Work, Gender and Family in Victorian England

346 Pages·1995·37.777 MB·English

by  Karl Ittmann (auth.)

WORK, GENDER AND FAMILY IN
VICTORIAN ENGLAND
STUDIES IN GENDER HISTORY
Recent years have shown that the study ofgender has proved to be of
too great an importance to be ignored. Bychallenging long-accepted
approaches, categories and priorities, gender history has necessitated
nothing lessthan a change in the historical terrain.This seriesseeksto
publish the latest and bestresearch,whichnot onlycontinuesto restore
women to history and history to women, but also to encourage the
development of a newchannel of scholarship.
Published titles
Karl Ittmann
WORK, GENDER AND FAMILY IN VICfORIAN ENGLAND
JuttaSchwartzkopf
WOMEN IN THECHARTISTMOVEMENT
Lillian LewisShiman
WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP IN NINETEENTH·CENTURY ENGLAND
Clare Taylor
WOMENOFTHE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT
Cornelie Usborne
THEPOLITICSOF THE BODY IN WEIMAR GERMANY
Series Standing Order
If you would like to receive future titles in this series as they are
published, you can make useof our standingorderfacility.To placea
standing order please contactyour bookseller or, in case of difficulty,
write to us at the address below with your name and address and the
name oftheseries.Pleasestatewith whichtitleyou wishto beginyour
standingorder.(Ifyou liveoutside the UK wemay not havethe rights
foryour area,inwhichcasewewillforward your orderto thepublisher
concerned.)
CustomerServicesDepartment, Macmillan Distribution Ltd
Houndmills, Basingstoke,Hampshire, RG21 2XS, England.
Work, Gender and
Family in Victorian
England
KarlIttmann
AssistantProfessorofHistory
UniversityofHouston
© Karl Ittmann 1995
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1995 978-0-333-60479-3
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1995 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-13339-0 ISBN 978-1-349-13337-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-13337-6
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Transferred to digital printing 1998
02/780
To my father Beverly Ittmann (1931-84), my
mother Leonore Ittmann, and the Reverend
Clayton Garland
Contents
List ofTables and Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 The Worsted Trade and the Development of Bradford 9
The riseofthe worsted industry, 1750-1850 10
Bradford's economy in the mid-Victorian era 14
Occupation and class in mid-Victorian Bradford 16
Managementand the problem ofcostsin theworsted trade 20
The end of prosperity - the slump of the 1870s 29
2 Work and Its Discontents 39
Labor process in the worsted industry 41
Skilland the reorganization of the worsted trade 48
The organization of labor in spinning and weaving 51
The organization oflaboroutside ofspinning and weaving 55
Grievances and work conditions 57
Overlookers and the control of labor 63
The worsted committee and labor discipline 66
Trade unionism in the worsted industry 68
The problem oflabor in mid-Victorian Bradford 71
3 Politics inBradford 1850-1900 73
The emergence of liberalism 75
The challenge of working-class politics 83
4 High and LowCulture in Victorian Bradford 101
The making of an industrial city 102
Voluntarism and urban society 104
Religion in mid-Victorian Bradford 106
Education in Bradford 110
Education and social mobility 117
Temperance and the question ofleisure 123
vii
viii Contents
Voluntary organizations 130
Democracy and voluntary association 136
5 Gender and Family Life in Mid-Victorian Bradford 141
The debate over the family 142
The working-class child 147
The question of gender in Victorian Bradford 149
Domestic lifeand the working-class mother 154
Infant mortality, abortion, infanticide and the working
class family 156
6 From Voluntarism to the Sanitary Gospel:The Family and
Social Reform 165
The rise and decline of voluntarism 167
The emergence of the sanitary gospel 171
7 Family Limitation and Family Economyin Bradford
1851-81 187
The standard of living and the working class family 188
The family economy in mid-Victorian England 195
The nature of the family economy in Bradford 198
The problem of thrift in working-class families 217
Gender, marriage and the problems offamily life 223
Conclusion 237
Appendix: Collectionand Analysis ojData 241
Notes 245
Bibliography 311
Index 337
List of Tables and Figures
Tables
1.1 Employment in Bradford 1851-81 19
7.1 Children's employment, 1851-81 199
7.2 Married women's employment, 1851 and 1881 203
7.3 Relationship between fathers' occupations and those of
children and wives 206
7.4 Marital fertility in Bradford, 1841-81 212
7.5 Child-woman ratios by social class, 1851 and 1881 215
Figures
7.1 Money wagesin the worsted industry, 1850-1901 192
7.2 Wage earner ratio 207
7.3 Wage earner ratio by social class, Ig81 208
7.4 Mean number of children under ten 209
7.5 Mean number of children by social class, 1881 210
7.6 Marital fertility 1841-80 211
7.7 Age-specificmarital fertility 213
7.8 Age structure ofBradford in 1881 226
ix
Acknowledgments
This book began as a dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania
and received financial assistance from a number of sources along the
way. The University ofPennsylvania gave me a Pennfield Fellowship
and theDepartmentofHistoryprovided additional travel and research
funds, while the Council ofEuropean Studies at Columbia University
awarded me a Pre-dissertation Fellowship. Princeton University
supported my work with a summer faculty research grant. While at
the University ofHouston, I have received both a Research Initiation
Grantand two Limited GrantsinAid to assistin thecompletionofmy
manuscript.
In EnglandIbenefited from theassistance ofthestaffofanumberof
library and archives. Iwould liketo thank thestaffofthe University of
Leeds Archives, the Huddersfield Polytechnic Library, the West
Yorkshire Record Office in Wakefield, the British Library and the
Public Record Offices at Chancery Lane and Kew for their patience
and kindness. I would liketo thank ElviraWillmottand thestaffof the
BradfordCentralLibraryfor theirassistance.lowethegreatest debt to
David James and his staffat the Bradford District Archives. David is
both a remarkablearchivist and scholarand awonderful human being.
His knowledge and skill allowed me to fully explore the rich sources
available in Bradford. I would also like to thank Jack Morrell, Keith
Laybourn and Tony Jowitt for sharing their knowledge of the West
Riding and Bradford with me.
Anumberofpeople haveoffered adviceand encouragementoverthe
years. At Michigan State, Peter Vinten-Johansen, Anne Meyering and
David Loromer pushed me toward graduate school. My graduate
advisor at the University ofPennsylvania, Lynn Lees, gavegenerously
of her timeand provided invaluableassistance in the completion of the
dissertation and the manuscript. I would also like to thank my
committee members Jack Reeceand Walter Licht for their help.While
at Penn several members ofthe Population Studies program provided
advice and suggestions, including Doug Ewbank, Susan Watkins and
Mike Strong. I also owea great debt to my friends Steve Ruggles and
Miriam King, who helped me with the data gathering and analysis. At
Princeton, Phil Nord, Reid Mitchell and Peter Mandler made my stay
both challenging and enjoyable. I wish to thank my University of
xi