Gertrude's entry
How I've always wanted to travel! I expected by the age of 20 to have already been through Europe, meeting new people in every city. However, with father's death, I had to completely change my plans in life. I relied on the idea that father's wealth would help me travel the world independently, but his death caught me and all of my sisters by surprise, and his inheritance wouldn't help us survive long enough to settle down or find a career. We were thrown into the world with $500 and few skills to aid us, but, using our father's connections to very wealthy and very talented people, we were able to get into connection with Mr. Russel, who helped Lucy gain some knowledge and experience in photography, and who helped us begin this new endeavor. The photography business is going splendidly, and I hope that as we improve our skills, the business will be able to bring in more money, and maybe we will be granted with enough to travel. Another option that I may have is with the Lord Watergate. He is a very nice man, who, as I have found out throughout my encounters with him, is a very caring man, and he seems quite interested in me. I'm not sure, however, if I'm ready to commit to him, as I have to take care of poor Lucy, who has lost Frank to the war in Africa, and Phyllis, whose health has only gotten worse. Time may only tell of my future, but I can't stop worrying about everything around me, and about myself, and what will happen to everything I know. Luckily, Mr. Marsh recently proposed to Fanny, so her future is secure, but the others' futures are uncertain, and I worry about that.
Historian's entry
In Gertrude's commentary of this advertisement by Cooks Excursions, she emphasizes the fact that she always wanted to travel. This, states Stanley, was very common of the women from the middle class, most likely due to the numerous accounts of travel written by women, which were then shown to the public (Stanley 148). It helps that, according to Gertrude, her father was very wealthy and had connections throughout Europe, so her desire to travel was even greater than that of a woman who didn't have those opportunities. However, Gertrude mentions that her desires to travel were crushed once her father died, and she, with her sisters, took the roles of photographers. Interestingly, during the Victorian Era, it wasn't uncommon for women to become photographers, whether it was a hobby or a business. According to Denny, "an early and ardent interest in photography by the royals established the popularity and priority of photography in Great Britain. Concurrently, as interest in photography spread to the general public, ordinary women developed their own following through commercial photographic studios" (Denny). This may explain why Gertrude and her sisters chose photography, but it could also be attributed to some of the connections that she mentioned in her commentary. Finally, transitions into her current life and her personal relationships. It seems that a man named Lord Watergate, who seems to be from some wealth, is interested in her, but she isn't sure if she is ready to commit to him. She mentions that she is worried about other people and marrying them off before she worries about herself. This illustrates how the traditional woman is slowly changing, as Gertrude has some of the traditional values, such as finding a husband for the woman, but at the same time, she isn't willing to get married herself, and she still has aspirations of travelling, which differ to the values of the traditional woman.
STANLEY, MARNI. “SKIRTING THE ISSUES: ADDRESSING AND DRESSING IN VICTORIAN WOMEN’S TRAVEL NARRATIVES.” Victorian Review, vol. 23, no. 2, 1997, pp. 147–67. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27794866. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.
Denny, Margaret. “Royals, Royalties and Remuneration: American and British Women ...” Taylor & Francis Online, 12 Nov. 2009, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09612020903282183.
Source:
Cook, Thomas. “Cook’s Excursionist and Home and Foreign Tourist Advertiser, Volume XXXVIII, No. 1-12.” Leisure, Travel & Mass Culture: The History of Tourism - Adam Matthew Digital, Thomas Cook Archives, 1888, www.masstourism.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Images/TCA_N_Excursionist_188….