Life as a widow in the second half of the 19th century

 

                                                                 A Romanized image of a washerwoman in Paris 

Although still in her early 40s at the time of her husband's death, Sarah Minister Cavanagh didn't remarry. The 1861 census found her at yet another address from the ill-fated one at 31 Devonshire Street which had seen the death of two of her children as well as her husband, Benjamin. According to the census, sharing the accommodation with Sarah were her son, Henry, and daughters, Maria and Emma. Henry was 16 and employed as a shoe black. As a widow Sarah's occupation was also listed. She was a washerwoman. In 1871 this changed to charwoman only to change back again to washerwoman in the 1881 census.

A Dictionary of Old Trades, Titles and Occupations, defines a washerwoman as: "A person who 'took in' other people's washing into her own home for a fixed fee. As opposed to a laundry woman who did the same job in a commercial establishment." Whatever her employment, it was manual labour which makes me question if she had book learning. If she was self-employed she must have been able to keep a tally. Beyond the sheer physicality of the work gave me respect for her stamina. It wasn't as though there was running water readily available or washing machines when it comes to that. She was still performing this work after the age of 65. But in those days the choices were supporting yourself or resorting to the workhouse. Not a decision to be taken lightly. 

Sources:

Ancestry.com census returns

Waters, Colin A Dictionary of Old Trades, Titles and Occupations, Countryside Books, Berkshire, 2002  

Image:

Washerwoman pic

By Giovanni Boldini - https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/tableaux-omp-19me-sculpture-pf1809/lot.188.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85308359

A closer look at Sarah Minister/Cavanagh's moves through London

 

                                                Sarah would have been close to this river in her moves through London

Sarah Minister/Cavanagh and her family rarely stayed in one place for long while living in London and, while I have lots of addresses for them, it was had to pinpoint the actual places they were living in on Charles Booth's Poverty Map (1886-1903). Most of the addresses were for places, courts or yards. Those designations sound like smaller geographical areas than streets so were probably less likely to be written on the map. The actually poverty legend that Booth's maps were noted for was very patchy throughout the areas I was looking at; Whitechapel, Finsbury, Stepney and St George's in the East. The map didn't add much to my knowledge of the family's circumstances.

While Benjamin was alive he worked at various jobs in the building trade. It is hard to say if Sarah also worked for a wage. Did her husband support her and the nine children they had together? Not that the children stayed home for long. The only census which showed most of the family together was the 1851 census, the last one in which father Benjamin was still the head of the household. Even that showed only 7 of the 9 children as Emma was not yet born and Matilda was absent. Perhaps Matilda was in the infirmary as she died in 1853.

The deaths in the family give credence to the idea that they were not living in the healthiest of situations so perhaps they were among the less well off in whichever area of the city they were in. Even after the death of her husband, Sarah continued to move from place to place in London. Maybe that was how it was done in the East End. 

 

Sources:

Charles Booth’s Poverty Map (1886-1903) https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map