The aristocratic owners of Rotherham stately home, Wentworth Woodhouse, live on in the history books – but what of the thousands of workers who kept their house and land in good repair, and their households running smoothly? If your ancestors worked at the Big House or on the historic estate, it’s time to tell their stories, says the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust, which has been regenerating the House since 2017.
An appeal has gone out for stories of the servants, estate workers, and staff who helped to shape the great house from the Georgian era to the 2000s. Descendants are being urgers to share the memories, photos, and mementos passed down to them so that they can be included in Echoes of the House: Stories in Light and Motion, an Arts Council England-funded exhibition launching on Tuesday 7th July.
The exhibition will fill a number of Wentworth Woodhouse’s State Rooms with stories, exhibits, and interactive and digital displays focusing on servants and staff and will run until November.
The focus on servant life follows on from the success of the Trust’s 2024 exhibition, Wentworth’s Coal Story, which featured stories of the Earls Fitzwilliam’s miners and their families. It is hoped that there will be an equally strong response when an Echoes of the House community collecting day is held on Thursday 7th May. People can also make private appointments with the research team, or send their information to exhibitions@wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk.
“Thousands of workers kept Wentworth Woodhouse running smoothly from the Georgian era right up to 2017 when the Trust took over. They supported this House in so many ways and we want to learn more about them,” said the Trust’s Head of Culture and Engagement, Victoria Ryves. “Our research volunteers have uncovered stories of a number of servants and found out lots of information about how the household and the estate was run, how staff were trained, and promoted. But there is so much we still don’t know and we want to capture as much as possible before things get lost to time. The more we get, the more interesting our exhibition will be for local people. And, afterwards, all the stories we have gathered will be kept in our archives forever. We want to hear the anecdotal stories, what happened in people’s working day, but also their personal lives; where they came from, where they lived, who they married. We got a phenomenal response when we asked people for mining history stories to contribute to Wentworth’s Coal Story. The pride they had for their ancestors’ lives was coupled with a deep sense of belonging for the House. That’s what we hope to tap into for our new exhibition.”
Local communities will be given the chance to get involved in the exhibition and the stories of the current House staff will also feature. The Trust’s Cultural Team, will be learning digital storytelling skills for the exhibition, which is set to create many hours of work for its Volunteer Research Team – including former local nursery school teacher, Deborah Smith.
Deborah, of Tickhill, was a Garden Volunteer at Wentworth Woodhouse when, during the Covid pandemic, her passion for genealogy led her to research the life of footman Oscar John Snelling. She was snapped up by the Research Team and her first project saw her bust the 60-year-old myth that Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, had danced at the house for King George V’s 1912 visit. Deborah discovered the dancer was actually Lydia Kyasht, the first Russian ballerina to come to the West. She has since made it her mission to uncover information about people who lived and worked at the House and she is also an active member of the Digital Volunteer Team. One of six Life in Service videos, created by Deborah for the Trust’s YouTube channel over the last 18 months, now has over 33,000 views.
“I love telling the hidden stories about the people behind the scenes who contributed so much to the running of the House,” she said. “We are hoping for a good response to our public appeal. We have access to lots of information in the Census records, the household accounts, and the audits created after the death of a Marquess or Earl but there are big gaps in what we know, especially about the women who worked here. They couldn’t vote, they changed names on marriage, and they weren’t home or landowners so they are hard to trace from official documents. No matter how small or insignificant you think your information or item is, please come to us. It could be an important piece in a jigsaw we are putting together, or a lovely nugget of detail about working life at the Big House. Personally, I’d love to find out what it was like to clean up Countess Maud’s parrot droppings off the carpet. Someone had to do that job!”
Email exhibitions@wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk to arrange a time or to send information. Everyone who gets involved will be invited to the exhibition launch.