Christine Robinson: The Housekeeper's Tale

Photograph © Christine Robinson

Christine Robinson is a very good storyteller. From the start, she had us listening to every word about her forty years as the housekeeper at Chatsworth House, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. While she was a student, she lived locally and had a Saturday job helping in the estate shop and became intrigued by the house and its occupants. This lead to a permanent post, learning from Dorothy Dean the housekeeper at that time.

Christine told us that Chatsworth House has been the Devonshire family home for 500 years and the archives hold details of many historical events. The 11^th Duke and Duchess loved to entertain and there is a warm atmosphere in this very grand house with the staff working as a team to ensure it is so. She described how everything is vacuumed and dusted every day with half a mile of corridors to be kept tidy. Books, of which there are more than 17,500, ceramics, sculptures, ornaments and carpets are all deep cleaned regularly. The chandeliers are taken down piece by piece and then carefully reassembled after cleaning with one containing a staggering 2763 pieces!

Sometime after the death of the Dowager Duchess (the former 11^th Duchess), Christine was surprised to be bequeathed a beautiful Delft pot and which contained a small box. On opening this, she found a ring with the initials “DD” which she recognised as one worn by her predecessor Dorothy Dean. Apparently this had been left to the Duchess because her initials were the same. In turn, the Duchess had thought that Christine might like it by which to remember her.

After the talk, Val McMinn proposed a vote of thanks to Christine and her dutiful husband, so called by Christine, who works quietly behind the scenes as all good husbands should! This was followed by a prize draw. There was a small jar of preserve from Chatsworth on each table and under it was a raffle ticket. Each guest had been allotted a ticket under their individual cup and saucer and there was therefore a winner on each table.