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sherlock602016-07-24 08:01 am
scfrankles.livejournal.com) wrote in sherlock602016-07-24 08:01 am
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Discussion Post: The Copper Beeches
This week, the canon story we’re looking at is The Copper Beeches and the chosen topic is Victorian Governesses.
A few facts:
🚸 The 1851 Census revealed that 25,000 women earned their living teaching and caring for other women’s children. Most governesses lived with their employers and were paid a small salary on top of their board and lodging. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 According to some estimates, pay ranged from £15 to £100 a year. The larger sum would only be applicable to the "highly educated lady" who could find a position in a very well-to-do family. The average salary probably fell between £20 and £45 a year. [M. Jeanne Peterson]
🚸 Although a private governess was provided with food and shelter, she was expected to either buy or make her own clothes, keeping in mind that she was required to look presentable at all times in order to avoid shaming her employer. She was also expected to pay for her own medical care, travel expenses, and laundry, and she could expect no security of employment. [enotes.com]
🚸 The psychological situation of the governess made her position unenviable. Her presence created practical difficulties within the Victorian home because she was neither a servant nor a member of the family. She was from the social level of the family, but the fact that she was paid a salary put her at the economic level of the servants. [Bonnie G. Smith, "Chapter 5: The Domestic Sphere in the Victorian Age," Changing Lives via The Victorian Web]
🚸 The literature of the 1840’s suggests that there was a sudden increase in the number of gentlewomen without financial support in the years following the Napoleonic wars… From the research of twentieth-century historians it is clear that the number of single middle-class women in need of employment… also arose out of the emigration of single men from England to the colonies, from the differential mortality rate which favored women, and from the tendency for men in the middle classes to marry later. [M. Jeanne Peterson]
🚸 Employing a governess sent a signal that the lady of the house was too ‘genteel’ to teach her daughters herself. Just as she employed servants to clean her house, she paid another woman to raise her children. Hiring a governess became a status symbol. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸...the governess could find herself teaching ‘the three Rs’... to the youngest, while coaching the older girls in French conversation, history and ‘Use of the Globes’ or Geography. If her pupils were older teens, the governess would also be expected to instruct them in key ‘accomplishments’ such as drawing, playing piano, dancing and deportment (i.e. how to conduct oneself properly), all designed to attract an eligible suitor in a very crowded marriage market. The governess might also be in charge of small boys up to the age of eight, before they were sent away to school. The governess was expected to look after her pupils’ moral education too. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 Since salaries were so low, there was little chance of saving for illness or retirement. Many governesses found themselves facing poverty in middle age. In 1841 The Governesses’ Benevolent Institution was set up to help some of them with pensions. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 Reorganized in 1843, the GBI provided financial assistance to retired or unemployed governesses, who had no provisions for illness or old age. The GBI also offered temporary housing to unemployed governesses as well as a registry of governesses seeking employment, for the benefit of potential employers. [enotes.com]
🚸 In the event of illness or old age and inability to work, the governess faced the prospect of charity, such as that provided by the Governesses' Benevolent Institution in the form of small annuities for retired governesses. The number was limited, however, and reports of governesses in workhouses or asylums were not uncommon. [M. Jeanne Peterson]
🚸 Not all doom and gloom! ...according to a cache of letters, diaries and memoirs that came to light after [Kathryn Hughes]’ appeal to Woman's Hour listeners to search their attics for material written by real-life governesses… [t]he women who emerged were intelligent, vigorous professionals who relished the chance to escape from the suffocating constraints of Victorian femininity. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 Nor, in retirement, did governesses necessarily retreat into genteel poverty, broken only by the occasional visit from a dutiful ex-pupil. May Pinhorn, a shining example of the most enterprising and vigorous type of governess, retired to Oxford in her late fifties and decided to undertake psychoanalysis, at a time when such a course was unheard of outside the most progressive circles. 'In spite of my placid exterior,' she explained to surprised friends, 'I have always been at heart an adventurer.' [Kathryn Hughes]
Some useful resources:
The figure of the governess by Kathryn Hughes on the British Library website.
The Governess by The British Library on YouTube: Kathryn Hughes explains the role of the governess in 19th-century society and literature. 6 minutes 23 seconds.
Marry you, Mr Rochester? I've got better things to do: The Victorian governess was independent, intelligent and likely to spurn proposals of marriage. by Kathryn Hughes on The Independent website.
The Victorian Governess On the PBS website.
The Governess and Class Prejudice by Erin Wells on The Victorian Web.
The Victorian Governess Novel by Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros, Department of English, Lund University on The Victorian Web.
The Victorian Governess: Status Incongruence in Family and Society by M. Jeanne Peterson [PDF]
The Governess in Nineteenth-Century Literature On the e notes website.
The Governess From the Cassells Household Guide, New and Revised Edition (4 Vol.) c.1880s, on The Dictoinary of Victorian London.
Governess, Companion and Housekeeper Ads From The Times of London, 1845-1847. With commentary, on Victorian Contexts.
The Victorian Governess as Spectacle of Pain: A Cultural History of the British Governess as Withered Invalid, Bloody Victim and Sadistic Birching Madam, From 1840 to 1920 by Ruby Ray Daily of Vermont University (October, 2014) [PDF]
This thesis examines the celebrity of governesses in British culture during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Victorian governess-mania was as pervasive as it was inexplicable, governesses comprising only a tiny fraction of the population and having little or no ostensible effect on the social, political, or economic landscape. Nevertheless, governesses were omnipresent in Victorian media, from novels and etiquette manuals to paintings, cartoons and pornography…
However, while previous scholarship has maintained that governess-mania was produced by their peculiarity as social or economic actors, I intend to demonstrate that this nonconformity was extrapolated in visual and literary depictions to signify a more prurient deviance, specifically a fixation on human suffering…
Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.
Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. And if you have any suggestions for fic prompts springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.
A few facts:
🚸 The 1851 Census revealed that 25,000 women earned their living teaching and caring for other women’s children. Most governesses lived with their employers and were paid a small salary on top of their board and lodging. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 According to some estimates, pay ranged from £15 to £100 a year. The larger sum would only be applicable to the "highly educated lady" who could find a position in a very well-to-do family. The average salary probably fell between £20 and £45 a year. [M. Jeanne Peterson]
🚸 Although a private governess was provided with food and shelter, she was expected to either buy or make her own clothes, keeping in mind that she was required to look presentable at all times in order to avoid shaming her employer. She was also expected to pay for her own medical care, travel expenses, and laundry, and she could expect no security of employment. [enotes.com]
🚸 The psychological situation of the governess made her position unenviable. Her presence created practical difficulties within the Victorian home because she was neither a servant nor a member of the family. She was from the social level of the family, but the fact that she was paid a salary put her at the economic level of the servants. [Bonnie G. Smith, "Chapter 5: The Domestic Sphere in the Victorian Age," Changing Lives via The Victorian Web]
🚸 The literature of the 1840’s suggests that there was a sudden increase in the number of gentlewomen without financial support in the years following the Napoleonic wars… From the research of twentieth-century historians it is clear that the number of single middle-class women in need of employment… also arose out of the emigration of single men from England to the colonies, from the differential mortality rate which favored women, and from the tendency for men in the middle classes to marry later. [M. Jeanne Peterson]
🚸 Employing a governess sent a signal that the lady of the house was too ‘genteel’ to teach her daughters herself. Just as she employed servants to clean her house, she paid another woman to raise her children. Hiring a governess became a status symbol. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸...the governess could find herself teaching ‘the three Rs’... to the youngest, while coaching the older girls in French conversation, history and ‘Use of the Globes’ or Geography. If her pupils were older teens, the governess would also be expected to instruct them in key ‘accomplishments’ such as drawing, playing piano, dancing and deportment (i.e. how to conduct oneself properly), all designed to attract an eligible suitor in a very crowded marriage market. The governess might also be in charge of small boys up to the age of eight, before they were sent away to school. The governess was expected to look after her pupils’ moral education too. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 Since salaries were so low, there was little chance of saving for illness or retirement. Many governesses found themselves facing poverty in middle age. In 1841 The Governesses’ Benevolent Institution was set up to help some of them with pensions. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 Reorganized in 1843, the GBI provided financial assistance to retired or unemployed governesses, who had no provisions for illness or old age. The GBI also offered temporary housing to unemployed governesses as well as a registry of governesses seeking employment, for the benefit of potential employers. [enotes.com]
🚸 In the event of illness or old age and inability to work, the governess faced the prospect of charity, such as that provided by the Governesses' Benevolent Institution in the form of small annuities for retired governesses. The number was limited, however, and reports of governesses in workhouses or asylums were not uncommon. [M. Jeanne Peterson]
🚸 Not all doom and gloom! ...according to a cache of letters, diaries and memoirs that came to light after [Kathryn Hughes]’ appeal to Woman's Hour listeners to search their attics for material written by real-life governesses… [t]he women who emerged were intelligent, vigorous professionals who relished the chance to escape from the suffocating constraints of Victorian femininity. [Kathryn Hughes]
🚸 Nor, in retirement, did governesses necessarily retreat into genteel poverty, broken only by the occasional visit from a dutiful ex-pupil. May Pinhorn, a shining example of the most enterprising and vigorous type of governess, retired to Oxford in her late fifties and decided to undertake psychoanalysis, at a time when such a course was unheard of outside the most progressive circles. 'In spite of my placid exterior,' she explained to surprised friends, 'I have always been at heart an adventurer.' [Kathryn Hughes]
Some useful resources:
The figure of the governess by Kathryn Hughes on the British Library website.
The Governess by The British Library on YouTube: Kathryn Hughes explains the role of the governess in 19th-century society and literature. 6 minutes 23 seconds.
Marry you, Mr Rochester? I've got better things to do: The Victorian governess was independent, intelligent and likely to spurn proposals of marriage. by Kathryn Hughes on The Independent website.
The Victorian Governess On the PBS website.
The Governess and Class Prejudice by Erin Wells on The Victorian Web.
The Victorian Governess Novel by Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros, Department of English, Lund University on The Victorian Web.
The Victorian Governess: Status Incongruence in Family and Society by M. Jeanne Peterson [PDF]
The Governess in Nineteenth-Century Literature On the e notes website.
The Governess From the Cassells Household Guide, New and Revised Edition (4 Vol.) c.1880s, on The Dictoinary of Victorian London.
Governess, Companion and Housekeeper Ads From The Times of London, 1845-1847. With commentary, on Victorian Contexts.
The Victorian Governess as Spectacle of Pain: A Cultural History of the British Governess as Withered Invalid, Bloody Victim and Sadistic Birching Madam, From 1840 to 1920 by Ruby Ray Daily of Vermont University (October, 2014) [PDF]
This thesis examines the celebrity of governesses in British culture during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Victorian governess-mania was as pervasive as it was inexplicable, governesses comprising only a tiny fraction of the population and having little or no ostensible effect on the social, political, or economic landscape. Nevertheless, governesses were omnipresent in Victorian media, from novels and etiquette manuals to paintings, cartoons and pornography…
However, while previous scholarship has maintained that governess-mania was produced by their peculiarity as social or economic actors, I intend to demonstrate that this nonconformity was extrapolated in visual and literary depictions to signify a more prurient deviance, specifically a fixation on human suffering…
Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.
Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. And if you have any suggestions for fic prompts springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.
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Though the protagonist being a governess was, possibly, mainly simply convention, I've always had a vague idea many women readers would identify with her situation. Especially the married ones. Someone discussing Mansfield Park said women of Austen's time often wrote pro-incest plots.
When this Violet was running her school, her pupils could tip her off about Holmes-worthy problems?
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Oh, excellent. I'd hoped we would be learning about governesses this week!
I was doing background research for Mary Morstan a year or two ago, and some of the stuff I was reading about governesses suggested that the primary -- and really only -- qualification for the job was being of the right social class, i.e., "a lady." Yes, yes, you should be moderately accomplished in drawing/art/French/German, but the whole point of being educated in those topics was that you weren't getting educated in anything "useful": neither mathematics, Greek, nor Latin (all necessary for the university-bound!) nor anything that could be construed as handy for contributing to a family business. Because "ladies" didn't work.
Which (the author went on to assert), put governesses in a terrible bind wrt salaries, because anyone who attempted to negotiate their salary obvs was governessing as a job, and thus was automatically disqualified for the position.
...and against that context I was very much struck by Mr. Rucastle's assertion that a "lady" shouldn't stoop to accept anything less than three figures! I can't help but think that Miss Hunter must have been thinking "Yes, at last! Someone who gets it!" even as all the alarm bells were going off that a "respectable" employer would never ever ever say such a thing.
no subject
Oh, yay, thank you for chasing all this down. Everything I was reading before about this were scholarly books maybe twenty years old, and they all bemoaned the lack of surviving accounts by actual governesses. (Presumably because most were considered historically worthless and tossed.) It's lovely to hear that more have been found since then! And also that there was far more variety among actual governesses' lives than the traditional narrative suggested.
...which is not that surprising, really, because history is always more interesting than what people commonly believe to be true. But good god, I found researching Mary Morstan's probable backstory depressing, and I'm glad to know that was only a preliminary and artificially narrow view based on limited documentation.
no subject
I gather that governesses were sort of seen as professional poor relations. They had the stigma that their own families couldn't support them, so another middle class household took them in - the governess duties being what they gave in return. I mean, I saw one advertisement for governess work quoted that didn't offer any wages at all, only food and board.
It was lovely to come across an article that suggested being a governess might have been a positive experience sometimes ^^