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• Introduction
• Victorian Shibden
• The family at Shibden
• Who were the servants?
• The Butler
• The Cook
• The Housemaid
• The Under Housemaid
• The Gardener
• The decline of the Victorian Servant

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The Victorian Servant

The Gardener

In 1871, the gardener was Charles Phillips, who lived in his own house in the grounds of Shibden with his wife Ellen. He was aged 60 and had been brought to Shibden from the Isle of Wight, where he had been the gardener at Dr John Lister’s home. He also had an assistant, George Whittle, who was aged 17, and lived with the other servants at Shibden Hall.

 

Following on from the work carried out by his ancestor, Anne Lister, in the grounds of Shibden Hall, Dr John Lister employed a designer to carry out work in the gardens. This included creating a beautiful paisley shawl garden in front of the hall and adding an ornamental lily pond.

 

The gardener at Shibden would not only have worked in the flower gardens, however. They would also have worked in the Kitchen garden to provide food for the household. The Kitchen garden at Shibden was in Cunnery Wood, close to the hall.