Genealogy Chat

Can you imagine what it must have been like trying to wash and dry and then iron all those clothes. Hellish.

Im always in awe of my ancestors. Then theres the ag labs going out on freezing cold mornings, stone hard ground to work on. No thermals or thick boots to wear. Its incredible how they survived.

I haven't seen that...lol I guess she was one of the lower classes. Her OH had well paid employment I guess that's why they kept on having children! The children, mostly, entered into their father's industry. Good old Mum kept scrubbing the clothes.

There was also an elite of the trade - lol - women who would rent or buy a mangle - you sometimes see them in the census as a mangle owner - I guess the laundresses would take their washed clothes to the mangle owner to have them wrung.

Thanks Debbie,

Sue

Work
A Laundress

Large houses could employ a maid specifically to deal with the household washing, but smaller households had to fend for themselves or employ the services of a laundress. Sometimes these would be women who would come into the house to do the washing, rather like a maid, but more often they took washing to their own homes.

This was an invaluable way to augment the family's income for a married woman, and for a single or widowed woman it could be crucial. The work could be very skilled and laundresses could make quite a healthy income. However, it was always arduous. The women would work six days a week and in many cases would do the work for the whole of their lives.

Further insights into the daily life of the laundress can be gained from The Art and Practice of Laundry Work by Margaret Cuthbert Rankin.

Thanks Heather,

I cannot see that mine would be any different to yours! It's strange how I get fixated on small details now and so frustrating - oh for a time machine :-)

Sue

My own GGM was a laundress - because my dad was the youngest of a large family -his father was actually born 1873 - my dad, born 1914, could tell me stories of how his father as a child would go out at 5 a.m. in the morning with my GGM collecting laundry from local houses and churches for her to wash at home.

Thanks Alistair, had a look at that pic.

She was listed as a laundress even when the babies were tiny. I assume it must have been at home to be able to care for her very young children at the same time.

I know it seems like a small detail but I like to build a complete picture of how they were living as I can.

Sue

More likely in a "steamie" (or English equivalent).

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/v1/sg/govanhill_steamie.jpg?legacypath=/sg/govanhill_steamie.jpg

Alistair

Thanks Keith,

Mind boggling how they managed it!

Sue

Yes more than likely in their own homes. Could be any sort of property, terraced house or whatever. She would have taken in washing from nearby.

Would ladies employed as a laundress all their lives, and lived in different areas, have worked in their own homes?

Daft question but trying to understand what sort of properties they would have occupied because of the space needed with all the kids around too.

Thanks Sue