The Socioeconomic Class structure of 1910 England

EDWARDIAN SOCIETY

During our rehearsals for Mary Poppins, we will be having discussions about society in 1910 London and how one's station may have had an impact on his entire life. England was emerging from 60 years of Victorian puritanism, and British society was considered quite "buttoned up." The Edwardian era corresponds to the reign of King Edward VII in Great Britain, whose short-lived governance (1901-1910) followed Victoria's long reign and preceded the modern House of Windsor in England. The "Edwardian" style broadly encompasses the years of 1901 through to 1919. After the reign of Queen Victoria's son, Edward VII, society relaxed a bit and finally began to "undo the top button." Change, however, can be a slow process, and many people clung to the strict mindset and manners of Victorian times.

The beginning of the Twentieth Century experienced tremendous technological and social change. The wonders of the modern world, which had only sprang into being in the 1880s and 1890's brought the first rewards of modern industrialization and mass-produced abundance. It was a time where Britain was at its imperial height and one in three of the world's population were her subjects. On the other side of the Atlantic, Americans were experiencing new-found wealth and indulging in cuisine, fashion, entertainment and travel as never before. Perhaps the Edwardian era was best captured in the Titanic, the grand ocean liner which embodied human progress, opulence, and the excesses of the time.

The Edwardian era is viewed nostalgically and often called the "Gilded Age". In Britain, it was a time of peace: sandwiched between the Boer War (1899-1902) and the First World War which broke out in 1914. In the words of Samuel Hynes, it was a 'leisurely time when women wore picture hats and did not vote, when the rich were not ashamed to live conspicuously, and the sun really never set on the British flag'. It was also a time of great inequality, in which the privileges of the rich were made possible by the labor of their servants, an age when the inequalities of wealth and poverty were starkly delineated and the conventions of class were still rigidly defined - there was a place for everyone and everyone knew their place.

Here is a brief outline to what was going on in Britain from 1901 - 1914

1901
22nd January	Death of Queen Victoria, aged 81, after a reign of 63 years. Edward VII succeeds to the throne.
September	Taff Vale Judgement, a landmark in the development of the Labor Party. Workers on the Taff Vale Railway took action to gain the right to join a trade union. After the strike was settled, the railway company sought damages from the union for losses incurred during the strike. The House of Lords granted £42,000 plus costs against the union, thereby severely limiting the right to strike.
October	Britain's first submarine launched.
December	First Nobel Prizes awarded.
1902
January	Smallpox outbreak in London
March	Cecil Rhodes 'the architect of Empire' dies.
May	Boer War ends.
July	Arthur Balfour succeeds Salisbury as Conservative Prime Minister.
9th August	Coronation of Edward VII, delayed from July because of the King's appendicitis.
	Charles Booth's survey of poverty, Life and Labour of the People of London, published. Windsor Castle opened to the public. Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit published. Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories published.
1903
1st January	Edward VII proclaimed Emperor of India.
October	Formation of the suffragette Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst.
December	Marie Curie becomes the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. Wright Brothers make the first successful flight in a petrol-powered airplane.
1904
February	War breaks out between Russia and Japan when the Russian fleet attacks at Port Arthur.
April	Entente Cordiale signed with France. License plates for cars compulsory.
May	Rolls-Royce car manufacturing company formed.
November	Figures released reveal that poverty is rising dramatically - 122,000 people in London and 800,000 in England and Wales are in receipt of poor relief, with 250,000 in workhouses.
December	J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up opens in London.
1905
January	By popular demand, Arthur Conan Doyle brings his famous detective back from the 'dead' in a new book, The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
April	More than 10,000 people perish in an earthquake in Lahore, India.
May	Women's Suffrage Bill 'talked out' in Commons.
June	Automobile Association founded.
July	Einstein's Theory of Relativity proposed.
August	Lord Curzon resigns as Viceroy of India.
October	Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney arrested: start of the militant phase of the Suffrage movement. Aspirin on sale in Britain.
December	Balfour resigns; Henry Campbell-Bannerman invited to form a government. First motorized ambulances for traffic accident victims introduced by London County Council (previously ambulances were used only for people suffering from infectious diseases).
1906
February	Liberal landslide at General Election; Labor wins 29 seats. HMS Dreadnought launched. Formation of the Labor Party. Trade Disputes Act overturns Taff Vale Judgement. Free school meals introduced for children in need.
April	Vesuvius erupts, killing hundreds. San Francisco earthquake: 800 die. SOS becomes the international distress signal.
1907
April	Women can stand for election in county and borough elections and can take the office of mayor.
1908
April	Ill-health forces Campbell-Bannerman's resignation: Herbert Asquith succeeds him as Prime Minister. Old Age Pensions introduced for a minority of old people. Coal Mines Regulation Act legislates for a maximum working day of 8 hours underground. Territorial Army founded. By 1914 it had over 250,000 members. England plays the first ever international football match, against Austria - and wins 6-1.
June	Edward VII visits Russia. Olympic Games staged in London. National Farmer's Union founded.
December	Professor Ernest Rutherford awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on radiation and the nature of the atom. E.M. Forster's Room with a View published.
1909
	Labor Exchanges established. Trade Boards Act establishes minimum wage in some of the lowest-paid trades.
July	Blériot makes the first cross-Channel flight, taking 43 minutes.
November	The House of Lords throws out Lloyd George's 'people's budget' - the 'most radical budget in the nation's history'.
1910
	Liberals under Asquith win general election in February and December.
21st May	Death of Edward VII; succeeded by George V.
July	Dr. Crippen arrested at sea for the murder of his wife, the first criminal suspect to be caught by radio. He was traveling with his mistress Ethel Le Neve, disguised as a boy.
20th August	Florence Nightingale dies. Osborne Judgement bans trade unions from funding political activities. Girl Guide movement founded by Baden-Powell and his sister, Agnes.
1911
March	Shops Act legislates for 60-hour week and all employees entitled to half-day holiday each week. Payment of MPs (Members of Parliament) introduced.
23rd June	George V crowned in Westminster Abbey.
July	Agadir crisis, when Germany sent a gunboat to Morocco, fueled Britain's concern about Germany's expansionist aims.
November	Balfour resigns as leader of the Conservative Party; succeeded by Andrew Bonar Law.
December	George V crowned King Emperor at Delhi Durbar.
	Period of industrial unrest 1911 to 1914.
1912
January	Captain Scott's expedition reaches the South pole - Amundsen has beaten them. All perish on the return journey.
April	The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.
May	Irish Home Rule Bill introduced.
September	Edward Carson organizes the Ulster Volunteers to resist Home Rule for Ireland. British Board of Film Censors established. Royal Flying Corps (precursor of the Royal Air Force) established.
1913
March	Cat and Mouse Act introduced in an attempt to deal with the problem of suffragettes' hunger strikes in prison.
June	The suffragette Emily Davison throws herself under the King's horse at the Derby and dies from her injuries. The zip fastener patented by a Swedish engineer. Trade Union Act reverses Osborne Judgement.
September	Ulster Volunteer Force established. D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers published.
1914
	Immigration, already restricted since 1905 Act, further restricted. By 1914 there were over 50,000 women involved in peaceful campaigning to get women the vote.
March	Velazquez's Rokeby Venus slashed in the National Gallery by a suffragette with a meat cleaver.
April	George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion opens in London. James Joyce's Dubliners published.
28th June	Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo.
1st August	Germany declares war on Russia and, on the 3rd, France.
4th August	Britain declares war on Germany when it violates Belgian neutrality. In the first 18 months of war 2.4 million men signed up voluntarily. A quarter of men of fighting age volunteered in England and Wales. Fighting continues on the Western Front until 11.00am on 11th November 1918. By this time, 772,000 British have been killed, and 1,676, 037 wounded.

CLASS STATUS

Status is a person's position in society, and it changes the way she sees the world, and how others see her. In Edwardian England, status was pretty much set in stone - your position when you were born was the same throughout your life. What Americans would consider "individualism" did not really exist. There was very little thought about moving up to a higher station in life - it was just not done - and so, people comported themselves according to their position in the hierarchy. But your status can be different depending on whom you relate to. For example, Mary Poppins's status is high compared to the children (she is their mentor and caregiver), but Mr. Banks can fire her (she is his employee).

At the beginning of the 20th century, English society was built on the vision that everybody had his place in the ladder of society, and those on the lower rungs served those higher up. During the Edwardian period, British society was divided. The following are the people who might have worked in an upper class or upper middle class English home in 1910.

• Upper Class: Royalty, the nobility, and the very rich.

• Upper-middle Class: The wealthy, bankers, lawyers, doctors, merchants, and manufactures.

• Lower-middle Class: A growing class in early 20th century Britain, consisting  of shop keepers, managers, civil servants and small manufactures.

• Working Class: Chimney sweeps, farmers, factory workers, shop employees, house servants, clerks.

• Lower Class: The homeless and destitute were still a grave and growing concern during the Edwardian Era.

THE RISE OF THE NANNY

During the 19th century and into the early 20th century, something unique happened in Great Britain. Rather than raising their children themselves, mothers and fathers from rich and middle-class families handed over their children to special caregivers called "nannies," who were hired to address children's every need from food and education to discipline. As in Mary Poppins, fathers worked while mothers entertained guests and led the staff or servants. Having a nanny became a status symbol; the middle classes hired nannies even if they couldn't afford them.

So why did this happen? During the industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, both population and wealth dramatically increased in Great Britain. In 1830, the average English family had six or seven children, and this number was even higher for the wealthy. More children created a need, and more money created the means to hire more servants to watch the children. As Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy in his book The Rise and Fall of the British Nanny writes, "If the rich had anything that needed looking after - whether it was a coat or a child - then there was a servant for it."

As nannies became more and more popular among the wealthy and middle classes, their power in the household increased. The nursery was their kingdom and they ruled it with a firm hand. The nursery was always removed from the rest of the house; many times, as in Mary Poppins, it was on the top floor or near the servants quarters. Children would see their parents for only a short amount of time each day. Nannies controlled the children's clothing, books, food, medicine, and discipline, and so exerted a great deal of influence over the lives and personalities of their charges. (**cough cough George Banks**)

Below are some of the people who might have worked in an upper-class or upper-middle-class English home in 1910. Note that the Banks family has not hired this entire staff of workers for their home - George's position at the bank does not pay enough for them to afford such a staff this large.

EDWARDIAN DRESS AND MANNERS

In the Edwardian era, how one held oneself and moved was in keeping with their social status. The wealthy were obsessed with public appearance, and they took great pains with the way their looked. Much of the desired effect was accomplished with clothing.

In order to achieve the ideal Edwardian body shape, women wore corsets underneath their clothing. Wearing such undergarments affected every movement they made. Because they could not move very quickly or take large steps, women had an air of leisure in the way they strolled. When ladies sat, it was usually on the edge of their seats, since sitting back would make it virtually impossible to get up again. This reinforced the illusion of poise. It also made it extremely difficult to dress without the help of servants. All women wore corsets, even the servants. Servants' clothing, however, was not as weighty as their employer's, since they were expected to cook, scrub, and carry for hours every day. They held themselves up straight and, depending on their status in the hierarchy of servants, could have an elegance of their own, but they also had to be able to complete their duties.

"[The Edwardian lady is] a spectacle which cannot be seen today... she knew how to move and carry herself. She had balance and poise, she had elegance, and she was one hundred percent feminine." - W. Macqueen-Pope, Goodbye Piccadilly 

The hallmark look of the age was the S-shape silhouette. Accomplished with eh S-bend )or swan bill) corset that helped push the hips backward, it enhanced the chest and gave the woman the appearance of leaning forward (A style known as a "pigeon-breast"). In the years preceding 1910, women wore their hair in pompadours, made famous by the "Gibson Girl" (the feminine ideal of beauty portrayed by the satirical pen-and-ink illustrations of illustrator Charles Dana Gibson). By 1910, the hairstyle was more flattened on top and puffed out on the sides with a part in the middle. A lady never went out without her hat, which generally had a large brim in order to protect her skin from the sun. Tanning was shunned, as a pale complexion was the ideal.

For Edwardian men, the three piece suit was the standard. In the upper and middle classes, tailored suits and starched collars were typical, and some men wore modified corsets as well. The tightly tailored suits, along with the well-starched high collard shirts and corsets restricted movement and forced straighter posture. All of this influenced the way Edwardian men carried themselves and gave them an air of importance.They tended to wear more muted colors (black, dark blue, gray), but added to the elegance and formality of their look with elaborate cravats and gloves. Their hair was usually parted in the middle or brushed across their temples - some men even curled their hair. The servants in such households were held to a certain formal dress code, but were still expected to complete their duties in uniform. Working men, such as chimney sweeps, had neither the means or the need for such finery and wore functional clothing to get their jobs done.

For the children of the upper and middle classes, sailor-inspired looks were popular for both boys and girls. Dresses for girls loosely mimicked the "pigeon-breast" appearance in a range of pastel colors.

During the 20th century, the rooftops of London were the chimney sweeps' kingdom. As long as we have heated our homes with fire, there has been a need to clean out chimneys of soot, and the sweeps have always come to the rescue. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, more and more people built tightly packed houses in cities and urban centers - and with houses came chimneys.  In 19th-century England, young boys were employed as chimney sweeps because it was easier for them to get inside the chimney. Many became sick and dies from this difficult work.

The chimney sweeps of London were not restricted by the formality of clothing at all - no starched collars for them! Because they had to crawl around in narrow spaces, climb up chimney flues, and traverse the rooftops, it was necessary that their clothing be functional, allowing them complete freedom of movement. They were more grounded; walked with a looser, easier gait; and never had to worry about how they looked, especially since they spent a lot of time covered in soot.

The phrase "to light a fire under" someone - to make him work faster or harder - comes from the young chimney sweeps. Sometimes a young sweep was too scared to go into a chimney, so his boss would light a fire in the fireplace underneath him! Being a chimney sweep was a dangerous job, but an important one. Dirty chimneys could easily cause fires and back up with deadly smoke.

Eventually, the creation of instruments that would allow someone to sweep the chimney without actually being inside allowed older men like Bert to take over the job. In many places in Great Britain, it's still considered good luck to shake hands with a sweep. Chimney sweeps are sometimes hired for weddings so they can shake hands with the bride and groom before the ceremony. In fact, sweeps today often make more money at weddings than they do cleaning chimneys!

Character sketch of Bert by Bob Crowley

"A FATHER, A MOTHER, A DAUGHTER, A SON
THE THREADS OF THEIR LIVES ARE ALL RAVELLING UNDONE
SOMETHING IS NEEDED TO TWIST THEM AS TIGHT
AS THE STRING YOU MIGHT USE WHEN YOU'RE FLYING A KITE."
- BERT