What's An Irish Biddy?

In Grace's Pictures Grace McCaffery goes to work as a domestic servant. A vast many young Irish immigrant women were employed in the households of middle class families, like the Parkers in my story.

This was the era of the Industrial Revolution, and it came to housewives as well. Once a family could afford to hire a servant, they did so because although technology was advancing at a fast pace at the turn of the twentieth century, household chores were still difficult and time consuming. And the woman of this era sought to spend her time at more edifying endeavors such as gardening, working for social reform, and of course, the suffrage movement. (You see Grace on the cover with her Brownie camera and you might be tempted to think she had a lot of leisure time on her hands, but if you read the story you'll see that her leisure time was scarce and precious.)

Grace's mistress was not a pleasant lady. She referred to Grace as her "Irish Biddy." It was a bit of a derogatory term aimed at Irish immigrant women who commonly had the name Brigid or Bridget or Biddy for short. St. Brigid is one of the Irish patron saints, so like the name Patrick for boys, it was widely used.

When I was researching Grace's role as a domestic servant, I found a fascinating book called The Irish Bridget, Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930 by Margaret Lynch-Brennan. The author uses the cases of real women and sometimes even their own words to describe what their lives were like.

What did an Irish Bridget do? She was cook, maid, waitress, child nurse, and laundress (according to the book.) Not always did they do all those things, but often that was the case.

A description of the typical girl who became an Irish Biddy is given in the book.

"For the most part, they were quite young girls...the median age of emigrant Irish females was about twenty-one. These girls were generally unmarried Roman Catholics who hailed from rural Ireland, and as the nineteenth century progressed into the twentieth, increasingly they came from the rural west of Ireland, where traditional Gaelic Irish culture persisted longer than it did elsewhere in Ireland. They were the daughters of people of limited means, rather than the children of either wealthy or extremely poor parents." 

In other words, they were poor and had little other choice for a future than to come to America. They had to learn their chores, however, as much of the housework done in North America was not typical in Ireland. They were hard working and determined women, however, and earned their place in the American economy.

I have great respect for them, and for Grace's character who is my representation of these women. I have found some young Irish servants in the census when researching my husband's family. Not mine, though. My ancestors were a little less than middle class. What about yours? Any Irish Biddys in your family? I'd love to hear stories!

The Ellis Island Photographer

Italian immigrant photographed by A. Sherman, NYPL file.

From the NYPL file, photograph of Scottish boys taken by Augustus Sherman

It wasn't an official duty, but Augustus F. Sherman, Ellis Island Registry Clerk in the early part of the 20th century was responsible for many of the iconic photographs of immigrants you've seen on web sites and on the covers of books.

Who Was Augustus F. Sherman?

National Park Service photograph.

American-born himself, Augustus F. Sherman was born in Lynn, PA, just as the Civil War was concluding. Most of the information I found online about Augustus Sherman said not much is known about him. But by using Ancestry.com, I found out a little bit more than what appears in most of his biographies.

He was never married and was the second surviving son born to Estella T. and Henry Sherman. He had an older brother named Henry. We know Augustus had a niece who donated his photos to Ellis Island in 1960 and her name was Mary W. Sherman Peters. In 1880 he was living with his parents in Pennsylvania along with some boarders and servants. But by 1900 Estella was a widow and she and Augustus were living in New York City with one boarder. By 1910 Estella and Augustus were boarders in someone else's home. Augustus's occupation is given in the census as chief clerk at Immigration Service.

On Ancestry I found a Sons of the American Revolution application that gives Estella's death date as Jan. 23, 1912, and Henry's as Nov. 24, 1887. There is a short obituary on Estella quoted from a newspaper on Rootsweb that supports the 1912 date.

The Ellis Island website states that both Augustus and his older brother were clerks at Ellis Island. His brother quit to become a lawyer.

Sherman's Photographs

Dutch Woman photographed by A. Sherman on Ellis Island,  from the NYPL file.

At any rate, we know immigrants in their native garb fascinated Sherman. His photography was not part of his job, but thankfully he took all those photographs because they are a tremendous historical record of the ancestors of the majority of Americans today.

This little Swedish girl doesn't look too pleased. Photographed by A. Sherman on Ellis Island, from the NYPL file.

It's enthralling to see the expressions on these people's faces. Often they were being detained, that's why he was able to catch up with them, and sometimes they were even deported after these photographs were taken. The vast majority of immigrants were registered and moved along, but we've all heard stories of those who were deported for reasons of illness, mental problems, or because they were deemed likely to become a public charge.

Serbians photographed on Ellis Island by A. Sherman, from the NYPL file.

Sherman took over 200 photographs of immigrants. Once the newcomers got to Battery Park to begin their new lives in America, they shed their native garb, so these photographs might have been the last time they wore these costumes.

Algerian immigrant photographed on Ellis Island by A. Sherman, NYPL file.

They wanted to fit in with Americans. Funny, isn't it, how now people come together for festivals and celebrations and work hard to recreate those historical outfits.

Russian immigrants on Ellis Island photographed by A. Sherman, from the NYPL file.

Photo by  Clickr Bee

Augustus Sherman in Grace's Pictures

In my novel, Grace's Pictures, Grace McCaffery has her photograph taken on Ellis Island by Augustus Sherman. The photograph captures her fear and discomfort at that moment. Later, when she sees that photograph, she is not pleased to see that in her own face.

Author's paternal grandparents, Margaret and Lloyd Peters

I cherish the photographs I have of my ancestors. There is one of my grandparents holding up a dollar bill. My father told me it was the first dollar they made in their new store. It was a special moment for them captured in time before I was born. I'm glad I got to see it. What about you? Any special photographs of your ancestors?

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Ellis Island Faces

If these were your ancestors, you'll be interested in Grace's Pictures.

That Puzzling Brownie Camera

French Brownie ad showing a child using the camera.

While the Brownie's operation was made to be pretty simple, today there are things about them that are not so intuitive. After all, what's more simple than what we have today? We don't even mess with film!

There are many Brownie's out there for sale on eBay, Etsy, and flea markets. Most are pretty inexpensive, so collecting Brownies is an attractive hobby. But there are different models that operate differently and take different film.

Fortunately, the Brownie Camera Guy is here to help! If you're at all interested in Brownies, you should visit his web page, The Brownie Camera Page. His name is Chuck and he has some helpful videos, like this one showing you how to open a Brownie box camera (something I struggled with at first.)




Are you a collector? Did you have a Brownie as a kid?