Downton Abbey Episode 1 on Masterpiece/PBS...My personal link

So did everyone have as much fun as I did watching the first episode of this on Masterpiece Theatre?  Maggie Smith is awesome and the rest of the cast is not too shabby either.  Much funnier than I thought it would be, especially the Dowager Countess!

I'm not going to say anything other than that it was amazing, a great story and also the most gorgeous location and costumes imaginable.  If you want more info on this wonderful show, here are three great links.  ITV and PBS/MASTERPIECE and the show's biggest fan site in Canada, Enchanted Serenity of Period Films are chockablock full of info.  I do so love the Edwardian period as it seems so modern and yet still has one foot in the 19th century.  What I will do is to tell you why I was watching the scullery maid Daisy with such personal interest.

My great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Caisley, was a kitchen maid in a great house in Northumberland in the north of England in 1851.  She was 19 years old and the lowest ranked of 14 servants for Member of Parliament Matthew Bell and his wife Elizabeth A. Bell.  The Bell's home in Northern England was called Woolsington Hall and a photo is shown below.

Woolsington Hall in Northumberland England - Home of Matthew Bell MP

As large and grand as this house was, it was nothing to Highclere Castle, the filming location of Downton Abbey and the country home of the Earl of Carnarvon.  In the same year, 1851, the 4th Earl of Carnarvon, then also only 19 years of age, lived with his mother, the Dowager Countess of Carnarvon at Highclere with 22 servants.  So, it was a rather larger and more grand establishment, but still, for me the similarities of my ancestor Mary Ann Caisley with the Earl of Carnarvon's scullery maid Mary Foxhall or with poor Daisy of the fictional Downton, are inescapable.

Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England

So as I continue to watch the breathtaking Downton Abbey every Sunday night this month on PBS MASTERPIECE Theatre, I will watch little scullery maid Daisy with particular interest and think of my great-great-grandmother, who eventually moved down to County Durham and married John Hunter Shaw, an Engineman, and had four children, of whom only two lived.  She died in 1901 at the age of 69, after having moved in with her newly widowed son, my great-grandfather John Edward Shaw and his two little children in Newcastle upon Tyne, to help them out.  She obviously worked hard in her lifetime but I hope it was a happy life.  And I'm sure she had some interesting stories about the family she worked for...

ITV Meridian 'Downton Abbey' Feature

Downton Abbey is a new ITV television series from England, which alas, we have not yet received on this side of the pond.  Thankfully, we have this teaser to whet our appetites which is a "making of" piece by Helen James.  It explains that Downton Abbey is an English Country Home, the seat of the Earl and Countess of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern).  The Earl and Countess, otherwise known as Robert and Cora Crawley, are the head of this aristocratic family.  Cora was an American heiress who marries into the English aristocracy, bringing her fortune to help sustain her husband's costly estate.

This Post-Edwardian drama begins in 1912 just after the sinking of the Titanic, and the first season ends at the beginning of the Great War.  It is written by Julian Fellowes, who wrote the screenplay for Gosford Park, and has some similarities to that wonderful film, in that it has the contrast between the servants downstairs and the moneyed family upstairs, with the twist of having an American lady of the house.

Some standouts are Dame Maggie Smith, who plays Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Cora's mother-in-law), Hugh Bonneville as the Earl and Brendan Coyle, who plays John Bates, the newly hired valet who was injured in the Boer War. 

Maggie Smith as Violet, the Dowager Countess

Elizabeth McGovern as Cora, the Countess

Brendan Coyle as Bates the lame Valet

Hugh Bonneville as Robert, Earl of Grantham

The location, also a standout, is Highclere Castle, in Hampshire England and the series is worth watching for the gorgeous scenery alone.  The home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, Highclere Castle is open to visitors during summer weekends and select holidays during the year.  It is also available for weddings and events, presumably in order to assist the owners in the expensive upkeep of such a magnificent house and grounds.  I'm sure the income from the filming of this series will help with a few repairs around the place too...

Highclere Castle with the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon

If you want a taste of the actual series, my sister has informed me that it has been uploaded onto YouTube and the opening of the series can be found here.  This link may not work down the road, as ITV may remove it from YouTube, but enjoy it while you can.  My sis says the 10 minute bits are perfect for a lunchtime distraction, but are sort of like potato chips in that you may be unable to stop at one!