Promotor Prof. dr. Isabelle Devos Vakgroep Geschiedenis Copromotor Prof. dr. Eric Vanhaute Vakgroep Geschiedenis Decaan Prof. Dr. Freddy Mortier Rector Prof. Dr. Paul Van Cauwenberge Nederlandse vertaling: Sex and the city. Dienstmeiden en de diffusie van vruchtbaarheidscontrole in Vlaanderen, 1830-1930 Kaftinformatie: "Madame reçoit" - Rémy Cogghe, 1908 ISBN: 978-90-7083-051-9 Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen, of enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande toestemming van de uitgever. Faculteit Letteren & Wijsbegeerte Christa Matthys Sex and the city Servants and the Diffusion of Fertility Control in Flanders, 1830-1930 Proefschrift voorgedragen tot het behalen van de graad van Doctor in de Geschiedenis 2011 Preface This research would not have been possible without the help of many people. I cannot express in words how much I appreciate all the support I received during the past few years. I can only try to formulate my sincerest gratitude to all of those who have assisted my in any way. I thank my parents Roger Matthys and Marie-Christine Batsleer who have stimulated my interest in history and who have given me the opportunity to study and to develop into the person that I am today. It appears that all those enforced museum visits during my childhood payed of at last. I am grateful to my supervisor Isabelle Devos and co- supervisor Eric Vanhaute for their support and abundant feedback, even when times were difficult, especially during the last months of my research, when the tears were coming more easily than the words. A very special thank you goes out to all my sweet colleagues and friends and my brother Steven Matthys who have given me both practical and emotional support, in particular to Maja Mechant, Klaas Van Gelder, Sarah Van Bouchaute, Nienke Roelants, Thijs Lambrecht, Gillian Mathys, Lieselot Leuridan, Thomas Buerman, Ophelia Ongena, Jasmien Van Daele, Tine Depypere, Marijke Van Overfelt , Soraya Holderbeke, Tine van de Keere, Karen Scheir, Lena Vanelslander and to those who suffered toghether with me: Koen Aerts, Wouter Ronsijn and Jan-Frederik Abbeloos. I survived the final year of my PhD because of you all. Griet de Paepe and Sofie de Langhe deserve a statue for every time they averted one of my hysterical crises. Furthermore, I thank everyone who has provided any kind of professional assistance: Hilde Bras of my doctoral guidance committee; Jan Van Bavel who has commented on the original research proposal; the other members of the jury: Michel Oris, Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux, Erik Thoen; George Alter, Guy Boelens and the students who have collected data, in particular Stefanie Demeyere; Sven Vrielinck for making maps; William Wanbaugh, Gilberte Delcourt and Susie Sutch for reviewing the texts, all people who have offered technical support: Bert Callens, Hanne Van Baelen, Sarah Moreels, v Mattijs Vandezande, Mathew Creighton, Luciana Quaranta, Gitte Callaert, Frederic Lamsens; all employees of the archival institutions where I spent way too much time; fellow Posthumus and ICPSR-students and all other colleagues, friends and family members who have shown interest in my research. vi List of Tables Table 1 Women of the Birth Registers File who died before age 15, Assenede ............ 65 Table 2 Women of the Birth Registers File who died before age 15, Eine, Heurne, Mullem ....................................................................................................................... 65 Table 3 Women of the Birth Registers File who left before age 15 for other reasons than Death, Assenede ............................................................................... 66 Table 4 Women of the Birth Registers File who left before age 15 for other reasons than Death, Eine, Heurne, Mullem.......................................................... 66 Table 5 Percentage of original Population still under observation at Age 15 .............. 66 Table 6 Percentage of original Population still under observation at Age 15 .............. 67 Table 7 Added Sisters per Cohort, Assenede ..................................................................... 68 Table 8 Added Sisters per Cohort, Eine, Heurne, Mullem ............................................... 68 Table 9 Fictional Example of a Household in the Population Registers ........................ 69 Table 10 Event File of a fictional member of the population ............................................ 70 Table 11 Episode file of a fictional member of the population ......................................... 71 Table 12 Observation and Loss in the Life Course File, Assenede .................................... 71 Table 13 Observation and Loss in the Life Course File, Eine, Heurne, Mullem ............... 71 Table 14 Women of the Life Course File visible at first Marriage and first Birth, Assenede .................................................................................................................... 72 Table 15 Women of the Life Course File visible at first Marriage and first Birth, Eine, Heurne, Mullem .............................................................................................. 72 Table 16 Women of the Life Course File in the core and control Groups, Assenede ..... 73 Table 17 Women of the Life Course File in the core and control Groups, ....................... 73 Table 18 Coverage of the Marriage Registers File ............................................................... 74 Table 19 Transitions and positions servanthood, marriage and fertility ....................... 75 vii Table 20 Measuring location in time and place .................................................................. 77 Table 21 Measuring linked lives ............................................................................................ 78 Table 22 Measuring individual development ...................................................................... 79 Table 23 Age specific marital fertility of Hutterites in 1921-1930 ................................... 83 Table 24 Standard Schedules of the CT-model .................................................................... 85 Table 25 Percentage of people in poor relief in 1846 ....................................................... 102 Table 26 Ten-yearly migratory, natural and total Population Balance, Assenede 1830-1930 ................................................................................................................ 105 Table 27 Ten-yearly migratory, natural and total Population Balance, ........................ 106 Table 28 Extramarital births in Assenede, Eine, Heurne and Mullem, 1830-1910 ....... 110 Table 29 Ten-yearly migratory, natural and total population balance, Ghent 1880-1930 ................................................................................................................ 119 Table 30 Servants in the research population, absolute numbers ................................. 138 Table 31 Average age at first Servant Employment ......................................................... 140 Table 32 Percentage of first servant employment per age group, urban servants ..... 141 Table 33 Average age at first servant employment per cohort, urban servants ......... 141 Table 34 Percentage of women per servant group by occupational group of the father, Assenede ..................................................................................................... 144 Table 35 Percentage of women per servant group by occupational group of the father, ...................................................................................................................... 144 Table 36 Percentage of women per servant group by social group of the father, Assenede .................................................................................................................. 145 Table 37 Percentage of women per servant group by social group of the father, Eine, Heurne, Mullem ............................................................................................ 145 Table 38 Average age at first servant employment per occupational category father, ...................................................................................................................... 150 Table 39 Percentage of women per servant group by literacy of the father, Assenede .................................................................................................................. 152 Table 40 Percentage of women per servant group by literacy of the father, ............... 152 Table 41 Average age at first servant employment by literacy father, urban servants ................................................................................................................... 153 Table 42 Percentage of women per servant group by literacy, Assenede .................... 153 Table 43 Percentage of women per servant group by literacy, Assenede .................... 154 Table 44 Average age at first servant employment by literacy, urban servants ......... 154 Table 45 Percentage of return migrants on the total N of urban servants per social class of the father ....................................................................................... 162 Table 46 Percentage return Migrants on the total N of urban servants per Cohort ... 163 viii Table 47 Place of residence per servant status ................................................................