‘On the respectability of this person every thing depends’: hospital matrons and power relations in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, c. 1817–1820

Abstract

This article takes a case study approach to shed light on the work of female managerial staff in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the care and medical sector more broadly. It takes as its point of departure an example of conflict between the Infirmary’s matron and a member of the committee of subscribers in order to examine the complex workplace relations in an institution increasingly responsible for healthcare provision for the poor in the city of Edinburgh. It explores contemporary assumptions about gendered patterns of work, care and housekeeping tasks and the implications of this normative framework for female staff and their personal, professional, and familial lives. It argues that the expanding sector of institutionalised care proved a space in which women found avenues to develop life-long careers in line with assumptions about gendered work, gaining occupational identities and financial independence. Finally, it provides evidence of complex welfare strategies and patterns of familial relations that pose challenges to standing assumptions about life-cycle work patterns and the relationship between women’s employment, marital and familial status, and residency arrangements.