International Women's Day 2025
- Published:
- 06 March 2025
International Women’s Day (IWD), is celebrated annually on March 8 and celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year we're introducing Mary Herring who was the Matron at The Workhouse & Infirmary.
Women’s stories make up a huge part of what we know about the history of the site. In the nineteenth century, many professions excluded women altogether, and many more forced women to leave their careers if they married. The workhouse system provided an exception to this, the Matron.
This was a role where married women were actively sought out, with their husbands working alongside them as Master. The Matron oversaw the day-to-day care and discipline of female paupers and children, and could act in the Master’s place when he was unavailable.
While she still reported to her husband, and the (nearly entirely male) Board of Guardians, clerks, and Poor Law Commission, it was a relative position of professional responsibility and authority for a married woman at the time.
This was showcased at Southwell by Mary Herring. Mary and her husband, Joseph, had taken on the roles of Master and Matron in 1855, and brought with them several children, including their eldest daughter, Elizabeth.
In 1865, Master Joseph Herring’s health began to suffer, and over the following years his wife took on more of their joint responsibilities, while Elizabeth nursed him. By 1867, Master Herring was so ill that he was unfit for his post, but while this would usually result in the Matron and their family also leaving and a new married couple replacing them, it was decided that Matron Herring would run The Workhouse alone. This continued until George Shaw was appointed as the new Master, and they worked alongside each other. In 1869, it was decided that the first paid nurse would be hired, and utilising her experience nursing her father, Elizabeth Herring was appointed.
The Herring women clashed with Master Shaw in the following years, and eventually all three were asked to leave their posts, but their story is an example of women persevering in a professional sphere that wasn’t always welcoming.
The photograph of Mary Herring and the Herring family in this article are cared for in the collection at The Workhouse & Infirmary.
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