Imperial Geographies of Home: British Domesticity in India, 1886-1925
Author(s): Alison Blunt
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, Vol. 24, No. 4 (1999),
pp. 421-440
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
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Imperial geographies of home: British
domesticityin India, 1886-1925
Alison Blunt
This paper considersthe translationof domesticdiscoursesover imperialspace as
middle-classBritishwomen establishedhomes in India from1886 to 1925.Unlike
studies of imperialdomesticitythatdelineateseparatespheresof home and empire,
I considerthe exerciseof imperialpower on a domesticscale, by examiningadvice
given in household guides on managingservantsand raisingBritishchildrenin
India. Ratherthanview the household merelyas confining,
I also explorethe advice
given to Britishwomen regardingtraveloutside theirhomes in India. The domestic
roles of Britishwomen reproducedimperialpower relationson a household scale,
and the politicalsignificanceof imperialdomesticityextendedbeyond the
boundariesof the home.
key words BritishIndia imperialdomesticity household guides home
women servants
Departmentof Geography,Queen Mary and WestfieldCollege, Universityof London, Mile End Road,
London El 4NS
email: [email protected]
revised manuscriptreceived 12 July1999
One of the most notable performancesof Home,
sweethomewas at the opening ceremonyof the
Colonial and Indian Exhibitionin London in May
1886 (BritishParliamentary
Papers 1887,xx).1This
popular Victoriansong was performedbetween
Handel's Hallelujah chorus and Rule Britannia!,
reflectingand reproducingthe sentimentsof a
British imperial imagination in its own highly
sentimentalway. The words of the song suggest
that the clearestand fondestimaginingsof home
are oftenlocated at a distance of forcedexile or
voluntaryroaming.Home is imaginedas a unique
and distantplace that can neitherbe discovered
nor reproducedelsewhereand thus remainsa site
ofcontinualdesireand irretrievable
loss. The ambiof
the
refrain
that
'there's
no
guity
place like home'
suggestsnot only the impossiblequest of discoveringor reproducinghome at a distance,but also
that the priorexistenceand location of a unique,
originaryhome is elusive.
This performance
ofHome,sweethomemusthave
been both poignant and paradoxical because,
whilstthe sentimentsof the song conveyed domestic nostalgia and loss, the Exhibitionsought to
encourage imperial domesticityfar away from
home. Britishvisitors were positioned not just
as passive viewers of imperial spectacle or as
vicarioustravellersthroughoutthe BritishEmpire,
consuming imperial differencefroma distance;2
the Royal Commission (which planned the
Exhibition)also soughtto representtheempireas a
destinationfortherelocationof currentand future
Britishhomes. As the Princeof Wales was keen to
stress,
Wemustremember
that,as regardstheColonies,they
arethelegitimate
and naturalhomes,in future,
ofthe
moreadventurous
and energetic
portionofthepopulationof theseIslands.(British
Parliamentary
Papers
1887, xx)
Domesticatingthe empire to provide 'legitimate
and natural homes' for colonists depended not
only on masculine discourses of imperial adventure and energy,but also on more feminized
TransInst Br GeogrNS 24 421-440 1999
ISSN 0020-2754? Royal Geographical Society (with The Instituteof BritishGeographers)1999
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422
AlisonBlunt
discourses of domesticity.3
Britishhomes in the
empirecould only be establishedand maintained
as 'legitimate and natural' when they housed
Britishwives and mothers.
The Colonial and Indian Exhibitionwas widely
reportedthroughoutthe empire,helping distant
Britishsubjectsin theirimperialhomes to imagine
the linksbetween theirown imperialdomesticity
and a metropolitan,domestic imperialism. In
India, the CalcuttaReviewdescribed the opening
ceremonyof the Exhibitionin an articlethatconsidered the influence,positionand responsibilities
of Britishwomen in India.4 This articleclaimed
that imperialrulersin India were oftennostalgic
fora distanthome,whichwas fondlyremembered
in both nationaland domesticterms:
'immuredfrominfancyto age, withinthebare and
silentwalls of those castles of ignoranceand listlessness, they call theirhomes' (CalcuttaReview
1886a, 347). Britishhomes in India were seen by
the CalcuttaReviewto fosterappropriategender
roles,nationalvirtuesand imperialrule. Imperial
domesticity,its supposed superiorityto Indian
domesticity,and the place of Britishwomen in
maintainingsuch domestic superioritywere all
thoughtto bolsterthe success of imperialpower.6
The song Home,sweethome,its performanceat
the Exhibition,and reportsof this performance
in the CalcuttaReviewraise three questions that
form the focus of this paper. First, how were
domestic discourses translated over imperial
space? Second,whatwere theimperialand domesThe saddest,yetinevitable
resultofIndianlife,is the ticimplicationsofBritishwomen settingup homes
emof
the
sacred
bond... It is said,and in India? Third,how was imperialdomesticity
loosening
family
bodied
British
their
children
and
their
women,
said truly,
thattheEnglishman
is pre-eminent
by
among
thenationsoftheearthforhisloveofhome!
Letitbe servants?In an attemptto answerthesequestions,I
of his examinea numberofhouseholdguides writtenfor,
remembered,
then,thatit is at the sacrifice
thattheEnglishman
in India earnshis,by and usually by,middle-classBritishwomen who
home-life
no means,immoderate
and ever-decreasing
income. travelledto set up imperialhomes in India. The
Review
1886a,349)
(Calcutta
household guides written and read by such
The authorJE Dawson cited the performanceof women provideddetailedadvice on the successful
and maintenanceofimperialdomesHome,sweethomeat the opening ceremonyof the establishment
Colonial and Indian Exhibitionas evidence of ticityand itsdependenceon theirown appropriate
the nationaland imperialsignificanceof domestic behaviour withinthe home. The period between
the late 1880s and the mid 1920s saw the publinostalgia:
cation of an unprecedentednumberof household
Whenwe findon a greatoccasionthata pickedeliteof
whichwere writtenforthe second generaguides,
ten thousandof our countrymen
and women are
tionof middle-classBritishwomen to live in India
movedto tearsat thesympathetic
rendering
by one afterthe
of
suppressionof the 'mutiny'/uprising
woman'svoiceofthepopularlittlesong'Home,Sweet
From
the
Lee
decreed
that
Commission
1925,
thatboththesentiment 1857.7
Home',we mustfeelconvinced
and themusicappealedto one of thestrongest
and militaryand civilianofficialswere entitledto four
mostdeep rootedof our nationalpassions.(Calcutta first-classreturn passages between India and
Britain during their career, which enabled the
Review
1886b,359)
Britishelite to travelmore frequently
betweenthe
Dawson wenton to writethatonlythepresenceof two
countriesand which significantlychanged,
Britishwomen as wives and home-makersin India and
arguably undermined,imperial domesticity
could help to alleviate the domesticnostalgia of in India
(Dench Papers no date; Plain Tales
theirhusbands,
no date). From1886 to 1925,thepubliTranscripts
and
are
cation
[whom]
Among
hardworking, home-loving
popularity of household guides
men - [whose] ideal of bliss is to consortwith one to reflectedthe increasednumberof Britishwomen
cheerthemin healthand nurse themin sickness,and
travellingto India, the consolidationof imperial
whowilltendtheirhousesandadminister
theirhomes
30 yearsaftertheuprising,and British
withdiscretion.
All are Englishmen,
and theylove in domesticity
confidencein imperialrule and itsreproduction
on
Review
theirwiveswhatis essentially
(Calcutta
English.
a household scale. But the same period also saw
1886b,369)5
the rise of the Indian National Congress,growing
levels of 'indianization'in officialadministration
to
British
wives
and
mothers
Dawson,
According
in India helped to createhomes thatwere superior and the emergence of a freedomstruggle that
to theconfinedspaces of Indian women who were culminatedin independenceand partitionin 1947.
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in India,1886-1925
Britishdomesticity
At a time of political ferment,household guides
sought to maintainimperial rule on a domestic
on theunequal relationships
scale by concentrating
betweenBritishwomen and theirIndian servants.
The middle-classwomen who read such household guides were known as 'memsahibs' and
were usually married to army officersand civil
servants.8 In many ways, these women were
'incorporatedwives' in the imperial aristocracy,
gaining theirstatus throughthe occupation and
position of theirhusbands (Callan and Ardener
1984).9And yet, theirdomestic roles reproduced
imperialpower relationson a household scale and
the political significanceof imperial domesticity
extendedbeyond theboundariesof thehome. The
place of Britishwomen and Britishhomes in India,
and the roles of Britishwomen in establishingand
were contested
maintainingimperial domesticity,
ratherthanassumed. Most imperialcommentators
agreed that the presence of Britishwives and
mothersin India was necessaryforthe reproduction of legitimateimperial rulers as well as the
social, moral and domestic values legitimating
imperial rule. But some imperial commentators
claimed that their presence had led to separate
spheres of exclusivelyBritishsocial and domestic
life that provoked racial antagonisms between
rulersand ruled,and contributedto the downfall
of British rule in India. This paper explores
imperialgeographiesof home in BritishIndia by
focusingon advice withinhousehold guides for
Britishwives and mothersin theirmanagementof
Indian servants,raisingof childrenand travelling
beyondthehome. It considersthedomesticationof
imperial power on a household scale and the
contestedplace ofBritishwomen in exercisingand
reproducing imperial power within the home.
Unlike attemptsto interpretimperialdomesticity
in ways that delineate separate spheres between
theprivatespaces ofhome and thepublicspaces of
empire,I considerthe exerciseof imperialpower
on a domestic scale. Ratherthan view the home
merely as confining,I explore the mobilityof
Britishwomen both to and beyond theirIndian
homes.
423
identitiesare performed,or as a containerwithin
which identitiesare bounded, many criticshave
and performativexploredthemutualconstitution
ityof both spaces and identities.As an important
part of this work, the tensionsbetween asserting
and resistingidentities- forexample,in feminist
work about 'gender', and in post-colonialwork
about 'race' - have been increasinglyarticulatedin
spatial terms,ofteninvokingimages of mobility,
transgressionand displacement.But, as Geraldine
Prattand Susan Hanson (1994,9) argue,
An overvaluation
of fluidity
as subjectpositionmay
a careful
consideration
oftheprocesses
leadawayfrom
whichidentities
arecreatedandfixedinplace.
through
Ratherthanmap the infinitetransgression
of fluid
identitiesover space, otherstudies have explored
spatialized identitiesnot only as contingent,unstable and decentred,but also as simultaneously
grounded,locatedand contextualizedin materially
specificways (see, for example, Ferguson 1993;
Grewaland Kaplan 1994;Kaplan 1996;Kirby1996).
Ideas about embodimenthave been particularly
importantin locatingand mobilizingidentitiesin
ways thatare materiallygroundedbut also exceed
a grounded confinement.
JudithButler(1993, ix)
inscribesembodied identitiesin both materially
groundedand excessiveterms:
Notonly[do]bodiestendto indicatea worldbeyond
but this movementbeyondtheirown
themselves,
a movement
ofboundary
boundaries,
itself,
appear[s]
tobe quitecentral
towhatbodies'are'.
Research on white, middle-class women transgressing the confines of home through their
imperialtravelshas exploredsuch geographiesof
locationand mobilityand the ways in whichboth
are embodied in materiallyspecificways. Women
such as MaryKingsleywere primarilyidentifiedas
imperialsubjectsaway fromthe feminizeddomesticityof life at home. As a white, middle-class
woman, Mary Kingsleywas empoweredto transgress the confinesof her femininedomesticityas
she travelled independently in imperial West
Africain the 1890s (Blunt 1994; Mills 1991). The
spatial extentof the empirein the nineteenthand
early twentiethcenturies enabled middle-class
Britishwomen to travel more widely than ever
before; not only were women as well as men
Embodied geographies of home
privileged subjects, but their imperial and
In recentyears,theinterfacesof space and identity gendered subjectivitieswere also influencedby
have been theorizedin increasinglycriticalways. their experiences of travel. But the majorityof
Ratherthanview space merelyas a stage on which women who travelledin the empiredid so to set
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AlisonBlunt
424
up homes both with and for theirfamilies.This
paper is concerned with women who travelled
to set up homes on a long-term,but usually
basis in India.10
temporary,
Feminist and post-colonial representationsof
home have been particularlyimportantin theorizing the criticallinks between space and identity.
While one key task of post-colonialcritiquesis to
reveal and resistthe interplayof colonial power
and knowledge, one key task of a post-colonial
feminismis to reveal and resistthegenderedbasis
of colonial discourse.Both colonial discourseand
its gendered articulationshave been analysed in
explicitlyspatial terms.Moving beyond binaries
such as public and privatespace and imaginative
geographies of 'self' and 'other', many feminist
and post-colonialcriticshave mobilizednotionsof
home to transgress,exceed and disrupt such an
ascribed and polarized fixity.Instead of viewing
home as staticand confining,theyhave begun to
representhome in more mobile and productive
terms. So, for example, Elspeth Probyn (1996)
writesof her desirefora place ofbelonging,while
bell hooks (1990) rewriteshome as a 'site of resistance', re-evaluatingdomestic spaces of identification for women. In the post-colonialwork of
Edward Said (1993) and Homi Bhabha (1992),
existingand writing'between homes' inscribesa
sense of place and belongingthatis worldlyand
mobile. Withingeography,Doreen Massey (1994)
has theorizedhome in termsof flowswithinand
betweenplaces, whichare located within,but also
travelbeyond,particularcontexts.Butdespitesuch
attempts to reconceptualize the links between
homes and identitiesin morecomplexways,many
studies of imperial domesticityinvoke bounded
spaces and identitiesby mapping a distinction
betweenpublic and privatespace ontoimaginative
geographiesof 'self' and 'other'.
Accordingto Carole Pateman (1989, 118), 'The
dichotomybetween the privateand the public is
centralto almosttwo centuriesof feministwriting
and political struggle;it is, ultimately,what the
feministmovement is about', suggesting that
feministpoliticsare also explicitlyspatialpolitics.
But, as an increasingamount of work has chalthe
lenged fixednotionsofbothspace and identity,
complexityand contestationof public and private
geospheres have been examined in historically,
graphicallyand socially specificterms.11 At the
same time, the centralityof separate spheres to
feministwritingand political strugglehas been
critiquedas evidence of the white, middle-class
and theways in which
privilegeofmanyfeminists
such privilegeoftenremainsunacknowledged.So,
forexample,Aida Hurtado(1989,849) writesthata
dichotomybetween private and public space is
only relevantforwhite women because 'There is
no such thingas a private sphere for people of
Colour except that which they manage to create
and protectin an otherwisehostileenvironment.'
Historicaldiscoursesof separatesphereswere also
class-specific,helping an emergingand rapidly
growingbourgeoisiein Europe and NorthAmerica
to distinguishitselffromother classes over the
course of thenineteenthcenturyand elevatingthe
privilegedpositionof white,middle-classwomen
over and above those women who were, and
always had been, employed both inside and
beyond the home.
Bourgeois discourses of femininedomesticity
in VictorianBritainrevolved around the home,
marriage and motherhood.According to Penny
Brown(1993,92),
Withtheriseofthemiddleclassesand theEvangelical
thereemerged
inthelateeighteenth
movement
century
on a clear
dependent
strong
ideologiesofdomesticity,
with
divisionbetweenthepublicand privatespheres,
thehomeseenas a havenofpeace,a sourceofstability,
heldtogether
virtueand piety,
bymoraland
security,
emotionalbonds, a constructmodelled on the
hometowhichall whoexperienced
personal
heavenly
conversion
mightaspire.
The riseofindustrialcapitalismled to thegrowing
separation of home and work, the growth and
increasingwealth of the middle class, and an increasingvalorizationof home and domesticityas
sitesofboth consumptionand thereproductionof
labour power. As a key example of the profound
changesin thegenderedand spatialorganizationof
the familyand domesticlife,CatherineHall (1992)
traces the historicalemergenceof the housewife
alongside the rise of industrialcapitalism.In the
thehousewifecame to embody
nineteenthcentury,
femininediscoursesofbourgeoisdomesticity:
in the
less important
Womenbecameconsiderably
in
ofsurplusvaluebutmoreimportant
directcreation
forlabourpower- the
ofconditions
thereproduction
had to becomethetraining
groundofrational
family
comesthe
of capitalism
men.Withthedevelopment
ofthe
ofcapitalfrom
labour,theseparation
separation
of
homefromtheplace of workand theseparation
domesticlabour and commodity
(Hall
production.
1992, 51)
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in India,1886-1925
British
domesticity
425
Although legislation concerning marriage, thehome as a womanand alienatedin thecolonyas
In theirattemptto distinguishbetween
propertyrightsand earningsmeantthatall wives a foreigner'.
were subordinateto theirhusbands, discoursesof private spaces of home and public spaces of
were clearlydifferentiated
femininedomesticity
by empire, these accounts of gendered and racial
class. The 'gilded cage' of bourgeois homes distancing contrast with many post-colonial
reflectednot only the growthbut also the repro- studies of imperial cultures,which seek to deduction of this class. The bourgeois wife and stabilizethedistinctionbetweenimaginativegeogmother,responsibleformaintainingthe home as a raphies of 'self' and 'other' by exploring the
haven forherworkinghusband,was oftenembod- ambivalence of imperial encounters,the imporand the internalfissures
ied as 'the angel in the house'. But, as Elizabeth tance of transculturation
of imperial rule (see, for example, Pratt 1992;
Langland (1995,8) suggests,
Bhabha 1994;Metcalf1994;Thomas 1996). Sharpe,
hearth
a Victorian
wife,thepresiding
angelofVictorian Grewal and
Jayawardenaare all keen to stressthe
a moresignificant
and
socialmyth,
actually
performed
extensiveeconomicand politicalfunctionthan is roles played by Britishwomen in the exerciseof
imperialpower and authority.But theydo so by
usuallyperceived.
relyingon distinctionsbetweenpublic and private
By the 1850s, a middle-class housewife was
space thatseparate domesticand imperialpower
acknowledged as the mistress of her domestic to such an extent that the
imperialcontext of
sphere, and, while this sphere remained subin BritishIndia becomes obscured.By
domesticity
ordinate to the public sphere of her husband's
betweenprivatespaces ofhome and
work,she could manage thehousehold 'as ration- distinguishing
of empire,theseaccountsignorethe
public
spaces
as herhusband did his business'
ally and efficiently
vitalnexus of imperialpower relationsthatexisted
(Perkin1989, 245). The managementand surveil- withinBritishhomes in India. Ratherthanexamine
lance of servantswithinrigidlyhierarchicalhousethe power relationsshaping imperialdomesticity
holds articulatedand reinforcedclass distinctions.
withinthehome, such accountsnot only overlook
Moreover,the stabilityof thehome and familylife the domestic and
imperial power exercised by
were seen as centrallyimportantto nationalas well
memsahibsin theirmanagementofIndian servants
As Davidoffand Hall (1992, 183)
as class stability.
but also renderIndian servantslargelyinvisible.
suggest,
Throughoutthe nineteenthcentury,a growing
and the number of publications advised middle-class
Womenhad boththetime,themoralcapacity
influence
toexercise
realpowerinthedomestic
world. British women on their domestic roles, in a
It was theirresponsibility
to re-create
societyfrom diverserangeofhousehold guides,cookerybooks,
below.
periodicalsand novels. By the late nineteenthand
An increasingamountoffeminist
workon imperial early twentiethcenturies,an increasingnumber
of of guides were specificallyaddressed at British
cultureshas addressedthecomplexintersections
gender,race and sexualitywithinimperialhomes women settingup homes in India, advising them
in differentcontexts (George 1994; McClintock on not only theirdomesticbut also theirimperial
1995; Stoler1995). But,at the same time,feminist roles and duties. In her study of magazines
studies that explore the spatialityof imperial for women, Margaret Beetham (1996, 3) argues
domesticityin more explicit terms have repro- that 'Like the nineteenthcentury middle-class
duced imaginativegeographiesof'self' and 'other' home, the woman's magazine evolved during
on a household scale, delimitinggendered and the last centuryas a "feminisedspace"'. Indeed,
over the
raciallyexclusive spheres.So, forexample,Jenny the riseofbourgeoisfemininedomesticity
of readSharpe (1993,92) describesBritishhomes in India nineteenthcenturyand the identification
as 'a space of racial puritythatthe colonial house- ing as a leisured, private activitymeant that
wife guard[ed] against contaminationfrom the middle-class women were increasinglytargeted
outside'; Inderpal Grewal (1996, 72) asserts that as readers of household guides, periodicals
'mostEnglishwomenlived in Englishcommunities and novels. And yet the 'feminized spaces' of
along race and class lines withoutassociatingwith magazines and guides were inherentlyunstable
the "natives"'; and KumariJayawardena(1995,4) and ambivalentbecause,at thesame timeas assertdescribesthe 'realityof the colonial wife' as living ing theirfemalereadership,such publicationsrep'in a sortof doubly refinedbondage - isolated in resentedand repeatedthe discoursesof bourgeois
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426
AlisonBlunt
femininityto which their readers were still
aspiring:
its history,
the woman'smagazinehas
Throughout
definedits readers'as women'.It has takentheir
is always
genderas axiomatic.Yet thatfemininity
in themagazinesas fractured,
not least
represented
becauseit is simultaneously
assumedas givenand as
stilltobe achieved.(Beetham
1996,1)
Household guides operatedin a similarway,both
assertinga feminizeddomesticityand instructing
women on its achievement.The feminizedspaces
of thehome representedin householdguides were
unstable and ambivalent,both assumed and yet
still to be achieved by their female readers. By
examiningthe advice containedwithinguides for
Britishwomen living in India, this paper will
and
explore the ways in which white femininity
imperialdomesticitywere both assertedand constantlyrepeated.The advice offeredin guides concerning household management,raising British
childrenand travellingbeyond the home was not
only shaped by,but also helped to shape imperial
and domesticdiscoursesof gender,race and class.
These discourses of imperial domesticitywere
embodied in oftenambivalentand contestedways
by Britishwomen as housekeepers,wives and
mothers.
Britishwomen at home in India
In the early years of the East India Company,
British men were encouraged to marry Indian
women and were oftengiven financialincentives
so to do. But, fromthe 1790s, a series of social,
administrativeand militaryregulationsdistanced
BritishrulersfromtheirIndian and Anglo-Indian
subjects.12These regulations were reflectedby
domestic anxietiesthat centredon intermarriage
and miscegenation.In the mid-eighteenth
century,
up to 90 per cent of Britishmen in India were
married to Indians or Anglo-Indians,but, by
the mid-nineteenthcentury,intermarriagehad
virtuallyceased (Hyam 1990). Ronald Hyam has
identifiedseveralreasonsforthereversalof official
in India fromthe late
attitudesto intermarriage
eighteenthcentury.The increasingnumber and
influenceof missionarieshelped to tightena code
of Christian moralityin increasinglyracialized
terms.At the same time,the policies of GovernorGeneralWellesleyin the1790ssoughtto strengthen
Britishrule by establishinga widening,authorita-
tive distance between apparently incorruptible
Britishrulers and their Indian subjects. Finally,
the uprising on the Caribbean island of Santo
Domingo from1791led to theoverthrowofFrench
colonial rule, the declaration of Haiti as an
independentrepublicin 1804and thedeathofmost
of the 30 000 white population on the island in
1805.Hyam suggeststhattheBritishin India came
to fear an uprising against theirrule by Indian
soldiers led by theirAnglo-Indianofficers.
British
rulers in India were increasinglyencouraged to
marryBritishwomen in an attemptto establish
and maintaintheirsocial and domestic distance
from Indians and Anglo-Indians.In 1810, there
were estimatedto be 250 European women living
in India but,by 1872,almost 5000 Britishwomen
lived in the North Western Provinces alone
(CalcuttaReview1844; North WesternProvinces'
GovernmentPress 1873).13By 1901, there were
more than 42 000 femaleBritishsubjectsin India
out of a totalBritishpopulationof almost 155 000
ofGovernmentPrint(OfficeoftheSuperintendent
ing 1903). But the regulationof racial,sexual and
gendered conduct throughBritishmarriageswas
class-specificbecause the social and domesticdistance between Britishrulersand theirIndian and
Anglo-Indiansubjectswas restrictedto an official
elite. Over the course of the nineteenthcentury,
Britishelitein India was increaswhilstthe official
inglyencouragedto marryBritishwomen,military
limitedthe numberof Britishsoldiers
restrictions
able to marryat all (Ballhatchet1980).
The place ofBritishwomen and Britishhomes in
India was threatenedin an unprecedentedway by
the uprising or 'mutiny' of 1857-58. The threat
posed to Britishrule was representedin viscerally
embodied ways throughdescriptionsand illustrations of the fate of British women, which
appeared on a daily basis in Britishnewspaper
reportsand parliamentarydebates (Blunt forthcoming). The severityof the conflictwas also
symbolized by the destructionof Britishhomes
througharson and looting,and writtenand visual
depictionsof this destructionserved to domesticate the imperial crisis in vivid and immediate
ways. Moreover,Britishwomen who survivedthe
conflictwere oftenrepresentedin termsof their
domestic vulnerabilities.So, for example, the
Britishwomen who survivedthe five-month
siege
of Lucknow had to do domesticwork themselves
aftermanyof theirservantsescaped. As JohnKaye
wrote in his historyof the uprising,'our women
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427
British
inIndia,1886-1925
domesticity
M
4W..:
i+x
Ox-i::
at:-
Figure1 Mrs Turmeric,the judge's wife
Source:
Atkinson
1859
werenotdishonoured,save thattheyweremade to power in the fictionalupcountrystationof Kabob
feel their servitude' (1876, 354). Soon after the (Atkinson 1859). Images of Britishwomen were
suppression of the uprising,many commentators centralto this endeavour.Most notably,as shown
not by Figures1 and 2, images of Britishwomen with
addressed the importanceof reconstructing
only imperial rule but also imperial domesticity. their servants embodied imperial power on a
While Britishwomen and theirhomes had been domesticscale and stood in starkcontrastto the
threatenedduringtheuprising,theirpresencewas domesticdefilementand desertionof servantsthat
now seen as vitalto thesuccessfulre-establishment had characterizedmany accountsof the uprising.
An increasing number of British women
and legitimationof imperial rule. In 1858, the
Calcutta Review reported the 'hourly' improve- travelledto set up homes in India after1858. The
mentsin Britishlifein India, citingexamples that opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the develincluded:
opmentof hill stationsas summerresortsencouraged moreBritishwomen to travelto India. But the
and greater
of com- fate of these women during the uprising left a
theincreasedfacilities
frequency
and
withEngland- thegreater
munication
prevalence,
legacy thatcontinuedto influencethe reconstrucin
India
female
of
character
English
society
improved
tionofimperialrule and imperialdomesticityafter
Review
1858, 1858.This
[and]theincreaseofmatrimony.
(Calcutta
legacy shaped a discourseof chivalrous
382)
protectionin which ideas of racial and gendered
In 1859,a popular book of vignettesand illustra- identityand proprietywere intimatelyconnected.
tions by George Atkinsonentitled'Curryand rice' As KennethBallhatchetwrites,
onfortyplates;or,theingredients
As wives[British
ofsociallifeat 'our
women]hastenedthedisappearance
station'soughtto reinscribeimperialand domestic
the
oftheIndianmistress.
As hostessestheyfostered
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AlisonBlunt
428
..........
.
At
i
i~
_ai-?ii:iiiii~-ii~i:
i i ii~i"-:~ i:?:i:~i,:i.ii!ia
:iiii?IiaaPiipgiiIL-i
:::,s~~,,~sss:,:,
....
...
...
Figure2 Mrs Chutney,the magistrate'swife
Atkinson
1859
Source:
ofexclusivesocialgroupsin everycivil keepers,wives and mothers;thus they not only
development
As womentheywerethought
station.
by Englishmen assumed but also helped to produce the white
fromlasciviousIndians. femininityand imperial domesticity of their
to be in need of protection
(1980,5)
readers.
As WilfredScawen Bluntwrotein 1885,
in India duringthe last thirty
the Englishwoman
Household management
yearshas been the cause of halfthe bitterfeelings
therebetweenrace and race.It was herpresenceat Household
guides were addressed to British
Cawnporeand Lucknowthatpointedthe swordof women who were not only new to India but also
revengeafterthe Mutiny,and it is her constantly new to theirdomesticresponsibilitiesas married
increasinginfluencenow that widens the gulf of women. Detailed
guides were deemed necessary
ill-feelingand makes amalgamationdaily more not
because of the novel conditionsof lifein
only
(47)
impossible.
India, but also because of the need to teach and
CalcuttaReviewreportedthat British value domesticskillsmore
the
1886,
By
generally.In theirbestwomen,
selling 'practical guide to young housekeepers',
fortravelincrease, Flora Annie Steel and Grace Gardinerreassured
nowcomeinscores;andas facilities
andourpickedmen theirreaders that 'Housekeeping in India, when
meansofcommunication
multiply,
electIndiaas thesceneof theircareer,so musttheir once the firststrangenesshas worn off,is a far
and sistersfollowin largernumbers. easier task in
wives,daughters
many ways than it is in England'
(CalcuttaReview1886a,347)
(1907, 1), and stated that 'Economy, prudence,
are the same all over the world' (5). But
The household guides translated discourses of efficiency
instructed
and
the importanceof acquiring these
over
stressed
imperial space
they
domesticity
Britishwomen on theirduties as imperialhouse- housekeepingskills,writingthat,
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in India, 1886-1925
Britishdomesticity
It is fashionable
nowadaysto undervaluethe artof
and easiness
makingthehome;to deemit simplicity
Butthisis a mistake,
fortheproperadministraitself.
tionofevena smallhouseholdneedsbothbrainand
heart.(7)
429
Indiandwellingsand servants'
housesshouldbe at a
safedistance.
Indianservants
oftenhavetheirfamilies
withthem;theirways of livingare not ours,and
for hygienicreasons,especiallyin malariousand
close proximity
is not desirable.
districts,
unhealthy
(21)
Once such skills had been acquired and put into
practice,Steel and Gardinerwrote that a British She reiteratedthislaterin heraccount,writingthat
home in India should represent
It is picturesque
tosee thebonnybrownbabiesrolling
Thatunitof civilisation
wherefatherand children, in the sun,forthe childrenare winsomeand often
butIndianshavetheirownwaysofliving,
master
andservant,
andemployed,
canlearn
beautiful;
employer
and in malariousand unhealthy
districts
theirseveralduties.Whenall is said and done also,
especially,
ofinfection.
hereinlies the naturaloutletformostof the talent theirhousesmaybe centres
(44)
peculiartowomen... Wedo notwishto advocatean
butan Indianhouseholdcan no The racial distancingof thecompoundreproduced
unholyhaughtiness;
morebe governedpeacefully,
withoutdignityand on a householdscale theracialdistancingofBritish
cantonmentsand civil lines fromthe 'native' city.
than
an
Indian
prestige,
Empire.(7,9)
Household guides advised British women to
Establishingand maintainingimperialdomesticity inspecttheirservants'quarterson a regularbasis,
was seen as an importantduty of Britishwomen,
simultaneously breaching and yet reinforcing
which enshrinedboth imperialand domesticroles
imperialand domesticdivisionsconstructedalong
and responsibilities.
Not only did imperialpower racial lines. At the same
time,the spatial inscriprelations underpin the domestic roles of British tion of a
in
terms
of racial distancing
compound
women but also thefeminine'dignityand prestige' was
constantlytranscended,as Indian servants
displayed on a domesticscale were likenedto the worked withinthe Britishhomes.
successfulexerciseof imperialrule. The unequal
In the late nineteenthcentury,it was estimated
relationshipbetween British women and their thatthe smallestBritishhousehold in India would
Indian servantsreproducedimperialpower relarequireten to twelveservants,while largerhousetions on a domestic scale and was the main holds would
requireup to 30, and, untilthe 1920s,
preoccupationof the guides. Ratherthanrepresent it was still common to employ up to a dozen
Britishhomes in India as spheres of racial and servants
(Barr 1976; 1989). In comparable housegender exclusivityand exclusion, these guides holds in Britain over the same period, it was
suggest more complicated relationshipsbetween unusual to employ more than three to five sermemsahibs and their servants,shaped by emvants; the high number of Indian servantswas
bodied discoursesof gender,race and class.
usually attributedto the caste divisionsof domesHousehold guides advised Britishwomen on ticlabour.As
AgathaJameswrotein 1898,'In India
their imperial and domestic duties within,but one has to
keep an absurdnumber,threeor fourat
usually not beyond, their bungalows and com- least to do theworkofone,because ofcaste,which
pounds. Compounds were raciallydemarcatedto interfereswith work sadly' (1898, 372). Many
house Indian servantsand theirfamiliesat a disguides concentratedon advisingBritishwomen on
tance fromthe bungalow where Britishofficials how to
manage theirmany servants;accordingto
lived. As Kate Plattwrotein 1923,
Steel and Gardiner,few Britishwomen in India,
The [servants']dwellingsusuallyconsistof single
havehad anypractical
ofhousekeeping
of
experience
rooms,builtin a longrow,or roundthesidesof an
sortor kind;whilstthosewho have findthemany
enclosure.To each servantis allottedone or more
selvesalmostas muchat sea as theirmoreignorant
of theserooms,whichare of the simplestpossible
sisters.How can it be otherwise,
whenthe familiar
construction.
(1923,44-5)
landmarks
areno longervisible,and,amidthecrowd
ofidle,unintelligible
thereseemsnotone to
servants,
Furthermore,the mehtaror sweeper, who came
ontheusualroutine
ofhousehold
work,whichin
carry
fromthe lowest,untouchablecaste,lived eitherat
Englandfollowsas a matterof course?(Steeland
one end of the row,separatedby a partition,or in
Gardiner
1907,vii)
a separate building some distance away. Platt
advised thata bungalow should be locatedon high In 1904, Anne Campbell Wilson also recognized
and drygroundand that,
the lack of domestic experience of her readers,
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AlisonBlunt
430
particularlyin termsof managingservants,and in they were machines' (Chota Mem 1909, 55).
her book she soughtto redress
Although this reminded British women that
thenaturalignorance
ofthenovelconditions
oflifein theirservantswere human, it did so only to the
India,whichexistsamongstthosewhoseexperience extentthatservantswere seen as 'children'rather
has hitherto
beenoflifeat home,and whoeventhere than equals or merely employees. Chota Mem
like thosefortunate
have been accustomed,
beings continuedin moreexplicitlyracialized terms:
doneby
who livein fairypalaces,to findeverything
Indianservants
havean acutesenseofjustice,so here
hands.(Wilson1904,5-6)
invisible
kindlybut
againtheymustbe treatedlikechildren,
Theirbrainsare notproperly
Servants occupied an ambivalentposition, 'both
developed
veryfirmly.
in thesamelightas
andtheycannotalwayssee things
valued and feared'(Foucault 1990,46), withinthe
we do. (ChotaMem1909,56)
home. JamesCliffordsuggeststhatservantswere
the'domesticatedoutsidersofthebourgeoisimagi- By infantilizingIndian servants,and representnation' (1988, 4), implyingthat the presence of ing the parental care, discipline and wisdom of
the their white employers,household guides fixed
servantsof a lower class helped to reaffirm
but
also
of immutabledifferences
of
the
home
not
between rulers and ruled
bourgeoisidentity only
the familywhom they served. In similar terms, withinthe home. Accordingto Kate Platt,thebest
Indian servantscan be seen as the domesticated Indian servants were those who accepted the
outsidersofa Britishimperialimagination,helping parentalauthorityoftheirwhiteemployers.As she
to reaffirmimperial domesticity,the imperial wrote,
power of the familywhom they served and, in
thanthe
anddevotedservant
Thereis no morefaithful
particular,theBritishwomen withwhom theyhad
and
Indianwhenhehasdefinitely
'adopted'hismaster
closest contact.Ann Laura Stoler contends that
'You
withthefamily.
himself
and identified
mistress,
'native servants'occupied a complexplace within
oftenused
andfather,'
is an expression
aremymother
often
his
master
or
mistress
the
Indian
to
imperialhomes:
perhaps
by
attitude
ofthe
the
But
it
does
without
sincerity.
express
as bothdevotionaland devious,trustRepresented
a
kind
and
towards
Indian
servant
just
employer.
good
nativeservants
occupiedand
worthyand lascivious,
(Platt1923,31-2)
a pivotalmoral
a dangerous
sexualterrain,
constituted
role ... it was theirverydomesticationthatplaced the The successfulexerciseof imperialand domestic
intimateworkingsof the bourgeoishome in their power and authoritywere closely linked. While
handsandintheirpernicious the successfulestablishmentand maintenanceof
insurrectionary
knowing
control.
(1995,150)
imperialdomesticitywere thoughtto depend on
In BritishIndia, the desertionof Indian servants the deferenceof servantsto a parentalauthority,
duringtheuprisingrepresentedtheseverityof the these domestic inequalities were also translated
imperialcrisison a domesticscale, and memories onto a wider imperial stage, reflectingand also
of the fate of Britishwomen and Britishhomes reproducinga hierarchybetweenrulersand ruled.
Indian servants were often represented as
after1858.
continuedto shape imperialdomesticity
Household guides served importantimperial as inferior to their British counterparts. Anne
well as domestic functions,by advising British Campbell Wilson identifiedunbridgeable racial
women on the successful managementof their differencesin physical and behavioural terms,
Indian servants.
writingthat,
As Stolerwrites,
Infinite
patienceis needed,and onemustneverforget
is
thatan Indian'sphysicalpowerofsustainedeffort
havebeencomparedand
racialisedOthersinvariably
... Whatwe areapt
a
of
as
that
so
not
that
convenEuropean
a
great
with
children,
representation
equated
on theirpartmightmore
tocalllazinessandstupidity
forimperial
poliientlyprovideda moraljustification
and
andspecific
justlybe recognizedas the inborninertnessand
ciesoftutelage,
paternalistic
discipline
weaknessoftheirrace.(Wilson1904,37)
ofcustodialcontrol.
physical
maternalistic
(1995,150)
strategies
In
similar
ways, Kate Platt associated Indian
In 1909,'Chota Mem' advised her readersto treat
with
the 'unchangeableEast' and advised
servants
theirservantswith maternalcare because of their
her
readers
that,
childlikequalities: 'Be patientwith your servants
and treatthemmore or less like children,rememfrom
Toomuchmustnotbe expected
them;theyfindit
and
of
their
to
difficult
if
them
as
things,
treat
doing
and
don't
ways
change
love
very
praise,
beringthey
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431
in India,1886-1925
Britishdomesticity
introduced.
mustbe verycautiously
innovations
(1923,
37)
And yet,Agatha Jameswrotethat,
I thinkIndiannativesmake
Frommyownexperience
excellentservants.Naturallythereare, as at home,
butI cannotagreewiththe
good and bad specimens,
of nativeswhichone often
wholesaledenunciation
hears.(1898,372)
Jameswent on to suggest that such a 'wholesale
denunciation'was due to the Britishratherthan
because 'fromlong experience
theIndian character,
at home and abroad I have learned to look on
with servantsas a nationalfailingof
fault-finding
the English' (372).
Many household guides suggestedthattheconduct ofIndian servantsdepended on theappropriate behaviouroftheBritishhousekeeper.The main
domestic and imperial responsibilitiesof British
women at home in India usually related to their
managementofIndian servants.Some writerssuggested thatBritishwomen needed to be aware of
racial differencesbetween themselves and their
servants, and that such an awareness would
help to maintaintheirfeminineas well as racial
For example,Maud Diver wrotethat,
superiority.
of British
also depended on the self-disciplining
women as household managers.The advice contained within household guides both asserted
and sought to improve the standards of white
femininityas Britishwomen travelled to set up
theirimperialhomes. It was the duty of a British
wife to supervise the domestic work of her
servants,and her domesticand imperialauthority
was seen to depend on the success of such
supervision.As CatherineDeightonwrote,
ofthehouseseesthatherservants
Unlessthemistress
tothem,
herbungalowwillnotbe
do theworkallotted
and ifshe does notknowhow
keptcleanand fresh,
willpayevenless
thingsshouldbe done,herservants
heedtoherordersfortheywillsoonfindoutthattheir
shouldbe doneand
mistress
doesnotknowhowthings
theywilldo as littleas theypossiblycan.(1912,40)
The domestic and imperial power of British
women in India was thought to rely on their
knowledge of imperial domesticity and their
successfulmanagementof Indian servants.
Imperial domesticitydepended on maintaining
standards that were constructedin gendered as
well as racial terms.Kate Platt,forexample,stated
that 'a weak, negligent,or harsh mistresswill
It is thefailureto recognizeand allowfortheracial rarelybe successfulwithher staffand the running
standards
of of thehousehold' (1923,37). In a similarway,Steel
betweenEasternand Western
differences
womento and Gardiner wrote that British women were
conduct,whichcauses so many[British]
live out theirlives in a stateof continualcauseless responsibleforthesuccess of imperialdomesticity,
and
to themselves
irritation
and suspicion,
degrading
asking:
to thosewhoservethem.(1909,65)
disheartening
whenwe haveno
How arewe to punishourservants
Diver went on to castigate Britishwomen who
their
holdontheir
mindsorbodies?- whencutting
pay
allowed themselvesto be degraded in thisway:
is illegal,andfew,ifany,haveanysenseofshame.The
answeris obvious.Makea hold.(Steeland Gardiner
we oughtrather
tomarvelathissurprising
adaptability
1907,4)
thantocomplain
becausehe cannotchangehisskinat
whatcertain
irate
ourbidding,
whichis,inplainterms,
seem to expectof him; AlthoughSteeland Gardinerwrotethat'thewhole
unthinking
Englishwomen
oftheman dutyof an Indian mistresstowardsher servantsis
thefactthattheirownignorance
ignoring
and his language,coupledwitha chronicattitude
of neithermorenorless thanitis in England' (7), they
arenotcalculated
tohelpmatters
forward.
antagonism,
proceeded to show that such 'duty' was imbued
(Diver1909,65)
with racial as well as gendered assumptionsand
In theiradvice on household management,house- implications.For a Britishwoman to 'make a hold'
hold guides advised women on theirown appro- overherIndian servantsinvolvedconstructing
and
priate behaviour and the imperial importance maintaininga position of power and authority
of maintainingcertain standards of domesticity. within the household. Other household guides
Not only was the presence and managementof representedimperialdomesticityas exceedingthe
servantscentral to the establishmentand main- usual limitsof femininity.
For Maud Diver,it was
tenanceof imperialdomesticity,
but so too was the imperativethat Britishwomen at home in India
conduct of a mistressin relationto her servants. should maintaintheirdomesticand imperialstatus
While household management relied on the by transcendingthe usual limits of feminine
imperialand domesticdiscipliningof servants,it toleranceand justice:
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432
AlisonBlunt
ifa womanwillsto keephousesuccessfully
in India,
shemustpossessbefore
all things
a largetolerance
and
a keensenseofjustice,
rarefeminine
virtues
both,even
in thesedays.She musttrainhermindto lookupon
not as
pettyfalsehoods,thefts,and uncleanliness
heinousoffences,
butas troublesome
tobe
propensities,
checked.(Diver1909,70)
quietlyand firmly
Ayahs frequentlycame from the sweeper caste
and were oftenmarriedto the sweeper working
withintheBritishhousehold.But an ayah's unique
positionas the only femaleservantenabled her to
transcendthe limitsof her lowly caste. According
to Steel and Gardiner,
in thehouse,theayah
Beingtheonlywoman-servant
should be treatedwith consideration
and respect.
Whether
shebe a sweeperornot,itshouldbe generally
a littlehumankindness,
withjustice,will
tempered
understood
thatyou holdherto be theequal of any
transform
intodevotedslaves,who
[Indianservants]
otherservant
in thehouse.(1907,87)
willspareno painstoupholdthehonourofherhouse
andtable.(68)
Similarly,Plattadvised her readersto:
See thatyourayahis treated
withrespect
bytheother
This 'human' kindness reinforcedideas of racial
evenifshebe thesweepercaste,and make
servants,
themunderstand
thatyouholdherto be equalto the
differencebetween a British mistress and her
others.(1923,64)
Indian servants.But,more than this,the devotion
of her 'slaves' was seen to uphold not only the As Figures 3 and 4 suggest, ayahs were reprefeminineand domestichonourof a Britishwoman sented alongside more senior servants and the
at home in India, but also the racial and imperial Britishfamilieswhom theyserved,suggestingthat
subjugationon whichsuch domestichonourrelied. their gender could transcend their subordinate
The only femaleservantlikelyto be employed caste status within the household. Advice on
withina Britishhouseholdwas an ayah,who acted household managementwas shaped by,and itself
as a maid forher Britishmistressand oftencared helped to shape, racial and gendered discourses
for young children. An ayah's daily duties that had implicationswithin but also beyond
included bringingearly morningtea to her mis- imperialhomes. In both cases, household guides
tress,preparingthebathroom,tidyingthebedroom not only instructed British women on their
and mendingclothes,bringingher into more inti- managementof Indian servants,but also on their
mate contactwith a Britishwife than any other own appropriatebehaviour.
servant.Moreover,'If a lady guest comes to the
house withouta servant,the ayah of the house
should attendto herwants exactlyas ifshe were a Raising Britishchildrenin India
mistress'(Steel and Gardiner1907, 86). Although The
racial, gender and class distinctionsthat
the bourgeois wives of Britishofficialsmightnot
shaped imperial domesticitybecame particularly
have been used to a lady's maid in Britain,Chota acute in the advice containedin household
guides
Mem stressed the importanceof employing an about
childrenin India. Britishchildren
raising
ayah in India even iftherewere no youngchildren born in India usually remainedat home withtheir
in the household:
parentsforseven years,beforebeingsentto school
You maythinkand say,'I haveneverbeenused to a in Britainor in a hill stationfortheirhealth and
one education.Britishmothers,theirchildrenand the
maidathome,andcanquitewellmanagewithout
I said the ayahs, nurses and nannies employed to care for
out here,'butdo letme advisedifferently.
samemyself,
butwas alwaysveryglad myhusband themembodiedtheexerciseofimperialpower on a
insistedthatI shouldhave one. The ayahis a most domestic scale in ambivalentways. Most guides
andifsheis willingandcleverwillbe a advocated thatbabies should be breastfedby their
usefulservant
tremendous
helptoyou,andyoumustownitis niceto mothers,but that wet-nurses should be used
have one womanin thehouse.It is sucha comfort in
exceptional circumstances.Anxieties about
whenyou comein hotand tiredto haveherto take
wet-nurseswere long-establishedin
employing
andputoutwhatyouwant
off,
yourshoesandclothes
and gener- Europe as well as colonized places. In Europe,
towear,tobrush,andfoldup yourthings,
them.Athomeyouhave,as a rule,only medical discoursesfocusedon the risksof a baby
allylookafter
tolookafter,
butwhenyoumarry, absorbingthe 'personalitytraits'of a nurse that
and
clothes
yourself
it is a verydifferent
thing,witha house and a husband threatenedto dilute aristocraticand bourgeois
otherthings.
andonehundred
(ChotaMem1909,61-2) blood withworking-classbreastmilk(Stoler1995).
Diver advised her readersthat,
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433
in India,1886-1925
Britishdomesticity
iiiiiiiii-~iaii-ii:iiiiiiE
i:i
:: :
-:?:-:
:::??::::
: : :: :::
%asa~?ssll~?sssll~s~i~r??i?iiriaiiiig:i:
i:i:i
iii
-ii???:ci:?i:i:-iiia:ii~iii~i:iHi::iii:,
:-:.:
:
:::
:::
-
iiii-
~:??
::*
s
'%?1
at
ta::-:,
_.
::.-_6i:
r
:~x?
~~~msk,
~'
a
..-;r
"r
?:I~?
:9-a;
r
r~*i&
cia,
:::~:~
f
S$Bg~s~~t~.
A"::1'
vil???
?~
;?~` 3~
C.~i~~:::-;::\::-:::
::~----.
I~:l:-L:
:.::.
::::
:.??:
"-i:'~iz":~:~
"-'"-:i??I
I?:iiii:i
?i
:?
:~::;:
:::::
'
"
?(
I
:--::
:;::-;::~:::
8.
?-:-ii:_-:I"
'"?
:,:
::;::~
Figure3 Colonel and Mrs Cotton at home in India, 1887
oftheBritish
Collections
Source:
154/(58),Orientaland IndiaOffice
Library)
(bypermission
Photograph
For the British officialelite in India, such embodied
anxieties were articulated in terms of racial as well
as class differences. By 1907, Steel and Gardiner
wrote that Indian wet-nurses were rarely used and
that bottle feeding was becoming increasingly
widespread. As they wrote, among British women
in India, 'opinion is very strong against [wetnurses], only to save life or in the case of very
delicate children is it recommended' (1907, 166).
But the opinion of the authors differed. As they
wrote,
The horrorof wet-nursesuniversallyexpressed,even
by missionaryladies ... [has] impressedthe authors
so deeply thattheyfeelbound to call special attention
to it ... it must surelyrouse surpriseand regretthat
even those who professto love the souls of men and
women should findthebodies in whichthesesouls are
housed morerepulsivethanthoseofa cow or a donkey
or a goat? The milkof all these,it is true- to the same
of humanitybe it said - is freefroma certainspecific
contagion;but it is a contagionfromwhich,alas! the
West is no more immunethan the East. Thereforethe
objection cannot be on this ground. What remains,
but race prejudiceto accountforthe fatuity
therefore,
lestthemilkofa nativewoman should contaminatean
when thatofthebeastswhich
Englishchild'scharacter,
perishis held to have no such power? The positionis
franklyuntenable.Thereforeif the Westernwoman is
unable to fulfilher firstdutyto her child,let her thank
Heaven forthe giftof any one able to do thatdutyfor
her.(Steel and Gardiner1907,176)
Racial anxieties about the care of British children
continued beyond infancy. The 'race prejudice'
lamented by Steel and Gardiner was frequently
aired in debates about whether Indian, British or
Anglo-Indian women should be employed to care
for British children. Although Steel and Gardiner
stressed that 'no one can take the mother's place,
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
434
AlisonBlunt
..
:::::s
::::-:::;
i)~
~
.....
~::
~
ii]II!
...
~
'i~i .....
:
::_:
: ::::::--::
::
!i
:'ii iiii!,!ii::-:-:-
Figure4 The Booker familyand theirIndian servants,c 1910
Source:
Orientaland IndiaOffice
Collections
oftheBritish
518/1(83),
Photograph
(bypermission
Library)
as regards the loving and constant watchful care of
her little ones' (Steel and Gardiner 1907, 175), they
advised that an ayah should help to care for infants
and that young children should be entrusted to the
care of a British nurse. As they explained,
shouldnotbe expectedofher.Her standardoftruthand
sincerityis as much her own and differsfromours as
muchas herstandardofpersonalcleanliness.The trainand self-control,
ing in obedience,straightforwardness,
so essentialto a childin theearliestyearsoflife,is notto
be obtainedfromher.(1923,138)
However good native servantsmay be, theyhave not
the same up-bringingand nice ways, knowledge,and Platt went on to write that
trustworthinessof a well-trained English nurse.
childrenleftto the care and companionshipof native
Besides, native servantsseldom have as much authorservantsrun a serious risk of acquiring bad habits,
ityover a child. (166-7)
of becoming unmannerly,and of developing in
undesirableways. (138-9)
Kate Platt offered similar advice in 1923, writing
that
One of these 'undesirable' developments was,
The Indian ayah has manygood points;she surrounds according to Platt, that if British children spent
her chargeswith an atmosphereof love and devotion most of their time with an ayah, they would be
and has infinite
patience.Theymakea charmingpicture likely to speak an Indian language earlier and
- the fair-hairedEnglish child and the swarthy-faced better than English. But, at the same time,
ayah withher voluminouswhitedraperies,tinklingsil- English-speaking servants - usually Anglo-Indians
verbangles,and gay scarletcoat,as she sitssoothinghim or domiciled
Europeans - were often deemed
with magnetictouch, crooningan old-world lullaby.
or castigated for their distinctive
untrustworthy
her
Takinginto considerationher home surroundings,
accent. According to Platt,
entirelackoftrainingin Europeancustomsand thegreat
difference
ofheroutlookon life,it is wonderfulthatshe
A girl born and bred in India, and broughtup in an
is as satisfactory
as she is found to be, but too much
or orphanage,may make a verysatisfactory
institution
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Britishdomesticity
in India,1886-1925
nurse, if well supervised. Some of these are of pure
and some are ofmixedparentage.To
Englishextraction
both the objectionof accent applies, forthe Eurasian
accent is very infectiousand small childrenquickly
adopt it. (1923, 137)
By the late nineteenth century,British nannies and
governesses were increasingly employed to care
for and instruct the children of the official elite.
Kate Platt believed that a British nanny could raise
children in ways that an ayah could not. She wrote
that children would be raised as members of the
Britishofficialelite if they were placed in the care of
a judicious Englishnurseor governesswho realizesthe
importance of education in obedience, self-control,
who teaches them
self-dependence,and truthfulness,,
courtesy and consideration towards servants, and
habitsof orderliness.(1923, 142)
435
Home in India should be as happy, as bright,as
'home-like'as possible. Though to the parentsit may
only appear as so manyyears to be spentin a foreign
country,an uncongenialstation- a timeof exile to be
got throughas best theycan - let thembear in mind
thatthechildrenwill always look back upon it as their
'childhood'shome,'thefirsthometheyeverknew .. . It
will be the aim of every true-heartedAnglo-Indian
mother to influenceher children as powerfullyas
possible, during the years she is with them. Those
years, alas! will be few. That time will be limited.
(120-22)
Imperial domesticity in India was marked by many
separations between mothers and their children,
and also between wives and their husbands.
Travellingbeyond the home
The imperial qualities fostered by a Britishnurse or
governess spanned education, manners and speaking English with an acceptable accent. But the
ability of a Britishnurse or governess to fostersuch
imperial qualities was influenced by class as well
as nationality. Steel and Gardiner cautioned British
mothers about the class of British women
employed as nannies in India. As they wrote,
The lives of British mothers in India were usually
marked by long separations from their children.
The domestic roles of memsahibs as wives and
mothers were often in conflict,with Britishwomen
having to decide whether to stay in Britain with
their children or in India with their husband.
Although an increasing number of children were
sent to school in hill stations, most born to civilian
We learnalso thatas a ruletheclass ofEnglishservants and military officialswere sent to school in Britain,
who go out to India are not the best, requirewaiting usually from the ages of 7-18. In their guide, Steel
upon, and are notalways reliable... forchildrenout of and Gardiner wrote that 'the decision to set the
arms, a good, well-principled English nurse was claims of the husband above those of the children
essential.(Steel and Gardiner1907,204)
is a wise one' (Steel and Gardiner 1907, 204). In
1909, Maud Diver addressed the difficulties of
In her household guide published in 1887,
to decide between
Elizabeth Garrett advised British women on their having
the rivalclaims of India and England;of husband and
maternal responsibilities in India and suggested
child.Sooneror laterthelurkingshadow of separation
that these responsibilities were greater in India
takes definiteshape; assertsitselfas a harsh reality;a
than in Britain:
grim presence, whispering the inevitable question:
A motherwho reallydesiresthehighestwelfareofher
'Which shall it be?' A question not lightlyto be
child has, if possible,a heavier responsibility
in India
answered: if indeed, in generalised form,it can be
than in England. There- she may procurethe assistansweredat all. (1909,37-8)
ance of othersin traininghim; his surroundings,at all
As she stressed to her readers in Britain,
events,must be European; his attendantsthose of his
own race. In thiscountrythemotheris usually theone
Love him as she may,it costs morefora wife,and still
fromwhom a child derives his earliestimpressionsmore for a mother,to stand loyallyby her husband
in India, than the shelteredwives of England can
impressions which cannot fail to influencehim in
after-life.
Fromher he gains his firstideas of rightand
conceive.(38)
wrong, and it will be her aim, as he increases in Diver also wrote that the
pain of such a decision
to counteractany evil to whichhe may be
intelligence,
could
be
eased
considerably by the husband:
exposed, fromhis foreignsurroundings.(1887, 106)
For Garrett, a mother's responsibilities extended
from her own behaviour to the imperial home
itself:
There remainsalso the man himself,who may greatly
help or hinderher in her bitterhour.Mere selfishness
more dependent
apart,some men are unquestioningly
on theirwives than others:some again will be jealous
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436
AlisonBlunt
of theirvery children,and will stoutlyrefuseto see
why theyand theircomfortshould be sacrificedto a
'woman's fad': while, on the other hand, there are
always cheerfulsouls who in no way object to an
occasional spell of bachelorlife,thoughthe wives of
such are not oftenas gratefulas theymightbe forthis
amiable idiosyncrasy- simplifymattershow it may.
Happily, however, there do exist men and women
whom love has so triumphantly
incorporatedthateach
is readyas theotherto faceany sacrificemarriagemay
demand of them.And verilytheyhave theirreward!
(40-41)
Although Diver remained neutral in her advice,
she made two important points to her readers.
First, she advised that a woman should return to
Britain with her young children to see that they
were settled, either with theirextended family or at
a nursery boarding school. Second, she recommended that a woman should be separated from
neither her husband nor her children for longer
than three or four years at a time. She stressed the
pain of such separations to those readers who
might be critical of British women living in India:
Think of it, English wives and mothers,and let the
thoughtkeep the door of your lips when you are
tempted to sit in judgement on the Anglo-Indian
woman and all her works! (41-2)
Steel and Gardiner advised British wives and
mothers that if it was impossible to send their
children to school in Britain,they should be sent to
a hill station.14As they wrote,
the proper course is to send the elder childrenaway
under a responsiblenurse or governess,or to school,
and forthe motherto staydown withherhusband for
as long as she can. His risks, his discomforts,are
infinitelygreaterthan those run by the chicks in a
healthyclimate,and most mothersat home have to
send theirchildrento school. (1907,204)
But Kate Platt sounded a note of caution about the
suitability of hill stations for Britishchildren. In hill
stations, she wrote,
dancing, and singing,all of which are natural and
healthy instincts,very stronglydeveloped in some.
There should, however,be strictmoderationin the
numberof social functionswhicha child is allowed to
attend.(1923,142-3)
Although young Britishchildren and their mothers
were thought to be safer in the healthier climate of
the 'hills', Platt discerned the risks of infection
from within the British community itself.
Most household guides agreed that a woman's
main domestic responsibility was to remain with
her husband in India ratherthan her children when
they were sent to Britain. But such guides also
stressed the importance of travel by British
women, usually away from their husbands, during
the hot season. Such seasonal travel to hill stations
was deemed necessary for their good health, and
travelling away from home and husband in India
for several months each year was seen as preferable to returning to Britain for several years at a
time. According to Steel and Gardiner, such
a seasonal relocation was the only way to prevent a
loss of sleep and damage to the nervous system
through spending the hot season on the plains:
the constanttalkingabout the heat is so depressing,
thatthemerethoughtofbeingable to getcool by a trip
to the hills makes us betterable to endure it while it
lasts,takingaway,as itdoes, thefeelingofhopelessness
whichgenerallysetsin aboutJulyorAugust.(Steeland
Gardiner1907,194)
These authors also suggested that a woman's
domestic responsibilities could extend over space,
writing that,
a good wifecan do much to keep her husband's home
in theplains comfortable
duringherannual visitto the
hills: she can make wise arrangementsbeforeleaving,
and can even send him weekly bills of fare,lists of
servants'wages, &c. (194)
Other commentators were more critical of women
travelling away from their husbands and their
Indian homes to spend several months in a hill
theymay have more social lifethanis good forthem. station. In 1886, the Calcutta Review lamented the
The innumerableparties,dances, and elaborateenter- break-up of homes by women spending part of the
tainmentsforchildren,which are a strikingfeatureof
year in hill stations. Such seasonal separations led,
fashionablehill stations,make the childrenblase and
according to the journal, to 'semi-estrangement, or
dissatisfiedwith simple pleasures; and they become at least
indifference',because,
over-tiredand excited.Further,
theyare apt to acquire
Husband and wife have learntto seek theirpleasures
infectiousdiseases, which are always prevalent in
centresoccupied by a floatingpopulation of children
apart. A 'home' if it can bear the name, whence the
doubt
the
No
all
of
the
from
genius of thehome - thewifeand mistresspresiding
country.
coming
parts
is absenthalftheyearis at best a hollow pretence.The
companionshipof otherchildrenis good, especiallyin
the case of an only child. Most childrenlove acting,
takingfor'betterand worse' has on one side become a
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in India,1886-1925
Britishdomesticity
brokencompact.To takeforthebetter,
viz,thecool
weather- to forsakefortheworse,thehot- has become
theorderoftheday.(Calcutta
Review
1886a,352)
Maud Diver (1909,20) quoted a verse by Kipling:
Jack'sownJillgoesup thehill,
To MurreeorChakrata;
and diesin theplains,
Jackremains,
AndJillremarries
soonafter.
437
fromtheirhusbands and homes on the plains was
seen to threatennotonlydomesticsecuritybut also
the legitimacyof imperialrule.
Conclusions
From the late 1880s to the mid 1920s, an unprecedented number of household guides were
Diver describedmarriedlifein India as:
published to advise middle-class Britishwomen
a lifehedgedabout withdangers,difficulties,
and on settingup imperial homes in India. In their
hardshipsrarelydreamedof in our placid English detailedadvice on householdmanagement,raising
homes... IfJill'sconduct
isnotalwaysas exemplary
as Britishchildrenin India and travellingbeyondthe
itmightbe,itis certain
thatherlifeand surroundingshome, these guides helped women to translate
arenotalwaysofthemostelevating
(20) domesticdiscoursesover imperialspace. Geogradescription.
Moreover, Diver praised the small minorityof phies of imperial domesticitywere embodied in
wives who chose to remainwiththeirhusbands on complexways in the relationshipsbetweenBritish
women, their children and their servants. The
the plains duringthehot season:
implications of imperial domesticity
whiff
of political
Jillis notalwayswaftedhillward
bythefirst
extendedbeyond the boundaries of the home, as
hotairfromthedreadfurnace
to come.She does,on
bitterand shown by the contestedplace of Britishwomen in
occasion,standby her husband,through
fireandfrost;
andwhatsucha standard India, theirreproductionof imperialpower relasweet,through
ofwifehood
coststhebravewomenwholiveup to it, tionson a household scale, and the significanceof
establishingBritishhomes in India on nationaland
onlythewivesofIndiaknow.(21)
as well as domesticscales. While houseimperial
For Diver,maritalloyaltyand fidelity
wenthand in
hold guides emphasizedthedomesticrolesoftheir
hand and were best representedby theminorityof
femalereaders,theseroleswere inseparablybound
women who remained at home with their huswith imperial power. At a time of political
bands on the plains all year round. In contrast, up
ferment,the guides sought to maintainimperial
those women who travelledto hill stationsrisked
and controlon a domesticscale by concennot only domestic disruption but also marital power
on the unequal relationships between
breakdown. Unlike the 'brave women' who trating
Britishwomen and theirIndian servantsand on
remainedby theirhusband's side,
the importanceof raisingBritishchildrenin India.
thegrasswidowin theHillshas pitfalls
moredefinite In their advice to middle-class Britishwomen,
to contendwith;and perhapsthetwomostinsidious household guides both assumed and reiterated
areamateurtheatricals
and themilitary
menon leave. feminizeddiscoursesof
the appropridomesticity,
It is hardlytoomuchto saythatoneor otherofthese ate behaviour of women as
wives
housekeepers,
dominant
in Hill stationlifeis accountable
factors
for and
and their central importance in
mothers,
halfthedomestic
ofIndia.(23-4)
tragedies
establishingand maintainingimperial power reThe seasonal travel by the Britishwives of civil lations. Discourses of imperial domesticitywere
servantsand armyofficers
was thoughtto threaten embodied by Britishwomen, theirchildrenand
domesticsecurityin India. Butmorethanthis,their theirservantsin gender-,race- and class-specific
travelwas also thoughtto threatenimperialrule ways.
because of the uneasy coexistenceof social and
Many feministand post-colonial criticshave
officiallife in hill stationssuch as Simla, which traced the spatialityof identitiesand the imporcame to be representedas a place of frivolity
and tance of destabilizingbinariesbetweenpublic and
excess. Hill stations were seen as necessary for privatespheresand between'self' and 'other'.And
continue
maintaining a healthy, racially pure British yet,manystudiesofimperialdomesticity
populationin India and, in particular,thepresence to posit the links between space and identityin
and health of Britishwomen in India, on whom fixedand polarized termsby reproducingimagiimperial rule relied. But at the same time, the nativegeographiesof 'self' and 'other'on a houseseasonal travel of women to hill stations away hold scale and delimitinggendered and racially
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438
AlisonBlunt
exclusive spheres. Unlike attemptsto interpret
imperial domesticity in ways that delineate
separate spheres of home and empire, I have
examined the ways in which domestic life in
BritishIndia was inextricably
bound up with imperial rule,theways in whichBritishwomen were
advised to foster both domestic and imperial
values in their Indian homes, and the ways in
which theywere both located withinand mobile
beyond theirhomes. While some commentators
argued thattheplace of Britishwomen at home in
India exacerbated racial segregationand antagonism, others maintained that the presence of
Britishwomen was essential in reproducingthe
social, moral and domesticvalues thatlegitimated
imperialrule. The household guides discussed in
this paper both assumed and repeated the domestic and imperial roles of theirreaders and the 6
domestic and imperial spaces of theirhomes in
India.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thankRon Martin,JaneWills and
three anonymous referees for their extremely
helpful comments on this paper, and Derek
7
Gregoryforall his help withmy research.
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
It is hard to overestimatethe popularityof the song
Home,sweethome.It was firstperformedin the opera
Clari in 1823 and was immediatelyand consistently
popular over the course of the nineteenthcentury,
becoming 'one of the most popular airs of the
Victorianera and one thatprima donnas were particularlyfond of interpolatinginto other operas'
(White1972,88). Its composer,HenryRowleyBishop,
received a knighthoodin 1842, and was the first
musicianto be honouredin thisway.
See Burton (1996) for more on the Indian visitors
who travelledto Britainto work at and to visit the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition.
For more on masculine discourses of imperial
adventure,see Dawson (1994), Phillips (1997) and
Tosh (1995).
The CalcuttaReviewwas a fortnightly
periodicalfor
Britishresidentsin India which consistedof lengthy 8
articlesand book reviewsand which,over thecourse
of the nineteenthcentury,included a number of
articleson the place of Britishwomen in India.
to Britishratherthan 9
Unlike Dawson, I am referring
Englishmen and women throughoutthispaper. The
BritishEmpireincorporatedEngland,Scotland,Wales
and Ireland as well as more distantand extensive
territoriesthroughoutthe world. Then, as now,
referencesto 'England' often served to represent
to Britishrather
'Britain'morebroadly.I am referring
than English subjectsin order to resistratherthan
repeat this imperial elision and to recognize the
involvementof Irish,Scottishand Welsh men and
womenin theBritish,
ratherthantheEnglish,Empire.
In doing so, I differfromJennySharpe,who writes
thatshe
use[s] Englishand Englandin theirhistoricalsense,
thatis, to designatea nationalculturethatbrings
the 'Celtic fringe'of Scotland,Wales and Cornwall
under its hegemony.(Sharpe 1993,167)
To describesuch an imperialelisionas purely'historical' denies itspersistencetodayand it is strikingthat
Sharpe omits Ireland,but includes Cornwall, from
her listof the 'Celtic fringe'.
Britishimperial rule was regarded by Dawson in
unequivocallypositiveterms:
Comparedwiththeconqueringnationsof thepast,
the
whetherforthe mildnessof its administration,
and theequal justicethatit
purityof its intentions,
seeks to deal to all classes as well as races,and to
everycreed alike, the rule of the Englishin India
standsout on thepage ofhistoryas a phenomenon
thatreallyappears unique. (CalcuttaReview1886b,
358)
Household guides were published in Britain and
India during this period and included Chota Mem
(1909), Deighton(1912), Diver (1909),Garrett(1887),
I O R (1909), James (1898), Platt (1923), Steel and
Gardiner(1907) and Wilson(1904).Althoughit is not
possible to estimatethe numberof readersforeach
of books and frequentreferbook, the proliferation
ences made to themin lettersand memoirsby British
women livingin India suggesttheirsustainedpopularityover thisperiod. See Blunt(1997) formore on
lettersand memoirswrittenby Britishwomen about
theirimperial homes in India. This paper concentrateson published guides ratherthan the personal
recordsof Britishwomen in India to explore representations of imperial domesticityin the public
domain. The paper also focuseson Britishwomenin
India because theywere largelyresponsibleforestablishing and maintaining homes, and household
guides were exclusively addressed to them. The
importantand neglectedarea of domesticmasculinitiesis beginningto attractsome criticalattention(see,
forexample,Tosh 1999).
The term 'memsahib' originated in the Bengal
Presidencyfrom'madam-sahib'and came to be used
in British colonies throughoutAsia and Africa
(Chaudhuri1988).
See Anderson (1991) for furtherdiscussion of an
'imperialaristocracy'.
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in India,1886-1925
Britishdomesticity
the
10 Following suppressionoftheuprisingin 1858and
ofpower fromtheEast India Companyto
thetransfer
the BritishCrown, a Select Committeeon Colonization and Settlementwas appointed to examine the
prospects of British colonization in India. British
colonizationwas deemed impracticabledue to the
climate,the lack of land and the large Indian population.Ratherthanpromotecolonization,the government instead followed a 'policy of conciliationand
co-option',which included the reorganizationof the
army in India, the reformof the police service,the
growthof the Indian Civil Service,the assurance of
landholding rights and the tolerance of religious
difference.The establishmentof permanentBritish
homes in India remainedunusual and was largely
confined to tea and indigo planters and their
families.Unlike other parts of the BritishEmpire
such as Australia,Canada and New Zealand, the
lack of land forcolonistsand the large Indian population meant that therewere few opportunitiesfor
colonizationand settlement
by Britishlabourersand
artisans.Althoughan increasingnumber of British
homes were established in India after1858, these
were morelikelyto existon a temporaryratherthan
a permanentbasis, housing the 'aristocracy'of civil
and theirwives. These memservants,armyofficers
bers of the officialeliteusually returnedto Britainon
theirretirement
(Arnold 1983; BritishParliamentary
Papers 1857-59).
11 See, forexample,Vickery(1993) fora discussion of
the historiographyof the gendered constitutionof
public and privatespheres.This paper concentrates
on the geographicalas well as the historiographical
limitsof theorizingimperialdomesticityin termsof
separatespheres.
12 Beforethe Census of 1911, the term'Anglo-Indian'
usually referredto Britishresidentsin India; since
then it has referredto the descendantsof relationships between European men and Indian women. I
am referring
to Anglo-Indiansin thislattersense (see
Anthony1969).
13 The total number of Britishsubjects living in the
NorthWesternProvincesin 1872 was 12 433.
14 Formoreon hillstationsin BritishIndia,see Kennedy
(1996) and Kenny(1995).
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