Family

Christmas had once again come to Downton. But for many, this one was much different from the ones they had gotten to know at the big house. It was 1930, and the Great Depression had made Lord Grantham cut back on the staff and many had retired from life in service, wanting more from life.

The first one to partially leave service was Mr. Molesley. The headmaster of Downton village had discovered Mr. Molesley when Daisy has done her examinations: Joseph was a wise man with a lot of knowledge on diverse subjects. That's why they hired him as a teacher in late 1925. He still worked, when there was grand parties at the big house, as a footman. But still, finding his true passion gave Joseph Molesley the courage to finally admit his feeling to Miss Baxter, who of course reciprocated them. At Jack Bates' christening, somewhere in March 1926, he finally proposed after barely three months of courting. They were married before the end of the year.

Soon after Mr Molesley, Mr Carson left service too. But it wasn't, unfortunately, because he had found his inner calling. It was because he had been diagnosed with Parkinson -or palsy as he called it- in late 1925. He was left alone in his small cottage that he shared with his wife, Elsie. He was often bored of spending his days doing nothing since the man had work all his life. He would help Thomas Barrow in his new job as Downton's butler, but the younger man was settling in easily in his new job and soon didn't need mentoring. Fortunately the opportunity of a small job caught his attention and he gladly took it. When he wasn't working, he would garden in his yard. The garden was improving daily with old Mr Molesley's weekly advices. He would often surprise, on summer days, his wife with a large bouquet of flowers when she would come back home from a long at at the Abbey.

Later that spring, the Bateses had dropped a bombshell. They had bought the Grantham's Arms and were both leaving service, both wanting to be more present for their son and be a united family. Fixing the hotel took a lot of work, but at the end, it was all worth it. They were much happier being their own bosses. Mr Bates had never done paperwork at the Abbey so he hired Mr Carson to help him out with business. Their son John Jr "Jack" grew healthy and dark, to be his father's portrait and he was soon join by a set of twins, two other boys, Charles who was his mother's and very shy and quiet and Edward who was exactly like his brother Jack at the same age but much more outspoken. A couple of week before Christmas 1930, Anna had announced a third pregnancy. This time, the couple was crossing their fingers for a little girl.

Later during the cold winter of 1926, the Night of Love -it's how they would all call it afterwards- happened at Mr Mason's farm. In one evening, two couples had become engaged. Beryl Patmore and Albert Mason had decide to get married early and so she moved to the farm a couple of weeks after Daisy.

Earlier that evening, Andrew "Andy" Parker had asked Mr Mason's permission to marry Daisy. As much as it pained the man to see his daughter in law moving on, he was glad that it was with a good guy like Andy. Of course when he proposed, Daisy accepted. But unlike the elderly couple, they decided to wait a while until they tied the knot. Andy had a grand plan for the farmhouse: he wanted, with Mr Mason's help, to build a extension to the house so Daisy and he would have more space for their future family.

They were finally wed on a sunny day of July 1927. By that time the following year, they were now three with their daughter Laura. They also had another daughter in the summer of 1930 named Lisa.

Mrs Patmore... well Mrs Mason retired in 1929, to be a full time grandmother to Laura. She loved the child so much! So Daisy was promoted to cook at the big house. Andy still worked as a footman but helped out at the farm every minute he could.

Mrs Hughes had worked until last fall, when she realized she wasn't getting any younger and wanted to enjoy life a little more. So she retired with her pension and found herself loving being at home with her husband and watching him garden. She and her husband were also very close to the Bateses... their sons called them grandma and grandpa and nothing could warm her heart like that. So she often spent time at their hotel with Anna and her sons keeping her company.