BOME

Prehistory of the Role of Women in London
Sami M.

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The life of women in seventeenth and eighteenth century London was one of rigid social customs and limited employment opportunities. While these customs and practices may be considered backwards and unacceptable by modern day standards, they represented the behavioral norm of that era. So, it does not seem that women back then were unhappy or discontent with their lives. In trying to understand women and their role in London during this period, we have to take into consideration that women knew no other role in a predominantly male society.

Young girls had a hard time getting a good education in London during this era. Only daughters of the aristocracy or upper class could afford to attend elementary schools, and it was not until the mid to late nineteenth century that women-only schools were opened. Girls were not permitted to attend school past the elementary level. However, they could be educated at home by a tutor instead of going to University. During the eighteenth century, women were banned from even setting foot on a University campus because of the distraction it might cause to the male students.

Girls were expected to marry young, start a family early, and work at home. The minimum age for a male or female to marry was fourteen and twelve, respectively. However, most females waited until their twenties to get married. Marriages typically were arranged by the parents, and usually depended the status and wealth of both families. A daughter did have the right to veto her parents’ choice for a suitor, but this rarely happened. Love was sometimes a factor in marriage, but again, that was rarely the case.

Until 1873, when Lord Hardwick’s Clandestine Marriage Act of 1873 was passed, there was no legal formality required to marry. This act said that a public notice of a couple’s intention to marry must be given three times in each person’s Parish Church. Before 1882, a woman’s wealth passed legally to her husband as of the date of the marriage. Her earnings legally passed to him too if she worked. Families tended to be very large because women were expected to have babies every two years after the marriage.

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Although men had most of the power in the marriage, at the same time they were responsible for, and were bound to, their wife. If he chastised his wife, a man could be punished under the law or by his community for cruelty. In addition, if a man raped a woman out of wedlock, he could be sentenced to death and could be hung in the town square.

If a man divorced his wife, he was usually awarded custody of their children. Women were not allowed to get a divorce. However, divorces were not common because marriage was taken very seriously, and since people got married very young, it was hard to start over later in one’s life.

Women were not expected to have a career after they got married. It was illegal for them to enter the professions, including law, medicine, politics, etc. It was also illegal for women to enter the Navy or Army. This left them little opportunity to have a career outside of domestic work.

It is impossible to say that it wasn’t difficult to be a woman in seventeenth and eighteenth century London. However, the women who did live in that time learned to deal with the roles that were assigned to them. They learned how to take advantage of the opportunities that they did have, whether it be from their families, husbands, or jobs; and from those opportunities, they have shaped the history of women all over the world.