Wanda F. Neff 
Victorian Working Women [PDF ebook] 
An historical and literary study of women in British industries and professions 1832-1850

This book was first published in 1929. The working woman was not, a Victorian institution. The word spinster disproves any upstart origin for the sisterhood of toil. Nor was she as a literary figure the discovery of Victorian witers in search of fresh material. Chaucer included unmemorable working women and Charlotte Bronte in  »Shirley » had Caroline Helstone a reflection that spinning  »kept her servants up very late ». It seems that the Victorians see the women worker as an object of oity, portrated in early nineteenth century as a victim of long hours, injustice and unfavourable conditions. This volume looks at the working woman in British industries and professions from 1832 to1850.