Loved this backstory about women's lives as domestic servants. Working as a "housekeeper" also occasionally served as a stepping-stone to marriage, even as late as the 1930s/40s. One local woman in the Western ranching town where I live was "placed" by her father with a prominent ranch family so the father could travel elsewhere for work. Just a teenager at the time, she eventually won the elders' trust and admiration, and *they* convinced the son of the family to marry her. I just finished writing a true history of a Comstock-era mining magnate who hired a housekeeper in 1876 (oddly enough, the only woman in a household of several men). She was quite the beauty, and half her boss's age, and four years later they were married (possibly to silence wagging tongues in town!) And yes, as their relationship grew he hired her a "China boy" (likely not really a "boy" at all but a young man, and the term he used at the time) to do the bulk of the cooking and cleaning.
Tidbits, such as described in your blog, are what I love discovering in your Victorian series. I like that "behind the scene" glimpse into people's lives during a real time in history.
Thank you, Mary Lou. This was quite interesting. I appreciate your research. Really makes me sad to think of the gal sitting outside a locked kitchen time after time when her work would be expected!! And only one night off!
Loved this backstory about women's lives as domestic servants. Working as a "housekeeper" also occasionally served as a stepping-stone to marriage, even as late as the 1930s/40s. One local woman in the Western ranching town where I live was "placed" by her father with a prominent ranch family so the father could travel elsewhere for work. Just a teenager at the time, she eventually won the elders' trust and admiration, and *they* convinced the son of the family to marry her. I just finished writing a true history of a Comstock-era mining magnate who hired a housekeeper in 1876 (oddly enough, the only woman in a household of several men). She was quite the beauty, and half her boss's age, and four years later they were married (possibly to silence wagging tongues in town!) And yes, as their relationship grew he hired her a "China boy" (likely not really a "boy" at all but a young man, and the term he used at the time) to do the bulk of the cooking and cleaning.
Wonderful stories and such a delight when we find them.
Tidbits, such as described in your blog, are what I love discovering in your Victorian series. I like that "behind the scene" glimpse into people's lives during a real time in history.
Thank you, Mary Lou. This was quite interesting. I appreciate your research. Really makes me sad to think of the gal sitting outside a locked kitchen time after time when her work would be expected!! And only one night off!