dissatisfied with their lives and rebelling. However if you
were of the working class your life would be very
different. To survive and support their families they had
to work very hard to earn an income. There was
hardly a job that men did that women did not do.
They worked in shops, factories, down coal and salt
mines. They also worked on the land and took work
into their own homes. Although women did the same
jobs as men they were paid considerably less money
than their male counterparts. This kind of equality, with
regards to money was one of the areas that did not
change during the nineteenth century.
Women’s status in the eyes of the law did change
during this time, although, they were never given the
vote in this century that did not happen until 1918.
There still remained a large degree of inequality for
women. When she married all her wealth, property
and earnings become the property of her husband.
This did not change until 1882 with the second married
women’s property act which gave women the
“Right to own all other forms of property, as
well as her own earnings A women’s property no
longer automatically passes to her husband if she
marries”
Also women were given independent status in 1884
where they were no longer considered to be the
property of the husband. Men were pretty much
allowed to do with their wife what they wanted.
According to the law a husband had the right under
common law “to give his wife moderate correction
by domestic chastisement” and to restrain his wife
physically. Men also had the upper hand when it
came to separation, divorce and custody of children.
In the early nineteenth century if a husband and wife
separated, men were considered to be the sole
parent and they retained custody of any legitimate
children. This was not changed until 1878 when judicial
separation was formally allowed for women. Then in
1886 when an act was passed that stipulated, “The
welfare of the child should be taken in full
consideration” and thus undermined the fathers
assumed right to custody.
Other laws that were passed affected women’s
employment situation. The Factory Act in 1842
banned the employment of women and children
underground. Then in 1844 they were classified in the
same way as children and only permitted to work a
certain amount of hours in textile factories, also they
were not permitted to do night work. After 1878 the
Factory and workshops Act extended protection for
women to all industries. Also women’s hours of
working were reduced. Although this may seem to be
favourable for women, it made it harder for women
who needed to work a lot of hours to earn an
income. As this put a block on the amount they could
earn. This made it harder for them to support their
families. Which in turn led to a lot of poor working class
children having to go out to work at a very young
age, around the age of 8. This also had an affect on
the education of young girls. Until the state system
started in the 1870’s it was difficult for poor children to
get any sort of education. The likelihood of then
receiving a secondary education was highly unlikely.
The attitude to educating young working class
women did not alter a great deal. They were limited
to the three “R’s” plus history, geography and nature
study to prevent them getting ideas above their
station and to keep them in their place at the bottom
of society. The general registrar reported that 45% of
woken had been unable to sign their own names on
their marriage certificate. The level pf proper
education was generally low across the whole
spectrum of the classes. It was normal for upper and
middle class girls to be taught at home by a
governess or tutor and to learn “ladylike
accomplishments “ such as drawing, sewing, dancing
playing the piano. Middle class parents were quite
uninterested in an academic education for their
daughters. In the early part of the nineteenth
centaury emphasis was placed on religious teaching,
things started to change around the 1850’s and 1860’s
when private day schools and boarding schools grew
and flourished in response to the changing economic
and social needs.
For upper and middle class women changes began
to occur around 1867 when they started become
very dissatisfied with their lives. Fed up with not being
able to express themselves and use their brains. One
of the most dramatic changes in the nineteenth
century was women uniting and rising up against the
political system of Britain. One of these women was
Louisa Twining who was the organiser of the
Workhouse Reform Act. She was constructive in
having some of the worst workhouses abolished
particularly after 1875 when an act was passed that
enabled women to become Poor Law Guardians.
Other changes in women’s political standing started in
1867 when The London Society for Women’s Suffrage
was founded to press the case of women to get the
vote in Parliamentary Elections. However certain
democratic institutions, that barred women, in actual
fact helped to politicise them. As women were
denied from voting, when working class men were
given the vote in 1867 this was considered infuriating
who thought of themselves as superior. So women
responded by creating their own groups and uniting
all over the country to create national organisations.
The results of this were a women’s movement of
considerable power and effectiveness. This emerged
around the 1880’s onwards to fight for married
women’s control of their own property, child custody,
and the fight for women’s suffrage. For the remaining
part of the nineteenth century women did their
utmost to advance the cause for women’s rights but
sadly to no avail.
