The Victorian Nursemaid: Caring and Raising Children in a Changing World

The Victorian Nursemaid: Caring and Raising Children in a Changing World

Yesterday we found out about medieval and Tudor nursemaids, and today I want to find out a little bit about the Victorian nursemaid and how they compare.

By the Victorian era, Britain had changed enormously. The Industrial Revolution had completely changed the country. Cities like London were growing fast, and class was still very much ingrained. Wealthy families usually lived in large, grand houses, and they employed several servants. This was seen as success and respectability and was very much valued. If the family had children, one of those servants could have been the nursemaid. Her job was to care for the children. In some ways, her role was similar to the nursemaids of earlier centuries, but the Victorian era brought changes.

Like many domestic servants, nursemaids usually came from poor or working-class families. Some were still quite young, maybe only in their mid to late teens when they entered service. But experienced older women could also have the role. For many young women, becoming a nursemaid offered them more that just a wage. It could offer them regular meals and a roof over their heads as well. To the many families that were struggling with poverty, it may have seemed like a valuable opportunity. But like so many servant roles, the reality was often demanding and exhausting.

A Victorian nursemaid’s day usually began early and ended late at night. Her duties depended on the age of the children and the size of the household. She helped with washing, dressing, feeding, comforting, and entertaining the children. She might be required to prepare the nursery meals, keep the children’s clothes clean, tidy up the toys, and sometimes settle the children to sleep. If a baby was in the household, sleepless nights must have made the job even harder.

Unlike many medieval and Tudor nursemaids, Victorian nursemaids often worked in a more structured servant hierarchy. In larger households, they usually answered to the nurse or head nurse, who supervised the nursery and oversaw the children’s care. In smaller homes, the nursemaid might be required to manage most of the childcare herself. She was expected to be patient, calm and reliable.

Victorians placed a huge amount of importance on manners, discipline, and respectability. These values influenced how children were raised. Nursemaids were expected to care for children but to also teach them how to behave.

 Life as a nursemaid must have been quite lonely. She spent a lot of her time in the nursery or outdoors pushing the babys pram in parks and streets. They were seen but very rarely noticed. Although she cared for the children, she was still a servant.

This must have been a difficult line to walk. She was the one caring for the children every day, comforting them, witnessing their first words and first steps, but you were still beneath the family. There were invisible boundaries that you could never cross.

The conditions nursemaids worked in could be very different depending on the home. In wealthy houses, the nursery might be warm and comfortable, but the long hours were still tiring. In some homes, life was much harder. She might sleep in a small room or in the nursery and get very little time off. Like many servants, she was expected to be ready whenever she was needed.

Compared with medieval and Tudor nursemaids, Victorian nursemaids often worked in more organised households with stricter routines and expectations.

It was these young women that quietly helped to raise the next generation.

Do you think Victorian children sometimes felt closer to their nursemaids than to their own parents?