What exactly did an Ayah do

[a-l]

My Ayah was called Irene and from the pictures that my parents took, she was a strikingly beautiful woman. Every morning, she would take me to the Zoological Gardens. Two paces behind us was always a tall Patan with a sword and immense moustaches and a fierce look about him. Unfortunately, we left India when I was still young and all Ihave is pictures. 

Regards 

Chas

What a wonderful memory 

[a-l]

I also remember that the lady who washed the dishes was called a Doby. I found that amusing as a child because of the Doby washing up liquid.

[brigidmac]

Thanks for all these lovely replies so nice to get an insight into a different life

Bumble B I found that 1901  census it looks like they kept
Their cook and parlour maid for over a decade taking them to leicester all had same positions in 1911 ...hope they had a pay rise at least

I think ellen Hurwick Harwuck is the housemaid too ..all unmarried

[brigidmac]

Id love to see that picture kiltpin

Anyone who has access to 1911 what do you think the surname is .

Is there a way of finding out more about Sarah s family

I found a boat passage for Edmund & Nora & the children .
(Then tried to look at subsequent pages and lost the page totally
My ipad jumps to previous searches arbitrarily )

My mother interviewed Margaret the youngest of the Packe children b 1922
I wonder if  she had an aya or a nurse
*apparently there is a photo of Margaret PACKE as a baby being pushed by a nurse
I will try and get hold of it ...

In 1901 there was a married nurse age 37 Sarah BUTLER presumably for edmunds younger siblings
Unless she was a medical nurse

I did wonder if they had married nurses for particular reason.

[Sloe Gin]

How is "Ayah" pronounced?  It's a word I've never heard spoken aloud.

[Jebber]

How is "Ayah" pronounced?  It's a word I've never heard spoken aloud.

Pronounced Hiya without the H in front.

In China it would be Amah, as in armour.

[brigidmac]

good question sloe

I always pronounce it "eye a"

My indian flatmate has never heard of the word .
(His word for carer was banji..which also means sister )

There are lots of indian languages tho ..

Im sure there were Aya.s in Kipling stories but may have been spelt differently

Hopefully  a_i & kiltpin will tell us how they said it and if they know which language it was from

[Treetotal]

An interesting post to read, I have never heard of it before! You learn something every day on here.
Carol

[youngtug]

.

Im sure there were Aya.s in Kipling stories but may have been spelt differently

  Quote from Kipling; “Our ayah was a Portuguese Roman Catholic who would pray—I beside her—at a wayside Cross. Meeta, my Hindu bearer,