Seventh Century Occupations

http://www.localhistories.org/17thcenturywomen.html

In the seventeenth century, women had a long list of jobs but being a teacher, lawyer, or doctor or having an occupation in that category was not open for women. Many women were spinning cloth for clothing. Others would make shoes or were embroidering clothes. Many would also tailor clothing and sew.. There were women who would sell products. There were washerwomen for people to bring their clothes to. Women were known for cooking and being a housewife back then and that was the common job women had back then. They were bakers or they would remain housewives and most would have servants also. Housewives were busy. Many men could not run a family or a farm without the help of a housewife. Those wives who had farmers for husbands would milk cows, feed animals and grow herbs and vegetables. The housewife had to bake the food for the family and clean the house and keep the family going. Housewives would also make candles and soap for their homes. The housewife was expected to have at least a decent amount of knowledge and some medicine to treat the family when they get ill. Many families could not afford a doctor so the housewives were better than nothing. If the housewife could not take care of the family the man would leave and find a more decent woman. Poor and middle class wives were busy but the rich were not off easy either. They had to organize and keep an eye on the servants and make sure they would not do anything out of the ordinary. If the husband was away she would run the household. Merchant’s wives usually did the accounting for them and if he was traveling or away she would keep an eye on the business. Usually when the merchant wrote his will he would leave his business to the wife and she would have to run it. Most women did not have any hard jobs. They were just time consuming.