Daily AncestorGoverness
A governess was a woman employed to teach children in their own home, often living with the family.
Well-off families hired governesses, especially in the countryside where schools were few. She taught reading, writing, music, languages and manners, and lived somewhere between family member and servant.
It was one of the few respectable paid jobs for educated single women. The word could also mean a woman governor, or a governor's wife, but that is rare.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1880 census
Miss Jane Moore, 27, Governess, England
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Daily Ancestor. "Governess." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/governess. Last checked 2026-10-01.