Proprietress of a Seminary (for young brides), Norwich 1861

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi, Everyone,
I've been doing some searching for details of the man who became the adoptive father of my grandmother.  He was  James Edward CARVER...
In the 1861 Census for Norwich at West Pottergte, Number 2 Poplar House, he is the 16 year old son of the head of the household, his widowed mother Ruth CARVER (nee Triggs).  She is 56 years old, and her occupation is given as (looks like) Proprietress of a Seminary, and in brackets underneath "for young brides".
Can someone enlighten me as to what kind of role she might have had?
Many thanks in advance,
Keith

[heywood]

Possibly young ladies?

[JenB]

It's difficult to read, but I think it's a seminary for young ladies. I think what you've read as a 'b' is actually an 'l'.

[Keith Sherwood]

Thanks, Heywood and JenB,
Of course it is that, silly me!  But what kind of institution/place would that have been.  I've always associated seminaries with Jesuit priests.  Perhaps it had a wider meaning...
Keith

[JenB]

But what kind of institution/place would that have been.  I've always associated seminaries with Jesuit priests.  Perhaps it had a wider meaning...

Oxford English Dictionary:
ladies' seminary  n. a (finishing) school or college for young women (now chiefly historical); also as (part of) the name of such an institution.

[heywood]

Not only Jesuits 
I have not heard it in any other contexts but it seems it was a general term too.

http://susannaives.com/wordpress/2013/03/educating-your-daughters-a-guide-to-english-boarding-schools-in-1814/

Ruth Carver - Mentioned here in National Archives
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f456b44d-e63e-44e3-ac8b-8907f298a131

[arthurk]

Gilbert and Sullivan had a thing about them too:

Three little maids who, all unwary
Come from a ladies' seminary
Freed from its genius tutelary
Three little maids from school
Three little maids from school
(The Mikado)

It seems that she’s a fairy
From Andersen’s library,
And I took her for
The proprietor
Of a Ladies’ Seminary!
(Iolanthe)

[heywood]

Of course 

[Keith Sherwood]

Had no idea when I started this thread that I would end up hearing the strains from The Mikado.  Thanks so much, Arthurk, for your input.
Not as mysterious a Census entry as I had imagined, after misreading "ladies" for "brides".  Which would presumably have given rise, possibly, to a far more lurid tale...
Keith