Women’s Work and Lives

Women's work and lives in Cambridgeshire

The history of Cambridge cannot be understood without the experiences of the women who lived and worked in the city and surrounding villages. Although women were often underrepresented in official records, Capturing Cambridge reveals their central role in shaping homes, workplaces, communities and public life across the centuries.

For many women, paid employment was combined with domestic responsibilities. Census records from Cambridge streets show large numbers working as laundresses, charwomen, domestic servants, dressmakers, cooks and housekeepers. These occupations were particularly important in a city whose colleges, schools and middle-class households relied heavily on female labour. Streets such as Gwydir Street, Gothic Street, Wellington Street and Vicarage Terrace provide detailed evidence of the lives of working women and the contribution they made to family incomes.

Education created new opportunities. The establishment of women’s colleges transformed Cambridge and helped open higher education to women. Newnham College and Girton College became nationally important centres of women’s education and played a significant role in changing attitudes towards women’s intellectual and professional capabilities.

Capturing Cambridge also records the stories of individual women whose lives illuminate broader social change. The dressmaker Constance Pyle provides an example of female entrepreneurship and skilled work, while Dora K. Tack’s contributions to local history and collecting demonstrate the important role women played in preserving Cambridge’s heritage.

Women’s lives extended beyond paid employment. They were active in churches, neighbourhood organisations, charitable work and family networks that sustained communities through periods of hardship, war and social change. Their experiences reveal the changing nature of work, education, family life and citizenship from the nineteenth century to the present day.

By exploring women’s work and lives, we gain a richer understanding of Cambridge history and the many ways women contributed to the growth and character of the city.

Newnham College
Girton College
Constance Pyle
Dora K. Tack
Gwydir Street
Gothic Street
Wellington Street