If you are here, it’s highly likely that you are already a connoisseur of word origins and the historical context for the words and phrases that were pervasive in Jane Austen’s writing. It’s definitely been going around social media recently that the earliest use of the term “spinster” was to refer to a woman who spun thread or yarn for a living. In medieval and early modern Europe, spinning wool into yarn was one of the few occupations available to women, and it was often a task performed by unmarried women as a means of economic survival. The activity was incredibly lucrative by the living standards of the time, so the women who participated in this activity were not under the financial pressure of many women to marry, and many chose to remain single. Therefore, the term gradually took on connotations of singleness.
By the 18th century, “spinster” had shifted from being a job title to a legal designation for an unmarried woman in official documents. Over time, the word gained negative connotations, implying that a woman who remained unmarried beyond a certain age was undesirable or a failure in the eyes of society. This shift reflected broader cultural expectations that defined a woman’s primary role as that of a wife and mother.
Funny how even today, women who are choosing the “single cat-lady” life, relying on their own financial independence, instead of pursuing heteronormative marriage and motherhood, are derided, put down, and talked about in a negative light by dude-bros with a podcast. It’s almost like giving women financial options increases her opportunities to choose the life she actually wants instead of being forced to rely on men for her survival.
So, today in honor of the near end of Women’s History Month, we are going to take a short romp through the kinds of jobs that women in the Regency Era could do and some notable women of who made contributions to society and their chosen fields.
Professions Available to Women in the 18th and 19th Centuries
For women in the middle and lower classes, working was often not an option. If you wanted to eat, you worked. However, the jobs available to women were generally limited to those deemed appropriate within the rigid gender norms of the time. For people who lived in the country and were involved in tenant farming and agriculture, women tended to the animals, preserved food, made clothing from animal furs, and kept the house. Independence from the farming lifestyle required a young woman to venture away from the land where she was born to seek employment in cities, villages, or manor houses. By the Regency Era, cities such as Glasow and London were already briming with people born to the congested streets instead of the pastures. Generally, women and girls looking for independence would find themselves in one or the other of the domestic services.
Domestic Service
One of the most common forms of employment for women in the 18th and 19th centuries was domestic service. Women worked as maids, cooks, governesses, housekeepers, and laundresses in the homes of wealthier families. Domestic service provided room and board, but the work was often grueling, with long hours and little personal freedom. Despite the hardships, this profession allowed women, particularly those from lower economic backgrounds, to earn a living and support their families.
For women of a slightly higher social standing, those who had been afforded some formal education themselves, becoming a governess or a teacher was one of the few respectable options available. A governess was employed to educate the children of upper-class families, teaching subjects such as reading, writing, arithmetic, music, and French. Although considered a respectable occupation, governesses often occupied an ambiguous social position—neither a servant nor a member of the family, they were frequently isolated and underpaid. There was also the “lord of the manor” or his sons to contend with as governesses were often left without a male family protector.
Teaching in schools for girls was another option, especially in the latter half of the 19th century as education for women became more accepted. Women also ran dame schools, small private schools that provided basic literacy and numeracy education to young children, often operated out of the teacher’s home.
Textile Industry and Factory Work
With the rise of industrialization especially in the northern cities across England at the turn of the 19th century, many women (<< cough – young girls – cough >>) found employment in textile mills and factories. Women worked in spinning, weaving, and sewing industries, producing fabric, clothing, and other goods. While factory work provided women and girls with wages, the conditions were often harsh — long hours, low pay, and dangerous environments were common. Additionally, working-class women who labored in factories faced social stigma.
Factory work became a significant economic engine for many communities in the decades after the Napoleonic war ended and crop prices plummeted without the inflated prices charged to the crown for military stores. More and more tenant farmers started sending their children into the towns and cities to find work to supplement falling crop yields and rising rent prices from the landowners. Women and young girls played a huge part in the shift of the UK’s economy from agriculture based to a mix of industrial and agricultural as they were already in the factories before the post-Napoleon crop price crisis.
Seamstresses and Milliners
Sewing and dressmaking were among the few skilled trades accessible to women. Seamstresses and milliners (hat makers) could work independently and even own the majority stake in a larger business employing other seamstresses, creating clothing and accessories for women of higher social standing. This work allowed women a degree of financial independence, though competition was fierce and earnings were often meager. Many seamstresses worked long hours for little pay, leading to calls for better working conditions by the late 19th century. One of the most famous seamstresses and dressmakers of the Regency era was Madame Marie Anne Tussaud—although she is better known for her waxwork creations, she initially worked in fashion and costume-making in Paris and later in London.
While there is no single widely recognized “most famous” London seamstress from the Regency era, many talented women worked in elite fashion circles, such as Mrs. Sarah Banks, sister of famed botanist Sir Joseph Banks. She collected fashion plates and patterns, influencing dress designs of the time. Another notable name is Madame Lanchester, a prominent London dressmaker who catered to aristocratic women. She was known for crafting elegant Empire-line gowns—a hallmark of Regency fashion—and supplying fine dresses to the British elite. The shoppes on Bond Street were a huge economic powerhouse in the London elite and women were at the head of making the hundreds of dresses a fine English noblewoman would need for the whole of the London season. Getting the best dresses from the best dressmakers was seen as a status symbol amongst the ton. While it was not an easy life by any stretch of the imagination, it was an independent life.
Nursing and Midwifery
Women have traditionally been caregivers, and nursing and midwifery were two professions where they could exercise their skills and earn a living. In the Regency era, midwives played a crucial role in childbirth, often serving as the primary medical providers for women in labor across the economic classes. Male doctors rarely studied childbirth and only in the most dire of situations for the most elevated of women, were doctors called in to provide care during a birth. However, with the professionalization of medicine in the 19th century, male doctors increasingly took over childbirth practices, pushing midwives to the margins.
One of the most interesting and controversial figures in medicine during the Regency era was Dr. James Barry. Born Margaret Anne Bulkley (c. 1789–1865), they lived their adult life as a man and became a very prominent doctor in London. Dr. Barry is one of the first known transgender or gender-nonconforming individuals to be widely acknowledged in the modern era. They were born in Ireland and, as a woman, would have been barred from formal medical education. With the support of progressive relatives and family friends, they adopted the identity of James Barry and enrolled in the University of Edinburgh’s medical school around 1809. After obtaining a medical degree, Dr. Barry joined the British Army as a military surgeon.
Dr. Barry had an illustrious career spanning more than 40 years. They rose to the rank of Inspector General of Military Hospitals, the second-highest position in the British Army’s medical hierarchy. Some of Dr. Barry’s key accomplishments include:
- Performing one of the first known successful cesarean sections in which both mother and child survived.
- Advocating for hygiene and sanitation in hospitals, prisons, and barracks, significantly improving medical standards.
- Fighting for better treatment of marginalized groups, including enslaved people, prisoners, and the poor, particularly in colonial settings such as South Africa, the West Indies, and Canada.
Dr. Barry lived as a man throughout life and it was only upon their death in 1865, when the women who prepared their body for burial discovered Barry’s body had female genitalia. The revelation shocked the British military and medical community, leading to significant debate, though their accomplishments and awards would not be retracted posthumously.
As we look towards the future, there are always lessons to be taken from the past. For me, I’m glad I live in an era where I was able to get a bachelors, masters, and doctorate level degree as myself and without the social stigma of 200 years ago. I’m also happy to be a wife and mother. I’m not sure I’m really having it all, but I’m certainly tired enough on any given day to evidence the scramble. I’m also happy to know that if something happened to my husband, I would have all the skills, financial resources, and social structures in place to take care of myself and my kids.
On the other hand, I’m often outraged at the state of women’s economic freedom around the world and even here in the US. We have a way long to go before women command the same economic power as men. But our sisters who are living their best single life, those “spinsters” amongst us, they are forging a path for which their fore-aunts fought and proudly wore the badge of social outcast for peace and independence.
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