Description
An entirely fresh view of the rearing of English children in upper and professional class families over three centuries. Male upbringing is discussed in terms of schooling, female through the moral and social context of a domestic schoolroom dominated by a governess. Boys were trained for the world, girls for society and marriage. Letters and diaries from the Georgian and Victorian periods show teenagers speaking for themselves about education; relationships with parents, siblings and friends; and their social, class and gender identity. Fletcher is intimately acquainted with the extraordinary relics of the Trench family, the twelve volumes of Lucy Lyttelton’s lyrical diary and many other gems from record offices.