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The
Resident Housekeeper
At
the end of 1860, after much fruitless searching, David Urquhart and
his architect George Somers Clarke found a building which they felt
could be converted, without too much difficulty, into a Turkish bath.
According to an advertisement which was to appear in The Times,
the building had to be '…in the neighbourhood of the Clubs or at the
West end of London…not less than sixty feet deep.' Number 76 Jermyn Street was deemed suitable.
Because
it was taken on a lease from the Crown, no alterations were
permitted to be made to the main façade fronting Jermyn Street
itself, but there were spacious stables at the rear and the Turkish
bath could be built in their place. The front rooms on the upper
floors were ideally suitable for conversion into apartments and these
were to be named The Hammam Chambers and let to suitable tenants.
In
May 1862, as the building work neared completion and the opening of
the Hammam drew closer, four key members of staff were appointed.
Amongst them was a Mrs Doggett who was engaged as Resident Housekeeper
to look after the Chambers at an initial salary of £75 per annum, all
found. Neither Urquhart nor any other member of the Board had any
previous experience in running either a Turkish bath or a set of
serviced apartments. Nevertheless, they appear to have taken it for
granted that the two aspects of their company's business would
be run separately. In fact this was never so, and Mrs Doggett's duties
soon encompassed activities throughout the whole building.
In
August, less than a month after the opening of the Hammam, her
workload had already expanded and Urquhart asked for her salary to be
increased to £100. The Board duly agreed.
But
when, barely four months later, Urquhart again asked for her salary to
be increased, the Board began to have serious doubts. This time they
set up a small committee to look into the housekeeper's duties. She was asked to attend, and to
prepare for them an account of her duties on behalf of the company.
A
day in the life…
The
detailed account she presented gives a very interesting picture of the work required of someone in
her position, and of how little time she had left for her own
interests. It also tells us much about what went on behind the scenes
to ensure that the women bathers (of a rather more leisured class) were able
to enjoy their relaxation unconcerned by the actuality of 'life
downstairs'.
My
first business in the morning is to go round the house to see that all
the rooms are properly cleaned, which I do about half past eight: this
occupies me till breakfast.
My
next duty is either to go out myself, or send orders, as to the
supplies wanted for the day‘s consumption, but it is very often
impossible to finish this duty at this time, as Gentlemen come in the
afternoon to order dinner, and make further supplies necessary.
After
this, I go to the Store room, to give out the Stores wanted for the
Bath, such as Soap, &c: and then I give out the stores for the Café‚
and look over the Cigars and Tobacco, to see that the return of the
consumption of the previous day is correct.
These
duties occupy from half-past nine o’clock till between one and two.
I
then have my dinner, and afterwards make up my books for the previous
day, and write any orders that may be required.
As
soon as this is done, I begin whatever needle-work is wanted for the
Bath.
Until
the last week, I have always been in the habit of assisting in the
Office for two of the busiest hours—from 4 to 6—and until the end
of December I used to take the Office duties during the whole evening,
on alternate days.
After
6 o’clock I go into the Kitchen:- If several dinners are ordered, I
assist to dress them myself; if not, I merely superintend.
From
7 o’clock till half past 9 I employ myself in various duties:-
generally in sewing, as repairs are continually wanting for the
Bath-linen; and I go over the house again, to see that all is right.
At
half-past nine I receive the money from the Café‚ and the Ticket
Office, and take charge of it, going over the checks, and seeing that
the receipts correspond with the checks issued. [This] occupies nearly
an hour, and I have then to put away the Plate and Table-linen.
This
finishes my day’s work, which is never over till past 11 o’clock.
I
am continually called upon to decide on matters which arise with
reference to the affairs of the Bath and my time has been so fully
taken up since I have had charge of the Coffee Room, that I have been
compelled to get a person to do my own domestic duties.
Originally,
on the days when the Bath was open to Ladies, I used to come down at 8
o’clock, to give out the linen to the Female Shampooers:- My own
attendance at the Bath commenced at nine o’clock:- I first went
round the whole of it, to see if everything was in order, and then sat
at work in the Cold-room till any Ladies came. I always received them,
helped them to undress, and then conducted them into the Hot Room and
gave them into the charge of the attendants.
I
superintended the Bathing of each Lady, and helped the Ladies to dress
when their Bath was over.
At
first, I was always in the Bath during the whole of the Ladies’
hours, but afterwards my duties increased so much as to make this
impossible, and since then I have only been backwards and forwards
between the Bath and the Office, to which I am so frequently called
out of the Bath, to answer inquiries made by Ladies who wish to see
one before they take their tickets, that I have never been able to
take off my usual dress and put on the Bathing costume.
Many
of these duties appear to have been taken on by Mrs Doggett on her own
initiative. Was she, perhaps, increasing her responsibilities
unnecessarily? The committee asked Urquhart to attend and comment on
her claims.
Urquhart
backs the claim
While
working with the Foreign Affairs Committees, Urquhart had shown his
gift for inspiring in his supporters a dedication which many
commentators have found difficult to explain. He certainly had
charisma, but it was not this alone which inspired the committemen.
For he helped them, by teaching and by example, to undertake work
which was often intellectually difficult for them. The political work
they undertook for him offered no immediate compensatory reward.
But the skills he gave them were skills which they were also able to
utilise effectively in the running of their everyday lives.
It
is true that he could be unforgiving of those who had, in his eyes,
erred. And there can be little doubt that his natural pedantry must,
on occasion, have made him a difficult person to work for. But when he
found someone who was hard-working and totally trustworthy he was
quick to offer that person his support.
He
argued before the Board that although Mrs Doggett had originally been
appointed as housekeeper without any duties specifically relating to
the Turkish baths, it became necessary almost immediately to make her
responsible for the linen in use there. He then pointed out that some
of her extra work was a result of cutting down on other staffing, as
when they had dispensed with the money-taker's office. Furthermore,
the company had not been required to purchase all the furniture it
needed since he had allowed some of his own to be used—an action he
could never have considered had not a person he trusted been in
charge.
But
her impact on the profits arising from the catering side proved to be
the clinching argument, for it had originally been arranged that the
refreshment bar in the cooling-room should be let for £14 per week.
It is not clear whether this was actually put into effect, but if so,
the arrangement did not long survive.
Urquhart explained
that under the Housekeeper's management,
the
profits for seven weeks have been £26.19.2—that is to say an
average of £3.17.0 a week. During the same period (from 1st Decr 1862
till the 17th January 1863) the profits on the sale of refreshments in
the House and on the letting of the Chambers have amounted to £29.10.2
making a total of £56.9.4 so that the Company is now deriving from
the exertions of the House-keeper a weekly income of £8.1.4 or nearly
£420 a year.
It
should be mentioned also that the profits on the Refreshment
Department would have been larger, had not the Breakfasts been
purposely given at cost, in the hope of inducing Gentlemen to take the
Bath in the morning.
I
may add that the cooking utensils are mostly the House-keeper's own
property. When I spoke about them, she said she thought it would be a
pity to ask for money to lay out in cooking things, until she knew
whether a profit could be made out of the Refreshments, or not.
Urquhart's
skills in making those with whom he worked feel that they were an
important part of (what we should now call) the management team is
shown to effect in Mrs Doggett's attitude to the value, or otherwise,
of purchasing utensils for the company. If Mr Urquhart was
prepared to lend his own furniture, we can envisage her reasoning,
then surely it would be sensible to lend her own cooking implements.
Noting,
first, that Mrs Doggett was working an average of more than fourteen
hours a day (even though, since mid-January, ladies no longer used the large baths); second, that Urquhart thought
highly of her; and third, that the company was making an annual
profit of more than £400 from the Department over which she presided,
the committee recommended to the Board that her salary be raised to
the sum of £150 per year.
Urquhart
was familiar with the hardship suffered in the struggle for survival
by several of his leading supporters within the Foreign Affairs
Committees. His influence on the Board in their consideration of
salaries and working conditions probably made the company, at least by
the standards of the day, one of the more enlightened of employers.
Mrs
Doggett stayed at the London Hammam for six years.
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