HOW WOMEN MAY EARN A Living
Published by Cassell & Company, Limited.
New and Enlarged Edition. 1,088 pages, royal 8vo, price 21s.
The Family Physician. A Manual of Domestic Medicine. By Eminent Physicians and Surgeons of the principal London Hospitals.
"The volume issued under the appropriate title of 'The Family Physician,' is one which is likely to be of great and permanent use.... It teaches its readers not only how to cure certain diseases according to general rules, but, what is much more important, how to avoid them. The book is distinguished throughout by excellent sense and very clear writing."—Saturday Review.
New and Revised Edition. Complete in Four Vols., cloth, 6s. each.
Cassell's Household Guide to Every Department of Practical Life. Being a Complete Encyclopædia of Domestic and Social Economy. With Illustrations on nearly every page, and Coloured Plates.
"A book for every household, and its possessors may dispense with many others on a smaller scale, because it is, as the title says, a complete Encyclopædia of Domestic and Social Economy."—The Queen.
Cheap Edition. 1,280 pages, royal 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.
Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery. The Largest, Cheapest, and best Cookery Book ever published. Illustrated throughout. Containing about Nine Thousand Recipes.
"'Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery' is one of the most thorough and comprehensive works of the kind. To expatiate on its abundant contents would demand pages rather than paragraphs."—The Times.
Cheap Edition. 1,280 pages, royal 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.
Cassell's Domestic Dictionary. An Encyclopædia for the Household, furnishing information on several thousand subjects relating to the Wants of Every-day Life. With numerous Illustrations.
"As a manual of ready reference for all household purposes this work has no rival."—The Queen.
Cheap Edition, price 3s. 6d.
What Girls Can Do. A Book for Mothers and Daughters. By Phillis Browne, Author of "A Year's Cookery," &c. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt.
"Miss Browne gives many practical hints on all kinds of work, whether they be undertaken for duty, necessity, or pleasure. Girls who are forced to earn their livelihood, are ambitious of making themselves useful, or only desire not to be idle, may all consult with advantage these pages, which have the great merit of being within the compass of all to profit by."—The Times.
Cheap Edition, price 3s. 6d.
A Year's Cookery. The only book of its kind. Giving Dishes for Breakfast, Luncheon, and Dinner for Every Day in the Year, with Practical Instructions for their Preparation. By Phillis Browne. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt.
"A Year's Cookery, by Phillis Browne, with bills of fare for every day in the year, with directions for cooking, for marketing, and for making arrangements for the next day, makes up an invaluable present for young housekeepers."—Athenæum.
Cloth, 3s. 6d.
Choice Dishes at Small Cost. By A. G. Payne, Author of "Common-sense Cookery," &c.
"A most invaluable contribution to the housekeeper's library."—Court Journal.
"An admirable little cookery-book, not overlooking economy, but putting excellence and quality above everything. For its size it is the best work of the kind we have seen."—Daily Chronicle.
Cheap Edition, stiff paper cover, 1s. 6d.; cloth, 2s.
A Handbook of Nursing for the Home and for the Hospital. By Catherine J. Wood, Lady Superintendent of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street.
"The book is one of unusual excellence; and we strongly recommend it to all who wish to be, and, indeed, to those who already are, thoroughly trained and educated nurses."—Medical Times.
"This is a book which every mother of a family ought to have, as well as every nurse under training."—Guardian.
Cassell & Company, Limited, Ludgate Hill, London.
How Women may Earn
a Living.
BY
MERCY GROGAN.
"WHAT IS THAT WHICH I SHOULD TURN TO,
LIGHTING UPON DAYS LIKE THESE?"
Locksley Hall.
Revised Edition.
CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited:
LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK.
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
1883.
[PREFACE.]
The aim of the compiler of this work has simply been to point out and give information respecting some of the ways by which women may earn a living in the present day, especial regard being had to the wants of the immense number of ladies who have to depend upon their own exertions for their support. It is confidently believed that the information given will be found substantially correct, as in most cases it has been overlooked and corrected by the different authorities from whom it was derived. Of course, in a book of this size it would be manifestly impossible, even if it were desirable, to describe all the different occupations which in various ranks of life are open to women.
[CONTENTS.]
| [CHAPTER I]. | |
| INTRODUCTORY. | |
| PAGE | |
| Society for the Employment of Women | [13] |
| Tapestry | [14] |
| [CHAPTER II]. | |
| EDUCATION. | |
| Teachers' Training Syndicate | [16] |
| Training College for Governesses | [16] |
| Home and Colonial School Society | [21] |
| West-Central Collegiate School | [21] |
| Girton College | [21] |
| Newnham Hall | [23] |
| Lady Margaret Hall | [25] |
| Somerville Hall | [26] |
| Froebel Examination | [27] |
| Kindergarten Classes. | [28] |
| Kindergarten Training College, Tavistock Place | [29] |
| Kindergarten Training College, Stockwell Road | [30] |
| Education by Correspondence | [31] |
| Calendar for Governesses | [32] |
| List of Endowed Schools | [33] |
| Girls' Public Day School Company | [35] |
| Elementary Schools | [40] |
| List of Training Colleges | [44] |
| Governesses' Benevolent Institution | [46] |
| [CHAPTER III]. | |
| ARTISTIC EMPLOYMENT. | |
| Schools of Art | [47] |
| Royal Academy of Arts | [50] |
| Designers | [51] |
| Wood Carving | [52] |
| Wood Engraving | [55] |
| Painting on China | [58] |
| Painting on Leather | [60] |
| Mosaic | [60] |
| Painting on Glass | [61] |
| Decorative Work | [61] |
| House Decoration | [62] |
| Plan Tracing | [63] |
| Photography | [64] |
| Art Needlework | [65] |
| Painting on Silk and Cards | [67] |
| Medical Drawings | [67] |
| [CHAPTER IV]. | |
| MEDICAL WORK. | |
| School of Medicine for Women | [68] |
| Chemists | [70] |
| Dispensers | [71] |
| Hospital Nurses | [72] |
| Nightingale Fund | [76] |
| Westminster Training School | [80] |
| [CHAPTER V]. | |
| CLERKSHIPS. | |
| Bookkeeping Classes | [82] |
| Shorthand Writing | [85] |
| Kelly's Directories | [86] |
| Junior Army and Navy Stores | [86] |
| Prudential Life Assurance | [86] |
| Coupon Sorters | [87] |
| Law Copyists | [88] |
| Telegraphy | [89] |
| Post Office Clerks | [90] |
| [CHAPTER VI]. | |
| MISCELLANEOUS. | |
| Assistants in Shops | [91] |
| School of Cookery | [95] |
| Music | [99] |
| National Training School | [100] |
| Royal Academy of Music | [101] |
| London Academy of Music | [102] |
| Printing | [103] |
| School of Technical Needlework and Dressmaking | [104] |
| Plain Needlework | [105] |
| Business Training | [106] |
| City Work-rooms | [106] |
| School Board Visitors | [107] |
| Minor Food Productions | [107] |
| Machine Knitters | [109] |
| Hairdressing | [109] |
| M. Eugene Rimmel's | [110] |
| Stationery Work | [110] |
| Superintendents in Laundries | [110] |
| Artificial Flower Making | [111] |
| Feather Making | [111] |
| Jewellery | [112] |
| Jewel Case Makers | [112] |
| Gold and Silver Burnishers | [112] |
| Dentistry | [113] |
| Map Mounting | [113] |
| Concertina Makers | [113] |
| Addresses | [114] |
| [CHAPTER VII]. | |
| EMIGRATION. | |
| Government Grant of Land | [115] |
| Free Passages | [115] |
| Female Middle Class Emigration Society | [116] |
| Women's Emigration Society | [118] |
| Australian Newspapers | [114] |
| Cost of Passage | [114] |
How Women may Earn a Living.
[CHAPTER I.]
INTRODUCTORY.
One of the most pressing social problems of the day is how the immense number of women—greatly outnumbering the men—in England at the present time are to be supported. The obvious answer is, that they must be taught and encouraged to support themselves. This little book is written in the hope of directing their attention to some suitable and remunerative employments that are not universally known, and it is also hoped it may prove useful to parents who are anxious to arm their daughters for the battle of life with a weapon no one can take from them.
"When land is gone, and money spent,
Then learning is most excellent."
And a thorough knowledge of some remunerative employment would do more to make them independent of "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" than the possession of any amount of money, especially in these days of bank failures and general depression of trade.
The great difficulty ladies usually find in securing congenial and sufficiently well-paid employment arises from the pressing necessity they are generally under of earning money at once, which prevents them giving the necessary time to learn whatever calling they may wish to adopt. I have endeavoured to ascertain as exactly as possible the time required to learn all the occupations I mention, as well as the cost of tuition, and, in most cases, I subjoin the rules, or give extracts from the prospectuses of the different schools and classes where ladies may receive the necessary instruction, thinking it may help many to decide upon what they are most fitted for, and what they can best afford to undertake. I have also collected as much information as I could for those whose circumstances make it essential that they should at once receive remuneration for their work; but I must remind them that generally what is worth having is worth waiting and working for, and they must not expect to be as well paid as their more fortunate sisters, who are able to give time and money to learn a business thoroughly. The superficiality of girls' education is very much against them when it becomes a question of how they are to earn their living. If they were taught even one thing thoroughly they would probably be able to turn it to account; or at least they would have acquired the habit of learning accurately, which is all important, and one which, I am sorry to say, most women are sadly deficient in. Industry, determination, accuracy, and perseverance, would, I am certain, be quite sufficient to overcome almost all the difficulties women at present find in supporting themselves. For those who do not possess or who will not earnestly endeavour to acquire these qualities, I fear this book will be of little service. I have had to listen to bitter complaints of the careless way in which ladies execute work that is entrusted to them, of their want of punctuality and business habits, and their ineradicable conviction that they are conferring a favour upon their employers by working for them at all. All this sort of thing naturally makes large employers of female labour reluctant to try ladies, if they can get sufficient work-girls, who, whatever their faults may be, are at least free from the affectation and conceit of some of their superiors in the social scale. Why do not ladies make up their minds to remove this reproach from their class by giving a good day's work for a good day's wage? I heartily wish all women would decide once and for ever to give up the notion that it is humiliating or degrading to work for payment; to my mind the only shame in the matter is in the cases where full value is not given for the money received, when of course it becomes more or less an affair of charity.
It is a great pity that girls are brought up to think that the only way in which they can dispose of themselves that will give satisfaction to their friends is to get married, and if from various causes they fail to achieve this end they will be looked upon more or less as social failures. Although I am perfectly willing to admit that a happy marriage is the best fate that can befall a woman, surely an unhappy one is one of the worst; and how many of these would be prevented if women only had something else to do and think about, some other means of advancing themselves in life!
I wish parents could be induced to treat their daughters more in the way they treat their sons—that is to say, when they leave school have them thoroughly trained for some profession; it would be much better for them, and many of the difficulties of the "woman question" would disappear, as the untrained women of middle age who have suddenly to depend upon their own exertions are those for whom it is almost impossible to provide any suitable occupation, especially if they object or are unfit to become hospital nurses, and have not sufficient capacity for arithmetic to learn book-keeping. I must refer any of my readers who want personal advice as to their qualifications for different occupations to the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, 22, Berners Street, Oxford Street, W. Miss King, the Secretary, or Miss Lewin, the Under Secretary, are both able and willing to give advice and reliable information; no fee of any kind is charged. This excellent society has been in existence twenty years; during the whole time a free register has been kept, by means of which many hundreds of women have obtained situations or temporary employment. Visits from applicants average about ten daily, and the office has been a centre for the collecting and diffusion of information on all subjects bearing on the employment of women; while many whose names are never entered on the register are put in the way of procuring training or employment, and are warned against persons who, by alluring promises of easy ladylike employment, tempt the unwary to spend their slender means in lessons that are worthless.
With an income which, from all sources, including subscriptions and donations for special purposes, has only averaged £319 7s. 6d. per annum, it has trained yearly on an average, thirty young women, obtained regular employment for sixty-three, and occasional employment for one hundred and forty-two.
I must take this opportunity of acknowledging the great kindness I have met with during my search for information while compiling the book. With one exception, I have everywhere been treated with the greatest courtesy; all my questions have been most fully answered, and every facility given me for obtaining all the particulars I could possibly desire.
I find that, after common sense and business habits, the qualification most likely to be useful to a woman is a good knowledge of drawing; so I advise any one who has any taste in that direction to sedulously cultivate it.
I am much interested in a scheme for starting a School of Tapestry, where ladies could be apprenticed, and after they had acquired the art, work regularly, as they do at the Royal School of Art Needlework. There is nothing in the nature of the work to prevent women doing it, although it is an occupation that has long been monopolised by men. The necessary apprenticeship would be at least two years.
A scheme has lately been set on foot for organising classes for teaching girls who are anxious to obtain engagements in superior houses of business, the regular routine of office work, book-keeping, &c. Inquiries may be addressed to Miss Franks, 23, Mortimer Street.
I wish I could convince women of a truth they seem singularly slow in comprehending—that is, that if they are to compete with men on anything like equal terms, they must, at the very least, give the same time to learn their business that men find necessary. There is always a demand for really skilled labour, and this skill is worth almost any present sacrifice to obtain; besides its pecuniary advantages, the knowledge that one can do something really well (not in an amateur fashion) confers a most gratifying sense of power and independence. I do not agree with those people who think it a hardship for women to have to work for their living; on the contrary, I believe if an average of happiness could be ascertained, it would be found the toilers had a far larger share than the idlers, and when trouble and disappointment come, as come they will, they must remember that—
"Their fate is the common fate of all;
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary."
[CHAPTER II.]
EDUCATION.
After having made inquiries about a great variety of female occupations, I have come to the conclusion that teaching is still the most suitable, and, under certain circumstances, the most remunerative, employment open to women. But an ordinary education no longer qualifies a woman for the position of governess in any educational establishment; if she wishes to be tolerably certain of securing an engagement it is necessary that she should be certificated, or, still better, have completed her education at Girton, Newnham, or one of the new halls opened at Oxford, and it is most desirable that she should pass the new examination of teachers instituted by the Teachers' Training Syndicate of Cambridge.