Female servant

Female servant

The most common occupation shown in early St Ives' census returns is female servant. So frequent, the 1841 census records it as 'FS'. The popular image might be of a maid dressed in black gown, white cap and apron working below stairs. Most were maids of all work, the only servant employed working very long hours.

Why did young girls become servants? What was the life of a servant like? What about female servants in St Ives? Read on to find out more.

Why become a domestic servant?

Many young working class girls had few options in their choice of occupation. Some aged as young as 10 years were 'rescued' from the workhouse, trained for domestic service from an early age. A poor family with many mouths to feed might encourage their daughter into an occupation which provided bed and board. If homeless and without a supporting family, for some the only alternative was prostitution.

In 1891 one in three girls aged between 15 and 25 years worked in domestic service. A few were lucky to work in a household beyond their wildest dreams. Most had a simple ambition of marriage before their mid-twenties.

What were conditions like?

Middle and upper class households typically employed two or more domestic servants. It was not uncommon for a given name to apply to certain jobs. So the scullery maid was Mary. It didn't matter that the employer hired Susan for the job. You called her Mary because she was the scullery maid.

Most female servants worked alone. Appropriately called a 'maid of all work', in such a household the servant did everything, from lighting fires and preparing breakfast early morning, to tidying up after the family had retired to bed. In between there was washing, cleaning, cooking, laundry and caring for children. Working hours were long, monotonous and exhausting with little time off.

A distrustful employer would keep their servant under constant scrutiny. The mistress might search her servant's belongings. Up to 1860 it was legal to beat your servant without redress.

Although part of the family, the servant was not a member. Poorer households certainly did not spend spare money on their servant. Thus short rations were not uncommon for the maid of all work. 

Most female servants came from some distance away. The mistress didn't want family, friends or boyfriends popping in, or the servant asking for time off to see their family. In case of dispute, isolation was a good thing for the employer. There was no job security of any kind. Get on the wrong side of your boss and you were out, possibly homeless and with no references. An attic bedroom might not seem much, but to many female servants it was almost a luxury.

Female servants in St Ives

Working class St Ivians typically employed just one servant. Most female servants came from surrounding villages or further afield. They sought any alternative to long hours and poor conditions, so for many domestic service was not a lifetime occupation. Here are the stories of three such female servants.

ELIZA ASKEW was born in 1843 in Nicholson's Yard, just off Back Street (today West Street) in St Ives. This was one of many yards of St Ives, which soaked up the 67% increase in the town's population from 1801 to 1841. Eliza was the youngest of five children, her father an agricultural labourer.

Eliza's father died in 1850. Her mother Elizabeth worked as a tripewoman to feed the young family. Tripe is an edible offal made from the stomach lining of cattle, pigs or sheep. Elizabeth cleaned, boiled and bleached the offal to prepare it for sale. It was a smelly occupation.

Working as a pork butcher in the 1860s, Eliza's mother was again dealing in tripe by 1871. Before 1871 Eliza had no occupation shown in census returns. In that year her occupation was 'helps ma'. The 1871 census added 'idiot from birth'.

Eliza's mother had retired by 1881, aged 80 years. Eliza had no occupation. The census describes her as 'imbecile'.

After Eliza's mother died, with no one to look after her Eliza entered St Ives Union Workhouse. The 1891 census shows her occupation as 'laundry work'. It also describes her as 'imbecile'. Eliza was one of eight thus described.

The 1901 census describes Eliza as 'imbecile from birth'. Yet the 1911 census shows her occupation as 'domestic servant' and no infirmities. Maybe in her last years Eliza found her calling. 

The last echo of Eliza is from the 1915 Huntingdon Post report Christmas Among the Poor, about Christmas festivities at the Workhouse. The article mentions her under the description 'perhaps forgotten by a good many, but well known in their generation, smiling a welcome as one approaches'. Eliza died in the workhouse in 1916, aged 73 years.

JANE HODSON came from Childerley, Cambridgeshire, born there in 1833. She was the eldest of five children, her father an agricultural labourer.

In 1853 Jane appeared at an inquest into the death of Joshua, her 14 month old illegitimate son. The family, including children, were 'opium eaters' and Jane consumed opium during the hearing. Joshua accompanied her in Childerley field just before he died. Jane was gleaning, gathering grain left from harvesting.

The family probably consumed laudanum. This alcoholic herbal mixture contained 10% opium. It was cheap and freely available, taken as a painkiller when not consumed for addiction. It was also used to soothe babies.

Jane still lived at home in 1861, unmarried and age 30 years. In 1869 she appeared at Cambridge Petty Sessions, charged with stealing a wooden pole. Jane was still single and by then had several children. The court imprisoned her for a month. The same Petty Sessions ejected Jane's father from his cottage.

Homeless, the entire family of Jane, her three children and Jane's father and mother entered St Ives Union Workhouse. The 1871 census records Jane's occupation as a domestic servant.

By 1881 Jane lived at Gloster Place, Cambridge, describing herself as 'widow', working in a laundry as a charwoman. She lived there with her family until her death in 1901.

EMMA SEARS was born in Huntingdon in 1823. The 1841 census has two entries for Emma. She spent the census day with her mother, Mary Richford, her two younger brothers and one year old step-brother in Poor Folk's Square, one of the most deprived areas of St Ives. Emma worked as a live-in maid of all work for Thomas Harris, a miller living in Meeting Lane, St Ives. The census records her at both locations.

The Harris household comprised father, mother, seven children and three apprentices. As the only servant, how busy must Emma have been?

In 1844 the authorities charged Emma with stealing mutton and clothing from Thomas Harris. She also stole ribbon from Mr Upsher's shop, claiming it was for her mistress. The charge sheet included Emma's mother for receiving stolen goods. Mrs Harris obviously liked Emma. She pleaded mercy for her servant. Found guilty, Emma served two months' imprisonment with hard labour in Huntingdon gaol.

In an interesting twist, Benjamin Gifford successfully prosecuted one William Whitehead for threatening 'to do him some injury' because Benjamin was to give evidence against Emma. Both were apprentices of Thomas Harris.

In 1851 Emma lived with her mother and stepfather, both still at the same deprived location, renamed Church Lane. Unable to return to her former occupation because of her prison sentence, Emma worked as a dressmaker. There is no record of her after 1851.