I’m watching Downton Abby for the first time. In the show, the Crawley’s, who are the lords of the fictional Downton Abby estate, are very involved in the lives of the servants who work and live in their home. They know much about their personal lives, and even pull strings to get them other jobs, put in specific military units (during WW1 when the young men all get drafted), and so on. They are also very generous with their money, giving servants that they fire or that quit two months or more worth of wages before they leave the house. My question is, was this kind of behavior normal amongst the English landed nobility?