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Introducing Mr Lincoln, Butler at Audley End House. Join him to discover how the staff are preparing for Christmas. Learn the correct way to serve dinner to Lord and Lady Braybrooke and their guests during the festive season.
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45 Comments
We hope you enjoy this special festive episode of The Victorian Way! Here are some answers to questions you may have after watching this video, provided by our expert historian:
• Where does the new recruit come from? Did Mr Lincoln refer to a servants' registry?
We've cast you, the audience, in the role of a temporary hire. It was very common for extra staff to be brought in for big events or busy seasons. They were usually recruited through a servants' registry (we'd now call them a recruitment agency). There were registries in every major city. Mr Lincoln mentions Mrs Massey's, an agency which was founded in 1854, and by the 1870s was one of the major suppliers of staff to wealthy homes. It was London-based, for most large houses preferred to recruit there rather than rely on locals who, it was felt, might pilfer or prove unreliable if they had family temptingly near.
• What is baize, as in the cloth under the tablecloth?
Baize is a type of woollen cloth, a little like felt, but more durable and much denser. It was used widely for such things as undercloths on tables and for soundproofing e.g. on doors (hence the phrase, behind the 'green baize door' denoting the other side of a door lined with baize, the usual method of soundproofing a door to the service wing). Used as an undercloth, as here, it preserved the table from hot plates and spills, as well as dents or other damage.
• Why does Mrs Warwick lay out the fruit, and not Mrs Crocombe?
The delineation of duties in a house like Audley End was relatively strict and well understood. The cook (Mrs Crocombe) cooked, and the housekeeper (Mrs Warwick) had charge of china, table linen, flowers (though the gardening staff might well arrange live plants and other floral decoration for the table and house). The housekeeper also laid out the fruit for dessert, as well as usually making jams, preserves or room fresheners (such as pot pourri).
• On the list of wines, what is hock?
Hock is a sweetish white wine from the west of Germany, along the Rhine. It is similar to riesling. Queen Victoria had a vineyard in the region named for her, and it was very popular in the past.
• What is a widgeon?
A type of small duck.
• Mr Lincoln seems awfully young: is this realistic?
All of the characters in The Victorian Way videos were real people, with their details taken from the census of 1881. The videos tie into a live interpretation project which has been running since 2008 and if you visit Audley End, you'll be able to look around the service wing and sometimes meet the servants as if it was that year. We've done a lot of research into their backgrounds (and what happened to them next) and the interpreters you see in the videos base their characterisation on what we know from the historical records. In other words, don't be influenced by TV stereotypes(!). That said, William Lincoln was indeed relatively young for a butler at this level. The Braybrookes were in financial difficulties during the 1880s, as evidenced by their employment of a female cook (paid at least half the wage of a man, often less). Their head gardener, Mr Vert, was also surprisingly young. Mr Lincoln would have gone into service aged 12, and seems to have started out as a groom, before making the move to inside work at some point in the 1870s. In 1881 he was in his early 30s, and recorded as butler at the London townhouse of Lord Braybrooke. He would have moved with them between their various houses. He remained in their service until at least 1901. There is some suggestion that perhaps he had a family in the area (though he gave his marital status as single), which might explain his long service without moving on. We will probably never know.
• Why is the fork placed with the tines facing down?
Forks (and sometimes spoons) were often laid with the tines facing down for two reasons: one was to display the family crest on the back, and the other was to prevent lace cuffs catching in them. The latter wasn't so much of an issue by 1881, when forks were less pointy than they had been, and cuffs less lacey, and not every family continued the habit. Victorian etiquette books don't tend to mention it, as they are aimed at a more aspirational middle class audience. Put simply, if you need a book, you aren't bred to it, and you are only ever going to get it wrong. Sadly, we can't rely on etiquette books as a guide to aristocratic behaviours, because the minute it was written down, it was passé. Old money families such as the Braybrookes all had their own ways of doing things. As Mr Lincoln says, Audley End was very old-fashioned as well, and the way he shows the table being laid out was not that of the urban fast set, and definitely couldn’t be learnt from any book.
Love this video! Answered a lot of questions I had about how the courses would work. I also now have great mental images about that story Mrs. Crocombe told us about Mr. Lincoln discovering a footman drunk on ginger beer sleeping under a tree!
Requirements to work at Audley End House: Well kept, have a hard-working/sturdy demeanor, respect the hierarchy, and most importantly be SNARKY AND KNOW HOW TO THROW SHADE!
Mr. Lincoln is kind of a snack ngl
Oooooooo can we see more of this lovely man?
Tines down? I am so uncouth.
Oh, that makes me happy. Thanks so much! I need a better Christmas than last, let me tell you! Here's hoping for a better holiday and year to come for all of us!
Who knew swans were so "vulgar". I'm not sure I like Mr. Lincoln. He's much too young and handsome to be so stern about his ways.
"And I hope you like rabbit as there is a lot to go around the LOWER table…Where. You. Will. Be. Sitting."
I feel put in my place.
Yes! I love getting to meet more of the Audley End characters! Part of me really wants to finally meet Lord & Lady Braybrook, but at the same time, I like the mystery of it lol. I'd also love to see Edgar & Mr. Vert again too!
Ugg
Thank god! I wouldn't want to set my table like a lesser house!
I wish we could see the main table full set.
Hmm, is this the gentleman Mrs. Crocombe married after she retired?
I have always thought that the prongs of forks should face upwards when forming part of a place setting!!
Me, thinking from past videos that Mr. Lincoln might be an old man, a la Tanaka from Kuroshitsuji, seeing him for the first time on this channel: OH, NO, HE'S A RATHER HANDSOME FELLOW
YES! We finally get to meet Mr Lincoln!
I think i have found the best YouTube channel ever. Merry Christmas to the Victorian way people. 🎄🎅
Masculine and feminine dishes? Oh dear. That did make me laugh.
Well this escalated quickly!
Someone is going to get a stern talking to about the silverware lol
Downton WISHES they could have this much shade and historical accuracy!
looks at swan napkins
starts sweating
For some reason I pictured Mr Lincoln to be much older, a bit paunchier and bald with pronounced sideburns and mustache 🤣🤣🤣
Can someone explain the scar comment. Why is having no scars important for this job?
I sure wouldn't mind laying him on a table.
Bobs Burgers kinda cutely mocked the upstairs/downstairs theme of downton with their weekend larp episode. This is the real deal and love it so much.😍
Love it, a new chapter at Audley End!
Please make a series! We love this Butler so much. He so suave, tough, refined, yet real. You can tell he is Captain Badass of the Home.
a good episode idea would be the upper servants' table at mealtime…
We act like the problem with gendered products these days is a newfangled thing but Victorians actually gendered soup LMAO
Oh, I am a fan of him already. Hope to see more!!
Mr. Lincoln, you are MISSING A BUTTON and your collar is poorly pinned. I trust you've not been…tippling while at your toilet of a morning?
Palestine Soup. Never heard of it. Will definitely try it out
Ok. I'm officially in love, I really need an "under the stairs" type tv drama with these exact actors
So this is the Mr. Lincoln, that Mrs. Crocombe keeps mentioning and shading 👀
oh dear. Definitely having to face both Mr. Lincoln and Mrs. Crocombe would be terrifying! I hope we'll being seeing more of Mr. Lincoln.
we need to see him more, he did a awesome job.
I would like for Mr. Lincoln to plan my life. He would probably be better at it. Lol
This dude is amazing
Finally we meet Mr. Lincoln
Nice to finally meet Mr. Lincoln. It seems he throws shade as much as Mrs. Crocombe.
Looking forward to polishing the silverware 👉🏼👈🏼😳
So HES the one who likes his drinks strong.
Victorian eye candy! Shonda Rhimes can save Bridgerton if she casts this hottie as the butler or valet to Anthony!