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218 LOCAL SOCIETIES.
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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Transcript
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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.
A Paper Head At The Meeting Op The Assoc...
But successful as this experiment has proved in a benevolent point of view , and promising * though , it be in a commercial oneit
, is still an enterprise that would not be easily carried out in the _^ provinces , as a printing press requires a large capital to begin with
, and if not thoroughly well managed might prove a losing concern . The Law-Copying Office established by the Society in Portugal
Street would be much easier to imitate and have a greater probability o £ success . How often it happens in country towns that a
professional or commercial family is suddenly , by the imprudence or death of its head , deprived of the means of support , and is forced to
appeal to the charity and good feeling of its fellow-townsmen and country neighbors for assistance ? And very much perplexed the
neighbors and townsmen are with their charge , by the daughters of the family especially- The only profession open to them is
teaching ; but if ill-prepared or unwilling to become governesses , it is exceedingly difficult to know what to do .
The obvious thing is , of course , to subscribe to pension them , but why should women in the prime of life be pensioned ? Probably
they would be only too glad to work , if some means of earning a livelihood were offered , and this means the Law-Copying Office
presents . The first step towards the establishment of one is to secure the patronage of the solicitors of the town , to induce them to promise
that , as soon as the daughter of their ruined fellow-townsman is well-qualified , they will give her a share of their custom . The next
step is to send her to town to learn the business under Miss Rye's instruction , at 12 , Portugal Street . Miss Rye would charge £ 5 ;
and as she might board and lodge at the Ladies' Home , 51 , Charlotte Street , for ten shillings a week , the expense would not "be great , as
the business can be thoroughly well learnt in six months . When qualified to commence business , little or no capital would be required ;
( for she must lodge somewhere , and the office would serve as her sitting-room ;) a desk , some pensand a small supply of parchments
, and paper would suffice . She would be paid at the regular rate of law stationer's charges , and if the solicitors were friendly towards
"her , and she did the work well , she would be able to live , and by degreesas the custom increasedcould take a female clerk under
, , h . er—perhaps , in time , two or three—and so gradually work her way up till she earned a good maintenance .
A far better position , surely , than dependence on charity or becoming a teacher with no taste for the profession ! An educated
and energetic person , ¦ with £ 30 or £ 40 to begin with , might , if secure of a solicitor ' s patronagestart herself in this business with _*
, out being Tinder obligation to any one . Miss Rye has authorized , me to say , that there is a favorable opening for female law
stationers in two great towns , and that it is her belief the business will be found to answer very well .
Another branch of employment might be widened , if not opened ,
_Tby the efforts of a local society . It may be seen , by _g-lancing at
218 Local Societies.
218 LOCAL SOCIETIES .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1861, page 218, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121861/page/2/
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