating undercover in the West—more than any single spy in history. The CIA called Goleniewski “one of the West’s most valuable counterintelligence sources,” but in late 1963, he was abandoned by the US government because of a split inside the agency, and over questions about his mental stability and his trustworthiness. Goleniewski bears some of the blame for his troubled legacy: He made baseless assertions about his record, notably that he was the first to expose Kim Philby. He also bizarrely claimed to be Tsarevich Aleksei Romanoff, heir to the Russian Throne who had miraculously survived the 1918 massacre of his family. For more than fifty years, American and British intelligence services have sought to erase Goleniewski from the history of Cold War espionage. The vast bulk of his once-substantial CIA and MI5 files remain closed. Only fragments of his material crop up in the de-classified dossiers on the KGB spies he exposed or the memoirs of CIA officers who dealt with him, but his newly-released Polish intelligence file reveals the remarkable extent of his espionage on behalf of the West. A never-before-told story that brings together love and loyalty, courage and treachery, betrayal, greed and, ultimately, insanity, Tim Tate's Agent Sniper is a crackling page-turner that takes readers back to the post-war world and a time when no one was what they seemed.
Author: Mollie Moran
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493004093
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 360
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Book Description
Born in 1916 in Norfolk, Mollie Moran is one of the few people still alive today who can recall working "downstairs" in the golden years of the early 1930's before the outbreak of WWII. She provides a rare and fascinating insight into a world that has long since vanished. Mollie left school at age fourteen and became a scullery maid for a wealthy gentleman with a mansion house in London’s Knighsbridge and a Tudor manor in Norfolk. Even though Mollie's days were long and grueling and included endless tasks, such as polishing doorknobs, scrubbing steps, and helping with all of the food prep in the kitchen, she enjoyed her freedom and had a rich life. Like any bright-eyed teenager, Mollie also spent her days daydreaming about boys, dresses, and dances. She became fast friends with the kitchen maid Flo, dated a sweet farmhand, and became secretly involved with a brooding, temperamental footman. Molly eventually rose to kitchen maid for Lord Islington and then cook for the Earl of Leicester's niece at the magnificent Wallington Hall.
Author: Tessa Boase
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1781312680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 436
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Book Description
Working as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a nineteenth and early twentieth century woman could want – and also one of the toughest. A far cry from the Downton Abbey fiction, the real life Mrs Hughes was up against capricious mistresses, low pay, no job security and gruelling physical labour. Until now, her story has never been told. The Housekeeper’s Tale reveals the personal sacrifices, bitter disputes and driving ambition that shaped these women’s careers. Delving into secret diaries, unpublished letters and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories of five working women who ran some of Britain’s most prominent households. There is Dorothy Doar, Regency housekeeper for the obscenely wealthy 1st Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire. There is Sarah Wells, a deaf and elderly Victorian in charge of Uppark, West Sussex. Ellen Penketh is Edwardian cook-housekeeper at the sociable but impecunious Erddig Hall in the Welsh borders. Hannah Mackenzie runs Wrest Park in Bedfordshire – Britain’s first country-house war hospital, bankrolled by playwright J. M. Barrie. And there is Grace Higgens, cook-housekeeper to the Bloomsbury set at Charleston farmhouse in East Sussex for half a century – an era defined by the Second World War. Revelatory, gripping and unexpectedly poignant, The Housekeeper’s Tale champions the invisible women who ran the English country house. Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-GBX-NONEX-NONE
Author: Mollie Moran
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0718197186
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 384
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Book Description
If you liked Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, it's time to discover the reality in Mollie Moran's Sunday Times bestselling memoir, Aprons and Silver Spoons. 'If you love Downton, this is right up your street!' Closer 'This evocative memoir... provides a fascinating insight into a world that has long since disappeared' The Sun 'A vivid, entertaining and human glimpse into life in service during the 1930s complete with recipes, tips and photos' My Weekly 'a wonderful book' Bookbag 'A lovely story' Mailonline When young Mollie became a 'skivvy' in a stately London townhouse aged just 14, she quickly learned that a large amount of elbow grease and a sense of humour would be tantamount to surviving there. Through Mollie's eyes we are offered a fascinating glimpse into London's invisible 'downstairs', a world that has long-since vanished: cooking huge roast dinners, polishing doorknobs, scrubbing steps - and covering up her employers' scandals. Going to dances with her fellow servants and flirting with Harrods' errand boys, she had no idea that the oncoming war in 1939 would change her world, and that of those she served, forever... Discover the real hardships and rewards for a pre-war domestic servant in Mollie Moran's charming memoir Aprons and Silver Spoons. Mollie Moran is now ninety-six, living in Bournemouth where she still continues to demonstrate her skills in the kitchen by hosting huge dinner parties. Over eighty years after starting as a scullery maid in London, she still keeps in touch with Flo, the kitchen maid, and her life-long friend.
