'My grandparents fell in love 'below stairs' at a big house'

30 July 2025

Wendy MiddletonBBC News Yorkshire

News image — Alf Edwards and Caroline Palmer were married during World War One - but only had three short years together before Alf died in 1919

Courtesy of the Edwards family A man and a woman stand arm in arm. He has short dark hair and is dressed in a formal dark suit with light coloured shirt, waistcoat and tie. He has a buttonhole flower on his left lapel. The woman is wearing a white dress in Edwardian style and a white veil. She has flowers in her hair, a smally posy on her bodice and a bouquet held in her left arm. The couple look at the camera. — Alf Edwards and Caroline Palmer were married during World War One - but only had three short years together before Alf died in 1919

As the clouds of war gathered over Europe, a "below stairs" love story was beginning at a country house.

Two servants at Brodsworth Hall, near Doncaster, bonded over an interest in photography and married in 1916.

Kitchen maid Caroline Palmer was warned that her love for valet Alf Edwards was likely to end in early widowhood, but the pair had two sons during a union that lasted three years.

Now the house's owners, English Heritage, have been gifted a treasure trove of photographs, letters and documents about their life together after they were donated by the couple's grandson.

English Heritage The front and side of a large stone built house with a parapet on the roof, decorated with vase shaped pediments. The house is on a raised area of grass with a stone staircase leading down to a lower level of grass with a path running off to the left. — Brodsworth Hall was built between 1861 and 1863 for Charles Sabine Thellusson

Caroline went into service at Brodsworth, the seat of the Thellusson family, in 1906, leaving her home in Northamptonshire. Seven years later Alf moved from London to take up a post as estate owner Charles Thellusson's personal valet.

They met when Alf began to use the hall's kitchens as a makeshift studio in which to develop photographs he had taken. Many were scenes of life on the estate and the large number of staff who worked there at the time.

His poor health meant he was unable to join the forces when war broke out in 1914, and Caroline was cautioned that their marriage could be a short one.

English Heritage A number of old black and white photos, of a young woman, one showing her with two young boys and one of a wedding photo of her. They are laid on a grey background, surrounded by yellowing documents including a wedding certificate — English Heritage described the donated items as an "extremely rare hoard documenting the lives of ordinary people"

They had their wedding in 1916, by which time Caroline had become cook at the house, although she had to leave her position as a married woman.

As other male servants left for the war, Alf took on other duties, including taking charge of the estate's shoots and gunroom and acting as chauffeur.

Their sons John and Harold were born before Alf died from tuberculosis in 1919.

By courtesy of the Edwards family A black and white photo of a young man against a background of an ivy clad wall. There is a sash window in the wall, over his left shoulder. The young man is wearing a large flat cap and is wearing a white shirt with a dark tie under an old fashioned jacket, possibly of tweed. — Is is thought that Alf Edwards acquired a camera during a trip to the eastern US with his employer in 1914

Despite being servants, the couple were liked and respected by the Thellussons - Charles, who died in the same year, was John's godfather and his wife Constance wrote a letter consoling Caroline when both were widowed.

After Alf's death, Caroline returned to Northamptonshire with some financial help from the Thellussons towards her sons' futures.

Tragedy struck again when John died aged 15 from an infected insect bite.

English Heritage A dark room with ladles and slotted spatulas hung on the wall above a black cooking range with two pans and a kettle on top — Caroline Palmer went into service at Brodsworth Hall as a kitchen maid before being promoted to cook

Caroline became a cook in one of the boarding houses at Oundle School, and in later life moved in with her younger son Harold and his wife. They recorded many of her memories in note form before her death in 1968.

English Heritage A man with grey hair wears a beige coloured jacked with a checked blue, white and yellow shirt beneath. he has a moustache and short cut beard. He's in a room with pale walls and a window with a half open blind behind him, letting in daylight. On a desk in front of him are a number of items, including a wristwatch, an antique looking camera, photo in a frame and a horseshoe standing upright on a wooden backing board — Items donated by grandson Gordon Edwards include Alf's Eastman Kodak camera, which was used to take photographs of Brodsworth staff, gardens and the hall exterior

Her grandson, Gordon Edwards, contacted English Heritage to offer them the collection of items telling the story of Alf and Caroline's lives at Brodsworth Hall.

He said: "We're so pleased to be able to donate these objects so they can continue to be cared for, shared with the public, and help to tell the important stories of those people below stairs who lived and worked at Brodsworth Hall."

Eleanor Matthews, English Heritage's curator of collections and interiors, said it was extremely rare to have a collection relating to the lives of servants survive.

"Alf's photographs are incredibly important to the history of the site and have provided us with the earliest image of staff at the estate - hopefully in time we will be able identify them all.

"These beautiful, poignant items tell a story largely unknown to us until now and, thanks to this donation, we are able to add another layer of understanding to the rich fabric of Brodsworth's history."

While the bulk of the collection is being catalogued, a number of items have gone on public display at the hall, including Alf's camera, pipes, wartime registration cards, postcards, and Caroline's watch.

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