Working Women

I caught a little bit of a television programme about the Scots in New Zealand, then read the review of that programme in the morning newspaper. One comment I picked up on was that 19th century Scots women in New Zealand were more likely than any others to go into "professional" and other male-dominated fields.

A Sutherland woman (I'm not sure from which side of the family) was the first female lawyer in Tonga and Annie (1862) gave her occupation as a teacher.

With the exception of Dundee, where the jute industry was entirely staffed by married women (in fact, married Dundee women who were not employed or looking for work were considered lazy), married women tended not to work after marriage. However, T M Devine suggests in The Scottish Nation that there was a hidden labour economy not reflected in the census categories. This included homework, such as sewing and laundering, seasonal tasks on farms and casual employment as charwomen or baby-minders.

Women tended to be employed in four areas: domestic service, agriculture, clothing and textiles. 9 out of 10 women worked in these sectors in the middle decades of the 19th century. In 1871, more than a quarter of 'regular' scottish farm workers were women (not including the great army of seasonal workers who worked on the grain, potato and soft fruit harvest). In the later 19th century the move to the city meant women were moving off the land and into towns and cities. By 1900, more women than ever before were employed as clerks within the booming commercial sector and there were also many more female teachers, nurses and midwives than ever before.

Where women found work in formerly male preserves, their career choices were limited - in tailoring, women were confined to machine work in the ready-made trade while men monopolised the first-class shops catering for the most skilled work; in printing, female compositors were confined to typesetting, while men controlled other processes; females were positively encouraged into teaching, but could go no further than the post of infant mistress. Professions such as medicine proved nearly impossible for women to enter - by 1901, there were still only 60 women doctors in Scotland and in hospitals they were confined to low-status specialisations such as obstetrics and children's diseases. [source: T M Devine, The Scottish Nation 1700-2007 (Penguin 2006) pp 532-534]

I feel justifiably proud that my Scottish female forebears were so hardworking ~ particularly as I have made a career of assiduously avoiding any sort of job commitment. ~It certainly wouldn't do in Dundee.