This section looks at everything to do with Victorian working life, from jobs and careers for Victorian women (from frame-making to poultry-keeping), to the plight of the Victorian working girl.

Girls' Own Paper - 1880 (Vol. 1)

A Contrast

A look at the plight of Victorian seamstresses.

On Earning a Living

Several articles on careers "appropriate" for a well bred Victorian girl.

The Standing Evil: a Plea for Shop Girls, by Mrs. Strange Butson

An interesting little article recommending a sort of portable one-legged stool that shop-girls could "wear" to give them a chance to rest between customers.

The Working Girls of London, by Mrs. G.S. Reany

Girls' Own Paper - 1880-1881 (Vol. 2)

Gentlewomen as Dressmakers, by Elizabeth S. Lisle

Home Trades: Bookbinding, by S.F.A. Caulfield

Home Trades: Framemaking, by S.F.A. Caulfield

How to Rear Fowls

Literary Work for Girls/How to Write a Story, by an Editor's Wife

This marvelous pair of articles offers advice for writers that is as accurate today as it was more than 100 years ago!

Education:

Cambridge System of Instruction by Correspondence

Examinations, and How to Prepare for Them

Instruction by Correspondence

A Talk About the Cambridge Local Examinations, by Anne Mercier

Girls' Own Paper - 1881-1882

Girls' Work and Workshops, by Ruth Lamb

An extensive look at women's employment in 1881.

Girls' Own Paper - 1882-1883

Female Clerkships in the Post Office

Includes information on salaries for various positions.

A Few Words on Money Matters

Higher Thoughts on Girls' Occupations: Literature, by Alice King

Higher Thoughts on Girls' Occupations: Music, by Alice King

Higher Thoughts on Girls' Occupations: Teaching the Young, by Alice King

Girls' Own Paper - 1886-1887

Every Girl a Business Woman, by James Mason

Subtitled "A Practical Guide to the World of Industry and Thrift," with loads of details on how to handle all types of "business" matters such as correspondence and money.

Girls' Own Paper - 1888-1889

How Working Girls Live in London, by Nanette Mason

Poultry-Keeping, by Theo

Everything you needed to know about raising poultry (including an additional article on pheasants).

The Strand - 1891

A New Industry for Ladies, by Grace Harriman

About the "Ladies' Fruit and Salad Gardens... established... to provide pleasant homes and remunerative employment for gentlewomen who have a taste for gardening and wish to add to their incomes or to earn a living."