** Financial accessory **

"The first major challenges by Victorian 'strong-minded women' to patriarchal control were in the area of marriage law.  The common-law doctrine of coverture ensured that a women's legal identity was subsumed in that of her husband's upon marriage.  In effect, the law of coverture regarded the husband and wife as 'one person': the husband.  This meant that upon marriage a husband had full control of his wife's personal property and any earnings she acquired during the marriage; he had absolute authority over their home and children...If he deserted his wife, she could not sue for divorce and had no custody rights to their children" (Arnold, XLIX).

In the middle and upper classes, a woman's role was not in the business or financial role. Although she maintained the financial records for her family, she was not sent to work as the lower class women were forced to do.  Her responsibilities in the home extended to making sure that her family were housed, clothed, and fed properly using the available funds her husband produced.  She would not have lead a company, discussed the future of property, or sat at the conference-room table with the men.  If her father died leaving she as the only heir, a woman's husband would have taken charge of the business.