Day 82. The Spinster.

 

Today we shall leave agriculture and look at some other occupations which have left their mark on history. The first of these is the traditional occupation of women.

Today's dictionary defines a spinster as an unmarried woman, but it acquired this meaning only in the 18^th century. The term originally applied to any woman who spun wool or flax into yarn. The wool trade drove the British economy for several hundred years – through exports of raw wool and finished cloth – so spinning was a ubiquitous source of income for both married and unmarried women, although those unmarried were more likely to have to work to earn their bread.

'Spinster' gradually became a derogatory term for a woman who  was unable to find herself a husband, at a time when marriage was considered an essential achievement for all women, and then it took on its present meaning. That the word remains in  our everyday language is evidence of the former importance of spinning.

The majority of women in Preston – unmarried, married or widowed – spun wool and flax in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Weaving was a thriving cottage industry, and the weavers were supplied by the local women.

The invention of the spinning jenny during the Industrial Revolution had ominous consequences for the countryside women. Spinning and weaving were rapidly shifted to the factories and mills. This vanishing source income for rural women was concomitant with the rising population and falling wages for the farm labourer, so helped fuel a rise in rural poverty.

From the 19^th century, the only source of income for the majority of women was domestic service, which we shall look at tomorrow.