One aspect of historical research can be quite annoying; that is, the tendency to disregard the life and contribution of women.
On censuses, for example, the family will be listed in hierarchical order; man, then wife, then children in order of age, then servants. The man's occupation is given, and usually the occupations of any male children of the household; young sons and sometimes young daughters are given the occupation of "scholar."
The box for the occupation of adult females, though, is often blank; sometimes it is given as "wife of above" or "wife of ditto," since naturally, she is listed second to her husband.
Death certificates, likewise, will record the occupation of a woman as "wife of ...eg, clergyman, postal worker, etc" or "daughter of ..." Sometimes she will be described as an "annuitant" (in receipt of an annuity) or "of independent means." Should we then imagine a stereotypical Victorian lady, waited on by servants, sitting by the fire with her embroidery?
Such a lady of independent means died on 16th December 1913; Miss Emilia Vincent, who was the subject of my first book, Devoted; the life and times of Emilia Vincent of Westminster and Reading. She was 85 years old. Her occupation, according to her death certificate, was "Spinster of independent means," but her life was far from genteel nothingness.
As a woman "of independent means" she had the choice not to marry, and to spend her life as she wished - and she spent it caring for others. Her wealth was inherited; her father, George Giles Vincent, had been the chapter clerk of Westminster Abbey, and had invested well - including in property, in Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway, and in a tin mine, Wheal Vincent, in Cornwall. Emilia never married, and took on the care of at least one brother, his four orphaned children, and one sister.
When her nephews were working and her nieces married and she was free from family caring responsibilities, Emilia moved to Reading to work in a home for fallen and delinquent girls, later establishing her own nursing home. This became the Helena Nursing Home in Brownlow Road, Reading, named for the patron, Queen Victoria's middle daughter. This was at the time when nursing was beginning to be taken seriously as an occupation for respectable women; Emilia's more famous contemporary was Florence Nightingale. Her nursing home was intentionally founded to support the most difficult of cases, who would not be welcomed in hospitals - women with long-term, incurable conditions; in other words, the most expensive of patients, but who could not afford to pay the full price of their care. The fact that some of her patients lived for more than 30 years in residential care underlines the commitment and the expense of their support. The patients included women with cancer, tuberculosis, arthritis, polio and stroke-survivors, those with heart conditions, sight impairments and cerebral palsy.
As a lady, of course, embroidery was part of Emilia's skill set - it was one of the ways to occupy the ladies, and they made items to sell at the annual fundraising sale.
Emilia used her contacts within the local gentry and business community to fundraise and generate the income to pay the remaining two-thirds of the costs of patient support. Her friends and supporters included notable Berkshire families such as the Benyons of Englefield, the de Vitres of Wokingham and the Palmers of Huntley and Palmers.
The Helena Home became Helena House, and was a place of care and support for more than 130 years. My own experience of working there, with people with learning disabilities, inspired my research into the house and its founder. The inscription on Emilia's grave at Reading old cemetery reads; A Life Devoted to Others, which inspired the title.
After retirement, Emilia spent her own last years as a lady of wealth expected; in her own home, cared for by servants and private nurses; Harriet Geary at the time of the 1911 census and Elizabeth Luker on the day she died. Emilia was living in an apartment at 73 London Road, Reading - and how appropriate that her last residence is now a GP's surgery.
