Victorian Bournemouth (89): female servants (3)

Steady, younger, multi-taskers

Introduction

Victorian Bournemouth (89) explores the category of female servants recorded at Bournemouth and its rural neighbourhood for the period 1851-1871. The occupations’ field used by the census provides much useful data. Job advertisements appearing in the press add more texture.

Victorian Bournemouth (89): categories and demographics

Categories of female domestic service

Although many variations of domestic service appeared in the occupations’ field of Bournemouth’s census 1851-1871, grouping produces six main categories. Very few women worked as a governess, housekeeper, or nurse. Together they comprised around 12% of women in service at Bournemouth, the same proportion as cooks. Maids, of various description, and servants without further description, together accounted for three-quarters of the population, each about the same. The category of maids, however, contained several occupations and ranks. For example, a few women worked as under-housemaids. Other maids worked in the scullery, with children, at sewing, or with laundry. Most women described as maids, however, worked in the kitchen, the parlour, or the ‘house’. Often, a woman might combine the last two duties. Women working at these jobs accounted for over half the maids. In addition, over a quarter had the job of lady’s maid.

Demographics

Ages varied by type of servants, though most fell into the 20-29 age bracket. Maids ranked as the youngest: average 23. Servants (of no further description) and governesses averaged a couple of years older than maids. Next came nurses and cooks, edging into their early thirties, but housekeepers averaged in their mid-forties. Thus, higher levels of skill and trust appeared to correlate with older ages. Lady’s attendants, therefore, would seem to require most skill amongst maids for they averaged in their thirties. Three quarters of the women working in domestic service at Bournemouth had originated in southern counties. Most of the women born in the south came from Dorset and Hampshire, but Devon, Wiltshire, and Somerset also featured. As noted, most female servants had not married to date. Amongst cooks and housekeepers who had married, widows outnumbered wives, some perhaps returning to service after disaster.

Victorian Bournemouth (89): trends

Numbers

The numbers of female servants recorded in the Greater Westover area increased by about six times over the period 1851-1871. This reflects the growth of Bournemouth, both as a visitor centre and a residential town. The resort’s increasing success in attracting visits from affluent people would account for some of the local growth in servant numbers. Many of these households employed multiple domestics organised by specific tasks. The town’s retail economy also continued to grow, as both visitors and residents needed supply of food, footwear, and clothing. Success washed such families into a middling social position, encouraging respectable life-styles. The ability to employ servants provided a well-understood message of means and respectability. National growth of servant numbers, however, fell far below Bournemouth’s rate, young women perhaps already seeking new forms of employment. To an extent, therefore, Bournemouth’s economy may have delayed such social developments amongst working women.

Categories

Even so, perhaps some changes had begun to appear during this period. Most distinct changes happened in Bournemouth, less so in its rural neighbourhood. The proportion of female domestics reporting their occupation as ‘servant’, 10% in 1851, grew almost three times. Those working as cooks or lady’s maids, however, became much less common. In both cases they lost about half their share. Changes in the ages of female servants occurred also over this period. The proportion aged 20-24 increased, but 25-29 decreased. The proportion of women aged 50+ also dropped. Thus, a trend towards de-skilling or perhaps multi-tasking may have developed. Younger women, having less specific skills, and inferior references would perhaps have worked for less wages than older, more experienced people. This may suggest that affluent visitors had begun to experience financial strain. On the other hand, it may show that a different type of tourist now came to Bournemouth. 

Victorian Bournemouth (89): qualities and employers

Qualities

Advertisements for servants during this period often described the scope of duties but also gave clues as to the type of person wanted. Steadiness appeared often as a quality. ‘Steady, active woman as cook.’ ‘Steady, experienced chambermaid.’ ‘Steady, competent servants as house and parlourmaid.’ Respectability and thoroughness also might help an application. A family wanted ‘a good cook, who thoroughly understands her duties’. People looking for cooks wanted someone who could prepare plain food. On occasion, prospective employers gave age requirements. These seem to reinforce the deductions made above. Greater skill went with age. A boarding house wanted a cook aged about 30. A gentleman’s family wanted one aged 30-40. A small family wanted a cook and a lady’s maid, neither under 30. A family about to travel on the continent wanted a ‘respectable, active, middle-aged nurse’ to help with young children. Experience but also references (‘character’) also helped to filter employment applications.

Tasks

The advertisements also provided insight into the distinction between general servants and specialists. By and large, those seeking staff wanted the former rather than the latter. For example, an advertiser wanted a young woman to wash and dress two little boys. She worked under a governess, but a kitchen maid did the ‘nursery work’. The applicant had to know about hair dressing and needlework because she also had to wait on the lady. Some preferred a general servant who could prepare food to a ‘thorough, good cook’: ‘a good general servant who understands plain cooking’. Somebody else wanted a cook who could ‘make herself generally useful’. In this house, the nurse assisted in the housework. Sometimes cooks had assistance, sometimes not. Knowledge of dairy work also featured as a qualification for cooks. One housemaid had to wait at table as well as polishing the plate. Overall, therefore, based on these advertisements, employers looked for servants who could perform several aspects of housework. Thus, employers often preferred generalists.

Takeaway

Victorian Bournemouth (89) has explored different aspects of domestic employment as recorded by the census and job advertisements 1851-1871. Structures where multiple specialists performed a single task seemed to prevail amongst affluent households, tourists for the most part. Nevertheless, some evidence suggests that a preference for generalists had begun. The advertisements, placed by people residing in Bournemouth, appear to support this conclusion. Employers perhaps had begun to reduce their household budgets.

References

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