The re-imagined story …
Rosa Christelow and I started work as housemaids at Windsor Castle on the same day. Rosa was older than me and had lots of experience. I had grown up in Oakley Mere, a small village on the outskirts of Windsor, and had lots to learn. Rosa also used to say I had a lot of cheek.
People couldn’t understand how we were such good friends; we were like chalk and cheese. Perhaps that’s why.
Rosa got me out of a lot of scrapes, I can tell you. And me, well I could always make her laugh. Once I demonstrated how to dance the Charleston in a corridor outside the library where some of the young royal cousins were playing a gramophone. I nearly lost my job over that, but Rosa managed to intercede for me.
It was a wonderful life working up at the Castle. The things we saw and the people we met. Well, not met exactly. Most of the guests barely noticed us, but we would peep round corridors and over the top of stairs to watch them arrive and depart. And of course, there were occasions when the household staff were presented to the King and Queen. And Christmas – oh Christmas was a wonderful time. Hard work, but wonderful.
And sometimes the staff had the place to ourselves. What we got up to then, well I couldn’t possibly tell you.
I left in 1913 when I married Robert one of the footmen up at the Castle, but I always kept in touch with Rosa. When she retired, I visited her once or twice at the house she shared with her sister in Swindon. Her home was as neat as a pin. You could tell she had been a housemaid; little touches I noticed, ways of doing things she had taught me. I didn’t envy the little girl who came in to clean for them. I bet Rosa put her through her paces.
The facts …
Rosa Harriet Christelow was born on October 25, 1879 the third child and second daughter of John Christelow, a boilermaker, and his wife Priscilla. Rosa was baptised at St Mark’s Church on November 30, 1879 and grew up at 42 Wellington Street, the family home for more than 70 years.
In 1907 she entered the Royal Household at Windsor Castle as one of the 38 Class 3 housemaids earning £25 per annum. Rosa was later promoted to a Class 2 housemaid on £30 per year. She was still employed at Windsor Castle during the First World War and records list her there in 1924, the date at which published figures close.
At the time of the 1911 census Rosa was one of 33 housemaids, a total of 51 female servants. Royals in residence in 1911 were Princess May of Teck who was five years old and her three-year-old brother Prince Rupert of Teck. These children were Queen Victoria’s great-grandchildren.
By 1939 Rosa was living at 42 Wellington Street with her sister Rhoda where she is described as a paid domestic servant. There are gaps in what is known about Rosa’s whereabout between 1891 to 1901 and 1924 to 1939 probably due to a mis-transcription of her surname.
Rosa’s parents, John and Priscilla, are buried with two of their daughters, Laura Priscilla and Rhoda Annie, in plot D1350.
Rosa eventually moved into 125 Goddard Avenue, a home she shared with her brother Samuel. After several years working in the railway factory, Samuel Christelow travelled to Zimbabwe where he was ordained. Widowed and retired he returned to Swindon where he lived with Rosa at 125 Goddard Avenue. He died in St Margaret’s Hospital in 1972 and is buried in plot D1587.
Rosa died at St Margaret’s Hospital in 1972. She was aged 92. She is buried with her grandmother in plot B1877.
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