When thinking of women of the past, we often like to think that a woman's place was in her own home, however, women have taken up occupations throughout history. In the Georgian era many professions were thought of as exclusively ‘women’s work’, namely domestic work, and were deemed unsuitable for men. Many other roles and trades were increasingly accepting women into their working ranks. Although books and other media of the period, and contemporary depictions, often focused on upper class Georgian women as ladies of leisure, women of the lower and emerging middle classes often needed to support themselves and their families through their working wages.
A girl may have sought work in her adolescence to supplement her family’s income in lieu of education, as did wives whose husbands did not earn enough to get by. Unwed women and widows worked to support themselves, with many occupations for women requiring her to be unmarried.
Learn more about the lives of working women in Georgian Hampshire
This category page was created as part of the Heritage Fund Data Hunters and Story Gatherers project.
