A Study on the Role of Women in Cumnor, England During the 1860s

This essay examines the role of women in Cumnor, England, during the 1860s, a period characterized by significant gender inequality. It explores how women were primarily confined to occupations such as school teaching and domestic service, reflecting the limited opportunities available to them. The essay highlights the prevailing societal expectations that women should be subservient to men and the efforts to promote women's education to enhance their dignity and social power. It also touches upon the increasing number of women entering the workforce, particularly in textile manufacturing, and the gradual shift towards reducing gender inequality. The study uses references to support the findings.

WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF
WOMEN IN CUMNOR IN
THE 1860s?

INTRODUCTION
Cumnor is a village & civil parish located in the west of Oxford, England. The village
consists of Cumnor Hill, Chawley, the Dean court area, etc. This place is considered as a
straggling line consisting of scattered cottages with rough stone, uncemented walls and mud. So,
it is known as a poor squalid place. The place lacks intensity of urban life with a working class
considered to be land – less rural people. Through this essay, the reflection will be given on the
role of women in 1860s with respect to Cumnor. The role of women during 19th century was
restricted to getting employed in school teaching and domestic services. This is because women
across European and American region was living in an age featured by gender inequality during
the nineteenth century. Women were expected to act in a subservient manner towards their
fathers and husbands. Therefore, this essay will highlight the image of women during the era of
nineteenth century by taking into account their occupation, employability, commitments, dignity
or honor and position in the society.
MAIN BODY
The era of 1860s
During 1861, the Cumnor population is largely predominated by occupation in agriculture and
animal husbandry (Craig, 2019). The householders in Cumnor exercised very lowest level of
social power that is, their potentiality is very poor in terms of influencing their destiny due to the
lack of control over scare resources. The social power is largely implied through the
classification of occupation which is directly related to political enfranchisement. The great
dependence over agriculture indicates the specific structure of the society of Cumnor in 1861.
The opportunity of domestic outworking and further opportunities realized for economic
activities in Cumnor leads to consideration of employment of women. The women employment
was realized to be an appreciable initiative as a result of these opportunities. Women was found
to be engaged significantly in domestic laundry work across villages of Oxford like the one is
Cumnor
Role of Women in Cumnor in 1860
Women in the time of 1860 or nineteenth century were found to be restrictively employed
in either school teaching or domestic services (Ballinger, 2022). At this time, the majority of

time were spent on how women education could be promoted through building a separate school
building, so that education could not be restricted to men. It was done with the aim to enhance
the dignity and social power of women in society, so that women could take decision related to
them with great freedom and have a separate identity of their own in society. Also, dependency
of women could get reduced over men which leads to women becoming self – reliant. By 1861,
more than 60 thousand women were found to be employed in cotton textile manufacturing across
the regions of New England. Accordingly, they are the first women group who were living away
from their homes or villages with the motive of getting employed. The highly male dominated
society where gender inequality was the biggest factor begin to get reduced at this point.
CONCLUSION

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ballinger, G., 2022. Adapting Wives and Daughters for Television: Reimagining Women,
Travel, Natural Science, and Race. Adaptation, 15(1), pp.84-99.
Craig, C., 2019. The Scottish Theological Diaspora. The History of Scottish Theology, Volume
III: The Long Twentieth Century, p.190.