Did your grandmother rise before dawn to light fires at Wentworth Woodhouse? Did a great-uncle polish silver in its vast kitchens or tend the sprawling estate grounds?

A new exhibition opening this summer at Wentworth Woodhouse is calling for the stories that history left out – those of the servants and staff who lived and worked behind the scenes of one of Britain’s grandest homes.

Ahead of the exhibition, Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust is appealing to the public to come forward with family memories, photographs and mementos that shed light on the people who kept the house and wider estate running smoothly.

From boot boys, laundry maids and footmen to gardeners, gamekeepers and stable hands, generations of workers played a vital role in the daily life of the estate.

Now, their stories – long overlooked – are set to take centre stage in Echoes of the House: Stories of Light and Motion, an Arts Council England funded exhibition that will be on in the State Rooms from July to November.

If your ancestors worked at the Big House or on the historic estate from the Georgian era to the 2000s, the Trust would love to hear from you – no matter how small or insignificant you think your information or item is.

“We want to hear the anecdotal stories, what happened in people’s working day, but also their personal lives; where they came from, where they lived, who they married,” says the Trust’s head of culture and community engagement, Victoria Ryves.

“Our research volunteers have uncovered stories of a number of servants and found out lots of information about how the household and the estate was run, how staff were trained and promoted. But there is so much we don’t know and we want to capture as much as possible before things get lost to time.”

The exhibition will feature stories, exhibits and digital and interactive displays curated by Victoria and the cultural team based on information gathered by the research volunteers. Afterwards, all the stories gathered will be kept in their archives forever to ensure these stories of working class people are never forgotten.

Former nursery school teacher Deborah Smith, from Tickhill, is on both the research and digital teams. Since 2020, she has made it her mission to uncover information about people who lived and worked at the house.

She has researched the life of footman Oscar John Snelling and was responsible for busting the 60-year-old myth that Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, had danced at the house for King George V’s 1912 visit. Deborah discovered the dancer was actually Lydia Kyasht, the first Russian ballerina to come to the West.

 “I love telling the hidden stories, about the people behind the scenes who contributed so much to the running of the house,” she said. “Personally, I’d love to find out what it was like to clean up Countess Maud’s parrot droppings off the carpet. Someone had to do that job!”

Deborah says the research team have access to lots of information in the Census records, the household accounts and the audits created after the death of a Marquess or Earl, but are hoping the public appeal will fill gaps in their stories, particularly about the female workforce.

“They couldn’t vote, they changed names on marriage and they weren’t home or land-owners, so they are hard to trace from official documents.”

People can email their information to exhibitions@wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk and arrange to meet the team with their photos and memorabilia. Everyone who gets involved will be invited to the exhibition launch in July.