Mrs Brown, the Housekeeper at Bramham Park, Yorkshire by George Garrard
(1760 - 1826)

One of a series of six portraits of servants from Bramham Park, Yorkshire, this painting shows Mrs Brown the Housekeeper in the Dry Laundry, one of the most important areas for which she had responsibility. In the background can be seen flat irons arranged along a bench, along with a mangle. As the housekeeper, Mrs Brown was the senior female domestic at Bramham, responsible for all the lower female servants and for overseeing the kitchen, the laundry and the general housekeeping. She was unmarried (Mrs was a purely honorific title) and she lived in the house. Together with the footman, she was responsible for locking up the house at night.

Servant's portraits are particularly unusual and the Bramham group is unique in that five of them are the work of a distinguished Royal Academician, George Garrard (1760 - 1826). The servants were all employees of George Lane Fox (1793 - 1848), squire of Bramham near Wetherby, a great character and a friend of the Prince Regent. By all accounts he was beloved by his tenants and servants and the portraits can therefore be viewed as a testimomy to the good relations that existed between master and servants.

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