the women who washed a king
Henry VIII’s court required a constant supply of clean linen. Shirts, towels, napkins, sheets, tablecloths and underclothes all had to be washed, dried, folded, mended and returned while the king and his household moved from palace to palace.
Royal laundresses were among the few permanent women in the king’s household. Their work required trust and discretion, especially because they handled the monarch’s personal linen.
One of the few names recorded is Anne Harris, Henry VIII’s laundress. Court ordinances listed her duties in detail. Each week she was responsible for washing seven long breakfast cloths, seven short breakfast cloths, eight towels, three dozen napkins, and any extra pieces needed for the king’s service.
She also had to provide sweet powders, sweet herbs and other scented materials to keep the linen fresh.
The work was hard and physical. White linen was boiled clean. Some pieces were starched in a pewter basin, pressed with small irons and pleated with linen “smothers”.
Laundresses were supplied with items such as a chafer, an ash bag and a basin for the work.
Much of the washing was done outdoors, where there was water, space and sunlight. In summer, linen could be laid out to dry and bleach naturally in the sun. In winter, it was dried near braziers.
The king’s most personal laundry, including underclothes and bed linen, was probably handled separately inside the palace for privacy.
These women were essential to court life, but they left very little trace in the records. Their work was daily, difficult and necessary, yet most of their names are lost.
Source: Tracy Borman, The Private Lives of the Tudors.
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