A Day In The Life Of A Georgian Servant | Time Crashers | Absolute History

ten famous faces are going on an epic journey it's 2015 but not for long [Applause] they're traveling into the past this is an historical circus with no idea where or when they're headed wow wake up in another place in another era oh my goodness exciting they've been told nothing in advance you know i've got absolutely no idea what we're doing i mean i've never had a costume fitting blindfolded so it's all a total surprise oh wow they're leaving the 21st century behind to crash land into six different moments in british history what are we we're early early 1796. welcome to 1930. oh wow they'll be stripped of their celebrity status oh no we are we're servants thrust into testing environments where's the food it's coming i don't shout pulling these things in it is really hard work and thrown to the bottom of the pile shut up and listen instead of arguing can they survive everything history has to throw at them oh this is bad ah calm down fun or sunk the board joking that's everything they are [Music] the time crashers last time the time crashers landed into a life of servitude in edwardian britain oh my goodness better than student britain i don't know if you felt these beds where life below stairs i am talking we were just things proved an uphill struggle that is such a dire thing to happen at a tea party [Music] and after refusing to perform her duties you leave me no alternative but to dismiss you without a character champion weightlifter zoe was shown the [Music] door oh meg hey look at these babies we're in this fantastic barnyard the time crashers have no idea where we're in a mill right i guess so hey mate or when they are part of the industrial revolution maybe the year is 1796 mad king george is on the throne and he's mad about farming in fact he's got three farms of his own and now the wealthy landowners are following his lead by building their own model farms in the grounds of their country estates they were the aristocratic ideal of a perfect farm sporting all the latest scientific advances this one even has its own mill to make flower but a farm is nothing without its farm hands hello meat we're in a pig study you are one hell of a beacon sandwich hi another kitchen did these women do nothing but stand in the freaking kitchen [Music] this is fairly deserted the time crashers have been given a guide to help them navigate georgian life first to discover their roles are olympian greg rutherford and actor charlie condu you will work as farm hands and your task master is the bailiff mr jones hollywood actress kirsty alley and news anchor louise minchin are kitchen maids america has just won her independence from the british yes i'm sorry socialite meg matthews and tv presenter fern britton get the dairy oh we are dairy maids meg you're the senior donate and firm your work to her happily while actor keith allen comedian chris ramsey and footballer jermaine genus are shepherds farming is a fashionable pastime amongst the wealthy elite who are building model farms later today the owner the vikand and his wife will arrive with their esteemed guests for a farm inspection they will expect everything on the farm to have been cleaned of all the dirt and decorated and that includes the animals do they know what falls off it's a fall that's all these people do it's clear it's show off there's and the time crashers have just eight hours to make the farm look perfect the men must make the buildings and animals immaculate the women must show off the farm's produce by making breads cakes and dairy products for the vi count inspection tea good morning good morning overseeing the boys work is mr jones the bailiff or farm manager while you're working here you'll report to me today we want this place looking top-notch and span marking out is good mucking about is not so we want things done properly oh the vibe counts on my back joining me on the farm is social historian and archaeologist dr cassie newland how important were these inspections these inspectors are hugely important showing off your farm to your friends is the whole point marie antoinette had her model farmer besides scrubbed polished and decorated before she had a visit it's like the rich saying look at this idyllic environment i've created and it was all a fantasy wasn't it the new machines were taking away the jobs of the farm labourers there were bad harvests so there wasn't much grain about people weren't just having a rough time they were starving you'd have been lucky to get a job on a model farm [Music] the women's preparations for the inspection is this the churn will be overseen by the bailiff's wife good morning good morning good morning and while you're here you will answer to me i don't suffer fools but as long as you listen to what i say and do as you're told we'll get the job done your tasks you need to go and milk the goats because we're going to be making cheese with it later on you will also be making butter in the kitchen flour from the farm's mill was used to make baked goods for the owners inspection so your task will be to bake the 25 loaves as requested by the i count we'll also be baking a selection of biscuits and cake for this afternoon 25 loaves of bread is a massive massive task for me so i'm worried about that and of course there is the midday meal to prepare for the farm workers [Music] the bailiff and his wife will be watching the time crashes every move if they do well they'll be rewarded as farm workers would have been in 1796 if they do badly they'll receive a fitting punishment first job for the dairy maids is to get the milk they'll need to make the cheese she's really ready i've never actually milked a goat but i've seen it done so you know don't pull it just squeeze squeeze squeeze squeeze squeeze squeeze good good good girl okay go [Music] it's one of those things that actually if you don't look and don't think it goes better that went in my ear actually it did go in my hair with more milk going on fern than in the bowl i still haven't quite got it [Music] meg takes over with goat number two look at you and that's your rule but a board goat is a frisky goat and this one's been kept waiting for far too long the goat has just trodden her filthy farmyard foot into the milk no not for her yeah i thought it was going to be a lot easier this it's a bit exasperating now we can't afford to lose any more milk if i don't get the cheese done that means there's nothing for the vice count it's very stressful just being the dairy maid [Music] the dairy maids may be struggling but in the mill greg and charlie are in their element so basically we're just separating the wheat from the chaff at the moment yes we are quite literally quite literally mills weren't a new invention but model farms streamlined the process by locating the mills on site it's just really nice to see the process of it starting as a grain and very quickly become a flower i've just changed the first sack it's full i've put another one on the finished flower was used by the cooks as another way to show off the quality of the model farm's produce see i've sifted that as much as it'll go this is fantastic i much prefer this era to uh where we've just come from i feel like i'm i'm actually getting something done one sack down fantastic flowers no good unless they can bake it so louise and cursed his first task is to light the georgian oven i'm sure it'll be like a pizza oven if they can get it going of course how do i light it then do i like it from the back thirty years before the invention of matches georgian cooks used a tinderbox i don't like cooking if i have my way we'd be eating carrots cold what louise needs is a bit of kansas [Music] know-how god we're done [Music] just a quick quick quick quick quick yes let there be fire it's coming well well done out in the yard head shepherd keith is getting to know his flock i'd much rather be in the middle making bread shat on my feet great life keith shepherds jermaine and chris have to gather up the other sheep to give them a georgian makeover okay you've got six sheep here i want you to build the pen in this corner get the sheep in and get it done [Music] um when he said in the corner i'm assuming he means along here and today why is there a load of mud on the floor in a place where we're going to take sheep to clean them it genuinely looks like they've buried some of the house stuff who've died i reckon that's probably what we might have to use to clean them fresh soil all right it's in we haven't done this the wrong way and the pen's gonna be around there have we he said in the corner he did die as a corner yeah he did see the corner expecting the pen finished mr jones brings keith to help with the herding what did i tell you before we're not gonna send sheep through this these are where we're gonna be growing our vegetables [Music] i told you to build the pen in the corner listen you've got two ears you've got two eyes i tell you once don't listen listen to what i tell you okay come on don't be the joker that's why i'm here you said you were reading to go i was very i don't see much red in your face come on come on yeah well me and mr jones locked horn straight away you go do that and you go okay but how and he goes just do it and you go out and then he comes back he goes you weren't listening i told you to do that [Music] i found him very arrogant very cheeky and i was very close to give him a kick down the road [Music] [Applause] the time crashers have just six more hours to prepare this georgian model farm for an inspection by its wealthy owner actor keith allen footballer jermaine genus and comedian chris ramsey have rebuilt the pen in the right place now they just have to herd the sheep inside to be cleaned and preened right let's get his ship the key to herding sheep hold there to me is to be quiet and careful in your movements three men sick sheep how hard can it be go on chris conquerors they're [Music] oh man when one runs towards you it's terrifying it's literally like it's gonna come right for us and i was quite scared of them oh no keep them out of there [Music] mate what are we gonna do after an hour's herding bailiff mr jones is far from happy so what's happening then boys we're finding it hard really hard these should be in now and bagged they've been round so many times they're wounded okay with time ticking down mr jones has to step in let's keep it together and no gaps dress no [Music] very very very well done yes fantastic oh man that was just amazing i've never felt so much achievement is that what it feels like when you're all pulled together and you win a football match wait it is it's exactly the same never had that i don't think i've just been this proud ever all right here we go dairy maids meg matthews and fern britain have had less success after two hours milking they're only just starting to make the goat's cheese okay i think i just have to put a little bit more in for luck to curdle the milk into cheese they add rennet made from the sliced up stomach of a lamb while the goat's milk curdles into cheese they can finally start on the butter using cream from cows two parts of cream to one part of water are poured into the dairy churn which is there the churn should only be filled halfway you went a bit mad there kid yeah i don't think that was supposed to happen do you it's about maintaining a steady rhythm not too fast not so which you will get a feel for okay stick it back in oh that was good the georgians actually thought of dairy maids as pinups didn't they they admired their beauty yes and that's because they aren't covered in horribly disfiguring smallpox scars the georgians noticed that if a dairy maid suffered from cow pox they didn't go on to contract a far more deadly smallpox so they started taking healthy people and giving them cow pox to immunise them and this is the beginning of vaccination as we know it in fact the word vaccine comes from the latin vacca which means cow whatever the georgians thought there's nothing glamorous about curdled milk but it does make great goat cheese okay let the cheesecloth gently ring out and line a bowl with it am i gonna am i pouring this in yeah okay do you wanna do assist okay here we go never done this before let's twist well i'm pleased to see that cheese thank you that's progress in the kitchen hollywood actress kirsty alley has lunch for the workers under control uh the next thing i'm going to add is potatoes so far so good now we're cooking with coal but news reader louise minchin is only just getting started on the 25 loaves of bread that'll showcase the farm's produce to the vi count i have no idea i don't know anything about making bread but louise thank you some irony in this that kirsty and i are the only two i think probably in the whole time crushing team who've never made bread right okay sue what do you think we're done [Music] outside the shepherds are getting a crash course in sheep beautification bagging is to clean the rear end of the sheep that might be the worst thing i've ever heard georgian shepherds called the muck on a sheep's bottom bartleberries chris hasn't impressed mr jones so far and this is probably not the ideal task to redeem himself the thing that's going to tip us over the edge is cleanliness i'm a bit weird with cleanness i wash my hands quite a few times a day people think i'm weird when i tell them whenever i go at the toilet to do number two i need to have a shower afterwards or the world's just not right if they're not dagged we get the fly laying its eggs on the merc they then grow these eggs into maggots and then they eat the sheep alive so this is such an important job you see the merc never been so tense i'd like to see you in here now there is one pretty dirty there chris which one that's it great why are we strong come on hey oh man he's such a strong sheep legs off machine so this is all shite yeah oh it's so fresh grappling with a soiled sheep isn't chris's dream job be careful there now chris because you you're right on the skin there he's kind of borderline ocd about cleanliness so i was amazed that he actually got in there and got down and dirty done it's a nightmare it's caked so chris took the really mucky sheet to dag which took a lot of courage i'll probably sell there i thought right that's not something i'm going to be able to do but i just went with it and it was just a turning point a little switch went in my head oh my little angel charlie kondu and greg rutherford have successfully milled their flower now they have a pretty fine job of their own i want the pig spotless apparently pigs smell fear and it's safe to say that i'm a little bit frightened first hurdle coaxing the pig out of his style so they can clean it come on he might try and eat me come out he's very aggressive this is the problem and i can't get in there can you keep chasing me up no he's getting aggressive with me [Music] louise's 25 showcasing loaves are ready for the oven oh my gosh there's a really heating up in here it's brilliant wow look at that judging the temperature of a wood-burning oven is tricky i think i may have worked it out now but louise is very confident for someone who's never used one before and the heat coming out of it it's very very hot georgian cookers burned so fiercely that the dresses of thousands of kitchen maids caught fire and in 1799 a missed actually burnt to death the kind of work they're doing it's really dangerous you're dealing with fires it's only a little bit of a cinder and i'd be up wouldn't i with all the tasks underway champion weightlifter zoe smith has only just found her way to the farm hang on [Music] zoe hey hey [Music] during their last crash zoe was fired for failing to carry out her kitchen duties never mind distracting and get back to your work sorry [Music] hello zoe my god come here but it's kitchen duties again for zoe grating sugar for the cakes and biscuits [Music] i'm in the kitchen again again god this is so boring sugar won't be sold in granulated form for another century the only way i'm going to get through this is by moaning about it the whole way through i do know this is what women would have had to do but realistically i don't think i would have i think i'd have made a better prostitute than i make a kitchen worker why why why why zoe's not the only one having a hard time meg and fern are still battling with the butter this is not seems to be getting any thicker if we don't have the butter ready then we'll be behind everything will behind girls how are you getting on oh my goodness why is it so full have you put all of the cream in there you are going to drain at least half of it out churn it and then put the other half back in and turn it again there's not enough air inside the churn to turn it into butter i feel i'm going to fail at this task no we're not oh we are in the kitchen louise is hoping her loaves are closer to completion okay one coming up curse yeah this this one's looking good [Music] that should be cooked see this i mean this is really not done how are you doing girls there's nowhere near nowhere near nowhere near ready look i touched the back one and it's kind of basically came apart i'm really worried well so you should be and so should i how can i put that on the table for the vikant the plan was for some of the bread to be served with the workers lunch how much longer do you think we're going to be it's now past midday none of these are done [Music] after more than half an hour greg rutherford and charlie condu have finally coaxed the pig out of his style that's it now he won't get into the pen for his wash [Music] look at him he's just laughing at me whacking his tail god oh he's ridiculously strong that way don't eat everything oh mate check the bits of that pal last time oh it's gonna have lunch oh my knees man we have to go and have lunch if we can't leave the pig in there like that and this like this it's fine should we can you surely just grab someone we've got to go and have lunch yeah but i want to get rid of some more [Music] there's a reason that greg is an olympic gold medalist and it's because he doesn't give up ever they'll also be going hungry in the dairy dairy maze never okay we're gonna keep going you're not having lunch no i know and how how please diane [Music] lunch was an important meal on a model farm [Music] excuse me coming through coming through here you are so we have some stew or it's beef and rabbit looks good to me no self-respecting vike out would want to see weak emaciated workers on his model farm so the farmhands tended to be well paid well-fed and best of all they got a daily allowance of beer is good for me we're out eight points a day apparently no it's nice this is the first era the time crashers have cooked for each other oh my god i hope it's good it's beautiful oh my god thank you it's beautiful they liked it a lot so i was excited they had second helpings and you know being from kansas when someone eats two or three helpings of your food that's the biggest compliment but louise's bread isn't going down well i wouldn't advise you to eat too much of this why well it'll expand in your stomach is it not cooked can you not be rude about the not cooking this because i'm trying really hard okay just got to keep on doing this because i am the head dairy maid today it's now the paddles are going round but it's not touching it's on the point of turning you can tell by the colour of it a little bit more that's it the vikand will be here at 3 o'clock we need you to work as quickly as possible [Music] outside greg's olympian efforts in the pigsty have paid off i mean for a pig so you're not getting much clean in this [Music] basically now we want to get the pig cleaned and back in his pen and we think that's now the most important thing big big he seems thankful for the scratch he's happy as a pig in this is by far the weirdest thing i've ever done and i've had some weird jobs sort of feels a bit odd to be doing all this stuff just for the vikram to show off to his friends the amount of dirt that comes off i don't want to upset him too much especially as we gotta then get back into his pen good work buddy one sparkling pig but there's another creature that needs attention the vi counts pride and joy georgian aristocrats considered themselves experts at the new science of cattle breathing searching to create the perfect specimen we've got the georgians to thank for selective breeding and when it came to animals the bigger the better in fact there was one popular tourist attraction of those days called the durham ox which was a bull that apparently weighed stone that is the weight of a caravan [Music] this is our prize ball however i can't think the world of him he is going to be his next breeding bull so he wants to show him off today big time we don't want this back end looking like that we got to clean him yeah yeah so you're quite good with back ends so let's get him outside washed ready for action [Music] he's going to let one fly in a minute and a ton of it now and i saw the state of the bull's back end i thought this is nothing we're going to need a jet wash this georgian longhorn bull hasn't reached full size yet doesn't like that [Music] he's just a year old and already weighs 300 kilograms but we're all absolutely terrified i mean look at him you could head what you're in a kingdom come like hey you know how you get people walking like pitbulls and that and like rottweilers to try and look hard imagine this when fully grown he'll be three times heavier is that his penis or is that here that's his private bits is the bit at the bottom his private bits no no no that's just a bit of matted hair yes if you fancy giving that a bit of a clean do not want to cheer it off that might be a good idea just about there yeah yeah while the vi count will want his bull to look its best i know where the shoes are woe betide anyone who allows his prized breeder to come to any harm she can do a lot of damage oh my god i'm gonna throw it on tight here i think just be really careful it's just about that oh yeah fantastic guys i was surprised that he let us loose with those shears so close to those uh animals bits that's it beautiful [Music] in the dairy megan fern have now been churning butter for four hours we're nearly there do you think so no that's the magic moment look at that it are you sure yes oh look at that look at that look at that i am the cat that's got the cream we have butter i'm happy that is beautious to behold absolutely we all think that she's some rock and roll chick but she isn't she's so bright and so clever always thinking ahead no one's going to burst my bubble whatever i'm very pleased with it you should be that's quite impressive i'm i'm very pleased that you've had some success with that at long last is this my button that is your butter yes with an hour to go louise kirsty and zoe can finally start baking perfect okay this butter is amazing it's so creamy half the bigness of your hands bake them upon a plate of tin plate of tin that is probably the perfect temperature these are going to be good the small cakes in we're in oh yes things might have come together in the kitchen but in the courtyard there's still a mountain of manure to deal with this courtyard looks like a pigsty we need to get this up into the field with the sheeper oh look that's nice have you seen this guys dead rat and i don't want you walking i want you running that's the midden pile that they've got to move is the farm rubbish dump which would have piled up over the week as everything was chucked into it kitchen waste animal dung dead animals human waste all of it lovely fertilizer back in the 18th century they didn't have underground sewage systems like we've got today human excrement was thrown into the river or in the case of london it was piled up into barges and sent out into the countryside where it was spread onto the fields the midden pile may have increased crop yields but the vi count doesn't want to see it in his farm yard so with an hour until his inspection the time crashers have their work cut out unless they get a move on we're going to look at right mess in front of the vicars and they're feeling the pressure in the kitchen too zoe how are you doing i'm i'm getting there slowly getting where exactly let me see i can't see that that's actually going to work do you think perhaps if you were to use your fingertips try using your fingertips uh i don't think anything's going to happen with this zoe goodness me i don't know i just wish i was a boy i want to play with the animals louise's cake should be ready oh my god it's horrendous consistency of them doesn't look very good does this awful lot of butter there i don't know what had happened i put those things in the oven and it all melted i followed the recipe did you yes that's never going to cook is it i'm very worried that the vikamp will arrive and we've got absolutely nothing to put on the table i was annoyed and irritated because i was trying to do it right and everything was going wrong she felt she wasn't in control you've got 10 minutes you've got 10 minutes yes i've got 10 minutes it was quite obvious that she was frustrated and a little bit annoyed what do you intend doing two loads of bread yes and a cup of tea i'm extremely worried about the quality of what's going to go on our table in fact i'm extremely worried that there'll be anything on our table at all god help us all [Music] the vikrant and his guests are on their way to inspect his farm but it's meltdown in the kitchen although kirstie alley has come up with a plan i think the ingredients are so good that if i baked it over the pirate fire it might turn in to a pudding and we have nothing to lose right i've done a lot of dinner parties and things and it doesn't always work out the way you think it's going to work out and i put eggs in it and made it into something else the yard's clear but the farm now needs to be decorated dairymaid meg is in her element oh yeah can you do um two bows each side of that this is my forte because in life my favorite thing is dressing houses oh you look so beautiful everything had to be beautified didn't it in order to transform it into some sort of arcadian fantasy world yeah on marie antoinette's family used to polish the pigs put ribbons on the cows fragrance the sheep and they would actually wash the eggs and then put them back in the nest box for her to find on inspection no no no no no no i'll do with this this this holes do i need a brush what do you think no i need a raspberry that's it yeah it's hard to have beeswax in these horns i'm not quite he looks a lot better than he did look at that tail compared to what it was gleaming could you please put some perfume gentlemen perfume on the animals [Music] an inspection was an important social event for a model farmer demonstrating how enlightened progressive and wealthy he was to his visitors even his workers had to be spotless come on let's have a look at you with the animals displayed to show off their best features so let's get the two here this is how i want you to hold them buttocks facing that i count if you'll stand here and what we'll do is you can turn him to his side so we can see him like that because the animal's a lot more important than you of course oh my knees this is killing me my lord my lady and guests as you can see the stock is in fine fettle the sturdy lad this one and i thought he's talking about me in the regard i don't know what talk about the ball chris one of our shepherds will take our prize ball around for a walk in the first step he went right onto my toe [Music] he makes himself out to be the joker and the fooler but he's got away with animals then we have a couple of our prized lambs i hope again we will have sheep as good as any from the south downs or from leicestershire and me and as you can see they're fattening up nicely so hopefully they come up to your satisfaction well done man definitely walk on me foot like i saw it that was hard next will the pigs pass master and as you can see pigs are very clean and hopefully these are ready for the eating within the next few weeks very good thank you thank you it was slightly sad though when he said they're about ready to be eaten thinking oh great oh crying i've just washed your buddy pig farm yard inspection over now for the viscount's tea but only the best female workers will be chosen for the honour of serving it to the vike and his guests where's kirsty i'd like you to go to the parlor now and stand ready to serve the tea thank you meg i've been very impressed with you today my dear so i'd like you to join us if you will oh thank you ladies if the rest of you will wait there i tried really hard today no after hours of frantic toil tea time has arrived there we have a goat's cheese here which i prepared [Music] that's excellent [Music] i feel really really proud because i've made something from start to finish loaves baked in ovens without trays had undersides caked in ash when served to the upper classes this was cut off hence the term upper crust [Music] no comments on the bread but will kirsty's improvised pudding meet with approval very impressive they were actually really nice they weren't being all snooty mcrooty if i worked on a place like this and they were genuinely nice people who were interested in more than flitting about acting like morons i could get tricky with it you have to give the georgians their due their fascination with farming went far beyond well-scrubbed pigs and perfectly groomed sheep their experimentation with breeding crops and new machinery ensured that we had increasingly productive farms and cheaper more reliable sources of food so much so that mass starvation became a thing of the past inspection over time to get the verdicts of the bailiff and his wife evening gentlemen it's jones jones the vice count was happy we have done a great job fantastic chris you impressed me thank you and if there is any of these guys that i'd employ it would be you thank you very much so after a great day on the farm the vi count is going to have a celebration tonight we're going to have cider stew and music three cheers for mr jones hey pip hey hey baby baby you're welsh bastard [Laughter] most of the girls have done well but it's not good news for all of them louise this afternoon it was panic wasn't it it was panic and you were crossed because you were no longer in control you didn't know quite how to rescue the situation zoe you didn't really pull your weight you could have helped them a lot more than you did louise and zoe you will be needed to go to the kitchen to do some washing up [Music] i hate the kitchen i really do and i've been stuck in a kitchen for every single one of these it is hard to be enthusiastic when you're just being told you're crap all the time i really really like to do my job well and if things conspire against me and i can't do it i do find you know that is frustrating for me i don't really know about life on a georgia modern farm because all i know is this kitchen and mrs jones [Music] for the rest of the time crashers a chance to reflect on their time in georgia england [Music] i like the georgians i like their mentality i like the way they treat their staff i don't want to leave this era i feel fulfilled i'm happy but i've absolutely loved it ass and you cleaned a lot of arse this is the first one i've probably took really seriously got praise at the end he says i'm the only one he would hire so yeah i'm gonna stay here georginira this farm one of the best days i've had definitely in time crushers nearly in my life this has been an era of great change both for the british and for our time crashers we've seen two of them meg and chris really come into their own for the first time and we've seen the birth of modern farming technological scientific but all wrapped up in a flurry of showing off and bows on the pigsty but that pretty much sums up the georgians doesn't it next time what are we fish wives it's 1885 and the time crashers land in a victorian oyster fishery i have never looked lovelier we've got the fidgets we've got the fishies we're scraping a living from the beach turns to mud sweat and tears what the hell god this is a nightmare you

Channel: Absolute History

Views: 241,657

Keywords: history documentaries, absolute history, world history, ridiculous history, quirky history, georgian era, bridgerton, tony robinson, history of britain, georgian britain, prince regent, regency era

Id: K2vZieScllo

Length: 49min 37sec (2977 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 27 2021