19th century England

My research into female philanthropy sprang from an interest in philanthropy rather than in feminism.  My initial purpose was to fill some gaps in David Owen’s distinguished English Philanthropy, 1660-1960, but the research soon developed into a study of the history of women. 

Based on a wide range of statistical and literary evidence, including a large number of women’s memoirs, my book Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth-Century England looks at women’s charitable motives and methods against the backdrop of contemporary attitudes towards women. 

Free from the cut and thrust of commercial life and widely thought to be more sensitive than men to suffering and personal relations, women were increasingly called upon to be agents of social improvement. “In charity”, as a writer in the English Woman’s Journal put it, “there will always be found a congenial sphere for the fruition of the unemployed energies of women”.  Like medieval churchmen who fell back on morality to increase their power in a society dominated by an armed aristocracy, nineteenth-century women exploited the belief in their superior morality to increase their power in a society dominated by men.

By the mid-nineteenth century the range of women’s activities was enormous, and through determination, ingenious fundraising, and a willingness to take on work that men were unwilling or unable to do, they had broken down much of the prejudice against them in the charitable establishment. 

While it is impossible to be precise about their overall financial contribution to philanthropy in the nineteenth century, women dramatically increased their share of charitable funding.  In a growing number of societies they provided the bulk of the income.  In the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), for example, women made up 69% of the subscribers by 1900, and their financial contribution was roughly in line with that figure.  Increasingly prominent in the world of organised philanthropy, they began to redirect the nation’s charitable energies into channels that suited their perception of society’s needs, most notably causes associated with the welfare of women and children.  In district visiting, for example, the forerunner of social work, women became so ubiquitous that commentators often used the pronoun ‘she’ when referring to visitors. 

As the influence of women in charity increased it whetted their appetite for more, and a larger and larger number of institutions emerged with women in charge. In 1893, The Englishwoman’s Yearbook estimated that there were about 500,000 women who laboured “continuously and semi-professionally” in philanthropy and another 20,000 who supported themselves as “paid officials” in charitable societies. 

With the years women extended their activities to campaigns for legal and moral reform. Many charitable campaigners joined the women’s suffrage societies, which some saw as part of the wider moral reform movement.  Charitable work provided a variety of experience, not least in administration, that was a very useful introduction to other professions.  As a religion of action philanthropy challenged the complacency of women, gave them practical responsibility, and heightened their self-confidence and self esteem.

One of the major themes of the book is that the charitable experience of women from all social classes was a lever which they used to pry open the doors closed to them in other spheres.  Philanthropy, in short, was the taproot of female emancipation in the nineteenth century. 

Today, when philanthropy is back in the headlines, the role of women remains a fascinating issue, and should continue to attract anyone interested in social reform and active citizenship.

Frank Prochaska teaches Modern British History at Yale University and has published widely on the history of philanthropy and welfare provision.  To order a copy of Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth Century England, please visit Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth Century England.