During the 1920s domestic service was the largest female occupation in Britain. We view it today as being an undesirable job, due to the class divide it has come to represent, and this is reflected in the portrayals of mistresses and servants in books and on the screen.
However, it was also seen as the perfect way to equip young women with the necessary skills to become good wives and mothers, and continues to be a career taken up by many today.
But what do we really know about how girls felt about taking up such positions, or how they were treated. This first major study of domestic workers includes first-hand accounts of men and women working in this area, and Pamela Horn also uses official records and news reports to extract the truth of their lives. Written with authority, this well researched study is essential reading for social historians, and anyone with an interest in modern history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Pamela Horn lectured in economic and social history at Oxford Polytechnic, (now Oxford Brookes University), for over twenty years. She has written a number of books on social history topics covering the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Her most recent books are Behind the Counter: Shop Lives from Market Stall to Supermarket, Life as a Victorian Lady, Life in a Victorian Household, and My Ancestor Was in Service.
Now retired from teaching she still gives lectures to family history and local history groups.
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| Publication: |
June 2010 |
Extent: |
224 pages |
| Availability: |
In stock |
Images Mono: |
50 |
| Format: |
235 x 156 mm |
Images Colour: |
0 |
| Binding: |
Paperback |
|
