DOCSLIB.ORG

Domestic Service in South Wales, 1871- 1921

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Domestic Service in South Wales, 1871- 1921 _________________________________________________________________________Swansea University E-Theses Wales' hidden industry: Domestic service in South Wales, 1871- 1921. Howells, Carys How to cite: _________________________________________________________________________ Howells, Carys (2014) Wales' hidden industry: Domestic service in South Wales, 1871-1921.. thesis, Swansea University. http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa43018 Use policy: _________________________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence: copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. Please link to the metadata record in the Swansea University repository, Cronfa (link given in the citation reference above.) http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ Swansea University Prifysgol Abertawe Wales’ Hidden Industry: Domestic Service in South Wales, 1871-1921 Carys Howells Submitted to Swansea University in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 ProQuest Number: 10821408 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10821408 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract. This study examines domestic service as an ‘industry’ in south Wales between 1871 and 1921. The term ‘domestic’ has been interpreted as a description of duties performed rather than the place in which the tasks were carried out. As a result a broad depiction of the sector has emerged encompassing staff based in private households, businesses and public institutions. This approach has highlighted the importance of the sector in south Wales. It has also revealed significant changes in the nature of domestic service and the character of its workforce during the late-Victorian and Edwardian period. The absence of central regulation, the development of impersonal recruitment methods and the prevalence of traditional gender ideology have all been shown to have had a notable influence on contemporary perceptions of the sector and its function in Welsh society. The research methodology draws on both qualitative and quantitative sources to reveal domestic service as a multifaceted and dynamic economic sector. 2 Declarations and Statements. This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed... (candidate) Date .................................... STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed.............................................. ...................... (candidate) D ate ..................................... STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed... ...................... (candidate) D ate r^. J.Z.Q. .................................... 3 Contents List of Figures and Tables 5 List of Abbreviations 6 Introduction: Redefining Domestic Service as ‘Industry’ in South Wales. 7 I ‘Servants Wanted’: The Growth and Occupational Transition of the Domestic Service Sector. 34 II Changing Lifecycle Employment Patterns and its Impact on the Domestic Service Workforce. 65 III The Formalisation of Servant Recruitment Methods in South Wales. 89 IV Gender Ideology and the Domestic Service Industry in South Wales. 119 V ‘We Poor Unprotected Ones’: The Unregulated Nature of the Domestic Service Industry and its Impact on the Servant-Employer Relationship. 166 Conclusion 209 Appendices I ‘A Servant’s Grievance’: A Letter to the Western Mail from a Swansea Servant, 29 November 1892. 221 II ‘The Servants of To-Day’: A Letter to the Western Mail from A Deceived Mistress, 12 December 1892. 222 III Letter from Helena MacDonald to the Cardiff Lord Mayor regarding Bute Dowry. 224 IV ‘An Alleged Disorderly House at Aberdare’, Western Mail, 16 November 1887. 225 V ‘A Disorderly House at Aberdare’, Western Mail, 25 November 1887. 226 VI The average servant wages as offered in situations vacant advertisements. 228 Bibliography 229 4 List of Figures and Tables Figures LI Number of servants employed in Aberdare, Bridgend and Carmarthen. 42 1.11 Servant vacancy advertisements published in the Western Mail. 46 1.111 Servant occupation categories in the three case-study towns. 52 11.1 Servant age groups (%). 71 11.11 Comparison of servant age and gender. 79 IV. I Number of male servants in Aberdare, Bridgend and Carmarthen. 127 IV.II Servant birthplace. 143 V.I Servant-keeper occupations (%). 179 V.II Parental occupation of servants (%) 181 Tables 1.1 A comparison of servant salary in Wales and Britain. 61 II. I Average age of servants by gender. 72 II. II Average age for twenty frequently occurring occupations. 75 11.111 Average age of employers. 80 II. IV Comparison between number of servants engaged and family size. 82 II.V Servant marital status. 83 IV.I Male servants as proportion of domestic service workforce. 126 5 List of Abbreviations CCL Cardiff Central Library CRO Carmarthenshire Records Office GA Glamorgan Archives GTJ Gathering the Jewels GFS Girls’ Friendly Society GWR Great Western Railway LSE London School of Economics MABYS Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants NLW National Library of Wales PP Parliamentary Paper SAIHCA The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre Archives SWML South Wales Miners’ Library WGAS West Glamorgan Archive Service 6 Introduction: Redefining Domestic Service as ‘Industry’ in South Wales. Domestic service was an incredibly important industry in Wales during the late- nineteenth and early-twentieth century. For over a hundred years domestic service was the main form of female employment. Between 1871 and 1901 it accounted for over half of all occupied women and a higher than average proportion of men.1 While in England male domestics were in a minority of 1 in 22, in Wales they accounted for 1 in 10 servants.2 Despite the dominance of heavy industry in the area, domestic service also had a significant impact on the wider economy. In 1881 there were only 5,000 fewer servants in Wales than quarry and mine workers. However despite its scale, domestic service has failed to attract the same degree of scholarly attention as other economic sectors.3 Consequently, comparatively little is known of the character of this significant Welsh industry or the impact it had on the society in which it functioned. It has therefore largely remained hidden from the history of Wales. This study focuses on fifty years of its evolution, between 1871 and 1921, during which time the sector was numerically at its height and underwent a monumental degree of change. However, domestic service has proved to be a highly enduring sector that has lasted up to the present day and has been in expansion since the 1980s.4 The industry has been the focus of many British and American investigations owing to its size and its role as a principal site of contact (or indeed conflict) between different social groups on the grounds of class, gender, and ethnicity.5 As a result developments in domestic service have been perceived as indicative of wider trends in society. Yet, the sector in south Wales has often been overlooked except as a source of maids for English middle-class employers. This was partly the result of the dominance of heavy industry, which was thought to have limited local female employment options. Its neglect may also be attributed to the 1 J. Williams, Digest o f Welsh Historical Statistics, Vol. 1. (Aberystwyth: University of Wales Press, 1985), p. 96. 2 P. Horn, The Rise and Fall o f the Victorian Servant (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan Ltd, 1975), p. 84. 3 Williams, Digest o f Welsh Historical Statistics, p. 96; J. Williams, Was Wales Industrialised? Essays in Modem Welsh History (Llandysul: Gomer Press, 1995), p. 40. 4 L. Delap, Knowing Their Place: Domestic Servants in Twentieth-Century Britain (Oxford: University Press, 2011), p. 3. 5 M. Patterson, Private Life in Britain's Stately Homes: Masters and Servants in the Golden Age (London: Constable and Robinson Ltd, 2012),
Load more

Recommended publications
  • People, Places and Policy
    People, Places and Policy Set within the context of UK devolution and constitutional change, People, Places and Policy offers important and interesting insights into ‘place-making’ and ‘locality-making’ in contemporary Wales. Combining policy research with policy-maker and stakeholder interviews at various spatial scales (local, regional, national), it examines the historical processes and working practices that have produced the complex political geography of Wales. This book looks at the economic, social and political geographies of Wales, which in the context of devolution and public service governance are hotly debated. It offers a novel ‘new localities’ theoretical framework for capturing the dynamics of locality-making, to go beyond the obsession with boundaries and coterminous geog- raphies expressed by policy-makers and politicians. Three localities – Heads of the Valleys (north of Cardiff), central and west coast regions (Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and the former district of Montgomeryshire in Powys) and the A55 corridor (from Wrexham to Holyhead) – are discussed in detail to illustrate this and also reveal the geographical tensions of devolution in contemporary Wales. This book is an original statement on the making of contemporary Wales from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) researchers. It deploys a novel ‘new localities’ theoretical framework and innovative mapping techniques to represent spatial patterns in data. This allows the timely uncovering of both unbounded and fuzzy relational policy geographies, and the more bounded administrative concerns, which come together to produce and reproduce over time Wales’ regional geography. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.tandfebooks.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license.
    [Show full text]
  • For the Holidays! the World of Downton Abbey
    Adam Hillier Photography © Photos The World of Downton Abbey For the Holidays! December 8-17, 2015 Limited to 25 participants. Holidays at Highclere Castle An exclusive presentation by Friends of Louisiana Public Broadcasting Join Louisiana Public Broadcasting on a memorable trip for the holidays TOUR HIGHLIGHTS: in 2015! On a tour of historic England, we discover the • Private tour and reception at Highclere Castle, the location for exterior world of the English aristocracy, in fact and fiction, past and present and interior scenes of Downton Abbey culminating in an exclusive private tour and reception at Highclere • Private guides, talks and visits with experts on British history and the Castle: for more than 300 years the home of Lord and Lady Carnarvon, Downton era in particular and the real Downton Abbey. • Tours of major historical sites in London and elsewhere, including From Edwardian London and the iconic Houses of Parliament to the the Houses of Parliament, Windsor Castle, Oxford and its University and Georgian splendor of Jane Austen’s Bath and the hallowed halls of Colleges, Lacock Abbey, Bampton village (Downton village scenes), Bath, Sandham Memorial Chapel (WWI memorial) among others Oxford, invited scholars and expert guides will help us explore our enduring fascination with the aristocracy, their grand estates, and how • Prime tickets to a theatre performance in London, plus evensong they survive today. We will learn the codes they live by, their manners in Oxford and customs, their dress and lifestyle. • Deluxe 4-star accommodations in London, Oxford, and Ston Easton We’ll tour the House of Lords, where Britain’s gentry once passed • 4 lunches, 3 dinners, 2 high teas and other receptions abiding laws.
    [Show full text]
  • Advice to Inform Post-War Listing in Wales
    ADVICE TO INFORM POST-WAR LISTING IN WALES Report for Cadw by Edward Holland and Julian Holder March 2019 CONTACT: Edward Holland Holland Heritage 12 Maes y Llarwydd Abergavenny NP7 5LQ 07786 954027 www.hollandheritage.co.uk front cover images: Cae Bricks (now known as Maes Hyfryd), Beaumaris Bangor University, Zoology Building 1 CONTENTS Section Page Part 1 3 Introduction 1.0 Background to the Study 2.0 Authorship 3.0 Research Methodology, Scope & Structure of the report 4.0 Statutory Listing Part 2 11 Background to Post-War Architecture in Wales 5.0 Economic, social and political context 6.0 Pre-war legacy and its influence on post-war architecture Part 3 16 Principal Building Types & architectural ideas 7.0 Public Housing 8.0 Private Housing 9.0 Schools 10.0 Colleges of Art, Technology and Further Education 11.0 Universities 12.0 Libraries 13.0 Major Public Buildings Part 4 61 Overview of Post-war Architects in Wales Part 5 69 Summary Appendices 82 Appendix A - Bibliography Appendix B - Compiled table of Post-war buildings in Wales sourced from the Buildings of Wales volumes – the ‘Pevsners’ Appendix C - National Eisteddfod Gold Medal for Architecture Appendix D - Civic Trust Awards in Wales post-war Appendix E - RIBA Architecture Awards in Wales 1945-85 2 PART 1 - Introduction 1.0 Background to the Study 1.1 Holland Heritage was commissioned by Cadw in December 2017 to carry out research on post-war buildings in Wales. 1.2 The aim is to provide a research base that deepens the understanding of the buildings of Wales across the whole post-war period 1945 to 1985.
    [Show full text]
  • Darwin and Doubt and the Response of the Victorian Churches Churchman 100/4 1986
    Darwin and Doubt and the Response of the Victorian Churches Churchman 100/4 1986 Nigel Scotland The Bible and Nineteenth Century Christians Although the Victorian Era was seen as one of the high points in the practice of English Christianity, and although outwardly speaking Church attendance remained at a relatively high level, below the surface many people were beginning to express a variety of doubts about the inspiration of the Bible and about points of Christian doctrine which had been cherished for centuries. These doubts stemmed in the main from two sources: discoveries in Science and the development of Biblical Criticism. The former caused men to question the traditional explanation of world origins and the latter brought doubts regarding the traditional doctrine of the inspiration of scripture. The main root of the problem lay in the Churches’ view of the scriptures. The Church in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century held a view of the scriptures which had been taken over from Greek thought in the early Christian centuries and been further reinforced by the Reformation. They thought of God literally breathing the Scripture into the writers of the Biblical documents. The result of this was that the Bible was held to speak authoritatively on all matters whether they related to man’s relationship to God or to the scientific origins of the Universe. The ordinary Christian man and woman in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries regarded the Judaeo-Christian religion as an Historical religion. It concerned the story of God’s historical acts in relation to his people.
    [Show full text]
  • Victorian England and Its Political Reforms
    1 9. Victorian England and its Political Reforms VICTORIAN ENGLAND AND ITS POLITICAL REFORMS. Key Words and Related Topics: . The Industrial Revolution . The Age of Revolution (1789 – 1848) . The British Empire . The Chartist Movement . The People’s Charter Temario de la Guía Docente: 5. Aspects of English National Identity: The Monarchy, the Protestant Reformation, and Liberalism.6. The Anglican Church, the Monarchy and Parliament: their historical origin, their evolution and their cultural roles today. 7. The British Empire and the Origins of a Global, English- Speaking Culture. 8. Victorian England and its critics. 9. From the Political Reforms of the 19th Century to the Welfare State. Introduction: To a large extent the history of the English nineteenth century in general, and of Victorian Britain in particular, is the history of gradual and moderate political reforms, which included the important extension of the franchise—among other reasons due to the pressure of revolutionary movements, in the rest of Europe, and at home of phenomena like the chartist movement. Important milestones in this aspect were the Reform Act of 1832. This reform of the political, electoral, and representative system responded to the profound changes that had taken place in England as a result of the growth in population and the rapid process of industrialization. These phenomena had drawn large masses of population into cities like Birmingham, Manchester or Liverpool, which experienced a tremendous growth. After the Reform Act of 1832 another significant moment was the Chartist Petition of 1848, which also coincided with revolutionary movements in the rest of Europe: 1848 is an international milestone in what the historian Eric Hobsbawn called the Age of Revolution (which started in 1789 with the French Revolution, and ended in 1848).
    [Show full text]
  • The Height of Its Womanhood': Women and Genderin Welsh Nationalism, 1847-1945
    'The height of its womanhood': Women and genderin Welsh nationalism, 1847-1945 Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Kreider, Jodie Alysa Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 04:59:55 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/280621 'THE HEIGHT OF ITS WOMANHOOD': WOMEN AND GENDER IN WELSH NATIONALISM, 1847-1945 by Jodie Alysa Kreider Copyright © Jodie Alysa Kreider 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partia' Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2004 UMI Number: 3145085 Copyright 2004 by Kreider, Jodie Alysa All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3145085 Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in the Rural Society of South-West Wales, C.1780-1870
    _________________________________________________________________________Swansea University E-Theses Women in the rural society of south-west Wales, c.1780-1870. Thomas, Wilma R How to cite: _________________________________________________________________________ Thomas, Wilma R (2003) Women in the rural society of south-west Wales, c.1780-1870.. thesis, Swansea University. http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42585 Use policy: _________________________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence: copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. Please link to the metadata record in the Swansea University repository, Cronfa (link given in the citation reference above.) http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ Women in the Rural Society of south-west Wales, c.1780-1870 Wilma R. Thomas Submitted to the University of Wales in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of History University of Wales Swansea 2003 ProQuest Number: 10805343 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted.
    [Show full text]
  • A Sheffield Hallam University Thesis
    Resident perceptions of the sociocultural impacts of tourism in Llangollen, North-east Wales. WHALLEY, Peter A. Available from the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20521/ A Sheffield Hallam University thesis This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Please visit http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20521/ and http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html for further details about copyright and re-use permissions. REFERENCE Fines are charged at 50p per hour n 7 Mf" , l ° 5 V l ' 1 1 °CT 2007 1 5 NQV 2006 1 5 OCT 2007 1 3 NflV 2006 q _ S 6 p iin U ' l ' T 2 9 MAR 2007 L ^-O D u ^ - S S p /— i74fw'iofc T/W I ProQuest Number: 10701168 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10701168 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
    [Show full text]
  • Upland Regeneration Study Pentir Pumlumon
    Upland Regeneration Study Pentir Pumlumon Final Report July 2017 Authors: Nick Miller Susie Stevenson Astrid Aupetit July 2017 Pen-y-Wyrlod, Llanvetherine, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 8RG, UK www.miller-research.co.uk | 01873 851880 | Twitter: @miller_research Upland Regeneration Study Final Report Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 2 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Objectives ............................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Report Structure ..................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Approach ................................................................................................................ 8 2 Background ......................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Visitor Offer and Current Visitors ............................................................................. 9 3 Community Engagement and Evidence Gathering .............................................................22 3.1 Workshop 1..........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Gladstone and the Bank of England: a Study in Mid-Victorian Finance, 1833-1866
    GLADSTONE AND THE BANK OF ENGLAND: A STUDY IN MID-VICTORIAN FINANCE, 1833-1866 Patricia Caernarv en-Smith, B.A. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2007 APPROVED: Denis Paz, Major Professor Adrian Lewis, Committee Member and Chair of the Department of History Laura Stern, Committee Member Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Caernarven-Smith, Patricia. Gladstone and the Bank of England: A Study in Mid- Victorian Finance, 1833-1866. Master of Arts (History), May 2007, 378 pp., 11 tables, bibliography, 275 titles. The topic of this thesis is the confrontations between William Gladstone and the Bank of England. These confrontations have remained a mystery to authors who noted them, but have generally been ignored by others. This thesis demonstrates that Gladstone’s measures taken against the Bank were reasonable, intelligent, and important for the development of nineteenth-century British government finance. To accomplish this task, this thesis refutes the opinions of three twentieth-century authors who have claimed that many of Gladstone’s measures, as well as his reading, were irrational, ridiculous, and impolitic. My primary sources include the Gladstone Diaries, with special attention to a little-used source, Volume 14, the indexes to the Diaries. The day-to-day Diaries and the indexes show how much Gladstone read about financial matters, and suggest that his actions were based to a large extent upon his reading. In addition, I have used Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates and nineteenth-century periodicals and books on banking and finance to understand the political and economic debates of the time.
    [Show full text]
  • The Social Identity of Wales in Question: an Analysis of Culture, Language, and Identity in Cardiff, Bangor, and Aberystwyth
    Linfield University DigitalCommons@Linfield Fulbright Grantee Projects Office of Competitive Scholarships 8-3-2012 The Social Identity of Wales in Question: An Analysis of Culture, Language, and Identity in Cardiff, Bangor, and Aberystwyth Clara Martinez Linfield College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/fulbright Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, and the International and Intercultural Communication Commons Recommended Citation Martinez, Clara, "The Social Identity of Wales in Question: An Analysis of Culture, Language, and Identity in Cardiff, Bangor, and Aberystwyth" (2012). Fulbright Grantee Projects. Article. Submission 4. https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/fulbright/4 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield, with permission from the rights-holder(s). Your use of this Article must comply with the Terms of Use for material posted in DigitalCommons@Linfield, or with other stated terms (such as a Creative Commons license) indicated in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, or if you have questions about permitted uses, please contact [email protected]. Fulbright Summer Institute: Wales 2012 The Social Identity of Wales in Question: An Analysis of Culture, Language, and Identity in Cardiff, Bangor, and Aberystwyth Clara Martinez Reflective Journal Portfolio Fulbright Wales Summer Institute Professors August 3, 2012 Table of Contents Introduction
    [Show full text]
  • Victorian Values and the Upper Classes
    proceedings of the British Academy, 78, 49-60 Victorian Values and the Upper Classes MARK GIROUARD AN article under this title could adopt two radically different approaches. It could deal with the extent to which the Victorian upper classes accepted or rejected a specific group of ‘Victorian Values’, so called because they in some way encapsulated the essence of Victorianism. Or it could be a discussion of all the values which informed the upper classes in the Victorian period. In fact it opts for the second approach. In the welter of sets of values which were to be found at work in different groups and circumstances during the sixty-three years of Victoria’s reign, it seems neither possible nor desirable to try to select one group as quintessentially Victorian. Whereas the values to be found among the Victorian upper classes at least provide a real object of enquiry, even if a far from simple one. It is complex because there is so much variety. What common ground is there, for instance, between the 4th Marquis of Hastings, who wasted his fortune, dissipated his health, and died worn out and near bankrupt at the age of 26 in 1868, and his almost exact contemporary the 2nd Viscount Halifax, politician and pillar of the High Church, who died, reverenced by all, at the age of 93 in 1934. And yet both were, in rather extreme forms, representative of different sections of the High Victorian upper classes. Not only were upper class values varied; they cannot be fitted into a drawer labelled ‘upper class only’, as distinct from middle or lower class values.
    [Show full text]