The servants’ quarters at Downton Abbey serves as home to many lovable and vibrant characters. Sometimes I wonder how they came to Highclere Castle and what their lives were like in the Time Before. Here’s what I could find out with a little research:
Mrs. Patmore — First name Beryl; She has 3 sisters, two of whom are deceased. During the Great War, 
Mrs. Patmore learned that her nephew Archibald Philpotts had been shot for cowardice at the front. She had cataract surgery in 1914 (a procedure that had been around since the 1740’s). She would have spent 6 to 8 weeks recuperating.
Mrs. Hughes — First name Elsie. (b.1862), head housekeeper and also in charge of all the female servants. She is originally from Argyll and her father was a farmer. She has just one sibling, a sister Becky, who requires a caretaker that Mrs Hughes pays for, leaving her with no savings. 
Mrs Hughes arrived at Downton as Head Housemaid in 1895 and was promoted to Housekeeper soon after. Mrs Hughes was “walking out” with a country farmer named Joe Burns; when she received the offer to work at Downton he proposed, but, after finding her work as Housekeeper enjoyable and rewarding, Mrs Hughes refused him.
Baxter — First name Phyllis. She came to Downton through Thomas, the butler, due to her friendship with his sister. As Lady’s Maid to Cora (Lady Grantham), Baxter endears herself through skillful needlework and kind gestures. 
During her last employment, she stole from her employer and it turns out that she did it all for love. He promised her a new and better life in “Arizona.” All she had to do was steal jewels from the woman she was working for at the time; when she did, she found her love had gone, taking the jewels but not Baxter. She tried to cover up the crime but did such a bad job that she was sentenced to five years in prison and served three.
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Peanutsez 