Miss Silver is a fictional detective featured in 32 novels by British novelist Patricia Wentworth .
60-450: Miss Maud Silver is a retired governess -turned- private detective . Like Miss Marple , Miss Silver's age and demeanor make her appear harmless. Some admire the character, believing that "while Miss Marple may receive ten times the attention as Miss Silver, […] the woefully neglected Miss Silver is the real deal – a professional investigator and stand-up woman, a true forerunner of all future female private eyes." Others disagree, claiming that
120-616: A three-component theory of stratification under which "a person’s power can be shown in the social order through their status, in the economic order through their class, and in the political order through their party. The biggest current study of social class in the United Kingdom is the Great British Class Survey . Besides these academic models, there are myriad popular explanations of class in Britain. In
180-513: A university education . The only Mosaic 2010 group where the proportion of residents in NRS social grade C2 was rated "high" in the 2010 Mosaic Index is "Residents with sufficient incomes in right-to-buy social housing". An example of what the BBC described as a "normal, working-class Boltonian" was Fred Dibnah , a small-scale company director in the construction industry (and therefore also an example of
240-401: A class of "new affluent" workers, and at the lower levels of the class structure, in addition to an ageing traditional working class, a " precariat " characterised by very low levels of capital, and a group of emergent service workers. The fracturing of the middle sectors of the social structure into distinguishable factions separated by generational, economic, cultural, and social characteristics
300-426: A distinct social class, integrated itself with those with new wealth derived from commercial and industrial sources more comfortably than in most of Europe. Opportunities resulting from consistent economic growth and the expanding British Empire also enabled some from much poorer backgrounds (generally men who had managed to acquire some education) to rise through the class system. The historian David Cannadine sees
360-530: A governess's charges grew up, she had to seek a new position, or, exceptionally, might be retained by a grown daughter as a paid companion . An option for the more adventurous was to find an appointment abroad. There is also some allusion to the phenomenon of governesses being engaged abroad in A galaxy of governesses by Bea Howe. The Russian Empire proved to be a relatively well-paid option for many. According to Harvey Pitcher in When Miss Emmie
420-458: A new socio-economic classification in 2001. The reason was to provide a more comprehensive and detailed classification to take newer employment patterns into account. On 2 April 2013 analysis of the results of a survey, which was conducted by the BBC in 2011 and developed in collaboration with academic experts, was published online in the journal Sociology . The results released were based on
480-529: A place at university; they may send their children to a private school , employ a home tutor for out of school hours so their child learns at a faster rate, or go to great lengths to get their children enrolled into good state or selective grammar schools; such as moving house into the catchment area. They also value culture and make up a significant proportion of the book-buying and theatre-going public. They typically read broadsheet newspapers rather than tabloids . The only Mosaic 2010 geodemographic type where
540-415: A social class in productive labour relations. The educational special adviser, Charlie Taylor follows Michael Gove in conceiving of an "educational underclass", and felt the majority of those involved in the 2011 England riots could be considered to be members. The BBC journalist Mark Easton felt that, in the justificatory responses he heard in the aftermath of those riots, it would be easy to concur with
600-529: A survey of 160,000 residents of the United Kingdom most of whom lived in England and described themselves as " white ." Class was defined and measured according to the amount and kind of economic, cultural, and social resources, "capitals", reported. Economic capital was defined as income and assets ; cultural capital as amount and type of cultural interests and activities, and social capital as
660-648: Is defined more by family background than by job or income. Although RP is not exclusive to any social class, some members of this stratum, in England, traditionally used General British Pronunciation natively. The upper middle class are traditionally educated at private schools , preferably one of the "major" or "minor" " public schools " which themselves often have pedigrees going back for hundreds of years and charge fees of as much as £44,000 per year per pupil (as of 2022). A minority of upper-middle-class families may also have ancestry that directly connects them to
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#1732802025653720-518: Is fond of quoting the poet Tennyson . Miss Silver is sometimes compared to Jane Marple , the elderly detective created by Agatha Christie . "Miss Silver is well known in the better circles of society, and she finds entree to the troubled households of the upper classes with little difficulty. In most of Miss Silver's cases there is a young couple whose romance seems ill fated because of the murder to be solved, but in Miss Silver's competent hands
780-549: Is incredibly difficult to put your finger on exactly what it is that defines "white working-class" because a lot of them are shared by the middle class, such as football and the pub." This class of people would be in skilled industrial jobs or tradesmen, traditionally in the construction and manufacturing industry, but in recent decades showing entrepreneurial development as the stereotypical white van man , or self-employed contractors. These people would speak in regional accents and have completed craft apprenticeships rather than
840-420: Is statistically very small and consists of the peerage , gentry and hereditary landowners, among others. Those in possession of a hereditary title (for example, a dukedom , a marquessate , an earldom , a viscountcy , a barony , a baronetcy , or a Scottish lordship of parliament ) are typically members of the upper class, while those in possession or right to a coat of arms are typically at least members of
900-507: Is used to refer to those people who are "chronically unemployed", and in many instances have been for generations. The term was invented in the US in the late 20th Century. Evidence could not be found through field research to support the notion of an ‘underclass’ with a separate sub-culture amongst the long-term unemployed, yet it has become a key word in the British lexicon due to the essays that
960-563: The First World War , especially in the countryside where no suitable school existed nearby and when parents preferred to educate their children at home rather than send them away to boarding school for months at a time, and varied across time and countries. Governesses were usually in charge of girls and younger boys. When a boy was old enough, he left his governess for a tutor or a school. Governesses are rarer now, except within large and wealthy households or royal families such as
1020-514: The Saudi royal family and in remote regions such as outback Australia. There has been a recent resurgence amongst wealthy families worldwide to employ governesses or full-time tutors. The reasons for this include personal security, the benefits of a tailored education, and the flexibility to travel or live in multiple locations. Traditionally, governesses taught " the three Rs " (reading, writing, and arithmetic) to young children. They also taught
1080-529: The Victorian household, the governess was neither a servant nor a member of the host family. She worked in the upper-class home of the landed gentry or aristocracy. She herself had a middle-class background and education, yet was paid for her services. As a sign of this social limbo, she frequently ate on her own, away from both the family and the servants. By definition, a governess was an unmarried woman who lived in someone else's home, which meant that she
1140-549: The film version ) plans to buy his own home. The British lower middle class, when described historically, primarily consisted of office workers : when describing class segregation of housing in the Nottingham of 1901, clerks, bookkeepers, estate agents and teachers are described as having been lower middle class. Researchers today sometimes equate NRS social grade C1, "Supervisory, clerical and junior managerial, administrative and professional", with "lower middle class". In
1200-416: The industrial working class . Many either dropped in status to the working poor or fell into permanent reliance on welfare dependence . Some dropped out altogether and joined the black market economy , while a few managed, often through geographic fortune of other industries in the local area, to ascend to the lower middle class . It has been argued that with the decline in manufacturing and increase in
1260-437: The "accomplishments" expected of upper-class and middle-class women to the young girls under their care, such as French or another language, the piano or another musical instrument, and often painting (usually the more ladylike watercolours, rather than oils) or poetry. It was also possible for other (usually male) teachers with specialist knowledge and skills to be brought in, such as a drawing master or dancing master. In
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#17328020256531320-504: The 19th Century, had a more secure income than the Working Class and accumulated unspent income which they could channel into investments. Members of the middle class are often politically and socially engaged (a Mori poll in 2005 found 70% of grades AB voted at the 2005 general election compared to 54% of grades DE). Education is greatly valued by the middle classes: they will make every effort to ensure their children get offered
1380-536: The American New-Right sociologist Charles Murray was invited to write in 1989 for the Sunday Times. There is a contention that there are homologies between the meaning context and tenor of the abusive word " chav " and the term "underclass" in media discourses: the obvious difference being the former relates to supposed dispositions of a social class in consumption and the later to difficulties of
1440-452: The UK has become a classless society have frequently been met with scepticism. Research has shown that social status in the United Kingdom is influenced by, although separate from, social class. This change in terminology corresponded to a general decrease in significance ascribed to hereditary characteristics, and increase in the significance of wealth and income as indicators of position in
1500-531: The article's talk page . Governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor , who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny , the primary role of a governess is teaching, rather than meeting the physical needs of children; hence a governess is usually in charge of school-aged children, rather than babies. The position of governess used to be common in affluent European families before
1560-440: The case is solved, the young couple are exonerated, and all is right in this very traditional world." Others have argued that Miss Silver's seemingly "passive" knitting in fact gives her "narrative presence" and "a legitimate voice." This article about a fictional character from a novel is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See guidelines for writing about novels . Further suggestions might be found on
1620-551: The character "has none of the credibility of […] Miss Marple […]. Her spinsterish appearance is inconsistent with her sensational behavior and also with the far-fetched plots of the novels she features in." Wentworth wrote a series of 32 crime novels in the classic whodunit style, featuring Miss Maud Silver, a retired governess and teacher who becomes a professional private detective, in London, England. Miss Silver works closely with Scotland Yard, especially Inspector Frank Abbott, and
1680-511: The church associated with the House . Pitcher drew extensively on the archives of the Governesses' Benevolent Institution in London. Several well-known works of fiction, particularly in the nineteenth century, have focused on governesses. The term "governess" is an archaic gendered job title for a politician; now the word " governor " is used for men or women. For example, Keʻelikōlani
1740-469: The complex British middle classes had also been enjoying a long period of growth and increasing prosperity, and achieving political power at the national level to a degree unusual in Europe. They avoided the strict stratification of many Continental middle classes, and formed a large and amorphous group closely connected at their edges with both the gentry and aristocracy and the labouring classes. In particular
1800-604: The country's definitions of social class vary and are highly controversial, most are influenced by factors of wealth, occupation, and education. Until the Life Peerages Act 1958 , the Parliament of the United Kingdom was organised on a class basis, with the House of Lords representing the hereditary upper class and the House of Commons representing everybody else. The British monarch is usually viewed as being at
1860-510: The death of their father or both of their parents, or the failure of the family business, and had no relatives willing to take them in. Her position was often depicted as one to be pitied, and the only way out of it was to get married. It was difficult for a governess to find a suitable husband because most of the eligible men she encountered were her social superiors, who preferred a bride from within their own social class, particularly since such women generally had better financial resources. Once
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1920-576: The educational history of the family. In the past, both the British Army and Royal Navy have been the institutions of choice. Equally, the clergy , as well as academia , particularly within the arts and humanities divisions of Britain's oldest and most prestigious universities ( Oxbridge ), have been traditional career paths amongst the upper class - indeed until 1840 the majority of Oxbridge graduates were destined for ordination. Received Pronunciation , also known as RP or BBC English,
1980-452: The educational needs of the middle class. Nowadays, when children are old enough, they may attend a prep school or pre-preparatory school. Moving into secondary education , it is still commonplace for upper-class children to attend a privately-run public school, although it is not unheard of for certain families to send their children to state schools . Continuing education goals can vary from family to family; it may, in part, be based on
2040-573: The end of the 17th century to the 20th century. At this point society goes from being feudal to capitalist , due to the regime change after the Glorious Revolution . The social grade classification created by the National Readership Survey over 50 years ago achieved widespread usage during the 20th century in marketing and government reports and statistics. The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) produced
2100-2497: The established and 'acceptable' professions, such as academia, law and medicine are more traditional upper middle class identifiers, with IT and sales being the preserve of the economic if not social middle class. Members of the established middle class, about 25% of British society, reported high economic capital, high status of mean social contacts, and both high highbrow and high emerging cultural capital. Well-represented occupations included electrical engineers , occupational therapists , social workers , midwives , registered nurses , environmental professionals, quality assurance and regulatory professionals, town planning officials, and special needs teaching professionals. The technical middle class, about 6% of British society, shows high economic capital, very high status of social contacts, but relatively few contacts reported, and moderate cultural capital. Occupations represented include medical radiographers , aircraft pilots , pharmacists , natural and social science professionals and physical scientists , and business , research , and administrative positions. New affluent workers, about 15% of British society, show moderately good economic capital, relatively poor status of social contacts, though highly varied, and moderate highbrow but good emerging cultural capital. Occupations include electricians and electrical fitters; postal workers ; retail cashiers and checkout operatives; plumbers and heating and ventilation technicians; sales and retail assistants; housing officers; kitchen and catering assistants; quality assurance technicians. The traditional working class, about 14% of British society, shows relatively poor economic capital, but some housing assets, few social contacts, and low highbrow and emerging cultural capital. Typical occupations include electrical and electronics technicians ; care workers ; cleaners ; van drivers ; electricians ; residential, day, and domiciliary care . The emergent service sector, about 19% of British society, shows relatively poor economic capital, but reasonable household income, moderate social contacts, high emerging (but low highbrow) cultural capital. Typical occupations include bar staff , chefs , nursing auxiliaries and assistants , assemblers and routine operatives, care workers , elementary storage occupations, customer service occupations, and musicians . The precariat , about 15% of British society, shows poor economic capital, and
2160-696: The expansion in higher education from the 1960s onwards, members of this class generally did not have a university education. Members of the lower middle class typically speak in local accents, although relatively mild. Votes in this area are split and minority parties will have a stronger proportion. The middle class in Britain often consists of people with tertiary education and may have been educated at either state or private schools . Typical jobs include: accountants , architects , solicitors , surveyors , social workers , teachers , managers , specialist IT workers, engineers , bankers, doctors , nurses and civil servants . The Middle Class, at least in
2220-649: The great financial centre of the City of London was open to outsiders to an unusual degree, and continually expanding and creating new employment. The British working class, on the other hand, was not notable in Europe for prosperity, and early modern British travellers often remarked on the high standard of living of the farmworkers and artisans of the Netherlands , though the peasantry in other countries such as France were remarked on as poorer than their English equivalents. Living standards certainly improved greatly over
2280-537: The highly industrialised cities and pit towns and villages in the West Midlands , North of England , South Wales and the Scottish Lowlands . However, since the mid-1970s and early-1980s, some might contend that de-industrialisation has shattered many of these communities, resulting, some might contend, in a complete deterioration in quality of life and a reversal in rising living standards for
2340-434: The lowest scores on every other criterion. Although some members of this class are unemployed, many hold jobs. Members of this class include about 6% of all cleaners , 5% of all van drivers , 4% of all care workers , 4% of all carpenters and joiners , 3% of all caretakers , 3% of all leisure and travel service occupations, 3% of all shopkeepers and proprietors, and 2% of all retail cashiers . The term "underclass"
2400-486: The nineteenth century, the middle and lower middle classes were able to live in suburbs due to the development of horse-drawn omnibuses and railways. One radical Liberal politician ( Charles Masterman ), writing in 1909 used "the Middle Classes" and "the suburbans" synonymously. In the early twenty-first century, there were no Mosaic 2010 geodemographic groups where the proportion of residents in NRS social grade C1
2460-519: The period around 1880 as a peak after which the position of the old powerful families declined rapidly, from a number of causes, reaching a nadir in the years after the Second World War, symbolised by the widespread destruction of country houses . However, their wealth, if not their political power, has rebounded strongly since the 1980s, benefiting from greatly increased values of the land and fine art which many owned in quantity. Meanwhile,
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2520-537: The period, more so in England than other parts of the United Kingdom, but the Industrial Revolution was marked by extremely harsh working conditions and poor housing until about the middle of the 19th century. At the time of the formation of Great Britain in 1707, England and Scotland had similar class-based social structures. Some basic categories covering most of the British population around 1500 to 1700 are as follows. This social period lasts from
2580-602: The politician Iain Duncan Smith 's 2008 theory of "an underclass" that exhibited "creeping expansion". Traditionally, these people would have worked as manual labourers . They would typically have left school as soon as legally permissible and not have been able to take part in higher education . Many would go on to work in semi-skilled and unskilled jobs in raw materials extraction/processing, in assembly and in machine shops of Britain's major car factories , steel mills , coal mines , foundries and textile mills in
2640-686: The proportion of residents in NRS social grade B was rated as "high" in the 2010 index was "People living in brand new residential developments". The middle classes particularly of England and Wales are often popularly referred to as " Middle England ". Jilly Cooper is a self-described "upper middle-class" writer who wrote an extended humour sketch imagining the lives of different types of people drawing on prejudiced tropes and biases relating to social class, which she called "Class, A view from Middle England". The upper middle class in Britain broadly consists of people who were born into families which have traditionally possessed high incomes, although this group
2700-403: The quantity and social status of their friends , family and personal and business contacts. This theoretical framework was inspired by that of Pierre Bourdieu , who published his theory of social distinction in 1979. Analysis of the survey revealed seven classes: a wealthy "elite;" a prosperous salaried "middle class" consisting of professionals and managers; a class of technical experts;
2760-435: The service sector, lower-paid office workers are effectively working-class. Call centres in particular, have sprung up in former centres of industry. However, since the early-2000s, there has been a trend for many call centres to close down in the UK and outsource their jobs to India and other jurisdictions, as part of cost-cutting measures. The Mosaic 2010 groups where the proportion of residents in NRS social grade D
2820-469: The small employer class, rather than the routine class, in NS-SEC). A fictional example of a mid-century skilled working man, from the literary traditional of the working-class novel , is Arthur Seaton, in the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning . A lathe operator at a bicycle factory, he regards his father's apparently subservient generation with contempt, and at the close of the novel (made explicit in
2880-471: The social hierarchy. The "class system" in the United Kingdom is widely studied in academia but no definition of the word class is universally agreed to. Some scholars may adopt the Marxist view of class where persons are classified by their relationship to means of production , as owners or as workers, which is the most important factor in that person's social rank. Alternatively, Max Weber developed
2940-477: The top of the social class structure. British society has experienced significant change since the Second World War , including an expansion of higher education and home ownership , a shift towards a service-dominated economy , mass immigration , a changing role for women and a more individualistic culture. These changes have had a considerable impact on the social landscape. However, claims that
3000-600: The typical Victorian governess was often one of social isolation and solitude, without the opportunity to make friends. The fact that her presence in the household was underpinned by an employment contract emphasized that she could never truly be part of the host family. However, being a governess was one of the few legitimate ways by which an unmarried, middle-class woman could support herself in Victorian society. The majority of governesses were women whose fortunes had drastically declined (e.g. Sarah Bennett ), due to perhaps
3060-520: The upper classes. Armorial bearings in the form of an escutcheon may denote such past status. A lesser status historically directly relevant to the upper middle class is that of squire or lord of the manor; however, these property rights are no longer prevalent. Although such categorisations are not precise, popular contemporary examples of upper-middle-class people may include Boris Johnson , Catherine, Princess of Wales , David Cameron , and Matthew Pinsent (athlete). The British "upper class"
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#17328020256533120-408: The upper middle class. Traditionally, upper class children were brought up at home by a nanny for the first few years of their lives, and then home schooled by private tutors . From the late-nineteenth century, it became increasingly popular for upper-class families to mimic the middle classes in sending their children to privately-run public schools , which had been predominantly founded to serve
3180-489: The work Class , Jilly Cooper quotes a shopkeeper on the subject of bacon : "When a woman asks for back I call her 'madam'; when she asks for streaky I call her 'dear'." The United Kingdom never experienced the sudden dispossession of the estates of the nobility , which occurred in much of Europe after the French Revolution or in the early 20th century, and the British nobility, in so far as it existed as
3240-603: Was considered notable by the authors of the research. Members of the elite class are the top 6% of British society with very high economic capital (particularly savings), high social capital, and very 'highbrow' cultural capital. Occupations such as chief executive officers , IT and telecommunications directors , marketing and sales directors; functional managers and directors, solicitors , barristers and judges , financial managers , higher education teachers , dentists , doctors and advertising and public relations directors were strongly represented. However, those in
3300-586: Was in Russia: English Governesses before, during and after the October Revolution , as many as thousands of English-speaking governesses went there. The estimate of numbers ('thousands'), although necessarily vague, is justified by some knowledge of the main lodging house used by those not accommodated with their host families, St. Andrew's House, Moscow , and by the places of worship they preferentially frequented, for example
3360-617: Was known as the governess of Hawaii . Anne Hegerty , one of the Chasers on the British and Australian versions of The Chase , is nicknamed "The Governess". Social structure of the United Kingdom#Upper class The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class , which continues to affect British society today. British society, like its European neighbours and most societies in world history,
3420-623: Was rated "high" in the 2010 Mosaic Index are "Residents with sufficient incomes in right-to-buy social housing" and "Families in low-rise social housing with high levels of benefit need". During the post-war era, white working-class Britons witnessed a big rise in their standard of living. As noted by Denys Blakeway in 2008: "The white working-class have prospered hugely since the war. They have experienced unparalleled growth in disposable income and today they are now richer than their parents and grandparents could ever have imagined. There are shared values in white working-class culture but I think it
3480-452: Was rated as "high" or "low" in the 2010 Index; it was rated as "average" in all Mosaic groups, whether these were of a suburban, rural, city or small-town nature. Some researchers conceive of the lower middle class as consisting of those who work in lower-grade service-sector managerial jobs or semi-professions (the lower-grade service class in Oesch 2006) and small business owners. Prior to
3540-405: Was subject to their rules. In any case, she had to maintain an impeccable reputation by avoiding anything which could embarrass or offend her employers. If a particular governess was young and beautiful, the lady of the house might well perceive a potential threat to her marriage and enforce the governess's social exclusion more rigorously. As a result of these various restrictions, the lifestyle of
3600-414: Was traditionally (before the Industrial Revolution ) divided hierarchically within a system that involved the hereditary transmission of occupation, social status and political influence. Since the advent of industrialisation , this system has been in a constant state of revision, and new factors other than birth (for example, education ) are now a greater part of creating identity in Britain. Although
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