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.

The Nobel laureate contacted the Irish ambassador in London in 1950 to help him find what one official subsequently described as “Eliza Doolittle the Second” — a reference to one of Shaw’s own most famous fictional characters from the play Pygmalion.

Shaw explained he wanted to find an “Irish domestic” who could look after him at his home in Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire.

Files show his previous domestic help had got married and there was concern about whether her replacement would be able to adapt to both an English way of life as well as the life of the writer.

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On foot of his approach to the Irish embassy in Britain, a civil servant attached to the Department of External Affairs in Dublin took out advertisements in both the Irish Times and the Evening Mail as well as establishing a ”formidable” interview panel from officials at the department’s headquarters on St Stephen’s Green.

The initial advertisement for an “experienced house parlour maid for single elderly gentleman” in an “attractive country residence” attracted no replies.

A follow-up advertisement included Shaw’s name, which officials believed would act as “some sort of attraction.” 

Pay was £3 a week and the fare from Ireland was to be covered.

Applicants were advised: “You would live in an attractive country residence. Mr Shaw spends most of his time out of doors reading and writing, and the housekeeper is also the cook. The duties would not be too hard, there is good time off and, of course, there is always something of interest happening in the home of such a famous writer.” 

A handful of hopefuls questioned about the job were assured it would “be a very pleasant one” by officials in Dublin.

The interview panel also considered that a woman aged 30-40 would be best suited for the role as a “sense of responsibility” and “discrimination” were needed to screen visitors and telephone callers.

A woman from Bray, Co Wicklow, Patricia Dicker, who was described as “an answer to Mr Shaw’s prayer” and “a very adaptable young woman” was the unanimous choice of the interview panel.

However, the Department of External Affairs moved to distance itself from the appointment following Shaw’s death a few months later at the age of 94 when Ms Dicker’s mother complained about her daughter being required to stay in the house after the writer’s death.