For breakfast, the servants ate bread and meat, the meat carved by the cook from the previous day's roast or served in a slice of cold pie. Alternatively, they ate porridge, followed by bacon and eggs.
The modern breakfast
In the early years of the Victorian era breakfast would have consisted, if you could afford it, of cold meats, cheese and beer. In time this was replaced by porridge, fish, eggs and bacon - the "full English".
People during the mid-Victorian period ate exceptionally nutrient-dense diets that included copious fresh fruits and vegetables, pasture-raised meats and dairy, fish, nuts, seeds, and legumes.
We also know that servant mealtimes were pivotal to the timing of the whole day, and changed only slowly through the 19th century. The first break was usually taken mid-morning and involved a drink. The main meal – 'dinner'– was taken at around midday, while 'tea' was a very light meal served at around 4 o'clock.
Raising animals for meat is costly, so buying meat was seen as a luxury that many were unable to afford. Victorians with more money enjoyed mutton, bacon, cheese, eggs, sugar, treacle and jam as part of their meals.
Before cereal, in the mid 1800s, the American breakfast was not all that different from other meals. Middle- and upper-class Americans ate eggs, pastries, and pancakes, but also oysters, boiled chickens, and beef steaks.
Personal servants slept on truckle beds in their master's bedchamber or outside their door. Senior officers had bedchambers, but it was common for people of all ranks to share beds not simply for space but warmth.
Much like today, families usually ate three daily meals. The main meal in the 1800s, however, was not the large evening meal that is familiar to us today. Rather, it was a meal called dinner, enjoyed in the early afternoon. Supper was a smaller meal eaten in the evening.
6 a.m. – Rise, light kitchen fire, fill kettles, clean boots, sweep hall and steps. Sweep, and light dining-room fire, call family, and take hot water. Help mistress to lay table, and prepare breakfast.
Victorian families with more money to spend on food often ate a large breakfast, a lighter lunch and then afternoon tea followed by an evening meal with multiple courses.
For the poorest a sandwich of bread and watercress was the most common. At the start of the week, porridge made with water might be possible. Lunch involved bread, combined with cheese if possible or more watercress. At the start of the week, soup could occasionally be bought as cheap street food.
The main wines consumed with dinner were port, sherry, Burgundy, Claret and Hock and when entertaining at evening parties, good quality champagne was served to guests. Dickens emphasised the importance of sourcing only the best quality wines and spirits from reputable wine merchants but there were other retail options.
Queen Elizabeth prefered to keep it simple when it came to breakfast. A bowl of Special K with some assorted fruits was apparently her go-to meal to get the day started the right way. On special occasions, she allegedly treated herself to some scrambled eggs and smoked salmon if she felt like it!
So if you had the means, breakfast was a pretty hefty meal, and that didn't really start to shift until around 1902. According to Encyclopedia, this is when ready-made dried breakfast cereal first appeared in Britain — and interestingly, it was also the year following the death of Victoria in 1901 (via Royal).
Queen Elizabeth's menu preferences
Her Majesty started the morning off with yogurt, cereal, or toast but sometimes opted for smoked haddock or kippers, which was one of her favorite breakfast options. British Heritage Travel notes that the Queen enjoyed scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on special occasions.
Popular foods included beef, mutton, port, bacon, cheese, eggs, bread, potatoes, rice, porridge oats, milk, vegetables, flour, sugar, treacle, jam and tea. Breakfast might consist of stoneground bread smeared with dripping or lard, with a large bunch of watercress.
Afternoon Tea will be served at five o'clock in the Drawing Room or in the Tea Room. You may also expect a selection of bread and butter, tea bread, cakes and biscuits to be served. Dinner will be served at eight o'clock.
The servants' ball has had a long tradition in the country house estates of Britain and only really died out with the onset of the Second World War. They were a cultural melting pot where popular music of the day would be performed alongside traditional country dance tunes.
Queen Elizabeth had a large bed but her ladies in waiting slept on straw pallets on the floor of her chamber. Many of these ladies had fine beds in their own homes with featherbeds (a kind of down filled coverlet) laid over heavy canvas-covered mattresses filled with wool, straw, or moss.
The proclamation may have proved less than accurate, but for almost a century between the 1850s and 1950s, separate beds were seen as a healthier, more modern option for couples than the double, with Victorian doctors warning that sharing a bed would allow the weaker sleeper to drain the vitality of the stronger.
Beans, cornmeal mush, Johnnycakes or pancakes, and coffee were the usual breakfast.
Breakfast tended to be a large meal and would have included ham, eggs, bacon, bread and fish. This was followed by a light lunch and afternoon tea. The evening meal was the main meal of the day and had many different courses. Wealthy Victorian families would often throw large dinner parties.
For most people, breakfast consisted of bread, cornmeal mush and milk, or bread and milk together, and tea. Even the gentry might eat modestly in the morning, although they could afford meat or fish...