Figure 1.--This Emily MaryOsbornn painting was entitled 'The Governess'. Here we see very young children. Usually agoverness delt with olderv children. It was pained around 1860.

Children in the nursery were cared for by nannies. In the 19th and early 20th century, help was less expensive than it is now. And thus not only available to the wealthy. Many middle-class families could afford a nanny. A nanny did not require an education of any importance. Thus virtually any woman could ityh a basic fondness for children could be a nanny. We see quite a few photographic images of nannies and their chxarges. We have a good, but unidentified image. A rich families might have a head nanny who would have a staff to assist her, especially if there was more than one child. Less affluent families might have only one nanny. Often very close bonds developed between the children and theur nannies. This was especially true when the parents took little interes in their children which was not uncommony the case of rich familes caught in the social swirl of the day. As the children got older they might have a governess. The governess was very differentthan a nanny with a different social status. Here a good basic education was requird. And this meant more expense was reuired. Thus we tendto betakingabouthigherv income fmilies. This cwas after the children had left the nursery. Governesses were more common for girls as it was more common to spend the boys off to boarding school, at least in England. Boys tended to be more unruky and thus harder to control by a yung woman. By the late Victoirian period sending a boy offv to boarding school was commonly done at about 8 years of age. Really wealthy families might employ a giovernor, but here aealexpens was involved as goverrnors commanded much higher salaries than governesses. We note some interesting images of governesses. There is a painting by Rebecca Solomon. We also notice film depictions.

Created: 5:52 AM 11/26/2023
Last updated: 5:53 AM 11/26/2023