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VICTORIA PRESS. 123
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
» "When We Remember The Impetus Given To...
the name would prove a happy augury of victory . I have recently had the gratification of receiving an assurance of Her Majesty's
interest in the office , and the kind expression of Her approbation of all such really useful and practical steps for the opening of new
branches of industry for women . The opening of the office was accomplished on the 25 th of last March . The Society for
Promoting the Employment of Women apprenticed five girls to me at premiums of £ 10 each ; others were apprenticed by
relatives and friends , and we soon found ourselves in the thick of the strugglefor such I do not hesitate to call it ; and when you
remember , that there -was not one skilled compositor in the office , you will readily understand the difficulties we encountered . Work
came in immediately , from the earliest day . In April we commenced our first bookand began practically to test all the
difficulties of the trade . I had , previously ascertained that in most printing offices the compositors work in companies of four and £ rvef
appointing one of the number to click for the rest , that Is , to make up and impose the matterand carry the forms to the press-room .
The Imposition requires more , experience than strength , and no untrained compositor could attempt it , and I therefore engaged
intelligent , respectable workmen , who undertook to perform this duty for the female compositors at the Victoria Press .
I have at this time sixteen female compositors , and their gradual reception into the office deserves some mention . In the month of
April , when work was coming in freely , I was fortunate enough to secure a skilled hand from Limerick . She had been trained as a
printer by her father , and had worked under him for twelve years . At his death she had carried on the office , which she was after some
time obliged to relinquish , owing to domestic circumstances . Seeing in a country that an opening for female compositors
had occurred in London paper she determined on taking the long journey from Ireland to seek emp , loyment in a business for which she was
well competent . She came straight to my office , bringing with her a letter from the editor of a Limerick paper , who assured me that I
should find her a great assistance in my enterprise . I engaged her there and then ; she came to work the very next day , and has
proved herself most valuable . I have now also three other hands who have received some
measure of training in their fathers' offices , having been taught by them in order to afford help in any time of pressure , or in case any
opening should present itself in the trade , of which a vague hope seemed present to their mind . From letters which I have received
from various parts of the country , I find that the introduction of women into the trade has been contemplated by many printers .
Intelligent workmen do not view this movement with distrust , they feel very strongly woman ' s cause is man ' s ; and they anxiously
look for some opening for the employment of those otherwise solely dependent on them .
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Victoria Press. 123
VICTORIA PRESS . 123
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Oct. 1, 1860, page 123, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01101860/page/51/
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