Exhibition: The Servants of Insole Court

The Victorian mansion Insole Court in Llandaff, originally called ‘Ely Court’, was built for English magnate James Harvey Insole (1821-1902) in 1856-57, shortly after he took over his family’s thriving south Wales coal and shipping business. A major extension in the 1870s saw the addition of a neo-Gothic tower emulating the one added to Cardiff Castle in 1869. A major extension and modernisation project was undertaken in 1906 by James Harvey Insole’s son and successor, George ‘Fred’ Frederick Insole (1847-1917), who also changed the name of the mansion to ‘The Court’. In the 1930s the mansion and fifty-seven-acre estate were bought by Cardiff Council under a compulsory purchase order to facilitate the creation of an orbital road system around the city; the Insole family eventually departed in 1938. Having fallen into disrepair, the mansion underwent two restoration projects at the turn of the twenty-first century, opening to the public for the first time in 2008. Lease of the mansion was transferred to a charitable trust in 2016, and since its Heritage Lottery and Welsh Government funded restoration and redevelopment in 2014-17 it has become a successful visitor attraction and community hub. There is a permanent exhibition on the Insole family history called ‘This House is a Stage’ on the first floor of the mansion.

Another exhibition appeared in the hallway of the mansion last month, put together by Rebecca Vickery from The Insole Court Archive Research Group with text and photographs drawn from a booklet called The Insole Servants: a two-part history. The Group are responsible for the Insole Court Archive, and in 2008 they collected memories, artefacts and photo albums from the descendants of estate employees to compile this booklet of two parts. Part One, written by Gaynor Howard, describes how James Harvey Insole and his wife Mary Ann moved from a rather modest house Crockherbtown in central Cardiff to an impressive mansion in Llandaff, and the army of staff required to manage a house and gardens on this scale; not only does it discuss the responsibilities of each member of indoor and outdoor staff in detail, but it puts names, faces, and personal storeys to each job title. Part Two, written by Vanessa Cunningham, describes the decline in the fortunes of the Insole family from the 1920s onwards through the eyes of Lady’s Maid Margaret Evans.

A common misconception about Victorian servants is that they were all expected to be invisible, but this exhibition highlighted some of the indoor servants who had close contact with the Insole family, such as Jessy Insole’s (1853-1938) Lady’s Maid from 1908 to 1911, Eva Hudson. The Lady’s Maid was required to be in the Lady of the house’s personal space within the house and frequently travelled with her outside it; moreover, the role required physical contact when dressing, applying make-up, and styling hair, as well as handling of personal belongings, for example when packing. This was such an intimate role that the requirements often changed according to the Lady of the house’s personal interests. Recollections in Eva’s diary, such as a humorous story about giving people nicknames, reveal how close she was to Jessy, as well as the fact that she was entrusted to accompany Jessy’s daughter Violet on her travels. Far from being invisible, some servants enjoyed a public profile, such as Head Gardener William Hurdon Julian, the longest serving member of staff at Insole Court. William was a keen horticulturist who represented the mansion at various country fairs, winning numerous awards and prizes and bringing eminence to himself and his employers. In keeping with the public nature of the role, the Head Gardeners’ house South Lodge was architecturally prominent, located near the end of the driveway opening on to Ely Road.

The day-to-day realities of the servants described in this exhibition juxtaposes with the luxurious lifestyle of the Insole family, which makes the placement of the exhibition in the lavish hallway more poignant. There was a particular emphasis on how physically demanding the role of House Maid was, from carrying water upstairs for bathing to the ‘back-breaking’ task of washing bed linen, from the lugging of heavy coal baskets to lighting and maintaining numerous fires. The House Maids at Insole Court, sisters Martha and Harriet Howells from Pembrokeshire and Mary Llewelyn from Porthkerry, certainly experienced the rooms in the house very differently from the Insole family.

Not only were some members of the serving staff constant presences at Insole Court throughout the comings and goings of family members, but also through family marriages, births and deaths. The tenure of Charles Perry as Butler from 1881 to 1904 saw the passing of James Harvey Insole’s first wife Mary Ann in 1882, his marriage to Maria Carey in 1890, and James Harvey Insole’s own death in 1901. When the time came for Charles to retire, he personally trained the new butler and remained close by in the village of Llandaff. Such servants were simply part of the furniture, another example being Margaret Evans, who knew the mansion so intimately that when the family vacated it in 1937, it was she who reminded the family about the safe full of jewellery in the ‘fur room’! Incidentally, Margaret’s development from ‘a nervous teenager to a confident young woman’ during her years in service was in sharp contrast to the declining fortunes of the Insole family.

It was extremely refreshing to see the lives and experiences of servants centred within the mansion, and to see such attention to individuals. This exhibition would be an extremely welcome permanent display and accompaniment to the exhibition about the Insole family on the first floor, to provide a more rounded story of life at Insole Court.

Insole Court is open to visitors daily between 10am and 4pm and the booklet The Insole Servants: a two-part history is available to purchase there. The servants exhibition will be returning during Insole Court's Heritage Weekend on the 21st and 22nd of July 2024.  

(Authored by Bethan Scorey)