Girls left school at the age of eleven and went into one years' service in a ‘petty place’, such as a clergyman or tradesman's house, before trying to get employment in a ‘gentleman's service’. A large country house such as Burghley would advertise in the newspapers or ask current servants if they had young relatives in need of work.

Answering an advertisement, a girl would often have to travel a long way from her home and family. She would have been bewildered by the complexity of the life ‘below stairs’. Discipline was very strict and beatings were not considered cruel.

Special leave had to be granted to go out in the evening. Even in 1899, the most generous holidays consisted of a fortnight in the summer to go and see her family, one day per month, an evening weekly, and half day on Sunday to go to church. Many girls managed to send home more than half their wages, as they had no time to spend money. Even though the pay was low and the work hard, advancement was possible and food plentiful.

The success of a social visit by friends of the family could be measured by them receiving no hint of all the people behind the scenes, providing the hospitality they enjoyed. For example, in 1828, in the Queen Elizabeth's Room at Burghley House, a doorway for servants was cut through both the east wall and the Seventeenth century tapestry hanging on it .