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Governess

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In Rebecca Solomon's 1851 painting The Governess, the title figure (seated right, with her charge) exhibits the modest dress and deportment appropriate to her quasi-invisible role in the Victorian household.

A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, the primary role of a governess is teaching, rather than meeting the physical needs of children; hence a governess is usually in charge of school-aged children, rather than babies.

The position of governess used to be common in affluent European families before the First World War, especially in the countryside where no suitable school existed nearby and when parents preferred to educate their children at home rather than send them away to boarding school for months at a time, and varied across time and countries. Governesses were usually in charge of girls and younger boys. When a boy was old enough, he left his governess for a tutor or a school.

Governesses are rarer now, except within large and wealthy households or royal families such as the Saudi royal family and in remote regions such as outback Australia. There has been a recent resurgence amongst wealthy families worldwide to employ governesses or full-time tutors. The reasons for this include personal security, the benefits of a tailored education, and the flexibility to travel or live in multiple locations.

Role

Traditionally, governesses taught "the three Rs" (reading, writing, and arithmetic) to young children. They also taught the "accomplishments" expected of upper-class and middle-class women to the young girls under their care, such as French or another language, the piano or another musical instrument, and often painting (usually the more ladylike watercolours rather than oils) or poetry. It was also possible for other (usually male) teachers with specialist knowledge and skills to be brought in, such as a drawing master or dancing master.

In the United Kingdom

The governess occupied a uniquely awkward position in the Victorian household, because she was neither a servant nor a member of the host family. She worked in the upper-class home of the landed gentry or aristocracy. She herself had a middle-class background and education, yet was paid for her services. As a sign of this social limbo, she frequently ate on her own, away from the rest of the family and servants. By definition, a governess was an unmarried woman who lived in someone else's home, which meant that she was subject to their rules. In any case, she had to maintain an impeccable reputation by avoiding anything which could embarrass or offend her employers. If a particular governess was young and beautiful, the lady of the house might well perceive a potential threat to her marriage and enforce the governess's social exclusion more rigorously. As a result of these various restrictions, the lifestyle of the typical Victorian governess was often one of social isolation and solitude, without the opportunity to make friends. The fact that her presence in the household was underpinned by an employment contract emphasized that she could never truly be part of the host family.

However, being a governess was one of the few legitimate ways by which an unmarried, middle-class woman could support herself in Victorian society. The majority of governesses were women whose fortunes had drastically declined (e.g. Sarah Bennett), due to perhaps the death of their father or both of their parents, or the failure of the family business, and had no relatives willing to take them in. Not surprisingly, her position was often depicted as one to be pitied, and the only way out of it was to get married. It was difficult for a governess to find a suitable husband because most of the eligible men she encountered were her social superiors, who preferred a bride from within their own social class, particularly since such women generally had better financial resources.

Once a governess's charges grew up, she had to seek a new position, or, exceptionally, might be retained by a grown daughter as a paid companion.

British governesses outside the United Kingdom

An option for the more adventurous was to find an appointment abroad. There is also some allusion to the phenomenon of governesses being engaged abroad in A galaxy of governesses by Bea Howe.

The Russian Empire proved to be a relatively well-paid option for many. According to Harvey Pitcher in When Miss Emmie was in Russia: English Governesses before, during and after the October Revolution, as many as thousands of English-speaking governesses went there. The estimate of numbers ('thousands'), although necessarily vague, is justified by some knowledge of the main lodging house used by those not accommodated with their host families, St. Andrew's House, Moscow, and by the places of worship they preferentially frequented, for example the church associated with the House. Pitcher drew extensively on the archives of the Governesses' Benevolent Institution in London.

Notable governesses

The daughters of Alexander Graham Bell with their governess, c. 1885.

Fictional

Novels

Several well-known works of fiction, particularly in the nineteenth century, have focused on governesses.

In film

In television

Other uses

The term "governess" is an archaic gendered job title for a politician; now the word "governor" is used for men or women. For example, Keʻelikōlani was known as the governess of Hawaii.

Anne Hegerty, one of the Chasers on the British and Australian versions of The Chase, is nicknamed "The Governess".

See also

Further reading


External links


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