A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen: The Journals and Letters of Agnes Porter - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1852851643 ISBN 13: 9781852851644

Publisher: Hambledon & London, 2003

Synopsis

We only know a surprisingly small number of eighteenth-century women as personalities. This is true, in particular, of women who had to work for their living. Which is why the survival of the letters and journals of Miss Agnes Porter, dating from 1788 to 1814, constitutes an unusually important find.

Miss Porter, the daughter of a Church of England clergyman, was born in 1752 with brains but not looks or wealth. Although she would have liked to marry, her various hopes ended in disappointment. She therefore had to earn her living as a governess, working principally in teaching the daughters and grand-daughter of the second Earl of Ilchester.

Agnes Porter was neither morbidly religious, as were many of her Victorian successors, nor did she spend her time dwelling on the unfairness of her situation. She emerges as a intelligent, warm and likeable woman ready to make the best of her lot.

Joanna Martin has provided a substantial introduction which sets Miss Porter in her historical context. A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen is a detailed, and very early, portrait of a woman entering a profession.

About this title

About the Author

Joanna Martin is the author of William Fox-Talbot at Penrice and the editor of A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen. She was brought up in a country house (Penrice Castle in Wales) and is a professional genealogical historian.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hambledon & London
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1852851643
• ISBN 13: 9781852851644
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Martin Joanna