Saskia the Edwardian Scullery Maid | Turn Back Time: The Family | S2 E1

[00:00:04]The family. It's where we love, laugh, shout, and cry.

[00:00:10]>> Oh, fall off.

[00:00:13]>> It makes us who we are.

[00:00:16]But it hasn't always been the cherished institution it is today. To find out how the modern family came to be, a group of parents and kids from across [music] Britain are turning back time to face the same orals as millions of others over the past 100 years. In the northern seaside town [music] of Morham, the past is coming alive.

[00:00:40]A row of terrace houses has been turned into time machines to transport [music] our families through the twists and turns of the 20th century. From the age of masters and servants, >> I felt a bit emotional because I knew she [music] was there to take the children away, >> which is quite difficult >> through the roaring 20s to the great depression.

[00:01:03]>> Anything else of [music] value will need to be sold. The fact that it's in front of the family felt really useless.

[00:01:10]>> From life on the home front, >> the rear end of the separation >> to the swinging 60s. Are you slightly concerned about the length of their skirts?

[00:01:21]>> We're starting the rebellion right now.

[00:01:23]>> And on to the groovy '7s.

[00:01:25]>> I can give a damn about material things.

[00:01:28]For me, family is the most important thing.

[00:01:30]>> And the past is going to get personal as they live the lives of their very own [music] ancestors.

[00:01:36]>> Rather than just living in a museum, we're actually living an ancestors life.

[00:01:40]She died of TB [music] consumption. I'm sorry. I'm quite emotional.

[00:01:46]>> We take so much for [music] granted. I think >> we're turning back time to find out how history made the family what it is today.

[00:02:06]There are dozens [music] of Albert roads in Britain, all of which have been home to generations of families.

[00:02:13]This one in Morham, Lanasher, [music] is about to be the setting for something extraordinary.

[00:02:20]A row of terrace houses are being taken [music] back to the early 1900s when they were first built. For the next 5 weeks, the houses will become time machines, transporting three modern families through 100 years of history.

[00:02:35]Guiding the families on this incredible journey will be working mom and queen of the breakfast sofa, Susanna Reed. This is the story of three families, but it is also the story of us, all of us, and our families, and understanding what our greatgrandparents, grandparents, and parents went through and how that's shaped us today.

[00:02:57]>> Social historian Juliet Gardner will be making sure [music] the families stick to the rules of the past.

[00:03:03]>> What we're trying to do here is very [music] exciting. We're charting the development of British family life over a 100red years of history.

[00:03:11]>> And completing the team is antique gadget enthusiast Joe Crowley.

[00:03:16]>> Wow, look at that. You wouldn't want your finger in the way of that one.

[00:03:23][music] >> The adventure for our families is about to begin. The tailor from Norfolk.

[00:03:30]Hardworking nurse Adele and electrician Michael have their hands full with four children.

[00:03:38]We're a chaotic family. [music] It's just throwing all the balls in the air, seeing where they land.

[00:03:44]>> We had four children cuz we want a busy house. But I don't want to ever be in a house that's quiet. [music] I want to be in the thick of it with everybody there.

[00:03:55]>> But for the tailor, there just aren't enough hours in the day. Mom wants us to do this because she wants us to um um be together a bit [music] more and she wants to see what it was like in the olden days and stuff.

[00:04:11]>> What?

[00:04:15]>> Our second family are the Meadows [music] from Royal Barkshire.

[00:04:20]>> Okay, can you bring down [music] the horses, please?

[00:04:24]Self-made man Phil and his wife Susie run a polo school with the help of their teenage [music] daughters Saskia and Genevie.

[00:04:33]Well >> play baby.

[00:04:35]>> For the Meadows, family means being part of a team.

[00:04:39]>> As a family, we probably spend more time together than most uh families purely because of the nature of the business and that we all play the sport. The world we live in is like a little cocoon. You deal with some incredibly wealthy people, royalty from all around the world. Everyone knows everybody.

[00:04:56]It's very nice, but it's quite limited.

[00:04:58]The opportunity to actually do something as a family that's outside of polo is quite exciting for me.

[00:05:07]>> But Phil and Susie are aware just how privileged their girls are.

[00:05:11]>> We actually as modernday children don't do much housework. Me and Jennif quite lazy when it comes to that. It's going to be [music] great for Saskia and Genevie to understand how tough life was in the 1900s and how they've got it so easy, quite frankly.

[00:05:29]>> Our third family are the Goldings from Cheshire. Customer services manager Ian and part-time accountant Naomi have three kids.

[00:05:39]>> Play number 20.

[00:05:40]>> For them, family is all about equality.

[00:05:44]The children can see that [music] dad can do the washing.

[00:05:47]>> Good boy.

[00:05:49]>> And can put them to bed and [music] bath them just as much as I can do. So, it's a real modern sharing sharing family.

[00:05:56]>> Even the kids get to have their say.

[00:05:59]>> I'd like [music] to have family meetings and get them to say what things they're not happy with.

[00:06:04]>> Whilst Ian and Naomi agree on most things, when it comes to child discipline, Ian would like to try something more old-fashioned. I don't necessarily think that being firm is always such a bad thing.

[00:06:16]>> I think he's going to quite like the idea of being in control. I think he thinks he's going to be respected a lot more than possibly he is now. I don't think he'll like it. I think he thinks he'll like it, but I don't think he'll will like it that much.

[00:06:31]>> Their journey will begin in the early 1900s [music] when for the first time the family itself was something to aspire [music] to.

[00:06:39]Queen Victoria had inspired Britons to become lovers of hearth, home, and domestic virtue, introducing the idea of family values.

[00:06:49]But this was also an era of huge class division. Some families lived like kings, but a third of the population were in grinding poverty. [music] The homes on Albert Road reflect this gulf.

[00:07:03]Number one is the height of upper middle class luxury.

[00:07:07]Down to number three, a typical workingclass dwelling.

[00:07:13]None of the families have any idea which house they'll be living in, but it will be determined by the status of their own Edwardian ancestors, something they know little about.

[00:07:23]>> Which house would you like to be in?

[00:07:25]>> Rich.

[00:07:26]>> Which one?

[00:07:27]>> I know.

[00:07:29]>> Not a lot about my family history, but I'm pretty sure there isn't any secret millionaire somewhere.

[00:07:36]I definitely want to be in this house.

[00:07:43]>> Welcome to the [music] start of your adventure. An exciting challenge lies ahead. You are going to put Britain's family unit to the test by living through five eras of the 20th century, and it is going to be tough. You are going to have to cope with whatever history throws at you. I'm going to do my best to assist you in your challenge by bringing you some 1900's domestic technology which may make your lives easier or it may not.

[00:08:12]>> Now, in this era of families, you've got to live according to the rules and social conventions [music] of the time.

[00:08:19]All of you must live within the means available to people of your class. Well, I know you are all dying to find out which house you're going to be in, and all is about to be revealed.

[00:08:32]>> [music] >> Taylor's please go to number one Albert Road the upperass house [laughter] >> Goldings number two the middleass house [laughter] >> and Meadows please go to number three the workingass house it's fine we'll have >> [laughter] [music] >> The Taylor family are stepping into a world of wealth and leisure.

[00:09:11]>> I'm your housekeeper, Mrs. McMullen.

[00:09:14]>> Hello, Mrs. McMullen.

[00:09:15]>> Hello.

[00:09:16]>> And may I introduce you to your staff?

[00:09:18]This is Mr. Dowing, your chef.

[00:09:21]>> Good day.

[00:09:21]>> And Natasha, your housemmaid.

[00:09:24]>> Hello. Hello. There are five of us all together.

[00:09:27]>> And what do we do with you? [laughter] >> May I May I take your coat, madam?

[00:09:36]>> Guys, just don't break anything.

[00:09:39]>> No, this is going to be very stressful.

[00:09:41][laughter] >> On top of five servants, the tailor have a vast fourstory house complete with a nursery full of toys. And dad Michael has his [music] own private study where he can retreat to when things get too hectic.

[00:09:55]>> I think this is me. I think this is where I belong. I love this. I think this is brilliant.

[00:09:59]>> Their home is state-of-the-art with electricity and a boiler in the scullery producing hot water on demand.

[00:10:08]>> I'm just a bit shocked. We just expected we would be in the number three with the dirty windows. That was because there's no money in our family. So, I don't quite know how we've ended up here at all.

[00:10:20]>> Juliet has come to reveal just why they've landed the most prestigious home on Albert Road.

[00:10:26]>> Hello, Taylor [music] family.

[00:10:27]>> Hello.

[00:10:28]>> Hello.

[00:10:29]>> I've come to tell you why you're living in this rather grand house. And the reason is you really got to thank one of your ancestors.

[00:10:36]>> Michael's great great greatgrandfather, William Bennett, was at the heart of Britain's thriving cotton industry, running a mill in Darbisha.

[00:10:45]That's the sort of mill he would have managed.

[00:10:49]>> Shocked. Really shocked. You know, >> you didn't know anything about >> No, I mean all our what I see as my ancestors were all very much working people.

[00:10:58]>> Okay, you've landed on your feet here.

[00:11:00]You've got a very comfortable lifestyle.

[00:11:02]But you're going to have to obey the conventions and the regulations that come with that lifestyle.

[00:11:08]>> So, will we liaz with any of the neighbors? Would we speak to them?

[00:11:12]>> You would keep your distance. you know, you'll be very anxious to keep your status, just keep yourself separate from them.

[00:11:19]>> I think that's going to be a real difficult challenge for us from knowing how we like to interact with different people um to actually be very standoffish to that. It's going to be very, very difficult.

[00:11:33]>> Things will be much tougher for the Meadows family at number three.

[00:11:37]>> Oh, look at this.

[00:11:39]>> They'll be living in the most basic conditions.

[00:11:43]cooking and heating their water on an open fire.

[00:11:47]>> Where are we going to sit that's comfortable?

[00:11:50]>> Oh. [laughter] >> Oh. Oh. Actually, we won't be sitting anywhere cuz there's no TV in there.

[00:11:57]>> Things are looking even worse in their only other room.

[00:12:01]>> Oh, what a bedroom this is.

[00:12:04]>> This is the only bed.

[00:12:05]>> Oh [laughter] god.

[00:12:06]>> All four of them will be sleeping in this tiny space with the girls sharing a mattress on the floor. Guys, do do you want me to row you now?

[00:12:15]>> Wow.

[00:12:15]>> Toilets might be a bit of a problem.

[00:12:18][laughter] >> Don't even have a pot to piss in.

[00:12:22]>> With no bathroom, the Meadows will have to use the outside privy or face the alternative.

[00:12:29][laughter] >> Oh, no. I'm not peeing in that after you feeling it.

[00:12:41]Look. Oh my word.

[00:12:43]>> The Goldings are in the middleass house.

[00:12:47]>> Wow.

[00:12:48]>> I love it.

[00:12:50]>> It's a modest but respectable home with seven rooms.

[00:12:54]There's no electricity, but plenty of options for an evening's [music] entertainment.

[00:13:00]This is >> the Goldings will enjoy running water and the latest cooking range.

[00:13:06]I'm not sure how you're going to cook on there. I'm >> Guys, I hope you're not very hungry.

[00:13:11]>> So, what's in this book, guys? [music] >> Each family has been given a manual explaining the rules they're expected to live by.

[00:13:18]>> Father is the head of the house. His word is law.

[00:13:23]>> Do you know what? I've been waiting for that for years. [laughter] >> Children should speak only when spoken to. Oh, >> this is music to my ears.

[00:13:34]Before the Goldings settle in, they must change into the appropriate clothing of the time.

[00:13:42]>> It's not really very attractive, is it?

[00:13:43][laughter] >> Oh, Jack, he's my little Edwardian sailor. [laughter] >> Oh, you're the cutest picture. [music] >> Susanna has come to explain to the Goldings why they're living in the middleass house. We have tracked down your great greatgrandfather, >> right?

[00:14:06]>> And here he is. His name was Nathan Lutzky >> and he was a tor in Cardiff, which puts you in the middle classes, but he didn't originally >> come from Cardiff.

[00:14:22]>> Where was he from originally?

[00:14:23]>> Does it say Russia?

[00:14:24]>> Look at that.

[00:14:25]>> Well, I have no idea.

[00:14:27]>> Never heard that name any of that. Like thousands of Russian Jews, Nathan Ludsky immigrated to Britain around the turn of the century. Unusually for an immigrant, he prospered from the start.

[00:14:39]>> What this means is that you are going to avoid getting your hands dirty.

[00:14:44][laughter] It means that you are going to have a white collar job.

[00:14:50]>> Next door, Joe Crowley has arrived to tell the polo playing Meadows why they're living in such humble circumstances. So this is the 1901 census.

[00:15:01]>> Yeah.

[00:15:01]>> West Ham in London. But if we come down here, we see James Meadows.

[00:15:09]>> James Meadows was Phil's greatgrandfather who worked in London's East End as a general laborer.

[00:15:16]>> And that's what you're going to be doing. You're going to be out there doing manual jobs. You have to find jobs daytoday and just get stuck in the money in.

[00:15:24]>> And Joe has a surprise for Saskia, too.

[00:15:26]You're going to be working two doors down at the big house. Okay.

[00:15:29]>> Oh, lovely.

[00:15:29]>> They're going to be a scully maze.

[00:15:31]>> Yes.

[00:15:31]>> Let me see your hands.

[00:15:33]>> They're quite manly. [laughter] >> I think these beautiful nails might tighten up a little bit.

[00:15:38]>> Okay.

[00:15:39]>> Thanks.

[00:15:42]>> 23. I'm just working out how much we need to earn and it's not going well.

[00:15:46]>> In the Edwardian era, families who couldn't pay their rent faced instant eviction. We need to earn 22 shillings and topence a week to pay our bills.

[00:15:59]>> As a general laborer, Phil will have to find his own work. But at best, he'll earn two shillings a day.

[00:16:06]>> So, he'll have to rely on the others to make up the difference.

[00:16:10]>> Right. Dig deep, team. [music] Family.

[00:16:13]This is all about the family. Remember, let's try and keep it together.

[00:16:18]I clearly didn't marry very well.

[00:16:20][laughter] I should have known better.

[00:16:22]We find ourselves impoverished and uh it's going to be really hard. I think while the tailor and the goldings settle down for a comfortable night's sleep, [music] the meadows are facing a very different prospect.

[00:16:53]Tomorrow the hard work begins.

[00:17:10]It's 6:00 a.m. and the workingclass meadows are in for a rude awakening.

[00:17:17]Wake up.

[00:17:19]>> In Edwardian times, a knocker uper was the alarm clock for the masses.

[00:17:25]>> All right. Morning.

[00:17:26]>> All right. You have a good day now.

[00:17:28]>> Lovely.

[00:17:28]>> See you.

[00:17:32]>> It's really inconvenient. I mean, there's no room for anything. It's all uh >> I mean, there's nowhere to put your clothes. We sleep under anything that will keep you warm at night cuz it's freezing. There's no heating. So, and then everyone's on top of each other like this all the time. Um, uh, so it's incredibly inconvenient.

[00:17:52]For the working classes, living in poverty meant life was a slog from the moment they got up.

[00:18:00]Everything takes so long to do.

[00:18:02]Everything's a major palavo.

[00:18:06]And all you do is think about food and tea and warmth. Food, tea, warmth.

[00:18:11]That's it. That's all you care about.

[00:18:13]>> For the Meadows to keep their heads above water, 17-year-old Saskia has been forced to take up a role as a scullery maid.

[00:18:20]>> Seen as my dad's not got any work and my mom hasn't got any work, I've got to go and spend my entire day scrubbing and cleaning.

[00:18:35]A reluctant Saskia heads off to work for the tailor under the watchful eye of housekeeper Mrs. McMullen.

[00:18:44]>> I probably come across a bit of a scary lady. I with the little glasses and I'm short. I have very high [music] standards. I am very very intimidating to work for.

[00:18:56][music] >> Hello, I'm Saskia.

[00:18:59]>> Hello Saskia. Now normally you would not come in through the front entrance. This is not the servants entrance, but you can come in today.

[00:19:09]>> In 1901, 40% of the adult female population were employed as domestic servants.

[00:19:16]Some as young as 13, they often worked a 16-hour day.

[00:19:21]>> As a scullery maid, you are the lowest of the low.

[00:19:24]>> Yes, you girls are tin a penny.

[00:19:27]>> Yes. You will be chopping, filleting, gutting, plucking, and a lot of scrubbing.

[00:19:34]>> Lovely.

[00:19:39]>> What she won't be doing is ever fratonizing with her new employers, the tailor, who are waking up to the extravagance of upper middle class life.

[00:19:50]>> Thank you.

[00:19:50]>> Thank you.

[00:19:54]>> Pleasant morning.

[00:19:54]>> This is quite nice.

[00:19:55]>> Yeah. my hire servants when we get home.

[00:19:58][laughter] >> The upper classes had staff for even the most personal of chores.

[00:20:07]>> Of course, it's feel really strange cuz [music] you can't actually breathe properly in them.

[00:20:14]>> The richest families could have as many as five servants for each family member.

[00:20:19]In some respects, it feels like I've regressed back into childhood where you you have your mother to dress you in the morning and tight your shoelaces.

[00:20:27]>> Everything Michael and Adele are used to doing for themselves is now done by someone else.

[00:20:32]>> Please come in.

[00:20:33]>> Thank you.

[00:20:35]>> Even looking after their kids.

[00:20:38]>> Nanny Hutchinson. Sir, madam.

[00:20:41]>> Good morning, madam.

[00:20:42]>> Good morning. Good morning, sir.

[00:20:44]>> Good morning.

[00:20:44]>> Good morning, Miss. I shall endeavor to instruct the children academically, morally and spiritually.

[00:20:55]>> Are they all in good health at the moment?

[00:20:57]>> They are excellent.

[00:21:00]>> Morning. [snorts] >> How are you, Joseph?

[00:21:02]>> Very good, thank you.

[00:21:03]>> Good. You're looking very smart today.

[00:21:06]>> I am Nanny Hutchinson.

[00:21:09]>> How did it do?

[00:21:10]>> And good morning, Miss Lily.

[00:21:12]>> Good morning.

[00:21:13]>> Good morning, Nanny. Good morning, Nanny.

[00:21:16]>> And good morning, Miss Alice.

[00:21:19]>> Good morning, Nanny.

[00:21:20]>> Come along then, children.

[00:21:21]>> Give mommy a kiss before you go with Nanny.

[00:21:34]I'm redundant.

[00:21:41]>> Kira and Katie, will you sit down now, please?

[00:21:43]>> Getting confused. I'm sorry. Kira, can you please not speak to me? [music] >> Next door, Ian Golding is relishing the opportunity to get stuck into his role as the family's authority figure.

[00:21:54]>> Jack, would you like to [music] take your elbows off the table, please? Thank you. Why are you crying, Jack?

[00:22:04]>> You not like daddy talking to you like this? No. Always attempting to better themselves, the middle classes were determined to keep up appearances, even behind closed doors.

[00:22:18]>> Wash your hands, please.

[00:22:22]>> I would like to think that they will appreciate how important it was to behave properly 100 years ago and that sometimes we don't really behave as politely and as nicely as children used to. Dad's being a meanie.

[00:22:39]>> Having some of the the manners of of their predecessors actually is not such a bad thing.

[00:22:45]>> Can I see if you washed your hands properly?

[00:22:48]>> They're wet. Kira, could you dry them, please? Thank you.

[00:22:52]>> Strict discipline was a cornerstone of Edwwardian child rearing, but it's a foreign concept to the Golding children.

[00:22:59]Edward and dad used to be strict and horrible and we can put our elbows on table at home.

[00:23:17][bell] >> Wealthy Edwardians were obsessed with formality, >> even at breakfast time.

[00:23:23]>> This one's sausage, bacon. Oh, no.

[00:23:26]Kidneys bacon. What's that?

[00:23:29]>> This one's lobster.

[00:23:32]>> I was expecting toast and jam.

[00:23:34]>> No, I don't want to break >> cornflakes.

[00:23:37]>> Of the Taylor clan, the only child allowed to eat with the adults is 15year-old Megan.

[00:23:43]>> The other Taylor children must eat their meals in the nursery, a very different routine from home. We normally eat together, but now we're not allowed to eat together, which is quite weird.

[00:24:02]Do it quite firmly and then work your way down at the toilet bowl.

[00:24:08]>> It's just 4 hours into Saskia's day as a scullery maid.

[00:24:12]>> And what you're doing is taking off all the urine from inside the laboratory.

[00:24:21]>> [music] >> I wasn't expecting it to be [music] such hard work.

[00:24:31]I hate washing up. It smells of food. I want to go home.

[00:24:37]>> It may not be glamorous, but if she sticks at it, she'll take home five shillings a week. Nearly a quarter of what her family needs to stay afloat.

[00:24:45]>> I want to find out what year they invented the dishwasher.

[00:24:49]This sucks.

[00:24:52]>> Edwardian toil may have come as a shock to Saskia, but upstairs the Taylor children are also finding it hard to adjust.

[00:25:00]>> Remember that children should be seen and not heard. You do not disturb Mamar and Papa downstairs.

[00:25:08]>> At home, they're used to doing pretty much as they please. But now, adults are the unquestionable authority. You're with your brother and your sister who will also help to look after you and we really do not want any silly tears.

[00:25:24]They're wobbling at the minute. Lily is anyway. She's struggling with this. This is just not She wants stories and play and fun. I've not heard them laugh at all this morning.

[00:25:35]>> Don't concern yourself, madam. The children are fine.

[00:25:40]I think when Nanny arrived, I felt a bit emotional cuz I knew she was there to take the children away, which is quite difficult.

[00:25:53]As long as they go out and have a bit of fun, that'll be fine.

[00:25:58]100 years ago, childhood was a different world. And no more so than for workingclass kids. With rent to pay, some children as young as 10 were forced to miss school and work full-time.

[00:26:16]15-year-old Genevieve is doing her first day of child labor.

[00:26:21]She's working with mom Susie, who, like many workingclass women, has turned their family home into a laundry business.

[00:26:29]>> It's not washed.

[00:26:30]>> Yes, it is. It's got stains on it.

[00:26:32]>> Where? I washed it.

[00:26:35]They're taking in washing from their neighbors.

[00:26:37]>> Thank you very much.

[00:26:38]>> A washerwoman could earn up to 10 shillings a week. Almost half what the Meadows family needs to survive.

[00:26:46]But doing washing in this era is a laborious process. Boiling the water.

[00:26:51]>> Hope this hasn't got a leak in the bottom.

[00:26:53]>> Hand scrubbing.

[00:26:55]>> Are you kidding me?

[00:26:58]>> Using the cumbersome mangle to ring out laundry.

[00:27:02]>> It works. It does work easy actually.

[00:27:07]>> Making starch from potatoes.

[00:27:11]>> Dip them in your starch.

[00:27:15]And finally using the flat iron.

[00:27:19]>> I do figure that this was absolute labor of anything but love.

[00:27:26]This was a necessity to just earn money.

[00:27:32]They hurt. They're all wrinkly and horrible because of the water. Just feel disgusting. And my nails have chipped off.

[00:27:41]>> But Suz's fighting a losing battle.

[00:27:44]>> Mom, what?

[00:27:45]>> You need to wash it again.

[00:27:46]>> Yeah. You see, >> I just touched it with that.

[00:27:50]>> Oh, for God's sake. So, you've got your white laundry is being cleaned by the coal scuttle.

[00:28:00]That isn't very sensible. Thank you. Is it?

[00:28:04]>> Ian Golding is heading to his job at the local council office.

[00:28:08]>> Morning.

[00:28:10]>> Morning.

[00:28:10]>> Morning.

[00:28:11]>> Morning.

[00:28:11]>> How are you?

[00:28:12]>> Before the age of computers and [music] printers, Edwardian businesses relied on a small army of clarks.

[00:28:20]Today, Ian will be working as an envelope addresser, and he'll be doing nothing else for the next [music] 8 hours. This is the kind of job um that a very junior person in an office might do in terms of stuffing envelopes that for what I would imagine a middle class office worker today, this is not really the kind of job that they would uh [music] be used to doing.

[00:28:45]>> It might be menial, but the job earns him a secure income of 57 shillings a week. Something Phil Meadows can only dream of. He's out looking for casual work, walking in the footsteps of his greatgrandfather, James Meadows.

[00:28:59]>> You need anything with a man with a wheelbarrow, moving rubble around, anything like that. You know where I live. [music] >> In Eduwardian Britain, general laborers made up a great swathe of the workforce.

[00:29:12]They could spend hours waiting at building [music] sites, docks, or factories in the hope of being taken on.

[00:29:17]But if no work was to be had, their families would go hungry. So you all fill up. Don't need any laborers.

[00:29:25]Skilled man, tough hands. We'll roll that damn up.

[00:29:38]God, this thing's heavy.

[00:29:42]I have a new respect for guys that do that now. I tell you what, that's tough work.

[00:29:53]400 p.m.

[00:29:55]After 7 hours of hard graft, Susie is ready to return her first load of washing.

[00:30:01]>> How are you today?

[00:30:02]>> Very well, thank you.

[00:30:03]>> Good.

[00:30:05]>> Five pennies there.

[00:30:06]>> You owe me. Is that That's per item?

[00:30:09]>> No, we said the [music] whole price was five. I >> think we said per item.

[00:30:12]>> Penny. No, it's five pennies per for the for the whole job.

[00:30:16]>> For the whole job?

[00:30:17]>> Yes, it was.

[00:30:18]>> Okay. Three, four, five.

[00:30:21]>> Susie's coming to terms with just how cheap her labor is in Edwardian Britain.

[00:30:27]>> A sheet for 2 P is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, soul destroying. [laughter] Completely soul destroying.

[00:30:41]It's nearly 5:00.

[00:30:43][music] The end of the day for office workers.

[00:30:49]Boring, bored, boring. The only words that are coming to my mind so far, I think me doing this job absolutely sums up middle class Edwardian life. A little bit stuffy, a little bit boring.

[00:31:06]Good afternoon.

[00:31:10]I am now absolutely in Eduwardian middleclass man mode. I absolutely expect my dinner on the table with a roaring fire in the kitchen and a cup of tea.

[00:31:24]>> Hello. How are you?

[00:31:25]>> What are you doing in here? You're not allowed to be in the kitchen. Can you leave, please? You do not come in this kitchen.

[00:31:32]Leave the kitchen.

[00:31:39]>> Mother, why are you letting them come in the kitchen?

[00:31:41]>> I thought they were okay to come in the kitchen.

[00:31:43]>> No, they're not supposed to be in the kitchen. No, they not. Thanks to >> Why Why are the stairs still covered in dust?

[00:31:48]>> Uh, I haven't had time to do that.

[00:31:50]>> Well, what have you been doing?

[00:31:51]>> I've been cooking you dinner and cleaning everywhere else.

[00:31:54]>> Please don't speak back to me, mate.

[00:31:55]>> Oh, sorry. I thought you asked me a question.

[00:31:58][music] >> Yeah, he wants to see you when you come home from work.

[00:32:02]>> He needs to understand that this is the way it was.

[00:32:04]>> I know. [clears throat] So, uh, >> I'm not meant to go and comfort them if they're crying. [music] There be no emotional caring at all. I don't know how they trying to work out how Edward and Jordan comforted themselves. I guess they discomforted each other. Hey, they must have been a lot tougher than children today.

[00:32:25]>> Katie, would you mind going [music] to get Jack a tissue, please, for his nose?

[00:32:29]Something to wipe his nose, please.

[00:32:30]>> The reality that being an Edwardian family is actually not a lot of fun for the majority of the time. Um, all I seem to have done is make the children cry.

[00:32:41]um because I just have to be very strict all the time. I'm not a lot of fun at all. So, I'm looking forward to actually being able to talk to my children whenever I fancy talking to my children.

[00:32:51]Um holding them whenever I want to hold them, cuddling them when they're sad, and just having a conversation would be nice cuz we're not even allowed to do that.

[00:33:04]Phil has been working on the streets all day for a wage of two shillings. He'll need to do this every day to stand a chance of keeping a roof over his family. [music] >> I'm exhausted. I mean, you need to just dig in, dig deep, and get on with it.

[00:33:21]And and and the only way you can do that is by almost slightly switching off.

[00:33:26]>> Meanwhile, daughter Saskia is coming to the end of her first day as the Taylor's scullery maid. I thought when we're on camera, we'd have to do the chores. But then when it was like cut, I thought we'd be able to go off, go and get some food, [laughter] have a chat amongst everyone. I didn't realize we actually had to live like families did in the 1910s.

[00:33:50]So, it's a bit of a shocker.

[00:33:56]>> After 12 hours of hard graft, Saskia has finally been allowed back home.

[00:34:02]Hello, darling.

[00:34:04]>> Okay, listen to this. I need to sit down by the fire. So, you walk in and it's all heated and they've got chandeliers, drawing rooms, pianos, nursery, they've got a chef, um a housekeeper, a maid, another maid. Um >> we're very proud of you at working, sis.

[00:34:26]>> Oh, we are.

[00:34:27]>> Right.

[00:34:27]>> You're going to bring home five shillings.

[00:34:30][music] It must have been really hard to think that they're only in this life to earn money for their mom and dad.

[00:34:38]>> This is just the next.

[00:34:39]>> You have kids to supplement your your family income. You don't really necessarily have kids to want to love and cherish like we do.

[00:34:54]>> I'm so tired.

[00:34:58]There's one big role and that is to put the food on the table and uh it's [music] really tough to do that. I'd spent the whole day worrying that I can't provide food for them. I was a useless parent. I can't look after my daughter. They're all going to be really unhappy. The pressure is hard. It's survival.

[00:35:15][music] >> Hey.

[00:35:31]As an upper middle-class man with an income [music] almost 40 times greater than the Meadows and plenty of leisure time to spend, Michael's taking [music] son Joseph clay pigeons shooting at Leighton Hall, a local stately home owned by Mrs. Susie Reynolds.

[00:35:46]>> Mr. Taylor, >> hello. Thank you.

[00:35:50]>> Welcome.

[00:35:51]>> Also on the grounds is Phil Meadows.

[00:35:54]Unlike Michael, he's not here to enjoy himself. He's been given a day's work shoveling manure.

[00:36:06]>> I didn't like being called by my surname. For some reason, I didn't want to raise my eyes to them. I didn't want to look them in the eye. I definitely felt that, which is weird. I wasn't expecting it.

[00:36:17]>> Fantastic.

[00:36:19]It may well have been that you basically were so frightened of doing something wrong and getting the sack that you basically you did the minimum possible and just kept working.

[00:36:29]>> Etiquette dictates that Michael could bring only his son with him to shoot, leaving the rest of the family behind.

[00:36:37]The advantage of this era for the gentleman is that he does get to go out and do the things that are really exciting, but to the detriment of the relationship between myself and the family.

[00:36:51]>> Also enjoying the great outdoors with their nanny are the two youngest Taylor children, Lily and Alice.

[00:36:59]>> Well, of course, working with them so much, you do get very attached to them.

[00:37:03]They are very delightful children and very well behaved.

[00:37:07]>> It's far too easy on the whole. [music] But for the remaining members of the tailor, Adele and eldest daughter Megan, there is little to fill their day.

[00:37:26]>> I feel a bit resentful of Michael who's gone out living the life of Riley. Can't even be bothered to tell me where he's going. or when he'll be back. I feel like a a prisoner in in this house.

[00:37:38]There's this illusion of this powerful woman with the status and this fancy house and actually it's all lies.

[00:37:46]>> Adele might feel she has things tough.

[00:37:49]But two doors down, the grind of workingclass life is getting to Suzie Meadows.

[00:37:57]>> One shilling and eight prints.

[00:38:02]The women [music] of the 1900s must have been absolutely rocklike. They they would have eaten after the rest of their family, [music] especially their children. They had to be up earlier than everyone else. They had to go to bed later than everyone else. It makes me quite emotional actually cuz Oh dear.

[00:38:29]While the drudgery of life hits home for her mom, daughter Saskia is starting to embrace hard work.

[00:38:36]>> You've done [music] very well so far, Saskia, and I'll come and see you again shortly.

[00:38:41]>> Thank you.

[00:38:44]>> I just know that I have to get on with it now. [music] So, I might as well do it in a in a nice fashion or I'm not going to get on with Miss McMullen T. [snorts] upstairs. It's the first time Adele has seen Michael all day.

[00:39:06][music] And she's still waiting to see the children.

[00:39:11]>> Good afternoon, Madam Sir. May I present the children to you? Like to give that to the man.

[00:39:16]>> Wow, look at that. I like the feathers.

[00:39:19]Did you pluck the animal yourself? What have you been doing upstairs?

[00:39:22]>> Had a game of chess. We've been for a walk.

[00:39:27]>> Wow. Was it nice?

[00:39:30]>> You have been very busy.

[00:39:32]>> Wealthy Edwardian women often spent little more than an hour with their children before they were whisked back to the nursery by nanny.

[00:39:40]>> Good afternoon, Miss N.

[00:39:41]>> In Edwardian times, perhaps the women didn't know any better. They had no expectations that spending time with their children perhaps would be a nice thing. It wasn't expected of them, so they didn't think to ask. Whereas that's the norm for me >> initially when we were told we were coming into house number one and you turn around and see the grandeur of it.

[00:40:06]I kind of thought great this is going to be really good experience and then the reality kicked in that in fact actually you wouldn't know your family you wouldn't know your kids cuz you never see them leaving. Michael is leaving the family again for another social engagement.

[00:40:30]Mr. Taylor is attending the local music hall where he'll have his own private box.

[00:40:37]But he won't be the only resident of Albert Road there as the Meadows have scraped up a few pennies for four tickets in the stalls.

[00:40:45][music] >> We start our evening with Sarah Hicks.

[00:40:51]>> [music] [applause] >> THERE WAS ME and my old man shoving things inside the bed, which we'd often done before. Let me [singing] >> They may be in the cheap seats, but at least the Meadows get to spend the evening together as a family.

[00:41:15][singing and music] the boy.

[00:41:19]>> I'm here on my own, which is a horrible feeling knowing that Adele and the children are home and they would love the show. After seeing the Meadows downstairs all singing and clapping and enjoying themselves, >> I just felt really lonely up there on my own. [singing] [music] >> I miss the kids and I miss being around the wife and stuff like that. Sorry.

[00:41:46]>> [singing] [music] >> It's hard.

[00:41:56]It's hard. [applause] [cheering] Meanwhile, Adele, home alone, is expected to be more concerned with improving the family's social standing.

[00:42:16]>> Right honorable Bertram [music] Cateral Maddox.

[00:42:21]>> So, Juliet has tasked her with holding a lavish dinner party for some illustrious guests.

[00:42:28]>> I just don't think I'm posh enough to associate with people from with a law degree from Cambridge University.

[00:42:37]I'd rather invite the workingass people from down the road or we have a jolly old knees up in here. But I don't think that's going to happen.

[00:42:49]>> Make believe was so real to him would see him getting round up.

[00:42:54]>> It's nearing the end of the week in the Eduwardian era and the Taylor children are becoming accustomed [music] to the new family dynamic away from their parents. I think it's fun being the nursery because there's lots of toys and things to do when downstairs is sitting down and books.

[00:43:18]I think they're missing us [music] more than we're missing them actually cuz we're having quite a lot of fun but mom says it's a bit boring just sitting there doing sewing. So yeah, I think they're missing more.

[00:43:37]>> After spending most of the week cooped up inside, Adele has discovered one way for her and Megan to escape.

[00:43:43]>> How do you get out?

[00:43:47]Are we locked in?

[00:43:49]Oh, are you kidding?

[00:43:52][laughter] bikes.

[00:43:55]>> The safety bicycle had only recently become available. With a hefty price tag, bikes were only for the wealthy, but they offered a new independence for women who had always been driven and chauffeured.

[00:44:08]>> Oh, man.

[00:44:10]They now had the freedom to travel alone.

[00:44:17]This bit of Edwardian [music] life I like. It's strange how after being locked in a house, you feel like you just got this bit of freedom. I want to run around the park going, "Yay, I'm free."

[00:44:29]And I'm I'm kind of just not wanting to go back home.

[00:44:39]>> Did you eat anything last night?

[00:44:40]>> No, we couldn't eat it.

[00:44:41]>> Back on Albert Road, Ian Golding is comparing lifestyles with his lowly neighbor.

[00:44:47]>> So, you've had bread this morning? No, because there's nothing to unless you want to eat dry bread.

[00:44:52]>> There's nothing [laughter] to buy.

[00:44:53]>> So, what did you eat this morning?

[00:44:54]>> We haven't eat had a very nice pigeon pie last night cuz we want to aspire to be like the dehies at the end. You see, >> historian Juliet has some news for the social climbing Ian that might bring him down to earth.

[00:45:07]>> You can aspire to go to join them or you can join my revolutions. Entirely up to you. [laughter] >> Depends if you want to live or not.

[00:45:15]I have to tell you actually the divide between you and the meadows is much less than you think.

[00:45:24]>> Ian is living the life of his great great grandfather Nathan Ludsky. But on the other branch of his family tree is another ancestor Abraham Weinstein whose life in Britain was very different to Nathan's.

[00:45:38]>> They would have come over at the time of the pilgrims after the assassination of the SAR.

[00:45:43]Violent anti-Jewish attacks dubbed pograms were rife in [music] late 19th century Russia, destroying 20,000 Jewish homes and forcing thousands to flee the country.

[00:45:55]Many ended up in London's East End.

[00:45:59]>> At one point about 91% of the residents of Spittlefields in the East End were Jewish. Your own family, you know, the the two parents and the four children, the six people were all living in two rooms. makes me feel very humble because I I think I I've ignored [music] my family history completely and I don't know why. It's just it's never something I've shown any interest in. [music] >> Life was hard for the Weinstein and within 10 years of arriving Abraham's wife Kate died at the age of only 39.

[00:46:32]>> So she died in December same age as us.

[00:46:36]>> She died of TB consumption. [laughter] I'm sorry emotional.

[00:46:46]>> [laughter] >> We're very spoiled. We take so much for granted. I think you wouldn't have been able to do that 100 years ago. You couldn't take anything for granted really.

[00:46:59]>> We're bloody lucky. Bloody lucky to be here. And we're lucky to be how we are.

[00:47:06]And we could be like the Meadows is next door.

[00:47:11]>> [music] >> Next door at number one, the house is a hive of activity, preparing for tonight's grand dinner party.

[00:47:20]>> Go right down. [music] Yeah.

[00:47:22]>> Mrs. McMullen needs extra hands to make sure the evening runs smoothly. So, she's promoted Saskia to housemmaid.

[00:47:29]>> Transfer your weight. Down, down, down, down, down, down, down.

[00:47:36]>> Now, welcome to the scullery, Genevieve.

[00:47:38]downstairs. Genevieve has been taken on as [music] Saskia's replacement in the scullery.

[00:47:44]>> I am very pleased with the way that your sister has worked. So, you've got something to live up to.

[00:47:50]>> With only one day left for the Meadows to make the 22 shillings they need to avoid eviction, Saskia and Genevieve are earning vital money for the family.

[00:47:58]>> Don't even know if I'm doing this right.

[00:48:03]>> Oh my god. What the Miss McMullen that you must pluck this pigeon, please.

[00:48:10]How do you pluck it? Um, she said she'll be down soon, [music] but here.

[00:48:15]>> I don't know how to do it. Just start plucking the feathers off, Jen. Just grab a feather, pluck it off.

[00:48:26]>> Don't get any diseases, Jenna.

[00:48:30]To make sure the Taylor's dinner party has the wow factor, technology expert Joe has arrived to introduce Michael to the very latest in home entertainment.

[00:48:40]>> Right, Michael, I have something to show you.

[00:48:42]>> Fabulous.

[00:48:43]>> Do you know what this is?

[00:48:44]>> It looks like a camera.

[00:48:45]>> That's pretty good. It's a magic lantern.

[00:48:48]>> All right.

[00:48:48]>> I want you to entertain your dinner party guests with a magic lantern show.

[00:48:53]>> Okay. I'd love to. Yes.

[00:48:54]>> Okay. This is it for entertainment. You don't have a TV. This is your Edwardian home cinema system. And I wouldn't let too many of these slip into the collection.

[00:49:03]>> Look at [clears throat] that. [laughter] >> The Taylor ladies get dressed [music] in their finery.

[00:49:15]>> Good evening. [music] >> Downstairs, the guests are starting to arrive.

[00:49:19]>> Mrs. Susan Reynolds. Hello, >> Mrs. Reynolds. [music] >> Good evening. I'm lovely to see you.

[00:49:23]Juliet Gardner is here to see if the tailor can entertain like true Edwardians and do their wealthy ancestors proud.

[00:49:30]>> You right honorable [music] Bertram Cateral Maddox.

[00:49:36]>> Good evening to ask me.

[00:49:40]>> How would be best to address you?

[00:49:42]>> Oh, Bertie.

[00:49:43]>> Thank you.

[00:49:44]>> Thank you. Do nice of me.

[00:49:45]>> Please take a seat.

[00:49:47]>> Right. Are you ready? No, you're not.

[00:49:50]Cuz you haven't got this prepared. Newly promoted Saskia is doing her best to keep service on track. Take >> them right once you've washed them on here once it's all washed dry.

[00:50:00]>> I know. I know.

[00:50:01]>> Don't drop anything. But we've got to do it quick time cuz we need it all again.

[00:50:06]>> Now, these slides are quite special.

[00:50:09][music] >> Upstairs, the guests are enjoying the magic lantern show.

[00:50:18][music] >> Oh, that's good. Even the reluctant Adele is getting into the spirit of things.

[00:50:25]>> Well done.

[00:50:29][laughter] >> Sorry, my mistake.

[00:50:35]>> Very, very [applause] good.

[00:50:37][singing] [music] >> Next door, the middle class Goldings are entertaining themselves.

[00:50:46]>> You are singing brilliantly. Ian has decided to abandon strict Edwardian discipline >> to be able to hold Jack. It's the first time I think I've I've held him was lovely. It was really lovely. It makes me feel more like a dad. You know, I'm a dad, not a father. So to have the opportunity to hold him was lovely. You are born [singing] of me.

[00:51:16]>> This is very pretty. Center [music] is very pretty.

[00:51:19]>> We either need to be taller, I think, or our decorations smaller.

[00:51:26]>> An evening like this one could cost more than a poor family had to live on for 2 years.

[00:51:36]>> Yes, she is. There she is.

[00:51:38]>> [laughter] >> If there are no calamities, [music] I will be absolutely amazed cuz she's notoriously clumsy.

[00:51:47]>> Now we But it's not Saskia who slipped up.

[00:51:54]>> What are you kidding, >> Jenny? That's not funny.

[00:52:00]>> I didn't mean to do it.

[00:52:02]This is taken out of our wages on a serious note because that was the first thing that Miss McMana said to me.

[00:52:08]>> At 9 P, a bone china cup costs almost a day's pay.

[00:52:13]>> I'm very annoyed at my sister. We're probably going to be back to nearly zero. So, I'm not very happy and my parents are going to be livid.

[00:52:22]>> I want to be honest, but I'm scared of Miss McMa.

[00:52:26]I don't know her name.

[00:52:29]Genevieve needs to pluck up the courage to confess to a busy Mrs. McMullen. Um, >> while I'm pushing up, >> leave open up the lid.

[00:52:42]>> No, >> you're not set.

[00:52:45]>> Um, >> yes. While I was washing up, I went to dry um cup >> and it fell off the table >> and it smashed. What color was it?

[00:52:55]>> It's one of the white ones.

[00:52:57]>> All right. I think actually I'm sorry it happens.

[00:53:02]>> Luckily, Mrs. McMullen has her hands full and Genevieve's off the hook.

[00:53:10]>> Dinner parties were all about excess.

[00:53:13]And tonight, Adele will have to see her way through eight sumptuous courses. If the lady of the house actually knew how many courses there were, maybe she adjusted her corset [laughter] >> appropriately.

[00:53:27]>> First come the ordev.

[00:53:30]>> No, thank you. Thanks very much.

[00:53:33]>> Followed by asparagus.

[00:53:35]>> You weren't in the Navy. You weren't in so >> two fish dishes.

[00:53:41]One meat dish.

[00:53:44]Genevie's pigeons.

[00:53:48]and vegetables presented with typical Eduwardian flamboyance.

[00:53:55]>> But however grand the meal for Adele, the evening is meaningless without her family.

[00:54:01]>> We've had the most wonderful food. Foods I've I've never tasted in my life before. Like being in the fanciest restaurant I've ever been. [music] and I haven't been able to enjoy it because the family haven't they they haven't been they haven't been with us while we met it.

[00:54:21]Sorry.

[00:54:33]The residents of Albert Road are preparing to leave the lives of their Edwwardian ancestors behind.

[00:54:39]After living their life, I feel more detached from my ancestors.

[00:54:45]It's nice to do all the great things and do the stuff, but I don't want to do things on my own. I really don't. I want to do things with my family.

[00:54:54]>> My ancestors, I don't know how they must have lived like this. My family's found [music] it difficult when there's four of us in this house and we're only here for 5 days. For them to live like this for the rest of [music] their life must be very difficult. and it's quite heartbreaking.

[00:55:12]>> Susanna and Juliet are back [music] to catch up with the families.

[00:55:18]>> It's time to find out how the family unit has survived the Edwardian experience. Have our families lived like true Edwardians within the rigid class structure?

[00:55:32]>> How has it been for you living in the posh house? It's been horrible.

[00:55:37]Absolutely awful. I didn't see the children. I didn't see my husband. Me and Megan were locked in this room. 90% of the time with nothing to do. There's no purpose. As a busy working mom, every minute of the day is looking forward to family time, trying to catch that time with with children and just having nothing to do, no purpose. Nobody needs you. You've got no say in anything as a as a woman in this era. I could walk out this door and nobody would notice that I wasn't here probably for days.

[00:56:13]>> What do you think is most distinctive about the Edwardian family unit?

[00:56:18]>> It seemed like a bunch of single people living in a big house.

[00:56:22]>> I don't think there's any such word as the Edwardian family.

[00:56:29]>> Next door. The middle class Goldings are less disparaging of the early 1900s.

[00:56:35]>> Evenings, you know, the way the family behaved in the evenings, it is so easy just to turn on the TV. I think it would be nice not to do that all the time.

[00:56:46]>> Meanwhile, you've had to take on the role of the strict Edwardian father.

[00:56:51]>> Your role sounded like the one that you might enjoy. Strictness for an Edwardian father seems [music] to be just for the sake of being strict. The Edwardian father needs to understand that it's not such a bad thing sometimes to show a bit of emotion.

[00:57:11]>> But trapped in the cycle of survival, the workingclass family had it hardest.

[00:57:16]>> We we really lived this and it was bloody awful. I >> mean, it really was. the first few days until we got our act together. It was just awful. And then we kicked in, you know, and and we made it work, but we could have easily gone the other way or just gone home, actually.

[00:57:31]>> Yeah. [laughter] >> Well, Juliet, how have they done financially?

[00:57:38]>> I've got your budget here. So, your total outgoings in your week were 21 shillings and 10 p.

[00:57:47]>> So, now let's look at your income as a family. You have earned 28 shillings, four and a half p. So well done. Pretty good. You've lived within your budget and some. Well done.

[00:58:00]>> I think it pushed us to the to the maximum. I think as a family, I think we did really well.

[00:58:09]>> Children's reaction [music] to this has actually amazed me. I cannot believe the girls have really had to change because if anything they're probably, you know, they're a little bit more sport at home, but I've been so proud of both of them.

[00:58:23]>> For the families, it's the end of the Edwardian era.

[00:58:28]Next time on Albert Road, it's the roaring 20s.

[00:58:32]>> Cheers.

[00:58:34]>> Might be a little bit bumpy here, madam.

[00:58:38]>> But the Great Depression is just around the corner. [music] I'll leave you with four chairs, but anything else of value will need to be sold.

[00:58:46]>> Who will ride the storm?

[00:58:48]>> No, we haven't sold that yet. No, we'll sell the kids first.

[00:58:52]>> And who will see their fortunes slip away?

[00:59:17]>> [music] [music]