The situation of single women in Victorian England

„Spinster” was one of the worst insults a person could throw at a woman in the Victorian era.

Usually a spinster was an unmarried woman, alone, childless, unemployed and with few prospects in life.

They became the subject of cruel jokes, being considered sad, lonely dolls, left on the shelf.

The term dates back to the 1300s and refers to women who wove yarn for a living.

This was often the job of single women because they did not have the resources to buy expensive materials, so they were relegated in society.

In 1889, the publisher of the British weekly magazine Tit-Bits asked single women to write and explain why they were not married. The woman with the best answer would be featured in the newspaper and win a prize.

The request was in response to another article published by the magazine that asked male readers, “Why are you single?”

The editor received a lot of letters and they were not the cordial answers he expected from the women of the era.

They were smart, funny and sharp lines that showed that there were a lot of women who were single for a reason.

Originally, the editor planned to post just one answer, but instead published 21 answers and gave each woman an equal share of the prize. Each woman earned 5 shillings, the equivalent of about $25 today.

Here are 11 of the best answers.

1. They are cursed by the Yankees

“Because I’m an English lady and the Americans monopolize the market” – Miss Jessie Davies

2. I am a wild and unruly horse

“Like the wild mustang of the prairie that roams unrestrained, bowing its head in utter contempt at the lasso which, once round its neck, proclaims it a prisoner, so I find it more delightful to tread upon the threshold of freedom and captivity, than to- I allow the rider to throw the matrimonial lasso around me,” – Miss Sarah Kennerly

3. I am a self-made woman

“Because I have other open professions where the hours are shorter, the work more pleasant and the salary possibly higher”Miss Florence Watts

4. I am a rare porcelain object

“Because I am a rare and fragile porcelain, but difficult to match”, Miss SA Roberts.

5. Only Shakespeare could describe me

“My reason for being a single woman is the answer to a quote from ‘The Taming of the Shrew’: ‘Of all men alive, I have yet to see that special face I could have imagined more than any other.’ Miss Lizzie Moore

6. I am ready for action

“Because I’m like volunteers with rifles: always ready, but not wanted yet” – Miss Annie Thompson

7. I don’t want a pet yet

“… I do not care to increase my menagerie of pets, and I find the animal man less docile than a dog, less affectionate than a cat, and less amusing than a monkey” – Miss Sparrow

8. We will get married when John can afford it

“John, whom I loved, has been replaced in his office by a girl who does the same work he did for half the salary he received. He could not earn enough to keep a house, so he went abroad; consequently, I am still a wretch” – Miss E. Jones

9. Men are deceitful

“Because men, like three cornered tarts, are deceivers. They are pleasing to the eye, but on closer inspection they prove empty and stale, consisting mainly of fluff, with a minimum of sweetness and an invincible inclination to disagree with one.” – Miss Emaline Lawrence

10. There is no escape from the marriage sled

“Marriage is like a sled, when once you shake hands and you can’t let go, no matter how much it hurts; and, like when you’re on a toboggan slide, you have to go all the way, no matter how much it bumps,” – Miss Laura Bax

11. I am a masterchef

„Dear Mr. Tit-Bits, I’m a cook with 5/10 1/2 savins in the bank, I naturally look down on people perlsees, soljers and setterar, so I’m expecting an erle or a dook or sumthin of that kind to me I think about my art and that’s why I’m a troubled woman” – Miss Annie Newton

What were Victorian governesses?

Plenty of upper-class families employed female guardians for their daughters in the 17th and early 18th centuries.

In the Victorian era, however, not only aristocrats relied on a governess, but also most wealthy middle-class parents. A live-in governess was both a sign of one’s social status and a means of instilling in their daughters the skills necessary for their future married life in a safe and suitable domestic environment.

What had once been a relatively niche profession was booming by the time of the 1851 census, when approximately 25,000 women were working as governesses.

Often the daughters of professional men – clergymen, merchants, military officers, surgeons and lawyers – some were deliberately educated for a life in the school class, but the lack of marriageable men and a series of banking failures in the early 19th century ‘s meant that a group of young women raised to be ladies of leisure were suddenly required to make a living. Governess was the most ladylike and respectable vocation available.