Monday, 9 April 2018

Ducal Accounts

The Secret Rooms is a factual book written by Catherine Bailey about John, 9th Duke of Rutland.

The 9th Duke's life changed when his elder brother, Lord Haddon, Lord and Lady Granby's eldest son and therefore heir-presumptive to the dukedom, died aged only nine years old, following an accident.


The Dukes of Rutland were one of the wealthiest noble families in the realm.

In 1899, the wage roll of Henry, the 8th Duke, was £900,000, about £98,000,000 at today's values.

At Belvoir Castle, the Duke employed
  • Groom of Chambers; 
  • House Steward; 
  • Usher of the Hall; 
  • chef; 
  • pastry chef; 
  • confectioner; 
  • plate butler; 
  • clockman; 
  • steward's-room boy; 
  • housemaids; 
  • kitchen maids; 
  • scullery maids; 
  • footmen; 
  • odd-job men; 
  • porters.
Outside the Castle, many more staff were in the employ of the Duke, including
  • grooms; 
  • stable lads; 
  • dairy maids; 
  • studmen; 
  • brewers; 
  • rat-catchers; 
  • mole-catchers; 
  • millers; 
  • mechanics; 
  • gardeners; 
  • groundsmen; 
  • gamekeepers; 
  • river-keepers; 
  • huntsmen; 
  • kennelmen; 
  • slaughterman; 
  • stockmen; 
  • horsemen; 
  • farm-hands; 
  • woodsmen
The Belvoir Estate cost £13,000 per annum to maintain, equivalent to about £2,000,000 in today's values.

First published in July, 2013.  Rutland arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous14 July 2013 at 20:31

    john, the 9th Duke of Rutland, was the grandfather of the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9 April 2018 at 14:44

    Lord Belmont might enjoy the Fry and Laurie sketch about the Duke and Duchess of Northampton - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXmaHCfBKxE VC

    ReplyDelete
  3. Demetrius9 April 2018 at 17:58

    I recall Belvoir from the turn of the 50's and of the 40's. 29th Armoured Brigade were there pre the Normandy landings. The Poles had their troops as well as airmen in the vicinity. A good many visitors went through Grantham especially during the hunting season. A certain Margaret Roberts, later Thatcher, had a grandfather on the railway as a porter who would tell them where to go.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Timothy Belmont10 April 2018 at 07:54

    VC, brilliant clip. "I see Peter Ferris has died." .... "oh, good."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown31 July 2020 at 11:23

    Timothy, Do you have any information on the house and grounds at Ballymacormick Point? Colin Flinn

    ReplyDelete
  6. Timothy Belmont1 August 2020 at 07:29

    Hello Colin, I've written about a few houses in that area: Portavo and Glenganagh. Glenganagh is really at Ballyholme Bay. If you enter a key word in the white search box, or just Google the key word with my blog name, it ought to pop up. Tim.

    ReplyDelete