governess

A governess is a paid private educator employed within a household to teach and supervise children. Unlike a nanny or a maid, a governess's primary role is instruction and guidance in learning, and she often lived in the household as a resident member of staff, though arrangements varied.

Historically, governesses were especially prominent in Britain from the 18th to the 19th century, when aristocratic and prosperous middle-class families hired private tutors to educate children at home. They were typically educated women who provided instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, languages, music, drawing, and etiquette, adapting the curriculum to the family's social expectations and the children’s ages.

Duties also included supervising homework, organizing practice and recitals, and guiding daily routines and moral formation. They often reported to the parents and had limited social status within the household staff, standing between the family and the servants. The role could be demanding and intimate, requiring tact in managing siblings, guests, and visitors.

Decline and modern usage: the spread of public schooling and the professionalization of teaching reduced the demand for live-in governesses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the term is used less in households and more to describe private tutors or teachers hired to educate children at home, sometimes remotely, rather than as a resident member of a household staff.

In literature, the governess figure has appeared in works such as Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey, where it is used to explore themes of class, gender, and authority within domestic and social hierarchies.