History Buffs....I have a question.

[sugarz]

I'm working on an article, and I need a little history background. The only problem is that I can't find the information that I'm looking for anywhere. I tried searching for it, but found nothing.

Okay, what I need is this:
18th century women's education. I basically need to know what was taught in finishing schools in England. Any ideas what was taught, or where I can find that type of information?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[mehastings]

Have you tried the library at your local university?

 

[Ronny]

This may not be exactly what you are looking for but it's a start here

 

[Gem]

"To make women learned and foxes tame has the same effect - to make them more cunning." King James I

Women were taught subjects like Latin, French, Needlework, and how to converse, and they were also taught how to look pretty and to play instruments like the piano,look attractive, and entertain guests.

After 1870 it was made compulsory for all women to have an education, Girls didn’t learn the same subjects as boys, they learnt subjects like laundry, cookery, needlework and housewifery skills.

 

[novella]

Read Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (author of Frankenstein). She was a major proponent of women's education in 18th century England.

Also, don't forget that even a (gentle)man's education focused on Latin and Greek, with a major dollop of religion, and reading of ancient texts, and really didn't have much in common with what we consider a well-rounded education to be today. People who messed around with sciences and medicine and anthropological questions were considered eccentrics, no matter what their sex. Knowing a lot about science, math, and culture was the province of whackos like Benjamin Franklin, who also took a private vow of poverty and believed in democratic ideals.

 

[novella]

"To make women learned and foxes tame has the same effect - to make them more cunning." King James I

Women were taught subjects like Latin, French, Needlework, and how to converse, and they were also taught how to look pretty and to play instruments like the piano,look attractive, and entertain guests.

After 1870 it was made compulsory for all women to have an education, Girls didn’t learn the same subjects as boys, they learnt subjects like laundry, cookery, needlework and housewifery skills.

BTW, I think Latin was considered one of the 'masculine' bits of learning. Women would learn to play the harpsichord, though, and also how to manage a household, which was more complex than it is today. More like managing a small town than making sure the laundry was done.

 

[Stewart]

18th century women's education. I basically need to know what was taught in finishing schools in England.

Having just recently been researching education in the early 19th Century*, the subjects I found through the archives of the local school were:

• religious knowledge;
• composition;
• writing;
• mathematics;
• singing;
• accounts;
• English;
• drawing;
• cookery;
• laundry

Obviously some of these were gender specific.

Common excuses for being off school were influenza, sore throats, measles, scarlet fever, and whooping cough.


* Obviously it wasn't compulsory for women to attend school prior to that but the subjects should give a decent idea of those taught.

 

[novella]

Stewart, aren't we talking about a century earlier? I would think the subjects would be radically different, particularly the teaching of English rather than Latin, the mere existence of a 'local' school', and the possibly mixing of sexes within that school?

Actually, this looks to me like the kind of 'modern' school that would have sprung from that legislation, and really would not reflect what went on 100 years before (just as the compulsory study of geography, history, a foreign language, chemistry, and biology does not have much in common with the curriculum of 1850).


I'm intrigued by the study of laundry.


Considering most clothing was wool or linen, which are still difficult to clean correctly and thoroughly, it must have been about more than washing. For one thing, you cannot thoroughly wet most wool clothing and have it come back to its original texture. The same is true for linen, which responds poorly to hot water and will not bleach. It's a protein and must be cleaned with something more like shampoo than detergent. Cotton would have been a new material, rather a luxury. They also used felt and silk, both again difficult to clean properly and not friendly with water.

Naturally the person studying laundry would not be actually doing the laundry, but would have to instruct a servant on correct techniques.


Anyway, just thought I'd interject a note of interest to what might superficially seem like a joke of a subject.

 

[Stewart]

Stewart, aren't we talking about a century earlier?

I know but I just thought I'd share it anyway as an indication of some potential subjects. Personally, I have no interest in the laundry lessons at all.

 

[novella]

I know but I just thought I'd share it anyway as an indication of some potential subjects. Personally, I have no interest in the laundry lessons at all.

You know what they say: behind every successful man, there's a pile of dirty socks.

 

[sugarz]

Thanks guys. I know I could probably use a lesson in laundry, and cooking, and probably accounts also.