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Title: How Women May Earn a Living
Author: Grogan, Mercy
Language: English
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HOW WOMEN
MAY EARN A
LIVING
CASSELL & COMP^Y LIM^D.
LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK
]
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_Cassell & Company, Limited, Ludgate Hill, London._
HOW WOMEN MAY EARN
A LIVING.
BY
MERCY GROGAN.
"WHAT IS THAT WHICH I SHOULD TURN TO,
LIGHTING UPON DAYS LIKE THESE?"
_Locksley Hall._
Revised Edition.
CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED:
_LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK_.
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
1883.
PREFACE.
The aim of the compiler of this work has simply been to point out
and give information respecting some of the ways by which women may
earn a living in the present day, especial regard being had to the
wants of the immense number of ladies who have to depend upon their
own exertions for their support. It is confidently believed that the
information given will be found substantially correct, as in most cases
it has been overlooked and corrected by the different authorities
from whom it was derived. Of course, in a book of this size it would
be manifestly impossible, even if it were desirable, to describe all
the different occupations which in various ranks of life are open to
women.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
PAGE
Society for the Employment of Women 13
Tapestry 14
CHAPTER II.
EDUCATION.
Teachers' Training Syndicate 16
Training College for Governesses 16
Home and Colonial School Society 21
West-Central Collegiate School 21
Girton College 21
Newnham Hall 23
Lady Margaret Hall 25
Somerville Hall 26
Froebel Examination 27
Kindergarten Classes. 28
Kindergarten Training College, Tavistock Place 29
Kindergarten Training College, Stockwell Road 30
Education by Correspondence 31
Calendar for Governesses 32
List of Endowed Schools 33
Girls' Public Day School Company 35
Elementary Schools 40
List of Training Colleges 44
Governesses' Benevolent Institution 46
CHAPTER III.
ARTISTIC EMPLOYMENT.
Schools of Art 47
Royal Academy of Arts 50
Designers 51
Wood Carving 52
Wood Engraving 55
Painting on China 58
Painting on Leather 60
Mosaic 60
Painting on Glass 61
Decorative Work 61
House Decoration 62
Plan Tracing 63
Photography 64
Art Needlework 65
Painting on Silk and Cards 67
Medical Drawings 67
CHAPTER IV.
MEDICAL WORK.
School of Medicine for Women 68
Chemists 70
Dispensers 71
Hospital Nurses 72
Nightingale Fund 76
Westminster Training School 80
CHAPTER V.
CLERKSHIPS.
Bookkeeping Classes 82
Shorthand Writing 85
Kelly's Directories 86
Junior Army and Navy Stores 86
Prudential Life Assurance 86
Coupon Sorters 87
Law Copyists 88
Telegraphy 89
Post Office Clerks 90
CHAPTER VI.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Assistants in Shops 91
School of Cookery 95
Music 99
National Training School 100
Royal Academy of Music 101
London Academy of Music 102
Printing 103
School of Technical Needlework and Dressmaking 104
Plain Needlework 105
Business Training 106
City Work-rooms 106
School Board Visitors 107
Minor Food Productions 107
Machine Knitters 109
Hairdressing 109
M. Eugene Rimmel's 110
Stationery Work 110
Superintendents in Laundries 110
Artificial Flower Making 111
Feather Making 111
Jewellery 112
Jewel Case Makers 112
Gold and Silver Burnishers 112
Dentistry 113
Map Mounting 113
Concertina Makers 113
Addresses 114
CHAPTER VII.
EMIGRATION.
Government Grant of Land 115
Free Passages 115
Female Middle Class Emigration Society 116
Women's Emigration Society 118
Australian Newspapers 114
Cost of Passage 114
HOW WOMEN MAY EARN A LIVING.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
One of the most pressing social problems of the day is how the immense
number of women--greatly outnumbering the men--in England at the
present time are to be supported. The obvious answer is, that they
must be taught and encouraged to support themselves. This little book
is written in the hope of directing their attention to some suitable
and remunerative employments that are not universally known, and it is
also hoped it may prove useful to parents who are anxious to arm their
daughters for the battle of life with a weapon no one can take from
them.
"When land is gone, and money spent,
Then learning is most excellent."
And a thorough knowledge of some remunerative employment would do
more to make them independent of "the slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune" than the possession of any amount of money, especially in
these days of bank failures and general depression of trade.
The great difficulty ladies usually find in securing congenial and
sufficiently well-paid employment arises from the pressing necessity
they are generally under of earning money at once, which prevents
them giving the necessary time to learn whatever calling they may
wish to adopt. I have endeavoured to ascertain as exactly as possible
the time required to learn all the occupations I mention, as well
as the cost of tuition, and, in most cases, I subjoin the rules, or
give extracts from the prospectuses of the different schools and
classes where ladies may receive the necessary instruction, thinking
it may help many to decide upon what they are most fitted for, and
what they can best afford to undertake. I have also collected as much
information as I could for those whose circumstances make it essential
that they should at once receive remuneration for their work; but I
must remind them that generally what is worth having is worth waiting
and working for, and they must not expect to be as well paid as their
more fortunate sisters, who are able to give time and money to learn
a business thoroughly. The superficiality of girls' education is very
much against them when it becomes a question of how they are to earn
their living. If they were taught even one thing thoroughly they would
probably be able to turn it to account; or at least they would have
acquired the habit of learning accurately, which is all important,
and one which, I am sorry to say, most women are sadly deficient in.
Industry, determination, accuracy, and perseverance, would, I am
certain, be quite sufficient to overcome almost all the difficulties
women at present find in supporting themselves. For those who do not
possess or who will not earnestly endeavour to acquire these qualities,
I fear this book will be of little service. I have had to listen to
bitter complaints of the careless way in which ladies execute work
that is entrusted to them, of their want of punctuality and business
habits, and their ineradicable conviction that they are conferring a
favour upon their employers by working for them at all. All this sort
of thing naturally makes large employers of female labour reluctant to
try ladies, if they can get sufficient work-girls, who, whatever their
faults may be, are at least free from the affectation and conceit of
some of their superiors in the social scale. Why do not ladies make
up their minds to remove this reproach from their class by giving a
good day's work for a good day's wage? I heartily wish all women would
decide once and for ever to give up the notion that it is humiliating
or degrading to work for payment; to my mind the only shame in the
matter is in the cases where full value is not given for the money
received, when of course it becomes more or less an affair of charity.
It is a great pity that girls are brought up to think that the only way
in which they can dispose of themselves that will give satisfaction
to their friends is to get married, and if from various causes they
fail to achieve this end they will be looked upon more or less as
social failures. Although I am perfectly willing to admit that a happy
marriage is the best fate that can befall a woman, surely an unhappy
one is one of the worst; and how many of these would be prevented if
women only had something else to do and think about, some other means
of advancing themselves in life!
I wish parents could be induced to treat their daughters more in the
way they treat their sons--that is to say, when they leave school have
them thoroughly trained for some profession; it would be much better
for them, and many of the difficulties of the "woman question" would
disappear, as the untrained women of middle age who have suddenly
to depend upon their own exertions are those for whom it is almost
impossible to provide any suitable occupation, especially if they
object or are unfit to become hospital nurses, and have not sufficient
capacity for arithmetic to learn book-keeping. I must refer any of
my readers who want personal advice as to their qualifications for
different occupations to the Society for Promoting the Employment of
Women, 22, Berners Street, Oxford Street, W. Miss King, the Secretary,
or Miss Lewin, the Under Secretary, are both able and willing to give
advice and reliable information; no fee of any kind is charged. This
excellent society has been in existence twenty years; during the whole
time a free register has been kept, by means of which many hundreds of
women have obtained situations or temporary employment. Visits from
applicants average about ten daily, and the office has been a centre
for the collecting and diffusion of information on all subjects bearing
on the employment of women; while many whose names are never entered on
the register are put in the way of procuring training or employment,
and are warned against persons who, by alluring promises of easy
ladylike employment, tempt the unwary to spend their slender means in
lessons that are worthless.
With an income which, from all sources, including subscriptions and
donations for special purposes, has only averaged £319 7s. 6d. per
annum, it has trained yearly on an average, thirty young women,
obtained regular employment for sixty-three, and occasional employment
for one hundred and forty-two.
I must take this opportunity of acknowledging the great kindness I have
met with during my search for information while compiling the book.
With one exception, I have everywhere been treated with the greatest
courtesy; all my questions have been most fully answered, and every
facility given me for obtaining all the particulars I could possibly
desire.
I find that, after common sense and business habits, the qualification
most likely to be useful to a woman is a good knowledge of drawing;
so I advise any one who has any taste in that direction to sedulously
cultivate it.
I am much interested in a scheme for starting a School of Tapestry,
where ladies could be apprenticed, and after they had acquired the
art, work regularly, as they do at the Royal School of Art Needlework.
There is nothing in the nature of the work to prevent women doing it,
although it is an occupation that has long been monopolised by men. The
necessary apprenticeship would be at least two years.
A scheme has lately been set on foot for organising classes for
teaching girls who are anxious to obtain engagements in superior houses
of business, the regular routine of office work, book-keeping, &c.
Inquiries may be addressed to Miss Franks, 23, Mortimer Street.
I wish I could convince women of a truth they seem singularly slow
in comprehending--that is, that if they are to compete with men on
anything like equal terms, they must, at the very least, give the same
time to learn their business that men find necessary. There is always
a demand for really skilled labour, and this skill is worth almost any
present sacrifice to obtain; besides its pecuniary advantages, the
knowledge that one can do something really well (not in an amateur
fashion) confers a most gratifying sense of power and independence. I
do not agree with those people who think it a hardship for women to
have to work for their living; on the contrary, I believe if an average
of happiness could be ascertained, it would be found the toilers had a
far larger share than the idlers, and when trouble and disappointment
come, as come they will, they must remember that--
"Their fate is the common fate of all;
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary."
CHAPTER II.
EDUCATION.
After having made inquiries about a great variety of female
occupations, I have come to the conclusion that teaching is still the
most suitable, and, under certain circumstances, the most remunerative,
employment open to women. But an ordinary education no longer
qualifies a woman for the position of governess in any educational
establishment; if she wishes to be tolerably certain of securing an
engagement it is necessary that she should be certificated, or, still
better, have completed her education at Girton, Newnham, or one of the
new halls opened at Oxford, and it is most desirable that she should
pass the new examination of teachers instituted by the Teachers'
Training Syndicate of Cambridge.
TRAINING FOR MIDDLE AND HIGHER CLASS TEACHING.
_The Training College for Teachers in Middle and Higher Schools_ for
girls (temporary address, Skinner Street, Bishopsgate Street) trains
ladies who have completed their school education as teachers in middle
and higher schools for girls for this examination.
The Council have obtained as a Practising School, the Bishopsgate
Middle Class Girls' School. There are two divisions in the college. The
course is of one year for students entering the upper division, and
two years for the lower division. The following are the rules of this
Institution:--
The college year is divided into three terms, each of about thirteen
weeks, beginning respectively in the middle of September and January,
and the beginning of May. The hours of attendance are from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. on every day but Saturday.
Fees, £8 per term, payable in advance.
No residence is provided for the students, but the principal will
be prepared to recommend homes to those students who require them.
Students must be above the age of seventeen for the lower division,
and eighteen for the higher division, at the time of admission, and
must pass an entrance examination, unless they have previously passed
some examination accepted in place of the entrance examination. The
examinations accepted by the Council in the place of the entrance
examination for the upper division are those which the University of
Cambridge requires from candidates for the teachers' examination.
For further particulars respecting scholarships (of which there are
several), &c., apply to the Principal at the College.
_The Teachers' Training Syndicate of Cambridge_ issue the following
scheme:--
I. An Examination in the Theory, History, and Practice of Teaching
will be held at Cambridge, and at other places if so determined by the
Syndicate, in June, for persons who have completed the age of twenty
before June 1st, and certificates will be awarded to those who have
passed the examination satisfactorily.
II. No candidate can be admitted to the examination unless he or she
has either--(1.) Graduated in some university of the United Kingdom;
or (2.) satisfied the examiners in Parts I. and II. of the Previous
Examination; or (3.) obtained a certificate in one of the Higher
Local Examinations of the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge; or
(4.) obtained the certificates of the Oxford and Cambridge Schools
Examination Board in the subjects accepted by the University as
equivalent to Parts I. and II. of the Previous Examination; or (5.)
satisfied the examiners in one of the Senior Local Examinations of the
Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, or Durham, in English, and at least
one language, ancient or modern, and in Euclid and Algebra; or (6.)
passed the examination for matriculation at the University of London.
III. The subjects for examination will be--
(1.) The theory of education.
(_a._) The scientific basis of the art of education; characteristics
of childhood and youth; order of development and laws of growth,
and operation of mental faculties; natural order of the acquisition
of knowledge; development of the will; formation of habits and of
character; sympathy and its effects.
(_b._) Elements of the art of education; training of the senses,
the memory, the imagination, and taste, the powers of judging and
reasoning; training of the desires and of the will; discipline and
authority; emulation, its use and abuse; rewards and punishments.
(2.) The general history of education in Europe since the revival of
learning. A general knowledge will be required of systems of education
which have actually existed, of the work of eminent teachers, and of
the theories of writers on education up to the present time.
(3.) The practice of education. This subject will consist of two
parts:--
(_a._) Method; that is, the order and correlation of studies, oral
teaching and exposition, the right use of text-books and note-books,
the art of examining and questioning, and the best methods of teaching
the various subjects which are included in the curriculum of an
ordinary school.
(_b._) School management. The structure, furniture, and fitting of
school-rooms, books and apparatus, visible and tangible illustrations,
classification, distribution of time, registration of attendance and
progress, hygiene, with special reference to the material arrangements
of the school, and the conditions of healthful study. One paper will
be set on each of these subjects, 1, 2, 3. A fourth paper will be set
containing a small number of questions of an advanced character on each
of the three subjects.
A fee of £2 10s. shall be paid to the Syndicate by each candidate.
IV. The Syndicate will further award certificates of practical
efficiency in teaching to candidates who have already obtained a
certificate of theoretical efficiency and have been engaged in
school-work for a year in some school or schools to be approved of by
the Syndicate. The basis for the certificate of practical efficiency
will be:--
(1.) Examination of the class taught by the candidate;
(2.) An inspection of the class while being taught;
(3.) Questions put to the teacher in private after the inspection;
(4.) A report made by the head masters or mistresses;
(5.) The Syndicate will also be ready to inspect, in the course of the
summer, any college established for the training of teachers other
than elementary, and to award certificates of theoretical knowledge to
such candidates as may deserve them. They will also award certificates
of practical efficiency if they are satisfied with the training in
practical work received by the candidates.
I understand that the Senate of the University of London have also at
present under consideration a scheme for the examination of teachers.
The Home and Colonial School Society, Gray's Inn Road, King's Cross,
London, also gives instruction in the art of teaching. Their terms to
resident students between the ages of 15 and 30 are from £45 to £50 per
annum; to day students £15 per annum, £8 for six months. Teachers are
also trained and prepared for the Cambridge Teachers Examination at the
West-Central Collegiate School, 29, Queen's Square, Bloomsbury, for a
year; the fee is £5 5s., but in the case of any one who could be really
useful in teaching in the school no charge would be made.
_Girton College, Cambridge._--The course for the ordinary degree
certificate occupies about three years, half of each year being spent
in college. For honours the time allowed is somewhat longer. The
academical year is divided into three terms, the charge for board,
lodging, and instruction is £35 per term, paid in advance. This sum
covers the whole of the college charges. Candidates for admission are
required to pass an entrance examination, unless they have previously
passed one of the examinations approved by the college authorities,
and to furnish a satisfactory certificate of character. For students
intending to read for the ordinary degree certificate, October is the
best time for entering. Candidates for honours may with advantage
enter in April, thus gaining an additional term. Except in special
cases students are not received under the age of eighteen.
Entrance examinations are held in London in March and June; a fee of £1
is charged.
There are several scholarships attached to the college, of which full
particulars can be obtained, together with forms of entry, and copies
of the programme and of former entrance examinations, on application
to the Secretary, Miss Kensington, 22, Gloucester Place, Hyde Park,
London, W. The committee wish it to be understood that although
residence for three years is necessary for obtaining a certificate,
students can be received for shorter periods.
Arrangements are made for holding examinations of the students of the
college, and certifying proficiency. A certificate called a degree
certificate is conferred upon any student whose proficiency has been
certified to the satisfaction of the college, according to the standard
of any examinations qualifying for the B.A. degree of the University of
Cambridge, if such student has fulfilled, so far as in the judgment of
the college was practicable, all the conditions imposed for the time
being by the university on candidates for degrees.
A certificate called a college certificate will be conferred upon any
student who shall have passed, to the satisfaction of the college,
examinations similar in subjects and standard to those qualifying
for the B.A. degree of the University of Cambridge, the following
deviations being permitted: The substitution of French and English,
or German and English, for Latin or for Greek; the substitution of
English, French, and German for both Latin and Greek; the omission, in
case of objection, of the theological part of the examination.
_Newnham Hall._--No student is admitted under the age of eighteen.
Students are required to give references satisfactory to the principal,
and no student is permitted to come into residence without the approval
of the principal.
The principal may require any student to withdraw who in her opinion
is not profiting by the course of study at Cambridge. The charges
for board and lodging and tuition are 25 guineas a term, and 15s. a
year is charged for the use of the gymnasium. Unless under special
circumstances, students who intend to pass the Cambridge Higher Local
Examination will be required to pass in English history, English
literature, and arithmetic, before coming into residence. Those who
have taken honours in the Cambridge Senior Local Examination will be
exempt from this rule.
The academic year, from October to June, is divided into three terms,
corresponding to the terms of the Cambridge University.
The public lectures of thirty of the university professors are now open
to women, and the permission to attend the lectures of the professors
of natural science include the privilege of gaining access to some of
the natural science museums and laboratories.
Ladies can be received as out-students of the College; they must
either be women living with their parents at Cambridge, or _bonâ
fide_ students over thirty years of age, or otherwise in exceptional
circumstances. The tuition fee for out-students is 6 guineas a term.
Students of limited means, especially those preparing for the
profession of teaching, may avail themselves of the help granted from
a loan fund towards the payment of their fees for lectures and the
purchase of books.
Those who need this assistance should apply to Mrs. Bateson, Secretary
of the Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women, St.
John's Lodge, Cambridge. They must give some testimony respecting their
intellectual qualifications.
A certain number of exhibitions of 5 guineas a term are awarded by
the principal to students needing assistance, regard being had to
intellectual qualifications, and a written statement of circumstances
being required. These exhibitions are tenable with scholarships, of
which there are a considerable number. The principal's name and address
is Miss A. J. Clough, Newnham Hall, Cambridge.
The students from Girton and Newnham who have wished to become
governesses have hitherto had no difficulty whatever in obtaining
engagements with good salaries.
_Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford._--The object of the founders of this hall
has been to procure for those desirous of availing themselves of the
Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women in Oxford the
protection and training of an academical house on the principles of the
Church of England, but with provision for the liberty of members of
other religious bodies.
The charges of the hall will at first amount to £25 per term, or £75
per annum, for each student, exclusive of expenses strictly personal.
There are no entrance fees, but the expenses of the term will be paid
in advance. The committee hope that as the hall grows they may be able
to reduce this charge. Sisters, or other ladies willing to share the
same room, will be allowed a reduction of charge.
Provision will be made in certain cases, by exhibitions or otherwise,
for students whose resources are insufficient for the expenses of the
course.
The terms will correspond generally with those of the university. The
fees for instruction will be paid to the General Association, and are
not included in the charges of the hall. They will probably be about
£15 per annum. Each student will have a room to herself, fitted up
to serve as sitting-room and bed-room. There will also be a common
sitting-room, and meals will be in common in the dining-room. Names
for entrance must be sent to the lady principal, Miss Wordsworth,
Riseholme, Lincoln.
Students are required to give references satisfactory to the lady
principal. In the case of those who have been in any other place of
education, a letter of recommendation from its authorities will be
required. Those applying for admission must satisfy the lady principal
as to their character and attainments.
Students will not be allowed to reside for less than an academical year
without special leave.
_Somerville Hall, Oxford._--An association having been formed in Oxford
for promoting the higher education of women, this hall is established
for the reception of students coming from a distance to attend the
lectures of the association. Care will be taken in the conduct of it
that members of different religious denominations are placed on the
same footing. The life of the students will be modelled on that of an
English family. No student will be admitted under the age of seventeen.
The ordinary charges for board and lodging will be 20 guineas per term,
paid in advance, or 60 guineas for the whole year of three terms; the
terms corresponding generally to those of university residence. The
fees for instruction will probably be about 15 guineas a year.
Particulars concerning exhibitions and scholarships may be learnt
on application to the principal, Miss M. Shaw Lefevre, whose London
address is 41, Seymour Street, W., or to either of the Secretaries--the
Hon. Mrs. Harcourt, Cowley Grange, Oxford; or Mrs. J. H. Ward, 5,
Bradmore Road, Oxford.
KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS.
The demand for trained Kindergarten teachers is at present considerably
in excess of the supply; the average salary is £80 a year. These are
the rules of examination published by the Froebel Society for the
Promotion of the Kindergarten System:--
Examinations of students of the Kindergarten system are held in
London, conducted by examiners appointed by the committee of the
Froebel Society. Those students who satisfy the examiners will receive
first or second class certificates of their qualification to become
Kindergarten teachers. No candidate will be admitted to examination
under the age of eighteen.
The whole examination need not be passed in one year. A candidate may
present herself for any number of the groups, or for all; and when all
have been passed the candidate will receive a first or second class
certificate. All candidates will be expected to produce a certificate
of having passed some recognised public examination in English
subjects, as--Oxford or Cambridge Senior Local, Higher Local; Society
of Arts; First and Second Class, College of Preceptors; Government
Elementary Teachers; &c. In special cases the production of a
certificate may be excused, provided the committee are satisfied that a
candidate has received a good general education. This will not apply to
the younger candidates. The fee for the whole examination will be £1;
for each group, if taken separately, 3s. The fees will be returned if
through unavoidable circumstances the candidate cannot present herself
for examination. Candidates will be expected to produce evidence that
they have not had less than six months' practice in class teaching
of young children, and to satisfy the examiners of their ability to
organise a Kindergarten. Names of candidates must be sent to Mrs. E.
Berry, hon. secretary to the Froebel Society, 27, Upper Bedford Place.
_Kindergarten Training College_, 31, Tavistock Place.--The college
is founded to provide a central place of training for Kindergarten
teachers who intend to qualify for the Froebel Society's certificates.
The college is open to all students above seventeen years of age, who
are otherwise qualified to enter for the Froebel Society's examination.
The course of instruction for regular students includes all the
subjects laid down from time to time in the syllabus of the Froebel
Society's examination, and is divided into a first and second year's
course.
Students must at the end of their first year take such portions of the
Froebel Society's examinations as shall hereafter be indicated by the
Council. At the close of the second year students will be expected to
pass the examination for the full certificate.
All regular students are required to attend the lectures and practical
work of the college throughout their first year of study.
During the second year, attendance at the college in the morning is
not obligatory for students who have qualified as assistant teachers,
provided that the principal be satisfied that they have practice in
teaching under the direction of some persons approved by the council of
the college.
Therefore, all lectures and lessons connected with the second year's
course, other than lessons in the Kindergarten, are given in the
afternoon or evening.
Afternoon or evening lessons and lectures are open to students not
being regular students of the college, on certain conditions hereafter
to be specified, and at a special charge per course. A Kindergarten is
attached to the college.
The college year is divided into three terms, each of about thirteen
weeks. The hours of attendance are from 9.30 A.M. to 4.30 P.M.; and on
Saturdays from 9.30 A.M. to 12.30 P.M.
Fees £20 per year, or £7 per term, payable in advance. No residence is
provided for students, but the Council are prepared to recommend homes
in the neighbourhood of the college.
There is also a Kindergarten College and Practising School at 21,
Stockwell Road, London, belonging to the British and Foreign School
Society. The course of instruction extends over two years, and the
fees are £10 10s. a year, with some trifling extras. Secretary, Mr.
Alfred Bourne, B.A. The Home and Colonial School Society, Gray's Inn
Road, London, also has a Kindergarten Class for private governesses,
school-mistresses, and pupil teachers. They hold examinations and grant
certificates to those who prove their efficiency.
_Education by Correspondence._--For the special benefit of ladies
living in the country who may wish to prepare for the public
examinations, arrangements have been made by several of the lecturers
at Cambridge for giving instruction by correspondence in some of the
subjects of study selected by the University of Cambridge for the
examination of women. Information on this point will be given by Mrs.
Peile, Trumpington, Cambridge. Correspondence classes have also been
organised by Miss Shaw, Poyle Orchard, Burnham, Maidenhead, to whom
application for admission must be made. The classes are conducted
by ladies, who are authorised to receive as pupils those whom the
Cambridge lecturers are unable to accept. Should they find that the
number of these fall short of the number they are able to instruct,
they will receive others, whether in direct preparation for the
examination or not.
The instruction is given by means of:--
I. Papers of questions set from time to time, and the answers looked
over and returned with comments.
II. Solutions of difficulties and general directions as to books.
III. Short essays or _résumés_ written by the pupils, and sent for
correction to the teachers; or, in the language-classes, passages set
for translation.
The papers will, if possible, be returned to the students not later
than a week from their reception, and another set of questions sent at
the same time. The fee is £3 3s. the course for each subject, paid in
advance. The course extends over the three Cambridge terms--_i.e._,
from October 14th to the end of May.
For an account of other educational advantages open to women I refer my
readers to the "List of Colleges, Schools, Lectures, &c.," published by
the Women's Education Union; and the "Educational Year Book," published
by Cassell & Company, Limited.
A great boon to ladies anxious to qualify themselves for governesses,
and who have not the necessary means, is the Teachers' Education Loan
Society, which advances school fees upon certain conditions to persons
over sixteen desirous of improving their education for purposes of
self-maintenance as teachers. Apply for regulations by letter to the
Hon. Secretary, Miss Ewart, 3, Morpeth Terrace, Victoria Street,
London, S.W., before February, May, and November in each year, for the
three terms of Easter, Michaelmas, and Lent following.
SALARIES OF MISTRESSES.
The Rugby Council for Promoting the Education of Women has instituted
a calendar, giving the names and addresses of ladies who have passed
the university examinations, and who desire educational work of any
kind; it also contains full particulars respecting all the university
examinations. Many ladies whose names are entered in this calendar
have succeeded in obtaining good situations through it, with salaries
varying from £50 to £150 a year. A fee of 2s. 6d. is charged, in
addition to an entrance fee of 2s. 6d. to ladies on each situation
obtained through the calendar; its price is 1s. Communications may be
addressed to Mrs. Kitchener, School House, Newcastle, Staffordshire.
Miss Buss, of the North London Collegiate School, has published a list
of girls' schools, with special regard to salaries of head mistresses
(as recommended by the Endowed Schools Commission), which I quote to
show what good incomes are attainable in the profession of teaching.
Applications for engagements as assistant mistresses should in all
cases be made first to the head mistress of the school.
-------------------------+--------------------------------------------
| Head Mistresses' Emoluments.
+---------+---------------+--------+--------
Name of school. | Fixed | Capitation | Minimum| Maximum
| Salary.| Fee. | |
-------------------------+---------+---------------+--------+--------
Ambleside, Westmoreland | £75 | £1 to £3 | £135 | £255
Bedford, Town School | 100 | 10s. to £3 | 200 | 700
Bedford, High School |not fixed| not fixed | |
Bow | 75 | 15s. to | 225 |
Bradford, York | 120 | | |
Bristol, Red Maids |not fixed| not fixed | |
Bristol, Whitson's (two | | | |
schools) | £50 | not fixed | |
Bristol, Colston's School| 50 |15s. to £1 10s.| 200 | 350
Brentwood, Essex | 50 | £1 to £2 | 150 | 250
Burlington, Westminster | 70 |10s. to £1 10s.| |
Burton-on-Trent | 50 | 15s. to | 163 |
Cambridge, Cambridge |not fixed| not fixed | |
Camden School, London | 75 | 15s. to £1 | 375 | 475
Clerkenwell (Brewers' | | | |
Company), London | 100 | £1 to | 400 |
Dolgelly, Wales | 70 |10s. to £1 10s.| 110 | 190
| | | |
Exeter, Maynard's Girls' | | | |
Schools | 100 | £3 to £6 | 400 | 700
Exeter, Episcopal Middle | | not fixed, not| |
School | 50 | less than | |
| | one-third | |
| | tuition fees | |
Great Crosby, Lancaster | 120 | £2 to £4 | 320 | 520
Greycoat, Westminster | 80 |10s. to £1 10s.| 230 | 530
Greys Thurrock, Essex | 50 | £1 to | 125 |
Hatcham, Surrey | 100 | £1 to £2 | 300 | 500
Hoxton | 75 |10s. to £1 10s.| 225 | 525
Ilminster High School, | | | |
Somerset | 100 | £3 to | 400 |
Ilminster Town School | 50 | £1 to | 130 |
Keighley, Yorkshire | 80 | £1 to £2 | |
Kingston, Surrey | 75 | 15s. to |187 10s.|
Loughborough, Burton | | | |
Upper School | 100 | £1 10s. to £3 | 250 | 400
March, Cambridgeshire | 75 | £1 to | 135 |
Newcastle-under-Lyme | 75 | £1 to | 175 |
Newport | 60 | £1 to | 120 |
North London Collegiate | | | |
School | 100 | £2 to £3 | 900 | 1300
Reading, Kendrick | | | |
Schools |not fixed| not fixed | |
Roan Schools, Greenwich | 100 | £1 to £2 | 400 | 700
Stamford, Browne's | | | |
Middle School | 100 | £2 to £4 | 300 | 500
St. Clement Danes, | | | |
London | £100 | £1 to £3 | 250 | 550
St. Helens, Lancaster | 100 | £2 to £4 | |
St. Giles, Cripplegate, | | | |
London | 100 |10s. to £1 10s.| 225 | 475
St. Martin's in the | | | |
Fields, London | 80 |10s. to £1 10s.| 155 | 305
St. Paul's, London | 200 | £3 to £6 | 1100 | 2000
Taunton, Somerset | 40 | £1 to | |
Thetford | 75 | £1 to £3 | 115 | 195
Thornton near Bradford, | | | |
Yorkshire | 40 | 15s. to | 77 10s.|
Totnes, Devon | 50 | £1 10s. to | 170 |
Uffculme |not fixed| not fixed | |
Wakefield, Yorks. | 100 | £1 10s. to £3 | 250 | 400
Wallingford, Berkshire | 75 | 15s. to |112 10s.|
Warwick, Warwickshire | 100 | 15s. to | 160 |
West Ham (Sarah Bonnell) | | | |
Essex | 60 | £1 to £2 | 260 | 460
Westminster, London | 100 | £1 to £2 | 220 | 340
Wyggeston, Leicester | 100 | £1 to £3 | 300 | 700
The Girls' Public Day School Company, in connection with the Women's
Education Union, pay their teachers good salaries. The schools of the
Company at present in operation are the following:--
Bath High School, 5, Portland Place, Bath.
Blackheath High School, Wemyss Road, Blackheath, S.E.
Brighton High School, The Temple, Montpelier Road, Brighton.
Bromley High School, Fern Bank, Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent.
Clapham High School, The Lawn, Clapham Common, S.W.
Clapham Middle School, Clarence House, Clapham Common.
Croydon High School, Wellesley Road, Croydon.
Dulwich High School, Thurlow Park Road, West Dulwich, S.E.
Gateshead High School, Windmill Hill, Gateshead-on-Tyne.
Hackney High School, 273 and 275, Mare Street, Hackney, E.
Highbury and Islington High School, 6 and 7, Canonbury Place, N.
Ipswich High School, Northgate Street, Ipswich.
Kensington High School, 152 and 154, Cromwell Road, S.W.
Liverpool High School, Prince's Park, Liverpool
Maida Vale High School, Warrington Crescent, W.
Newton Abbot High School, Dovercourt, Forde Park, Newton Abbot.
Norwich High School, Theatre Street, Norwich.
Nottingham High School, Arboretum Street, Nottingham.
Notting Hill and Bayswater High School, Norland Square, Notting Hill, W.
Oxford High School, St. Giles's Road East, Oxford.
Portsmouth High School, Osborne Road, Southsea.
Sheffield High School, Surrey Street, Sheffield.
South Hampstead High School, Maresfield Gardens, Fitzjohn's Avenue, N.W.
Tunbridge Wells High School, Fair Lawn, Mount Sion, Tunbridge Wells.
Weymouth High School, 3, Greenhill, Weymouth.
Wimbledon High School, Wimbledon Hill, Wimbledon.
York High School, Fishergate House, York.
Ladies desirous of becoming head mistresses must send in their
applications to the Secretary of the Company, 21, Queen Anne's Gate,
S.W. Every application must be in writing, and be accompanied by
original testimonials (which will be returned). Candidates, whose age
must be stated, should have had experience in school management, and
must produce testimony to their power of organisation, and ability to
maintain firm but kindly discipline, as well as to their attainments
and capacity as teachers of classes.
Subject to bye-laws, regulations of the Council, and to an annual
examination and inspection of the school by independent examiners, each
head mistress will have the management of the studies and discipline of
the school, and will be consulted in the selection and appointment of
all assistant teachers, whose emoluments will be settled by the Council.
The emoluments of the head mistress will consist in each case of a
fixed stipend of £250 per annum, together with a capitation fee of £1
10s. for every pupil in the school above the number of 100 up to 200,
and of £2 for every pupil above the number of 200 up to 300.
There will be no residences attached to the schools; the head
mistresses will not be allowed to take boarders or instruct private
pupils except with the express permission of the Council, and the
school year will be divided into three terms, each about thirteen weeks
in length, and the engagement of each head mistress will be entered
into subject to its being terminable either by the Council or by her
at the end of a term and after the expiration of one term's previous
notice. It is particularly requested that candidates abstain from
canvassing members of the Council, either directly or indirectly.
Ladies desirous of becoming teachers in the schools of the Company, are
requested to observe the following regulations:--
All appointments of assistant teachers are made by the Council, usually
on the recommendation of the Committee of Education.
Candidates and their testimonials are in the first instance referred
to the head mistress of the school concerned, who examines the
testimonials and makes inquiry as to the qualifications when necessary
at personal interviews. The head mistress then lays the several
testimonials before the Education Committee, with a report upon them.
The Education Committee make such further inquiries and hold such
interviews with any of the candidates as they may deem fit, and then
submit candidates for the approval of the Council. The Council pay
second-class railway fare for those candidates with whom a personal
interview is desired.
All appointments of assistant teachers are made on probation for the
first two terms, that is to say are terminable by the head mistress at
the end of the first or second term without reference to the Council,
and without more than a month's notice.
When the Council have approved an appointment after the probationary
period, an assistant teacher is required to sign an agreement with
the Council, and is removable by the Council after notice of at least
two months, expiring at the end of a school term. The same notice is
required from an assistant teacher. At the end of the probationary
period assistant teachers are placed on the permanent staff at a rate
of salary depending upon their work and qualifications. These salaries
begin at amounts varying from £70 to £135 per annum, and rise annually
for four years by increments varying from £7 to £15. Junior teachers
and paid student teachers are not included in the above. Board and
residence are not provided by the Council.
The qualifications required vary with each special case. A knowledge of
English grammar and literature, arithmetic, and one or more languages
besides English, together with some experience in teaching, are usual
requisites. Ability to assist in the instruction in drawing is also
desirable. Music is always taught by special teachers.
It is a great recommendation if candidates have passed in the Higher
Oxford or Cambridge Examinations, the London University Examinations,
or other examinations of the like kind.
All applications should be made by letter, stating age, qualifications,
and experience, and accompanied by copies of testimonials (not
originals). These documents should be addressed to the head mistress of
the particular school, at the school; or if not for any special school
may be marked "Application for Assistant Teachership," and directed to
the Secretary of the Company, 112, Brompton Road, London, who will send
them to any head mistress needing an assistant.
Applications to teach special subjects, such as music, harmony,
class-singing and pianoforte, drawing, higher Latin, French, or German,
mathematics, any branch of natural science, drill, &c., should be made
in the same manner.
Inquiries as to vacancies are best made of the various head mistresses
early in the months of April, July, and December; they may also be
addressed to the Secretary of the Company.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
Teachers in the elementary schools receive good salaries, have short
hours of work, and are comparatively in an independent position; but I
have no doubt many ladies would find the class of children they would
be required to teach a great trial to them, as the habits and ideas
of children of the lower classes would, in all probability, prove a
considerable shock to the sensibilities of ladies who came in contact
with them for the first time. The elementary schools employ an immense
number of teachers. In the schools under the School Board alone 2,500
certificated female teachers are employed, besides a large number of
pupil-teachers. The teachers under the School Board all receive good
salaries, but as the whole scheme of payment is now under revision,
it is impossible to give exact figures. Pupil-teachers begin at 4s. a
week. There are seven weeks' holiday in the year; the hours of work are
from 9 to 12, and 2 till 4.30. The head mistress is expected to give an
hour's extra instruction to the pupil-teachers.
These are the regulations for admission of teachers to all public
elementary schools--that is to say, all schools in receipt of a grant
from the Education Department, including National, British, Wesleyan,
Roman Catholic, and Board Schools.
The recognised classes of teachers are: Certificated teachers, pupil
teachers, and assistant teachers.
Teachers in order to obtain certificates must be examined, and must
undergo probation by actual service in school.
The examination for certificates is open to:--(_a._) Students who have
resided for at least one year in training colleges under inspection;
or (_b._) candidates who are upwards of twenty-one years of age.
(1.) Completed an engagement as pupil-teacher satisfactorily; or
(2.) obtained a favourable report from an inspector; or (3.) served
as assistants for at least six months in schools under certificated
teachers.
Candidates who at the time of the examination are not teachers of
schools to which annual grants are or may be made, must be recommended
by the authorities of their college, or by the managers of the school
in which they last served.
Candidates for certificates, after successfully passing their
examination, must, as teachers continuously engaged in the same
schools, obtain two favourable reports from an inspector, with an
interval of one year between them; and if the first of these reports
be not preceded by service of three months (at the least) since the
examination a third report, at an interval of one year after the second
report, is issued; if the second (or third) report is favourable a
certificate is issued.
Teachers under probation must satisfy the conditions which require that
schools be kept by certificated teachers.
Pupil-teachers must be not less than fourteen years (completed) at the
date of their engagement.
They are required to pass an easy examination, and produce certificates
of health and character.
At the close of their engagement pupil-teachers are perfectly free
in the choice of employment. If they wish to continue in the work
of education they may become assistants in elementary schools; or
may be examined for admission into a training college; or may be
provisionally certificated for immediate service in charge of small
schools.
_Assistant Teachers._--Pupil-teachers who have completed their
engagements with credit, and passed their examinations satisfactorily,
and candidates not having been pupil-teachers who have passed with
success the examination for entrance into a training college, may serve
as assistants in schools, in place of pupil-teachers, without being
required to be annually examined.
TRAINING COLLEGES.
An examination for Queen's Scholarships is annually held at each
college in summer, and at special local centres, commencing at 10 A.M.
on the first Wednesday after July 2nd.
The candidates are selected and admitted to the examination by the
authorities of each college on their own responsibility, subject to no
other conditions on the part of the Education Department than that the
candidates:--
(_a._) Intend _bonâ fide_ to adopt and follow the profession of a
teacher in elementary schools.
(_b._) If pupil-teachers have successfully completed their engagement,
or will do so before the following examination for admission.
(_c._) Not having been pupil-teachers, will be more than eighteen
years of age on January 1st next following the date of examination.
The successful candidates are arranged in three classes in order of
merit.
A place in the third class qualifies for employment as an assistant
teacher, but not for admission into a training college or for a
provisional certificate.
The authorities of each college settle their own terms for admission.
Candidates are required to pass a medical examination.
The following is a list of training colleges for mistresses. It must be
stated that the entrance fee entitles the student to board, lodging,
washing, and medical attendance for two years, except during the
holidays:--
Name of College. Entrance Fee.
Bishop's Stortford £5.
Brighton £8.
Bristol £8.
Cheltenham £10, first class; £12, second.
Chichester (Bishop Otter's) £20 per annum, quarterly,
in advance.
Darlington (British) £15 15s.
Derby £5 or £10.
Durham £10.
Gray's Inn Rd. (Home & Colonial) £10.
Homerton (Evangelical) £15 15s.
Lincoln None at present.
Liverpool (R. C.) £5.
Norwich £3, first class; £5, second.
Oxford £10 or £20.
Ripon £10.
Salisbury £5, first class; £7, second.
Southlands, Battersea (Wesleyan) £8.
Stockwell (British) £10 10s.
Tottenham £10.
Truro £5.
Wandsworth (R. C.) £2 10s.
Warrington £6.
Whitelands £12 or £15.
All these colleges, with the exceptions specified, are conducted on
Church of England principles.
GOVERNESSES IN PRIVATE FAMILIES.
After having said so much about the necessity of training,
examinations, &c., I think it only fair to make some mention of
governesses in private families for the younger children, under
fourteen. Many parents are wise enough to prefer for these posts a
thoroughly conscientious lady, even if she is not accomplished, to one
who has any number of certificates, unless she combines with them a due
sense of the importance of her task.
Ladies whose circumstances induce them to seek a situation in some one
else's house should, above all things, avoid undue sensitiveness, and
the habit of attributing unkind motives (which probably never exist) to
every little incident which may occur. Of course a governess's life
is not likely to be the happiest one could imagine, but I think it is
usually her own fault if it is not a contented and useful one, and
perhaps this is as much as it is wise for any of us to expect.
The best place for governesses of this class to apply to for situations
is the Governesses' Benevolent Institution, 47, Harley Street,
where no fee is charged. Any governess on procuring and leaving two
satisfactory letters from respectable parties, written in the first
person, signed, sealed, and addressed to the Board, may enter her name,
and such other particulars as she may wish to state, in the books of
registration, kept for that purpose. There is also a book to register
applications for governesses. The Board of Management abstain from
all interference between the parties, and the entries must be made by
parties themselves, ladies in the country acting by a friend. No letter
or testimonial can under any circumstances be returned nor taken from
the office. It is necessary that all letters be written in the first
person. Office hours from 12 to 5.
CHAPTER III.
ARTISTIC EMPLOYMENTS.
_Schools of Art._--A knowledge of drawing is required in so many of
the employments open to women that I think it advisable to give some
information as to how it can best be acquired.
In connection with the National Art Training School at South
Kensington, Metropolitan District Schools of Art are established at the
following places:--
1. The Female School of Art, 43, Queen Square, Bloomsbury.
2. Blackheath, Lee, and Lewisham (Bennett Park).
3. Blackheath Hill, 13, Lansdowne Place.
4. Chelsea, Onslow College.
6. Chiswick, Bath Road, Bedford Park.
6. Holloway (Camden School).
7. Hornsey.
8. Islington, Barnsbury Hall.
9. Lambeth, Miller's Lane, Upper Kennington Lane.
10. North London, Sandringham Road, Kingsland.
11. St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, Castle Street, Long Acre.
12. St. Thomas Charterhouse, Goswell Road.
13. Stoke Newington.
14. Stratford, Maryland Point.
15. West London, 155, Great Titchfield Street.
16. Westminster, Royal Architectural Museum.
I give the rules of the South Kensington School; the others differ
slightly, but further particulars can always be obtained by application
to the head masters; as a rule the expense of studying at the local
schools is less than at South Kensington, but the same system of
instruction is pursued. The second grade certificate, so often
mentioned in these pages, is by no means difficult to obtain. As will
be seen by the rules, it is necessary to pass the examination for it
before joining the art classes.
There is a large number of free studentships; for particulars of these
application must be made to the Secretary, Science and Art Department,
S.W.
The South Kensington rules are as follows:--
I. The courses of instruction pursued in the school have for their
object the systematic training of teachers, male and female, in the
practice of Art, and in the knowledge of its scientific principles,
with a view to qualifying them as teachers of Schools of Art competent
to develop the application of art to the common uses of life, and to
the requirements of trade and manufactures. The instruction comprehends
the following subjects:--Freehand, architectural, and mechanical
drawing; practical geometry and perspective; painting in oil, tempera,
and water colours; modelling, moulding, and casting. The classes for
drawing, painting, and modelling, include architectural and other
ornament, flowers, objects of still life, &c., the figure from the
antique and the life, and the study of anatomy as applicable to art.
II. These courses of instruction are open to the public on payment of
fees. These are as follows:--
_Fees for Classes studying five whole days, including evenings_:--
£5 for five months, and an entrance fee of 10s.
_Evening Classes._
Male School, £2 per term.
Female School, £1 per term, three evenings a week.
The classes for male and female students meet separately.
Governesses in private schools or families may attend the day classes
for not more than three months, on payment of £1 per month, without
payment of the entrance fee.
III. No students can be admitted to these classes until they have
passed an examination in freehand drawing of the second grade.
Examinations of candidates for admission will be held weekly at the
commencement of each term, and at frequent intervals throughout the
year. These examinations are held at the school on Tuesdays at
10.30 A.M. and 6.45 P.M. Candidates should bring their own lead pencils
and indiarubber. Unsuccessful candidates cannot be re-examined until
after a month's interval. The examination fee is 2s. 6d. for day
students, and 6d. for evening students, to be paid at the time of
examination.
IV. The annual session consists of two terms, each lasting five months,
and commencing on the 1st of March and the 1st of October, and ending
on the last day of July and the last day of February respectively.
One week at Christmas and one week at Easter or Whitsuntide are also
vacations. The school is open every week-day except Saturday. Hours of
study are--day, 9 to 3.30; evening, 7 to 9. Evening classes for females
on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Classes for modelling have been lately formed at the Lambeth Technical
School of Art, 122, Kennington Park Road. Practice in modelling from
drapery, the antique, and the human figure nude and draped. On Monday,
Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, from 7 to 9.30. Fee, 5s. per month.
Modelling from casts of ornaments:--The practice will be adapted to the
technical wants of the individual students. This class meets on Tuesday
and Thursday evenings, from 6.30 to 9. Fee, 2s. 6d. per month.
There is an annual examination for prizes in all schools of art, and a
national competition.
_Royal Academy._--Free instruction is given for a period of seven
years at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, to any one who
shows sufficient talent. Applicants for admission must have attained
a certain proficiency, and must deliver specimens of their work, with
a printed form duly filled in, at the Academy on or before the 28th
of June, or the 28th of December, to be submitted to the Council. This
form can be obtained from the Registrar through the written request of
a member, or some artist or person of known respectability.
The hours of work are from 10 to 3. Students are required to provide
their own materials.
_Designers._--There is a great demand for skilful and original
designers, but only for really clever ones, as so much of the ordinary
work is done by pupils. Mr. Sparkes, the head master of the South
Kensington School of Art, tells me any one with natural taste and
invention can be trained thoroughly in designing, including a knowledge
of the human figure, in two years, if willing to work hard; after that
time it would be necessary to give some months to become acquainted
with the possibilities of the material to be designed for, such as
glass, table-linen, cretonnes, dress materials, wall papers, &c. After
a few months' study, I should advise pupils to ask their head master's
candid opinion as to their chances of success, as he would be better
able to tell them than any one else.
Many of the large manufacturers employ designers permanently, at
salaries not lower than £100 a year, and in many cases the work can
be done at home. The authorities at South Kensington have frequent
applications for designers, and recommend the most deserving amongst
the students. Before offering designs to manufacturers it is advisable
to ascertain what style they require, as sometimes a prejudice is
created by unsuitable work being offered, which is never overcome. Many
of the large upholsterers employ girls to design furniture. It requires
a good knowledge of drawing, including perspective, but not so much
talent as other kinds of designing. The salaries vary from 25s. to 30s.
a week.
At the Lambeth Technical School of Art, 124, Kennington Park Road,
classes for the study of design meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday
evenings. The course is adapted for the use of all students engaged in
the practice of ornamental art, and is specially designed for the use
of those occupied in pottery painting and surface decoration. The fee
is 2s. 6d. per month, except to those students who have already joined
the Art School, who will pay 6d. additional fee.
_Wood Carving._--A school of art for wood carving has recently been
established at the Albert Hall, South Kensington, where ladies can
receive the thorough training which is essential to their success in
this branch of art labour. Three years is the least time in which a
fair knowledge of the art can be acquired by capable and industrious
students, but at the end of the first year those who are clever may
earn as much as ten or twelve shillings a week; when proficient, their
earnings would probably be from £2 to £3 weekly, though in cases of
exceptional talent, no doubt, considerably more might be occasionally
earned.
There are very few highly skilled wood carvers in England, so there
would be no difficulty in disposing of really good artistic work. The
best plan for those unable to obtain permanent employment is to make
small articles, such as blotting-books, photograph frames, glove-boxes,
paper-knives, &c., take them to the large fancy shops, and offer
them for sale. Upholsterers and picture-frame makers give regular
employment to many; and when that can be obtained it is doubtless more
satisfactory than anything else.
The rules of the school at the Albert Hall are as follows:--
Both day and evening classes are held in the school. The day classes
are held from 10 to 1 and 2 to 5 on five days a week, and from 10 to 1
on Saturdays. The evening classes are held from 7 to 9 on four evenings
a week, viz., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The fees for day
students are £2 a month, or £5 a quarter. The fees for evening students
are 15s. a month, or £2 a quarter.
There are at present twelve free studentships, viz., six in the day
and six in the evening classes. Candidates must have passed the second
grade art examination of the Science and Art Department in freehand
drawing at least. Those who have some knowledge of wood carving, or
have passed in the other subjects of the second grade art certificate,
or in drawing from the antique and the figure, architectural drawing,
or designing and modelling, will be preferred. Applications for these
studentships should be addressed to the Secretary, at the school.
All students are required to provide their own tools, and work done
in the schools by free students cannot be taken away. Students paying
their own fees may take away work executed by themselves on their own
materials, but all work on materials provided by the school remains
the property of the school. Students who have been in the school not
less than twelve months may, on the recommendation of the instructor,
receive such payment for their work as the Committee may determine.
The tools students are required to provide themselves with, during
the whole time they attend the school, cost about £2, but for 15s.
they can procure enough to carry them over the first few months. The
free studentships are for periods of six months, and are renewed
to promising students. A taste for designing, and a considerable
knowledge of drawing, are so desirable that I cannot conscientiously
recommend any one without them to adopt wood carving as her profession,
for although a certain degree of mechanical excellence might be
obtained, it would not be sufficient to ensure a livelihood.
Mr. Donaldson, a member of the firm of Messrs. Gillow and Co., Oxford
Street, takes a very great interest in the school, and kindly allows
me to say that he intends to do all in his power to give employment to
ladies competent to undertake it; but, of course, as the work required
by his firm is of a superior kind, those anxious to obtain it must
study until they can produce excellent work.
_Wood Engraving._--To learn the art of wood-engraving thoroughly a
long apprenticeship is absolutely necessary. All authorities agree in
saying that students must not expect to earn anything at all for the
first three years; after that time they may probably earn £1 a week,
but should still continue their course of study for two years at least.
There is not the slightest reason why women should not rival men in
this branch of art, if they will give the necessary time to acquire it.
The work can very frequently be done at home, which is usually
considered an advantage; but in that case ladies must make up their
minds to work as steadily and for as many hours a day as they would
under the eyes of a master; for certainly only those who could be
depended upon for punctuality would be likely to obtain remunerative
work.
At the expiration of the five years, when the pupil may be expected to
have become a skilled engraver, her earnings would be from £1 10s. to
£4 or more a week, according to her industry and ability.
The City and Guilds of London Institute has established a technical
class of wood engraving at 122 and 124, Kennington Park Road, under the
care of Mr. C. Roberts.
The hours of practice are from 10 to 4, and from 6 to 8 in the evening,
daily, except Saturday; and all students are expected to attend
regularly and punctually.
On Tuesday and Friday evenings the work of the class will be examined.
At all other times students will be responsible to an assistant
teacher, or senior student, who will be always present.
All members of the class must have taken the second grade certificate
of the Science and Art Department, or must be prepared to do so.
Four scholarships, each consisting of a free studentship for one year,
will be awarded annually after the first year's practice. These may be
renewed in the following year on proof of industry and progress, and
on the recommendation of the master. The fee will be £3 3s. a year,
payable by half-yearly sums of £1 11s. 6d. in advance. No student can
be admitted for a shorter period than one year.
The vacations are six weeks in the summer two weeks at Christmas, and
two at Easter or at Whitsuntide.
The cost of the tools each student is required to provide herself with
is 22s.
For those students who at the expiration of two or three years are
sufficiently advanced in their practice to be able to execute work for
publication, Mr. Roberts has, with the co-operation of the Society for
the Employment of Women, established a work-room in connection with his
own offices at Lonsdale Chambers, Chancery Lane.
At this work-room all those advanced students that Mr. Roberts is able
to accommodate and employ will continue to have his supervision, and
receive work, and be advanced according to their ability.
Mr. Paterson, an engraver, who has been a most successful teacher for
fourteen years in both Edinburgh and London, holds a class for ladies
every Monday and Thursday, from 2 to 3 o'clock, at 3, East Temple
Chambers, Whitefriars Street. No pupil will be received for less than
two quarters.
As his is a private class, he of course cannot compete in price with
the one under the patronage of the City and Guilds of London Institute.
His terms are:--
Engraving £2 2 0 per quarter.
Drawing on wood 2 2 0 "
Both, inclusive 3 3 0 "
A small charge is also made for the wood used by the pupil; it never
exceeds 7s. 6d. a quarter. The cost of the tools is 21s., but they are
highly finished and ready for use. Many of Mr. Paterson's pupils are
now earning considerable incomes. A knowledge of drawing, though very
desirable, is not essential, especially as in all probability no one
who was entirely devoid of the artistic faculty would care to attempt
to become an engraver, as it is doubtless a long and arduous task,
though the success which may be attained would, when it came, be, I
think, a full recompense for all the time and trouble that had been
expended.
_China Painting._--Painting on china has been considerably overdone
of late years, and now only really good work can be at all certain
of finding a market. The best way for amateurs to dispose of their
work is to send it to Messrs. Howell and James's annual exhibition,
as they allow each exhibitor to send three small or two large pieces
of work, and last season £3,000 worth of ladies' paintings on china
were sold. Each piece of work should be marked the price at which
it is to be disposed of, a commission of 15 per cent. being charged
on the published price of all works sold, to defray the expenses
of advertisement and exhibition. Only strictly original works are
eligible for prizes, but adaptation and copies are not inadmissible for
exhibition if approved by the judges, to whom all works are submitted.
All works must be sent in by the end of March.
Before taking lessons in painting on china, it is essential that ladies
should have a good knowledge of drawing. With that, a few months'
lessons will make them proficient china painters; without it, they
will never do anything worth buying. Classes for pottery painting are
held at Messrs. Howell and James's, Regent Street, every day excepting
Saturdays. Terms:--The course of ten lessons of two hours each, £3 3s.;
six lessons, £2; three lessons, £1 1s.
Messrs. Doulton and Co., Lambeth, employ about 120 ladies permanently
in painting on china. The work is paid by the piece, so the amount
earned depends on the workers. A class for pottery painting is formed
on Tuesday and Friday at the Lambeth School of Art, Miller's Lane,
Upper Kennington Lane; fee, 10s. 6d. per month. I believe this class
was formed at Messrs. Doulton's request principally to prepare
ladies to execute their work, as they found teaching ladies who had
no previous knowledge of the art took up too much of their time. The
head master of the Lambeth School of Art told me he thought it useless
for ladies to join the class who had not a considerable knowledge of
drawing, such, for instance, as they might acquire by two years' study
at some school of art.
_Painting on Leather._--This branch of decorative art is well suited
to women, but there is but a small demand for it. Some of the large
upholsterers are willing to employ ladies, but they must have a good
knowledge of drawing, and be willing to give two years to learn the
technicalities of the art, and to gain experience of the different
styles, especially Spanish and Italian, at the South Kensington Museum
and other places. At the expiration of that time wages would begin at
from 6s. to £1 a week, according to ability; and the probable eventual
earnings would be from £2 to £3 weekly.
_Mosaic._--Women have frequently been employed in manufacturing
mosaic; but it is so little used in England that at present I can hear
of no place where they would be likely to obtain work. But when the
decoration of St. Paul's Cathedral in mosaic is commenced--if it is
entrusted to an English firm, as I sincerely hope it will be--there
will be employment for hundreds of women for some years. The usual pay
mosaic workers obtain if they have no knowledge of drawing is about
£40 a year; if they can undertake the more difficult parts, such as
the human figure, their salaries are proportionately higher. The mere
technical knowledge is easily acquired in a month.
_Painting on Glass._--It is a great pity ladies are not more
extensively employed in painting on glass. Messrs. Powell and Co.,
of the Whitefriars Glass Works Company, Whitefriars Street, employ a
few. These ladies work in a separate room, six hours a day, and four
on Saturdays; these are obviously very short hours, and Mr. Powell has
no objection to increase them if he finds the ladies he employs are
willing; of course their work is paid by time. He intends to increase
his staff of lady workers as occasion arises. Only a very slight
knowledge of drawing is required for the lower branches of this art,
and it is necessary to give perhaps three months, certainly not more,
to acquire it. The average earnings are from £60 to £70 a year; any one
capable of copying figures and painting them on glass would obtain a
higher salary, probably £100 a year.
_Decorative Work._--Messrs. Simpson and Co. employ a large number of
ladies in various kinds of decorative work, such as painting tiles,
glass, decorating enamelled iron, &c., at salaries beginning at £40 a
year, and rising according to the value of their services. The hours of
work are from 9 to 6, with the usual interval of an hour.
A good knowledge of drawing is required, such as might be obtained by
two years' hard work at a School of Art, and it is desirable that the
human figure should have been carefully studied; but Messrs. Simpson
and Co. prefer that the ladies who come to them should be without any
special knowledge of the work they will be employed in, as they would
rather impart it themselves.
Miss Collingridge, 9, Beaumont Street, Portland Place, N.W., undertakes
all kinds of art decorative work, and receives pupils; the hours of
study are from 9.30 to 4 o'clock. Many of her pupils have been very
successful in obtaining engagements as designers, china painters, &c.,
and two are now employed in drawing for costumiers. To obtain constant
work at the conclusion of a course of study, Miss Collingridge thinks
versatile invention and refined feeling essential, as is also business
capacity.
The Misses Rhoda and Agnes Garrett were in business as house
decorators, cabinet-makers, and designers of all the details of
household furniture and upholstery, at 2, Gower Street (corner of
Bedford Square), London, and I understand they were very successful.
They attributed their success entirely to the thorough training they
went through, and their strict attention to business. Miss Rhoda
Garrett has unfortunately lately died, but Miss Agnes Garrett still
carries on the business. Miss Garrett takes pupils or apprentices for
a not shorter time than three years, at a premium of £300. The hours
of work are from 10 to 4. After the apprenticeship industrious ladies
of ordinary intelligence would be prepared to start in business on
their own account, but for this capital is of course required. If two
sisters or friends went through the course of study together, and into
partnership afterwards, as the Misses Garrett did, they would be much
more likely to succeed than one would alone.
_Plan Tracing._--It has been thought that women might very well be
employed in tracing the plans of builders, architects, and engineers,
and an office for the purpose has been established, through the agency
of the Society for the Employment of Women, at 8, Great Queen Street,
S.W. It is going on very satisfactorily; several ladies are employed;
they give three months to learn the work, and after that time their
pay commences at threepence an hour, rising to sixpence; they work
seven hours a day. Ladies who wish to learn the work, without desiring
employment, can be received on payment of a premium of £10; but it
is requested that all inquiries should be addressed to Miss King,
Secretary to the Society for the Employment of Women, 22, Berners
Street, Oxford Street.
I think many of the large firms might be induced to employ women
permanently in copying their plans, if personal application were made
to them and specimens of work taken. The great requisites for success
in this work are neatness and accuracy; the merely technical knowledge
is easily acquired.
Although they do not actually teach plan-tracing at the schools of
art, their architectural classes would be found to give most of the
necessary information, sufficient to enable a careful student to apply
for work with the full consciousness of being able to do it.
_Photography._--The following particulars respecting the employment
of ladies in photography have been kindly given me by Mr. Elliott, of
the firm of Elliott and Fry, photographers, Baker Street, London. He
requested me to warn ladies against wasting their time in learning to
tint photographs, as the fashion for these has almost entirely died
out, and he has innumerable applications from ladies anxious to tint
them. A considerable number of women are employed by the trade in
spotting photographs; their wages usually begin at 6s. a week, rising,
when they have learnt their business, which can easily be done in two
months, to 15s. or £1. The hours of work are from 9 to 5. Many are
employed in mounting photographs on cards; it is work that requires
great neatness and accuracy; the pay varies from £1 to £1 5s. a week.
Re-touching negatives is the most difficult and consequently the
best-paid branch of photography open to women; it requires some
knowledge of drawing, and, Mr. Elliott says, considerable common
sense; a few lessons in the technicalities should be taken from some
re-toucher before applying for work, a month would be quite long enough
to acquire them, and the fee would probably be small. A re-toucher
willing to give the necessary instruction could usually be heard of at
the leading photographers'. The salaries vary from 30s. to £3 a week.
_Art Needlework._--The Royal School of Art Needlework in the Exhibition
Road, South Kensington, is by far the best of all the work societies,
and the only one where ladies who are once admitted can be certain of
constant employment; so it is the only one of which I shall give a
description. These are the rules:--
I. Application for admission as qualified workers for the school must
be made to the Manager by the applicants in person, and they must give
two references to prove their position.
II. Applicants must fulfil the following requirements:--
(_a._) They must be gentlewomen by birth and education.
(_b._) They must be able and willing when employed to devote seven
hours a day to work at the school.
III. Every applicant is required to go through a course of instruction,
for which £5 is charged.
IV. The course of instruction consists of nine lessons in art
needlework, of five hours each. If after the first two lessons, in the
opinion of the teacher, the applicant is not likely to be successful as
a needle worker, she will be recommended to retire, and on so retiring
the £5 will be returned to her.
V. The school enters into no engagement to give employment to any lady.
This last rule is practically not carried out, as ladies are never
allowed to take the preliminary lessons unless there are vacancies for
qualified workers.
It is difficult to give the probable earnings, as all work is paid by
the piece; but I have been able to gather that the average earnings are
from 20s. to 30s. a week. This sum is practically only exceeded by
very quick and clever workers.
During the holidays given by the school, ladies are allowed to take
work home, so their incomes are only limited by their own industry, or
perhaps I should say lack of it. About 120 ladies are employed, and
I understand there are a considerable number of candidates for each
vacancy as it occurs.
_Painting on Silk and Cards._--All the paintings on silk, satin, or
cards, for fans, valentines, scent packets, and Christmas cards, sold
by Mr. Rimmel, 36, Strand, and at his various branch establishments,
are executed by ladies and gentlemen at their own homes. The paintings
must be of a superior character, and not mere repetitions, as anything
original is sure to sell. Some of the ladies who paint regularly for
him earn as much as £3 or £4 a week. I have no doubt many other firms
employ ladies in the same way.
_Medical Drawings._--Doctors frequently require careful drawings of
different diseases, and ladies who are good draughtsmen are usually
employed to make them. Application should be made at the different
hospitals, and specimen drawings taken. It would be good practice to
make copies of the drawings of diseases to be found in medical works.
I understand ladies are now making as much as £2 to £3 a week in this
way. Of course the demand is somewhat fluctuating.
_Tapestry Painting_ consists of painting with specially-prepared liquid
colours on a woven textile fabric. Messrs. Howell and James sell all
the necessary materials, and classes for instruction are held at their
Art Studio, 5, Regent Street. Terms:--The course of ten lessons of two
hours each, £5; the course of six lessons of two hours each, £3 3s.
CHAPTER IV.
MEDICINE AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN
Ladies wishing to enter the medical profession can receive the
necessary instruction at the London School of Medicine for Women, 30,
Henrietta Street, Brunswick Square. It is desirable that they should
have private means, as, unless they go to India, where there is a
considerable opening for medical women, it would probably be some
time before their practice would be sufficiently remunerative. Ladies
desiring to prepare for the medical profession must pass one of the
examinations in Arts recognised by the General Medical Council, such an
examination being compulsory before registration as a medical student.
Among these examinations are:--
I. The Oxford and Cambridge Local Examinations, Senior and Junior.
II. The Senior Local Examinations for Honorary Certificates, and the
ordinary Local Examination of the University of Edinburgh.
III. The Local Examination for Honours Certificates of the University
of St. Andrews.
IV. The Examination in Arts of the Society of Apothecaries in London.
V. The examinations for a first-class certificate of the Royal College
of Preceptors.
VI. The Local Examinations of the Queen's University in Ireland.
VII. The Matriculation Examination of the University of London.
Certificates must in all cases include English literature, Latin,
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and also one of the following optional
subjects:--
Greek, French, German, or natural philosophy.
Four years is considered the necessary time of study to obtain a
license to practise from the King's and Queen's College of Physicians
in Ireland; and the expense, including examiners' fees, hospital
practice, books, and instruments, is slightly under £200. This, of
course, does not include board and lodging.
An M.D. degree from the University of London is more difficult to
obtain, and necessitates additional study of a year, or possibly more.
There are at present thirty-six pupils in the school. No one is
admitted under the age of eighteen. An entrance scholarship of the
value of £30 is competed for annually in September.
All persons requiring further information on subjects connected with
the medical education of women, with the residence of students in the
neighbourhood of the school, or respecting scholarships, are invited to
apply to Mrs. Thorne, hon. secretary, 30, Henrietta Street, Brunswick
Square, London.
_Pharmaceutical Chemists._--As the Pharmaceutical Society has now
thrown its examinations open to women, there is nothing to prevent them
from setting up in business as chemists. It is an occupation peculiarly
adapted to women, and returns a better interest on invested capital
than most other trades.
A preliminary examination in Latin, Arithmetic, and English, has to
be passed, unless the candidate can produce a certificate of having
passed the Local Examinations of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge,
Durham, or Edinburgh, the Examination of the College of Preceptors, or
those of any legally constituted examining body previously approved by
the Council, provided Latin and arithmetic be included in the subjects.
Before going up for the other examinations each candidate must produce
a certified declaration that for three years she has been registered
and employed as an apprentice or student, or has otherwise for three
years been practically engaged in the translation and dispensing of
prescriptions.
The cost of passing the three examinations necessary to become a
pharmaceutical chemist, including tuition, examiner's fees, books,
chemicals, apparatus, &c., is from £80 to £100, and the time required
for study after the apprenticeship would be from a year to eighteen
months.
Miss Isabella S. Clarke, a pharmaceutical chemist, in Spring Street,
Paddington, is willing to take outdoor apprentices for three years at a
premium of £100.
The capital required to start in business with a reasonable prospect of
success is from £500 to £1,000; the nearer it is to £1,000 the better.
The stores have done much to injure chemists' business by selling
patent medicines, hair-washes, soap, scents, &c., at much lower prices
than private traders can afford to adopt.
_Dispensers._--I understand that many doctors who prepare their own
medicines are willing to employ ladies to dispense them, at salaries
ranging from £30 to £50. The necessary knowledge can be acquired at the
New Hospital for Women, Marylebone Road, where they are willing to take
girls and teach them dispensing for six months for a premium of £5. It
is necessary that candidates should have a slight knowledge of Latin,
and an intimate acquaintance with arithmetic, especially fractions; and
desirable that they should be of studious habits, as they are expected
to read various books recommended them by the authorities. Employment
can also occasionally be obtained at hospitals, especially by ladies
who can undertake bookkeeping as well as dispensing.
_Hospital Nurses._--Hospital nursing affords certain employment
to capable women, and, although the salaries are low, it must be
remembered that liberal board, comfortable bed-rooms, and washing, are
always included. Trained nurses' salaries usually commence at £20,
rising, according to experience and responsibilities, to £30. Chief
nurses of wards, usually called ward sisters, obtain in the chief
London hospitals from £35 to £50. Matrons and lady superintendents of
nursing receive from £50 to £100. Nearly all the London hospitals train
nurses.
I give the rules of the Nightingale Fund and of the Westminster
Training School, as I believe these will be found fair specimens of the
rest.
At St. Thomas's two classes of probationers are received. The rules for
special probationers are as follows:--
The committee of the Nightingale Fund have made arrangements for the
admission to their school at St. Thomas's Hospital of a limited number
of gentlewomen who may desire to qualify themselves in the practice
of hospital nursing, with the express object of entering upon this
profession permanently, by eventually filling superior situations in
public hospitals and infirmaries.
These probationers will be required to pay towards the cost of
maintenance during their year of training the sum of £30, and to give
an undertaking to continue in the work for three years after leaving
the school; but, upon payment of a higher sum of £52, to cover the cost
of maintenance and also partly of instruction, &c., the undertaking
will be limited to one year after leaving the school.
Occasional vacancies occur for the admission of gentlewomen free of
expense, together with, in some cases, a small salary during the year
of training. These advantages will be strictly limited to those whose
circumstances require such aid.
Candidates desirous of receiving this course of training should
apply to Mrs. Wardroper, the Matron, at St. Thomas's Hospital,
subject to whose selection they will be received into the hospital as
probationers. The age considered desirable for these probationers is
from twenty-seven to thirty-seven, single or widows; a certificate
of age and other information will be required. Should opportunities
occur for affording instruction in some of the duties of supervision,
they will be expected to remain for that purpose for a further period
of two or three months, but in that case no further payment will be
required. Payment will be required by two equal instalments in advance,
viz., half on admittance, and half at the end of six months. No part of
the paid instalment will be returned in the event of the probationer
leaving from any cause.
The probationers will receive instruction from the medical instructor
and the hospital "sisters," and will serve as assistant nurses in the
wards of the hospital.
The names of the probationers will be entered in a register, in which
a record will be kept of their qualifications. At the end of a year
those whom the Committee find to have passed satisfactorily through the
course of instruction and training will be entered in the register as
certified nurses.
On completion of their training they must be prepared to take
employment on the nursing staff of some public hospital or infirmary
wherever offered to them by the Committee, and to continue in similar
employment for a period of three years at least, this period being
limited to one year in the case only of those who have paid at the
higher rate. As a step to superior situations, they will be expected,
if required, to accept an engagement as nurse (day or night), at the
usual salary, for the whole or a portion of the first year after
leaving the training school. Engagements, whether as nurse or in a
superior situation, will from time to time, during the above period,
be made through the Committee with the managers of the institution,
by whom the certified probationer is to be employed. Her salary will
be paid to her by such managers, but it is expected that she will not
terminate any engagement without due notice to the Committee.
Withdrawal from the service may be allowed upon special grounds--family
circumstances or otherwise--to be approved by the Committee.
Probationers will not be expected to go out of Great Britain unless at
their own request.
The Committee desire, in every case where a staff of nurses is
engaged from the "Nightingale Fund," to place at the head of them
a superintendent, who has been also trained in the same school.
Applications have been numerous for trained nurses to fill superior
situations, such as matron, superintendent, assistants to those
officers, and ward sister or chief nurse, while there has hitherto been
a want of qualified candidates. The Committee therefore anticipate
no difficulty in being able to offer suitable appointments to their
certified probationers. They will, in recommending for employment,
consult the inclination of every probationer--so far as a due regard to
the special circumstances of each case enable them to do.
Every probationer will be required, at the end of one month from the
date of entry into the hospital, to sign a written engagement, agreeing
to abide by these regulations.
These are the rules for the ordinary training of hospital nurses:--
The Committee of the "Nightingale Fund" have made arrangements with
the authorities of St. Thomas's Hospital for giving a year's training
to women desirous of working as hospital nurses. Women desirous of
receiving this course of training should apply to Mrs. Wardroper, the
matron at St. Thomas's Hospital, subject to whose selection they will
be received into the hospital as probationers. The age considered
desirable for probationers is from twenty-five to thirty-five single
or widows; a certificate of age and other information will be
required. They will receive, during the year of training, payment in
money and clothing to the value of £16, on the following footing,
thus:--Clothing, costing about £4; payment at the end of the first
quarter, £2; at the end of the second quarter, £2 10s.; at the end of
the third quarter, £2 10s.; at the end of the fourth quarter, £8; and
a further gratuity of £2 if recommended for employment. Should the term
of residence be extended beyond the year, payment will be made at the
end of the fifth quarter of £4.
At the close of a year their training will usually be considered
complete, and during the three years succeeding the completion of
their training they will be required to enter into service as hospital
nurses, in such situations as may from time to time be offered to them
by the Committee.
The names of the probationers will be entered in a register, in which
a record will be kept of their conduct and qualifications. This
will be submitted at the end of every month to the Committee of the
"Nightingale Fund." At the end of a year, those whom the Committee
find to have passed satisfactorily through the course of instruction
and training, will be entered in the register as certified nurses, and
will be recommended for employment accordingly. The Committee have
hitherto readily found employment for their certified nurses in some
public hospital or infirmary, at salaries usually commencing at £20,
with board (including tea and sugar) and washing. Many have, after some
years' service, obtained superior appointments.
Engagements are not to be made except through the Committee, and no
engagement is to be put an end to without a quarter's previous notice
to the Committee.
The Committee will allow a yearly gratuity of £2 to all their certified
nurses, to be paid at the end of every complete year of service,
succeeding the term of training, up to the third year, inclusive,
providing that evidence be given at the end of each year that the nurse
has served the whole time satisfactorily.
No gratuity will be paid if the Committee have reason to suppose that
the nurse intends to discontinue her employment. At the expiration of
one month from the date of entry, every probationer will be required to
write a letter to the following effect:--
_To the Chairman of the Committee of the "Nightingale Fund."_
SIR,--Having now become practically acquainted with the duties
required of a hospital nurse, I am satisfied that I shall be able
and willing, on the completion of my year's training, to enter into
service in a public hospital or infirmary, and I engage, in accordance
with the annexed regulations of the "Nightingale Fund"--in return for
the advantages bestowed upon me--to continue in such service for the
space of at least three years, in whatever situations the Committee
shall think suitable to my abilities, it being my intention from
henceforth to devote myself to hospital employment. I further agree
not to enter into any engagements except through the Committee, and
not to leave any situation without giving due notice to the Committee.
I am, Sir, &c., &c.
The following regulations are common to both classes of probationers:--
The term of the probationers' training is a complete year. Probationers
will be received on the distinct understanding that they will remain
for the required term; they may, however, be allowed to withdraw upon
grounds to be approved by the Committee. They will be subject to be
discharged at any time by the matron in case of misconduct, or should
she consider them inefficient or negligent of their duties.
The probationers will be under the authority of the matron of the
hospital, and will be subject to the rules of the hospital. They will
be lodged in the hospital in the "Nightingale Home," which adjoins the
matron's house; each will have a separate bed-room, and they will be
supplied at the cost of the "Nightingale Fund" with board, including
tea and sugar, and a weekly allowance of 1s. 6d. for washing; and with
a certain quantity of outer clothing of a uniform character, which they
will always be required to wear when in the hospital.
The usual times of admission are the quarter days. Candidates
must be seen by Mrs. Wardroper, at St. Thomas's Hospital, Albert
Embankment, Westminster Bridge, London, between 10 and 12 A.M. only,
on Tuesday or Friday. These regulations may be obtained by writing
to H. Bonham-Carter, Esq., Secretary to the "Nightingale Fund," 91,
Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park.
The regulations of the Training School for Nurses in connection with
Westminster Hospital are very similar, but I think it better to give
them in detail.
The Committee of the Westminster School for Nurses has made
arrangements for training their probationers in a practical way in
the wards of the above hospital. Those young women who are desirous
to be so trained should apply (personally, if possible, or else by
letter) to the lady superintendent of the Training School, 8, Broad
Sanctuary, Westminster. It is desirable that the ages of candidates
should be between twenty-five and thirty-five. Testimonials of health
and character, according to forms supplied by the lady superintendent,
will be required; and when satisfactory, and as vacancies occur, the
applicants will be received as probationers.
Probationers will be under the direction and authority of the lady
superintendent and the rules of the training school; and whilst at work
in the hospital they must obey and recognise all the standing rules of
that institution. Probationers will be supplied with board, lodging,
and washing.
If retained, the wages in the first year of a probationer will be
£16, of which a portion may be retained till the completion of her
year of probation, as guarantee of her good behaviour, and subject to
forfeiture in case of misconduct. Probationers will be required to
conform to any regulations in regard to uniformity in outer clothing,
and if supplied with materials for the same by the school, the cost
(not exceeding £4 4s.) will be retained from their wages.
It is expected that at the end of a year probationers will be fitted to
be nurses, and their engagement will require them to serve two years
more in hospital or private nursing, with an increase of £2 for each
year--that is, £18 for the second, and £20 for the third.
At the expiration of one month from the date of entry every probationer
will be required, in such form as may be in use, to engage herself
to continue in the service for at least two years longer than her
probation, after which her time will be her own. In the event of her
not continuing after the first month no wages will be paid.
The names of the probationers will be entered on a register, in which
a record will be kept of their conduct and qualifications. At the end
of every quarter the record will be submitted to the Committee of
Management.
The probationers will be subject to be discharged at any time by the
lady superintendent in case of misconduct, or should she think them
inefficient or negligent in their duties.
The nurse, or probationer, must not only be able to read written
instructions, and to write, but have had a good English education. The
probationer or nurse is to keep her own room neat, clean, and in order,
in the home, as well as to assist in the needlework there if required
to do so.
The duties of the nurses will be to attend both the rich and the poor,
either in hospitals or private houses.
The lady superintendent tells me that nearly half the ladies who come
to her leave at the expiration of the trial month, having discovered
that they are unsuited to the life, although I believe it is not
particularly trying.
CHAPTER V.
CLERKS.
_Bookkeepers._--There is a very considerable demand for female clerks
and bookkeepers. The necessary knowledge is easily acquired by any
industrious person with punctual and orderly habits.
An adult bookkeeping class is held at 22, Berners Street, Oxford
Street, the office of the Society for the Employment of Women. On
entering the class a student is required to bring recommendations from
two householders, who will be responsible for her thorough steadiness
and respectability. If, as is often the case, the student has lately
left school, a letter from the mistress, or her latest school report,
is required, and those only are admitted to the class who can write
clearly and neatly, spell correctly, and work accurately the first
four rules of arithmetic simple and compound. A course of lessons
generally extends over four or five months; during that time students
are not only taught the principles of book-keeping by single and double
entry, but every effort is made to inspire them with a high sense of
responsibility, and to make them punctual, orderly, and earnest, in
the discharge of their duties. No student is allowed to go up for
examination unless her conduct in the class has been satisfactory, and
unless she has shown a desire to do her work conscientiously.
Bookkeepers who have gained certificates almost invariably retain
their situations with credit. It is often difficult to obtain a first
situation, for practical experience is generally required, but in this
the certificate is a great help, as it forms a good introduction, and
is a guarantee of efficiency and respectability.
When she has once made a fair start, a certificated bookkeeper is
seldom unemployed. The class meets on the evenings of Monday and
Thursday, at 6.30. The fee is sixpence weekly. A bookkeeping class
is also held at the College for Working Women, 7, Fitzroy Street,
Fitzroy Square. The fee is 1s. 3d. each term; there are four terms in
the year, consisting of 35 lessons, from 8 to 9.30 P.M. New pupils are
only admitted on the first class night of the Michaelmas and Easter
terms. Students can be examined by the Society of Arts, and obtain the
certificates of the Society free of expense. The membership fee is a
shilling a term extra.
Public classes, besides those I have mentioned, are held at the College
for Men and Women, Queen Square, Bloomsbury; at the Quebec Institute,
Baker Street; and at the Birkbeck Institute, Chancery Lane. Clerks must
be prepared to accept low salaries for their first engagements, perhaps
10s. a week; but after they have gained experience, they will be able
to secure from 15s. to 30s. a week.
_Telephone._--The United Telephone Company, 36, Coleman Street,
Moorgate Street, employ about a hundred young ladies, chiefly the
daughters of professional men who have received few educational
advantages, and no special technical instruction. The requirements
being small the salary is in proportion, commencing at 11s. weekly, and
rising slowly to 16s. Candidates must be between the ages of 16 and 20.
Those whose parents are in trade are not eligible.
_Shorthand Writing._--The power of writing in shorthand is a very
valuable acquisition, especially to bookkeepers who also act as
correspondents, as it frequently enables them to obtain larger salaries
than they could expect without it, and there is an increasing demand
for female shorthand clerks. Translators also occasionally employ them
to write from dictation, and sometimes it happens they can get work as
reporters.
Miss Pritchard, of 83, Edgeware Road, is highly recommended as a
teacher. She says it requires nine months to learn, and perhaps from
six to twelve months' practice afterwards, to become a proficient
writer, so much depends upon the individual ability. She herself began
to earn money by it at the end of the first nine months. Her charge
for tuition is a guinea for thirteen lessons, one every week. She can
usually arrange to give the lessons, if desirable, in the evening, so
that they need not interfere with any daily employment in which her
pupils may be engaged.
The rate of pay shorthand writers expect to receive is twopence a folio
(72 words). Of course for this they have to make a fair copy of their
work in ordinary writing.
The Metropolitan School of Shorthand in Chancery Lane undertakes to
ensure proficiency for a certain fixed charge. I understand that the
sum of £5 is the maximum amount.
_Post Office Directories._--Messrs. Kelly and Co., of 51, Great Queen
Street, Lincoln's Inn, employ a considerable number of female clerks to
assist in compiling their Post Office directories; they will take girls
from the age of fourteen, and the only necessary qualifications are
reading and perfectly legible writing. The pay commences at 8s. a week,
and increases 2s. a week every year until it reaches a pound. The hours
are from half-past nine until half-past five, excepting on Saturdays,
when they leave off working at four o'clock. An hour is allowed for
dinner, which must be eaten on the premises. The duties are decidedly
easy, and the hours light. Applications for employment must be made by
letter, but vacancies seldom occur.
_Junior Army and Navy Stores._--These recently-established stores
employ ladies as clerks; the preference is given to daughters of
military or naval officers.
The necessary qualifications are a thorough knowledge of arithmetic, a
slight acquaintance with book-keeping, and good legible writing. The
hours are from nine to six, with an hour's interval for dinner. The
salaries commence at £40 a year.
_Prudential Life Assurance._--One hundred and sixty ladies are
employed by this Company at their offices, Holborn Bars; only daughters
of professional men are eligible, and they require no special
qualifications beyond an ordinary English education. The hours of
work are from a quarter to ten to five o'clock; on Saturdays until
two. The comfort of the lady clerks has been studied to a very great
extent, an excellent library and piano are provided for their use, and
a refreshment room, where they can obtain luncheon (for which an hour
is allowed) at a moderate price. The flat roof has been converted into
terraces, where they may take exercise during their luncheon hour, and
they have a separate entrance and staircase to that used by the male
clerks.
They are paid £32 the first year, £42 the second, and £52 the third;
after that time their salaries increase according to the value of their
services. The duties principally consist of copying and writing letters
from notes.
_Coupon Sorters._--Messrs. Rothschild, St. Swithin's Lane, and Messrs.
Baring, Bishopsgate Street Within, employ a small number of women in
sorting coupons; the only necessary qualifications are an ordinary
English education and good references. At Messrs. Baring's the hours
of work are from ten to five. The junior clerks receive 15s. a week,
and the seniors' salaries average £1 to 25s.; they are engaged by the
week. I believe that Messrs. Rothschild's rules are very similar.
_Law Copyists._--Many women are now employed in law copying; they are
apprenticed for six months, sometimes paying a small premium of 2 or 3
guineas, but in some cases they are only required to give their time.
After six months they begin to earn a few shillings a week, which may
increase, according to efficiency, to 25s. Their salary is regular,
and does not depend (as it does in the case of men) on their employers
having work or not. The hours are from nine to seven, excepting on
Saturdays, when they leave a little earlier.
The following firms employ women, but only the first three will
teach:--Mr. Hardy, Castle Street, Holborn; Mrs. Le Fuel, Brownlow
Street, Holborn; Mr. F. Watkins, Dyer's Buildings, Holborn; Messrs.
Hooper and Sons, Ludgate Hill; Messrs. Hadley, Castle Street, Holborn.
Law clerks also occasionally employ women as copyists, and I think
efficient writers might frequently obtain private employment from
solicitors, especially if they had any acquaintance with them, or they
could take specimens of their work to strangers, and boldly ask for
a trial. Employers like girls to begin to learn soon after leaving
school; they will take them as young as fifteen.
_Telegraphy._--The following is an exact copy of the rules for
telegraph clerks. Applications for admission to the Telegraph Office
must be made to the Postmaster-General, as all nominations are made by
him.
The subjects for test examination are:--
(1.) Writing from dictation.
(2.) Writing with a pencil, or style.
(3.) Arithmetic (easy sums in the first four rules).
Limits of age, not under fourteen or above eighteen.
Successful candidates have to attend the Post Office Telegraph School
to undergo a course of instruction in telegraphy, for which instruction
no charge is made, but they do not receive any pay while at the school.
The course of instruction usually extends over a period of three
months, but if at any period of their tuition, or during their
probationary employment at a telegraph office, it becomes evident they
display no aptitude for the duties of a telegraphist, their nomination
or probationary appointment will be cancelled.
The scale of pay for women is 8s. per week, on receiving a certificate
from the school, and commencing the period of probation; rising to
12s. on being certified to be fully capable of transmitting public
messages; and rising to 14s. on being certified as being capable of
taking charge of a telegraph instrument; afterwards, as vacancies
occur, 14s. per week, increasing by 1s. per week to 17s. per week, with
a prospect of rising to 30s. per week.
Hours of attendance for female clerks, eight hours a day, between the
hours of 8 A.M. and 8 P.M.
_Post Office Clerks._--A considerable number of ladies are employed
in the Receiver and Accountant General's Office; it is, I believe,
more generally known as the Post Office Clearing House. An entrance
examination has to be passed in the following subjects of competitive
examination, conducted by the Civil Service Commissioners:--
(1.) Handwriting and orthography.
(2.) English grammar and composition.
(3.) Arithmetic (including vulgar and decimal fractions).
(4.) Geography.
Candidates under seventeen or above twenty years of age are ineligible.
_Salary._
2nd Class, £40, rising by £7 10s. yearly to £75.
1st Class, £80 " £7 10s. " £100.
Principal Clerks, £110 " £10 " £150.
The hours of attendance are from 10 to 4.
Hitherto women have been employed as returners and counterwomen in the
General Post Office, London, but no fresh appointments have been made
for some time, and it does not appear likely that there will be any
more.
CHAPTER VI.
MISCELLANEOUS.
_Assistants in Shops._--I do not think it is generally known how valid
the claim of the girls employed by the large linendrapers is to the
much-disputed title of "young lady." At all the houses where I have
inquired, I find that a large proportion of the girls are daughters
of professional men, the fathers of the remainder being for the most
part farmers and clerks; they are all fairly well educated, possess
good manners, and if their conduct is not above reproach they are
immediately dismissed.
I give particulars of five representative houses. I think the rules
of others of the same class will be found very similar. All the
particulars have been furnished me by members of the firms, and in many
cases I have also made inquiries of the young ladies who are employed.
Their universal opinion is that they are much better off than they
would be if they were governesses; in fact, many of them have been
governesses, and have given it up from the difficulty of obtaining
comfortable engagements. Their evenings are entirely at their own
disposal, and they are allowed to go away from Saturday until Sunday
night or Monday morning, if their employers know where they are going.
At very nearly all the shops I mention the girls are allowed to sit
down excepting when they are engaged in serving. The good feeling
existing between employers and employed seems to be very general.
I heard no complaints from either side; the heads of the firms
all seemed to think they could not do too much for the comfort of
their employés, and they on their side seemed fully sensible of the
kindness with which they are treated. Their sitting and bed rooms are
all spacious and airy, and their food, which on two occasions I had
opportunities of inspecting, plentiful and good.
All the firms employ large numbers of women who do not live in the
house, but I shall not give any particulars respecting them, as they
are of quite a different class to those I am writing for.
Messrs. Howell and James, Regent Street, employ twenty-five ladies in
their establishment, who live in the house. When their contemplated
alterations and improvements are made, each young lady will have a
separate bed-room; they have very pleasant sitting-rooms, and a library
and piano are provided for their use.
The hours of work are from 9 to 6, Saturdays until two, and they all
have a fortnight or three weeks' holiday in the summer. The salaries
vary from £20 to £200 a year. Apprentices are received for three years;
they live in the house, and pay a premium of £40. Improvers are also
taken. All applicants must have good references and manners, and be
well educated.
Messrs. Lewis and Allenby, Regent Street, employ seventy ladies in the
house, twenty-four in the show-rooms, and the rest in the workrooms.
They take neither apprentices nor improvers, and all the young ladies
who apply to them must previously have received a thorough training.
Hours of work are from 8.30 until 6.30, Saturdays until 2. They have
three weeks' holiday after the London season. Their house has lately
been rebuilt, and the rooms are everything that can be desired; two
young ladies usually share a bed-room. A piano, and house library,
besides a subscription to Mudie's, are provided for the use of the
young people.
The salaries range from £25 to £200 per annum. A doctor calls every day
to see any one who may be ill, and anything he orders is immediately
provided at the expense of the firm.
Messrs. Marshall and Snelgrove, Oxford Street and Vere Street, employ
seventy ladies in their show-rooms. The hours of work are from 8.30
until 6.30 in the winter, or 7 in the summer; Saturdays until 2.
Sixteen days' holidays are allowed after the season. No apprentices are
received, and the salaries vary from £20 to £150 a year. About ninety
or a hundred girls are also employed in their work-rooms, at salaries
of from £15 to £100 a year.
Messrs. Venables, High Street, Whitechapel, a very old-established
firm, employ twenty-five in the house, at salaries of from £20 to £200
per annum. The hours of work are from 9 till 7 in winter, until 7.30 or
8 in summer, Saturdays until 3 o'clock. A fortnight's holiday is given
every year. Apprentices are taken for two or three years at a small
premium, which is usually returned as a bonus for good conduct. There
is a bagatelle and a billiard table, a piano, and a library of 2,000
volumes, for the use of the employés. Not more than four girls are ever
expected to share the same room.
Messrs. Spencer, Turner, and Boldero, Lisson Grove, employ seventy
ladies. The working hours are from 8.30 until 7, and they have a
fortnight or three weeks' holiday in the year. The salaries are from
£5 to £100 a year. Apprentices are received for two years without a
premium, and their friends are only required to provide them with
clothes. In one large room five young ladies sleep, but as a rule there
are not more than three or four in a room.
Only the young ladies in the show-rooms are allowed to sit down; it
would interfere too much with business if those behind the counters
were provided with seats. I asked two of them if they found the
continual standing affect their health; they said girls for the first
month found it very trying, but after that they become used to it,
and, excepting in very hot weather, did not mind it at all. Cases of
serious illness are very rare in all the establishments I have visited.
At the last two shops I have mentioned the class of customers is very
different from the others; but, with that exception, I believe the
young ladies employed are equally comfortable.
_Teachers of Cookery._--At the National Training School for Cookery
in the Exhibition Road, South Kensington, ladies are taught to be
efficient teachers of cookery, and, as a rule, do not find it difficult
to obtain engagements. The School Board employs a considerable number,
and pays them at the rate of £60 a year.
Teachers of cookery can now pass through a full course of twenty
weeks' training in cookery and practice in teaching at the National
Training School for Cookery, South Kensington. The fee is £20. Teachers
of plain cookery only can now pass through a course lasting ten weeks;
the fee is £8 8s.
Students in training are expected to attend evening classes, held by
staff teachers, once a week. A student in training for a teacher first
passes as a pupil through the Scullery and Demonstration Classes. This
takes (working every day except Saturday) one month, from 10 A.M. to 4
P.M., with an interval from 12 to 2 for rest and luncheon. At the end
of the month her note-books are to be examined and corrected. She then
spends one month learning in the Plain Cookery Practice Kitchen, and a
fortnight in teaching there what she has already learnt. She next goes
into the High Class Practice Kitchen, and spends one month in learning
and a fortnight in teaching. The last month is devoted to practice in
demonstrating, first a fortnight in private, and lastly a fortnight
in public, for which the lady superintendent has drawn up careful and
strict rules; they are hung up close to where the student stands, to
give her demonstration.
During her course of training the student can, if she likes, dine with
the other pupils for 1s., or, if that is beyond her means, she is
allowed to purchase any little dish that has been cooked as a lesson,
at a nominal charge.
The staff teachers receive £75 per annum and their dinner at the
school while employed in London. When sent to reside out of London
they receive a further sum of 20s. a week for board and lodging, and
all their travelling expenses; one months' notice on either side to
terminate the engagement. When the staff teachers are all employed a
few extra teachers are taken on as improvers at £1 a week, as this fits
them to fill good appointments in the provinces when they offer. These
engagements are terminable by a week's notice on either side.
The work of a teacher on the staff varies somewhat according to the
nature of her appointment--_i.e._, if employed in the school itself
she will have to be in her kitchen by 9.30 A.M. to see that her
kitchen-maid has everything in proper order for the pupils to begin
work at 10 A.M. The lessons end at 4 P.M. The teacher would, in most
cases, be able to leave the school at 5 P.M.
If a staff teacher is sent to the provinces, the hours of work in that
case depend greatly upon the local committee who for the time being
employ her, but the number of hours of work are limited to twenty-four
in the week, to be distributed by arrangement with the local committee
and the teacher. If nominated for training, the candidate must not
be under eighteen nor exceed thirty-five years of age. She will be
admitted either by payment of fees or by subscriber's nomination. She
must be sufficiently educated to be able to perform the duties of an
instructor after the special training.
The diplomas of teachers are of two classes. Students, according to the
class of diploma they have obtained, will be recommended to the public
desirous to employ teachers, preference being given to teachers in the
highest class.
The conditions of admission are:--
(_a_) That the student agrees to obey all the rules of the school laid
down by the Executive Committee.
(_b_) That for any infraction of the rules the student may be
discharged at a day's notice, without having a claim of any kind upon
the school.
(_c_) That if after training the student proves competent (of which
the Committee are sole judges), and her services be required, she will
be prepared to accept an engagement on the staff of the school, at a
salary ranging from £1 to £2 weekly; but it is to be clearly understood
that the Committee are not responsible for finding any paid employment
for the student while in the school, or afterwards, the employment of
teachers certified by the school resting wholly with the public.
Teachers, while on the staff, and employed in the school, are not free
to take any engagement without leave from the Committee, given in
writing. Teachers holding diplomas not on the staff are free to make
any engagement for teaching they may think fit, and may refer to the
lady superintendent, who will give additional information as to their
qualifications when required to do so.
Any subscriber to the school of £1 1s. has a right to a vote, and
twenty votes admit a candidate to a full course of training, so that to
become a subscriber is an excellent opportunity to be charitable, and
oblige, possibly, a friend at the same time.
I think if, in addition to teaching cookery, ladies were able also to
lecture on the elements of physiology and the laws of health, they
would more readily find engagements, and be able to command better
salaries. Unfortunately, at present there is no place where they can
be examined as to their capabilities, and receive certificates, which
would be most desirable. They can, however, acquire the necessary
information by reading and attending some of the excellent courses of
lectures on the subject that are frequently held in London; they are
generally advertised in the daily papers.
_Music._--No lady should take up music as a profession unless she has
sufficient talent to justify her in expecting to be a first-rate
teacher and performer. The profession is overstocked to a most painful
extent already with second-rate teachers, and, speaking roughly, I
should say there are very nearly as many people anxious to teach music
as there are people to be taught. In the one branch of class-singing,
I believe there is a large demand for good lady teachers, as they are
most difficult to obtain, and any really competent persons may be sure
of obtaining engagements at good salaries. For any one with exceptional
talent a thorough training is the great thing to be desired, and this
can be obtained at the Royal College of Music, Kensington Gore, where
a free musical education, in all its branches, is given for five
years, to any one who can obtain a scholarship. Many of these are open
to public competition, without any limit of age. The school does not
provide board or lodging, though I believe some of the scholarships
carry with them exhibitions for maintenance. The year is divided into
three terms, and there are twelve weeks of vacation. Students, when
competent, are allowed to give lessons or perform in public during
their spare time. No engagements are guaranteed at the end of the
course of study; but the authorities do all in their power to secure
them. For further information respecting the scholarships, &c.,
application should be made to the registrar at the school.
_Royal Academy of Music_, Tenterden Street, Hanover Square.--At this
Academy, also, pupils are thoroughly trained in music.
Students are admitted at the commencement of each term and half-term.
Candidates for admission must attend for examination, bringing music
they can perform, at eleven o'clock on the Saturday before each term
or half-term, with a recommendation from a subscriber, a member, an
associate, or an honorary member.
The fee for examination is £1 1s., which is returned on the admission
of the candidate. Candidates residing at a distance from London may be
primarily examined by any one of the local examiners, from whom they
may obtain information and advice respecting the Academy. One or more
local examiners (whose services are honorary) are appointed in every
principal town of the kingdom.
The year is divided into three terms, and there are thirteen weeks of
vacation.
The annual fee for the entire course of study is 30 guineas, or 10
guineas per term, with an entrance fee of 5 guineas.
The course of instruction includes two weekly lessons in a principal
study, one in harmony, one in a second study, when deemed desirable,
one in elocution for singers, and the advantages of the sight-singing
class and violin quartet class, and the orchestral and choral practices.
All payments must be made in advance. On leaving the Academy students
may undergo an examination. Should the examination prove satisfactory
they will receive a certificate, and in special cases the additional
distinction of being made an associate of the institution.
There are a great many free scholarships attached to this institution;
inquiries about them should be directed to the secretary at the Academy.
* * * * *
_The London Academy of Music_, St. George's Hall, Langham Place, Regent
Street, is designed for vocal and instrumental students, amateur and
professional, desirous of receiving a complete musical education in
this country from the best London professors on the moderate fees of
the Continental institutions.
Students can select either harmony, pianoforte playing, singing, or
any other branch of the art, as their principal study, and receive
individual instruction in that branch from one of the principal
professors; they will in addition receive instruction in two other
branches.
The year is divided into three terms, each term consisting of twelve
weeks' instruction. A lesson is given once a week in each branch of
study, students residing at a distance can receive all their lessons
on one day. The fee for each student is 5 guineas per term. This
includes a whole course of instruction necessary for a complete musical
education. French, German, Italian, elocution, and deportment, are all
extras. The fee for each is £1 1s. per term. A fee of £3 3s. is charged
for students desirous of attending the operatic class and the drawing
and painting class.
All fees are required to be paid in advance. Candidates for admission
as students must show that they possess sufficient ability to profit by
the course of study, and are required to attend at the Academy before
the commencement of the term at which they desire to be admitted in
order to be examined by the principal. The examination fee is 5s. There
are several scholarships; these entitle their holders to one year's
free instruction, or to two years' instruction by paying half fees each
term.
Further particulars can be obtained at the office, St. George's Hall.
_Printing._--A women's printing office has been established at 21B,
Great College Street, Westminster, where only female apprentices are
taken. In answer to my questions, the girls said they liked the work
much, and found it very interesting; it is necessary that they should
read and spell well, and have some knowledge of punctuation. The
apprenticeships are for three years, and the premium is £2, which is
returned in wages, as they commence after the first month, at the rate
of 2s. 6d. per week, rising to 10s. by the end of the three years;
after that time the amount earned depends upon the worker's industry
and quickness; the average earnings are from £1 to £1 10s. a week. The
hours of work are from 9 till 6.30, with an hour's interval for dinner;
all the workers, including apprentices, are paid extra for overtime.
Several other printers employ women, but when men are employed as well
the women are not usually paid at the same rate, and the premium in
most cases is £5. Messrs. Bale, of 87 and 89, Great Titchfield Street,
have taken girl apprentices for many years, and Mr. Bowden, of Red
Lion Street, has done the same. Miss Emily Faithfull was the first
to introduce printing as an occupation for women in England, and has
employed them for some time at her Victoria Press, in Praed Street,
Paddington.
_Dressmaking._--A lady, trading under the name of Grace and Co., has
recently started a business at Albany House, 259, Vauxhall Bridge Road,
S.W., with the following avowed objects:--
I. To provide work for ladies who do not desire charity.
II. To afford ladies the means of thoroughly qualifying themselves in
cutting, fitting, and making-up dresses of every description
III. To give employment to those who have become qualified in
work-rooms, in their own homes, and in the houses of those willing to
treat them as ladies.
IV. To aid those who may be considered competent in opening branch
establishments.
V. To assist those who are qualified and desirous of emigrating in
finding suitable colonial engagements. Workers will be required to give
satisfactory references. They must be good needlewomen, and forward
a sample, which will not be returned. The object of this undertaking
is to provide remunerative employment for those requiring it; so all
those employed are expected to conform heartily to the rules which are
essential to success in business. One of the partners can always be
found at Albany House, and will be pleased to see any one interested in
the work.
_Plain Needlework._--Classes for ladies are held at 7, Fitzroy Street,
Fitzroy Square Each course consists of ten lessons in plain needlework
and cutting out in alternate lessons, according to the German method
of teaching in schools. Tickets for one course, £1 1s.; to ladies who
take more than one course a reduction of 5s. will be made for each
additional course. Tickets are not transferable. Each lesson lasts an
hour and a half.
Ladies anxious to start in business for themselves, or to obtain
situations as overlookers of workers in wholesale houses, are
frequently at a loss to know where they can obtain the necessary
knowledge. The firm of Hamilton and Co., co-operative shirtmakers, 27,
Mortimer Street, London, is willing to take young ladies to train in
business habits and a knowledge of what is expected from forewomen of
workers, for a year, at a premium of £5, to be returned in instalments
after the first six months. The knowledge of what work really is, and
the punctual habits that might be acquired in that time, would prove
very valuable to any one wishing to engage in business on their own
account.
At many of the large City warehouses ladies could, if they liked,
be employed in the work-rooms as machinists, plain-needleworkers,
feather-dressers, and to make up artificial flowers and lace goods. In
the last-mentioned occupations their taste would be a great advantage.
The only objection to ladies being employed is the class of girls
they would have to associate with; but of course they need have no
acquaintance with them outside the work-room. The work is usually paid
for by the piece, and the earnings of tolerably quick workers are from
14s. to 18s. a week. The hours of work are from 9 to 7, with an hour's
interval for dinner, half an hour for tea, and a quarter of an hour for
luncheon.
The plain needlework can in many cases, if the worker likes, be done
at home. Apprenticeships are necessary for some kinds of the work
required, but no premium is charged, the girl is only expected to give
her time for a few months. This may be difficult at first, but in
the end it is always an advantage; the skilled workers can always be
tolerably certain of getting employment.
_School Board Visitors._--A few ladies are employed by the School Board
to go to the children's homes and to make inquiries as to the cause
of their absence from school; they are paid from £60 to £75 a year.
The duties are frequently very unpleasant indeed, as their visits are
considered an intrusion, and are often deeply resented by the parents;
but as no special qualifications are required, I dare say many ladies
would be glad to obtain the situations. Application should be made to
the Secretary, School Board Office, Victoria Embankment, London.
_Minor Food Productions._--A Ladies' Association has been recently
formed for the promotion of horticulture and of minor food production.
They are anxious to establish a college for ladies where theoretic
and practical instruction would be given, and scientific training
in horticulture and arboriculture, poultry-raising, dairy work,
bee-keeping, etc. To carry out this plan a freehold farm is necessary,
together with sufficient funds to secure a well-organised system of
instruction. It is believed by the promoters of this scheme that
country life may be made healthy, interesting, and profitable, by a
wise application of intelligence and capital; and that by so doing many
openings to beneficial and healthy occupations may be found for women
of the higher and lower classes, both at home and in the colonies.
Many millions of money are annually paid by Great Britain to foreign
countries for various articles of food, a large part of which could be
equally well raised at home, if the best methods of their production
were more widely known and acted upon.
This association is still quite in its infancy, but a committee has
been formed to act as a means of communication between ladies desiring
instruction in the various branches of minor food production and
ladies and gentlemen competent to give the necessary teaching. Letters
addressed to the Honorary Secretaries, Miss Thorn or Miss May Thorn,
Southover Grange, Lewes, Sussex, will receive attention. I believe
these ladies have already tested the scheme themselves, and found
poultry and pig keeping decidedly remunerative.
_Machine Knitters._--A great many girls are employed in working
knitting-machines. They have to give a short time to learn how to
manage the machine, and then their earnings are from 10s. to 15s. a
week. The hours of work are generally eight a day, but these vary with
the season. This trade is not overstocked.
_Hairdressing._--This is a very suitable occupation for women, and
it is a great pity they are not more extensively employed. Messrs.
Truefitt and Douglas are still the only two large firms where girls
are employed in dressing ladies' hair. Mr. H. P. Truefitt, 13, Old
Bond Street, tells me he always trains the young women in his own
workshops, and that a moderately apt girl is ready to take her turn in
the hair-dressing saloon in six or nine months. Their average earnings
are from 32s. to 35s. weekly. Hours of work are from 9.30 A.M. to
6.30 P.M. Mr. Douglas's (also of Bond Street) rules are almost the same.
The last set of girls Mr. Truefitt trained were ladies, and he found
the intelligence they brought to bear on their profession and the
difference in their address to ladies much appreciated.
_Perfumery._--Mr. Eugene Rimmel, 96, Strand, employs 60 young women
in making-up valentines, scent-packets, &c., and in gumming labels on
to bottles, packing violet powder, bottles of scent, and in various
other ways. Their wages begin at 8s. a week and rise to 21s. The work
is quite light and easy. The hours are from 8 to 1, and 2 to 7.30.
The young ladies he employs to serve in his shops have rather higher
salaries. They begin at 10s. a week, and rise to £2.
_Stationery Work._--Most of the wholesale stationers employ large
numbers of women. The firm that kindly furnished me with the following
particulars employs 100. They go as apprentices for two years, paying
a premium of a guinea, and they receive in wages, for the first six
months, 1s. a week; during the second, 2s. 6d.; the third, 5s.; during
the fourth, and last six months, 7s. 6d. a week. After that time their
wages vary from 10s. to 15s. a week. They are employed in book folding
and sewing, stamping paper, and in various other ways. The hours of
work are from 8.30 to 7; Saturdays until 1.30. An hour is allowed them
for dinner, and two short intervals of from a quarter of an hour to
twenty minutes for luncheon and tea.
_Superintendents in Laundries._--It is desired to employ ladies as
superintendents of laundries. The work is not at all disagreeable, as,
of course, they are not expected to do any of the washing; only they
must have a thorough knowledge of how it should be done, including the
proper amount of soap, starch, &c., to use. The salaries are about £80
a year, as well as board and lodging. Application should be made to
some of the large laundry companies.
_Artificial Flower Making._--Large numbers of women are employed in
this trade. They should begin very young, immediately they leave
school, and it is a great advantage to them if their fingers happen
to be pointed. A large West End firm where I made inquiries employs
60 or 70 women. The hours of work are from 9 till 8, with an hour and
a half's interval for refreshment; on Saturdays they cease working at
2. The wages vary from 14s. to 22s. a week. To learn the business it
is usual to give a few months; no premium is expected. The large City
houses, I believe, pay by the piece. Making common flowers is very
unhealthy work.
_Feather Making._--Girls are not generally apprenticed to this trade,
but begin to learn it when they are very young. Their wages commence at
2s. or 2s. 6d. a week, rising eventually to 15s. or £1. The hours of
work are from 9 to 7, out of which time half an hour is allowed for
dinner, and half an hour for tea.
_Jewellery._--Women are employed in most manufacturing jewellers' as
polishers. They are apprenticed for two years without a premium, but
during that time they receive no wages. Afterwards they are paid from
5d. to 8d. an hour, according to their skill. The hours of work are
usually nine a day, from 8.30 to 1, and from 2 to 6.30.
_Jewel Case Makers._--The apprenticeship for lining jewel cases is
generally four years without premium. The first year the girls receive
no salary; the second, 3s. a week; the third, 5s.; and the fourth
year, 8s. weekly. The average wages after that time are from 18s. to
30s. a week, and work is very regular and certain, although the trade
is small. For covering cases the apprenticeship is three years. Wages
begin after the first six months, at 3s., rising until during the
last six months of their time they receive 8s. a week. Their earnings
afterwards are from 14s. to 22s. a week. The hours of work are from
8.30 till 8. Saturdays until 4.
_Gold and Silver Burnishing._--Girls are apprenticed to this trade
generally for three years, sometimes paying a small premium, sometimes
none at all. They give their services for the first year, and are
generally paid 3s. or 4s. a week the second; and from 8s. to 10s. the
third. After that time their wages are from 14s. to 18s. a week, but
a really good burnisher, if she could get sufficient gilt-work to do,
would make as much as 25s. a week. The hours of work are from 9 till 8;
an hour allowed for dinner, and half an hour for tea. They are expected
to provide their own tools at a cost of from £3 to £5, but these will
last a life-time, and improve by using.
_Dentistry._--Manufacturing dentists employ girls in making false
teeth. The wages are generally from 15s. to 18s. a week. An
apprenticeship of from 18 months to two years is necessary, and the
premium greatly depends upon the position of the dentist. Some are glad
to teach girls simply for their services.
_Map Mounting._--Mounting maps is tolerably easy work, and requires
no special knowledge, only great care and neatness. Employment can be
obtained from map-shops, and the wages are usually about 15s. a week.
_Concertina Makers._--Manufacturers of concertinas employ girls at
about 25s. a week wages. An apprenticeship of a year is necessary. The
premium is £10 10s.
* * * * *
Addresses of manufacturers of all the things I have mentioned will be
found in the Post Office Directory.
CHAPTER VII.
EMIGRATION.
Ladies who have never received any special training, and have
neither time nor means to procure it, would probably do wisely to
emigrate--that is to say, if they are domesticated and willing to
be generally useful. In the colonies competition for situations is
not nearly so great as in England, and consequently governesses,
companions, mothers' helps, and housekeepers, are more valued, and
usually treated quite as members of the family. I give particulars of
two of the Emigration Societies. They gave me most encouraging accounts
of the ladies who had emigrated under their auspices, and told me they
thought any one, with ordinary good sense, and willing to work, landing
in Australia or New Zealand with a few pounds in her pocket, would be
sure to do well. They both strongly advise ladies who have friends
in any one of the colonies to choose that one to go to, as private
introductions are most valuable. Intending emigrants should acquire as
thorough a knowledge of cookery, all kinds of needlework (including
dressmaking), ironing, starching, &c., as they possibly can, it may
prove very useful to them.
The Government of South Australia offers a free grant of land of the
value of £20, to be selected by the recipient, to any person over the
age of twelve, male or female, paying their own passage direct to
Adelaide, and residing in that colony two years.
The Queensland Government offers free passages to people describing
themselves as domestic servants. This does not necessitate their taking
that position on their arrival, but only means they must be willing
to enter domestic service if they can get no better engagement. The
following is a quotation from their published rules:--"On arrival in
the colony, all passengers, unless going out under special agreement,
will be at perfect liberty to engage themselves to any one willing to
employ them, and to make their own bargain for wages." The Queensland
Government Emigration Office is at 32, Charing Cross, London, S.W.,
where all information respecting free passages can be obtained.
FEMALE MIDDLE CLASS EMIGRATION SOCIETY.
_President_: Earl of Shaftesbury.
_Committee_:
Miss Rye.
Miss Bonham-Carter.
Miss Newton.
Miss F. Melliss.
Mrs. Scott.
Madame Bodichon.
Miss Baron.
H. Green, Esq., jun.
W. Gilbert, Esq.
_Bankers_: Messrs. Coutts & Co, 59, Strand.
_Auditor_: Rev. Fynes Webber, Sub-Dean of St. Pauls.
_Hon. Secretary_: Miss J. E. Lewin.
_Secretary_: Mrs. Sunter.
_Office_:--2, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn, London, W.C.
RULES.
I. The Society confines its assistance entirely to educated women,
no applicants being accepted who are not sufficiently educated to
undertake the duties of a nursery governess.
II. Every applicant is examined as far as possible with regard to her
knowledge of cooking, baking, washing, needlework, and housework; and
is required to be willing to assist in these departments of labour
should it be necessary.
III. Applicants are required to give the names and addresses of four
persons as referees, from whom the Society may obtain information
respecting the position, character, strength, qualifications, and
general suitableness of the applicant for a colonial life; two
of these referees to be ladies with whom the applicant has held
situations, and two to be her personal friends. The references are,
if possible, taken up personally by the secretaries; and the Society
hopes, by establishing correspondents in the chief provincial towns,
to ensure in all cases a personal interview with the applicant, if not
with her referees.
IV. If the information obtained is satisfactory, the applicant, being
accepted by the Society, receives all possible needful assistance.
Should she be unable to pay the entire cost of cabin fittings and
passage money, the Society advances the deficient amount, a legal
agreement to repay within two years and four months being signed by the
emigrant, and two respectable householders as securities. Should an
approved applicant not require a loan, she is equally entitled to the
advantages of the Society's care and protection.
V. The Society secures all passages and purchases cabin-fittings on
behalf of the emigrants, thus saving much trouble and time. It is also
enabled, by the liberality of shipowners and outfitters, to effect a
considerable saving of expense. The cost of passage and cabin-fittings
is generally about £45 first class, £25 second class. The Society has
established regular correspondents at most of the colonial ports. As
soon as a lady leaves England, notice of her departure is sent by the
overland mail to the correspondent at the port to which she is bound.
Her name, together with copies of her testimonials, are sent at the
same time; and, as the notice is received six weeks before the emigrant
arrives, there is time to make preparations for her reception, and even
to seek for situations.
VI. The business of the Society is transacted in the usual manner by
a committee, secretaries, and treasurers. The selection of emigrants
rests with the secretaries, but the names and testimonials of all
persons sent out may be inspected by the committee. Cheques are signed
by a treasurer and a secretary. Accounts are audited yearly. Interviews
on Tuesdays.
WOMEN'S EMIGRATION SOCIETY.
_Patron_: H.R.H. the Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne.
_Council_:
The Duchess of Marlborough.
The Duchess of Wellington.
Constance, Marchioness of Lothian.
The Dowager Lady Lawrence.
The Dowager Lady Rayleigh.
The Lady Wynford.
The Lady Elizabeth Cust.
The Lady Adeliza Manners.
The Lady Caroline Tumor.
The Lord Brabazon.
The Bishop of Ballarat
The Bishop of Brisbane.
The Bishop of Huron.
The Bishop of North Queensland.
The Hon. Mrs. Francis Drummond.
The Hon. Mrs. Stonor.
Lady Henderson.
Lady Thompson.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Bartle Frere, Bart., G.C.B., G.C.S.I.
Sir Henry Barkly, G.C.M.G.
Sir Alexander Galt, G.C.M.G.
Sir Saul Samuel, K.C.M.G.
The Rev. Alex. J. Ross, D.D.
Mrs. Charles Kingsley.
Mrs. Townsend.
_Executive Committee_:
The Lady Jane Taylor, 16, Eaton Place, S. W. (President).
The Marchioness of Salisbury, Arlington House, Arlington Street.
The Lady Emily Pepys, 75, Victoria Street, S. W.
Lady Fox Young, 96, Cromwell Road.
Lady Stuart Hogg, 14, Southwell Gardens, S. W.
Mrs. E. L. Blanchard, 6, Adelphi Terrace, Strand.
Mrs. George Campbell, 22, Queen's Gate Gardens, S. W.
Miss Elliott, 29, Cornwall Gardens, S. W.
Miss Hubbard, Leonards Lee, Horsham.
Miss Anna Swanwick, 23, Cumberland Terrace, N. W.
The Duke of Manchester, 1, Great Stanhope Street, W.
Lord William Seymour, 1, Chesham Place.
Gen. Sir R. C. H. Taylor, K.C.B., Governor of Sandhurst.
Major C. C. Fitzroy, 4, Cranley Place, S. W.
James Noel, Esq., 8, Hanover Square, W.
_Bankers_:
Messrs. Ransom, Bouverie & Co., 1, Pall Mall East, S. W.
_Honorary Solicitors_:
Messrs. Green & Hartcup, 5, Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn.
_Honorary Treasurer_:
Arthur Bradshaw, Esq., New Crofts, Hillingdon, Uxbridge.
_Lady Secretary_:
Miss Clune.
_Honorary Secretary_:
Thomas Tully, Esq.
_Office_:
New Buildings, Carteret St., Queen Anne's Gate, London, S.W.
The object of the Society is to promote, by means of advice and
material help, the emigration to the colonies of respectable
Englishwomen of all classes. The Society inquires into the character,
health, and prospects of success of each intending emigrant, and
watches over her during her transit from her home in England to her
place of settlement, taking precautions for her comfort and safety on
her voyage, and through its agents sheltering and protecting her on her
arrival at her destination until she obtains suitable employment.
It obtains and distributes information as to all the British Colonies,
their climate, resources, &c., &c.
The Society endeavours to find the necessary expenses, by loan or gift,
for outfit and passage to women who are of good character but without
means. Many educated or suitable women, struggling unsuccessfully
against the over-competition of the Old Country, would be glad to
emigrate if they were aware of the existence of a Society able to
afford them serviceable advice and assistance. They cannot go through
the Government Emigration agencies, and are therefore thrown upon the
funds of the Society. To those who are unable to pay for their passage
and equipment, the assistance of such a Society is indispensable.
The steamers of the P. and O. Company, and of the Orient Line, perform
the passage to Adelaide in about six weeks. The sailing ships usually
occupy about twelve weeks. The rates of passage vary from £15 to £75.
CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, BELLE SAUVAGE WORKS, LONDON, E.C.
_GARTERS ENTIRELY SUPERSEDED by_
HOVEN'S IMPROVED PATENT STOCKING SUSPENDER.
[Illustration: Suspender]
STATE SIZE OF WAIST FOR BAND.
_Ask your Draper for_ HOVEN'S PATENT.
It allows free Circulation of the Blood. It leaves no mark on the limbs
as made by Garters. It holds the Stockings tightly, and WITHOUT A
WRINKLE. It CANNOT TEAR THE STOCKING under any circumstances. It GIVES
to any movement of the body. It does not increase the size around the
waist.
REDUCED PRICES. (_Post Free, in Box._)
Lady's shaped Band (to Button), White, Pink, Blue, or Cardinal, 2s.,
2s. 9d., with Silk Elastics, 3s. 9d.; straight Band (to Buckle),
White, 1s. 6d., 2s. 6d., with Silk Elastics, 3s. 6d.; without Band,
with Loop for Button, 1s. 6d., Silk, 2s. 6d.
_Bands above 30-ins., extra, thus:--31 to 33-in., 3d.; 34 to 36-in.,
6d._
Child's, with Band (to Button), White, 1s. 3d., White or Colours, 1s.
6d., with Silk Elastics, 2s. 6d; without Band, 1s., Silk, 1s. 9d.
Gentleman's Stocking Suspender, with Band Buckle, 3s. Above 36-ins.
6d. extra. Sock Suspender (fitting below the knee), Cotton, 1s. 3d.,
Silk, 2s. ☛ _Any infringement of this Patent_ (No. 1280/79) _will be
dealt with Legally_.
ALFRED BREESE,
_Sole Manufacturer_, 34, Brewer Street, Regent Street, London, W. 6
_Employment for English Ladies._
The Art of Dress Cutting Taught in a Few Lessons by the Scientific
System of Square Measurement.
_What one of the oldest-established Court Dressmakers of London says of
the Scientific System of Dress Cutting._
"_To the_ SCIENTIFIC DRESS CUTTING ASSOCIATION, _272, Regent Circus,
London, W._
"DEAR SIRS,--Since learning your Scientific System of Dress Cutting, I
can truly say it is unlike any other method I have ever known, being
easily learned, and so reliable, the instructions being printed upon
the System, and always before the eye of the cutter. When measures
are taken correctly, there is no difficulty in obtaining a perfect
fit the first time. I have cut by your System various garments for
numerous Ladies, and have thus far never failed to produce a perfect
fit; among which I have recently cut a garment for a lady living in
a provincial city (without even seeing her) from measures taken by
herself according to your instructions, and I have since received a
letter from her saying that it is the most perfect fit she has ever
had. Therefore I have no hesitation in pronouncing your System perfect
in every respect, and I am now prepared to cut and make garments by
your System for any Ladies who may visit my Establishment. Wishing you
every success in your business,
"Believe me, dear Sirs, very truly yours, JANE DAVIS.
"_94, Regent Street, London, W._"
INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN at the OFFICE, from 9.30 a.m. till 6 p.m.
AGENTS WANTED in every Town to Sell our Systems. For particulars send
for Circular, or call at the Office of the
Scientific Dress Cutting Association, 272, Regent Circus, London, W. 8
_TO THE FAIR SEX._
LADIES' HAIR COMBINGS, forwarded by post, thoroughly Disentangled by
New Process, and made up for 2s. per oz. Returned in Three Days.
FADED ORNAMENTAL HAIR RESTORED
_T. S. BROWN_ (_Specialist for Invisible Coverings for Temporary
Baldness or Thin Partings_),
3, LEECE ST., top of BOLD ST., LIVERPOOL.
SILKS for KNITTING and EMBROIDERY.
[Illustration: TRADE MARK ADAMS & C^o]
_FILOSELLE_, _4d._ per skein, _3s. 9d._ per dozen. _KNITTING SILKS_,
from _1s. 6d._ per skein or ball.
MISS TURNER'S
_ART NEEDLEWORK DEPÔTS_,
100, George St., Portman Square, W.,
AND
19 & 20, Cromwell Place,
South Kensington, S.W.
THIRD AND CHEAP EDITION. Price 1s.
How Women may Earn a Living. By MERCY GROGAN.
"In a lucid and concise manner are embodied a large number of
suggestions in which ladies who have to depend upon their own exertions
for their support could be helped."--_Daily Telegraph._
_Cassell & Company, Limited, Ludgate Hill, London._
Extra fcap. 8vo, cloth, 6s.
The Ladies' Physician. A Guide for Women to the Treatment of their
Ailments. By a London Physician.
"The statements are accurate, the opinions sound and the advice
judicious."--_Medical Times._
_Cassell & Company, Limited, Ludgate Hill, London._
Stiff covers, 1s.; cloth, 1s. 6d.
Etiquette of Good Society.
"A book which has reached its thirty-second thousand may fairly be
considered a recognised authority. For popular and general use,
'Etiquette of Good Society' is well adapted, seeing that few topics
connected with ordinary etiquette and social customs are omitted. It
covers the whole of our lives in all their varying phases, and is as
pleasantly written as it is instructive."--_The Queen._
_Cassell & Company, Limited, Ludgate Hill, London._
The Metropolitan School of Shorthand,
_27, CHANCERY LANE_. E. S. GUNN, _Principal. Established 1870._
The only School possessing a staff of Reporters, and enabled to give
practical instruction and unlimited individual attention. Our results
the highest in Great Britain. Read here Society of Arts' report of last
examination, also PITMAN'S weekly returns. 1,200 completed Pupils.
_NOTE ADDRESS._ Appointments obtained. Season Tickets at reduced
rates for daily attendance.
TESTIMONIAL.
"47, Sharstead Street, Kennington Park, July 28, 1883.
"DEAR SIR,--I have much pleasure in saying that I think the
instruction given at your School of Shorthand very good indeed. After
a brief attendance I was enabled to obtain PITMAN'S certificate, and,
by going through your Reporting System, can write about 100 words per
minute.
"Yours truly, EDITH E. PERKINS.
"E. S. GUNN, Esq." _INSTRUCTION BY CORRESPONDENCE_.
The Preparatory School for the Civil Service, Matriculation, &c.
J. G. RICHARDS, B. A., and Masters. Private Tuition daily,
until 9 p.m. Separate Departments for Lady Clerks, Youths for Business,
and Postal Instruction.
Write--A. D. BATTEN, Secretary, 27, Chancery Lane.
Lady Clerks.--POST OFFICE TUITION, exclusively devoted to the
Preparation of Candidates, by a Lady.--Private Instruction Daily, 10
to 9. Write--THE SECRETARY, Preparatory School for the Civil Service,
27, Chancery Lane.
_INSTRUCTION BY CORRESPONDENCE_.
The "Eureka" Stocking Clasp.
THIS Simple Arrangement entirely supersedes any other system of
retaining the Stocking in position, giving free circulation, with
simplicity of arrangement. The same size fit any lady, and they are
exceedingly pretty in design. Price _2s._ per pair, or _10s. 6d._ for
Six pairs. Post free from
THE ODOURLESS WATERPROOF COMPANY
(LATE ALMOND),
_9 & 10, Little Britain, London, E.C._
15s. per Week by Easy Work at Home.
This amount can be earned by procuring a KNITTING MACHINE, which is
supplied by payment of _£1_ deposit, and _4s._ per Week, which sums go
towards purchase of the Machine. Regular Work supplied by the Company.
Apply to
PATENT AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINE COMPANY, LIMITED,
_417, Oxford Street, London, W._
The Rational Dress Exhibition.
"Messrs. HEATH, of 107, Oxford Street, have a very sensible improvement
in the shape of a soft-brimmed hat. Every one knows the painful
sensation experienced from the pressure of the usual stiff-brimmed
felt, or silk hat; this is quite obviated in the hat manufactured
by Messrs. HEATH. The same firm also exhibit felt hats with a
weather-proof but sightly trimming, the hat being ventilated by small
apertures under the trimming, instead of at the top of the hat, as
usual"--Vide _The Queen_, May 26th, 1883.
Residents in the Country can ensure a comfortably fitting Hat being
forwarded by writing for HENRY HEATH'S PATENT HEAD-MEASURING BAND, for
taking the form and Size of the Head. The Band is forwarded post free
to country residents for "SELF-MEASUREMENT," ensuring a comfortably
fitting Hat.
[Illustration:Ladies' Travelling Hat.]
Ladies' Travelling Hat.
BEST SOFT FELT, all Colours, trimmed rich silk,
weather-proof galloon--15/- 18/6
[Illustration: Fashionable Silk Hat.]
Fashionable Silk Hat.
EXTRA QUALITY (Cash Price) 17/-
OTHER QUALITIES--13/6 & 10/6
_As exhibited at the Rational Dress Exhibition._
HENRY HEATH,
Only Address, 105-107, Oxford Street,
OVER AGAINST NEWMAN STREET, W. (City End.)
_Established in the Reign of King George IV._
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other
variations in hyphenation spelling and punctuation remain unchanged.
The final two references in the table of contents referred to page 124.
As this does not exist they have been changed to 114 which is the
beginning of the relevant chapter.
Italics are represented thus _italic_.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "How Women May Earn a Living" ***
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