occupation: Unfortunate

[bhowells]

In the 1861 census I have found this listing:

Elizabeth Shaw (head of family) b 1833 Leominster, Herefordshire – married, occupation Unfortunate

William, son (b 1854 Longton Staff)

Emma J, daughter (b 1858 Longton Staff)

I take this to mean she was either an unwed mother, or indigent/pauper. Are either of these guesses accurate, or is there another meaning for Unfortunate?

[avm228]

There is another meaning.  My understanding is that the term (as a noun/occupational term) was used to denote a prostitute.

Anna

[Arranroots]

I think she is unmarried as per the 1861 census.  Others who are married have the abbreviation Mar'd and those who are youngsters are Single: Elizabeth seems to be Unmar'd.

I don't see her immediately in 1851, but she seems to be in Leominster as expected in 1841 - under the surname SHAW. HO107/430/3/8/12

kind regards, Arranroots 


Edit:  Found her in 1851 HO107/2000/565/6 in Stone, Staffs, dau of a miner

[bhowells]

thank you - but if you look further along the line on the 1861 you will still see Unfortunate as her occupation, completely separate from her marital status. What were they inferring?

in 1851 she is living with her parents and family in Stone; all the children are listed by initial only.  (HO107/2000)

the prostitution angle is certainly interesting though.

[Arranroots]

thank you - but if you look further along the line on the 1861 you will still see Unfortunate as her occupation, completely separate from her marital status. What were they inferring?

Sorry to confuse - I see the term unfortunate & I was attempting to clarify her marital status to see whether that had any bearing on what the enumerator had written.  It might be less likely to describe her as a prostitute if she were married, and less likely to mean abandoned wife if she were not.

A 

[bhowells]

so... unmarried and unfortunate in 1861 might mean she was a prostitute.

[Arranroots]

Prostitutes, when incarcerated in prison will often be described as such, however, when on the streets or in brothels they will be hidden under such terms as 'Milliner' or 'Seamstress' or even 'Unfortunate'.

from: http://www.rootschat.com/links/0jc/

I must admit, I have not come across the term used in this sense before.

[duckweed]

I've heard the term used for someone who is mentally ill or has learning difficulties or sometimes brain damaged.  It might not mean prostitute but referring to her present mental capacity. 

[avm228]

The 1881 census can be searched by occupation.  It shows that 96 individuals have given "Unfortunate" as their occupation.  All are female, all unmarried or widowed; some have children, others do not.  All but a handful live as lodgers, boarders or visitors, or as head of a household which usually contains other women with the same occupation. The lodgers/boarders etc are often in small or medium-sized lodging houses, often in the dock areas of East London and Liverpool, though some are in other places such as Birmingham, Reading and Newcastle. Some of the boarding houses contain other women (and sometimes men) with different occupations - hawkers, travellers, charwomen etc. Others of the houses contain only women with occupation "Unfortunate".

Among the handful of the 1881 Unfortunates who are not in lodging houses are:

Sarah Thomas, an 18-yr-old living in the household of her father (a shipwright) and mother (no occupation) in the East London docks area.  A 19-yr old female lodger in the household also gives her occupation as Unfortunate.  Next door is a lodging house in which the 40-yr-old head and her two lodgers are all Unfortunates.

Emily Cooney, a 25 yr old inmate in the Westminster workhouse with a 1-day-old baby. The other female inmates, some of whom are also unmarried mothers, give their occupations as servants, charwomen etc. (or no occupation) - some are deaf or imbeciles according to the far right hand column -  but Emily is the only Unfortunate I can see there and has no disabilities listed.

C.H., a 41 yr old female patient in the Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum.  The patients are all either lunatics or imbeciles in the far right-hand column.  So far as occupations are concerned, some of them are charwomen or labourers' wives; I can see at least one Pauper and many with no occupation, but C.H. (a lunatic) is the only one I can see whose occupation is listed as Unfortunate.

Patricia Cornwell, in her book about Jack the Ripper, explains the use of the term Unfortunate to denote a prostitute (I don't have it to hand at this moment) - sadly, Jack the Ripper preyed on these vulnerable women.

Anna