King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra loved nothing more than to “meet for tea” with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of food both hot and cold, cakes, sandwiches of all kinds, rolls and jams.
In 1902, to celebrate English teatime, Queen Alexandra invited 10,000 of London's 'maids-of-all-work' to tea parties across the capital to mark the Coronation. The teas were orchestrated by the Office of the Bishop of London and The Times reported that between July 10 and August 2, although it poured with rain almost incessantly, the girls gathered for 'tea, white and brown bread and butter, jam, lettuce and watercress sandwiches, seed cake*, iced plum cake and strawberries'. These were the tweenies, the skivvies, the slaveys, the grafters: girls who slept in basement kitchens next to the stove, or in tiny bedrooms under the eaves, where it was either freezing cold or oppressively hot. From Norwood, Tottenham, St Pancras, St Albans and Camberwell they came, and were entertained with music, 'fancy sketches' and similar treats by the ladies of the local branches of the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants ('MABYS') and other benevolent institutions.
The Bishop of London, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, stood on a table in the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park to address the throng and reminded them of their vital role in the development and expansion of the Empire.
One thousand teas were served in the gardens of the Bishop's Palace in Fulham. 'We carried it off as well as we could,' remembered the Bishop, 'except that a thousand girls insisted on kissing the band, but as the band did not seem to mind there was no harm done.' The maids-of-all-work, most of whom would have half a day off a week at most, were permitted, 'contrary to the custom at gatherings of this kind', to wear their own clothing.
*Seed cake was a real favorite during Victorian times. It was a must have on most tea tables and remained very popular until the first half of the 20th century. It then fell out of favor as being too old fashioned.
This cake is lovely, thinly sliced and served with a nice hot cup of tea. You couldn’t get a more traditional treat.
https://larkintea.com/blogs/recipes/victorian-seed-cake