State papers: George Bernard Shaw sought help from government in hiring housemaid

George Bernard Shaw contacted the Irish ambassador in London in 1950 to help him find what one official subsequently described as 'Eliza Doolittle the Second'. Picture: Sasha/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The famous Irish writer George Bernard Shaw sought the help of the Irish government in finding him a new housemaid in the months before his death.

Recently declassified State papers have revealed there were initially no applicants for the role advertised by the Government until officials subsequently made clear the job involved looking after the well-known playwright in his English home.