A governess was a woman hired by wealthy families to live in their home and teach their children, especially during the 1800s and early 1900s. Before public schools became common, many upper-class families employed a governess to educate their daughters and younger sons in subjects like reading, writing, arithmetic, history, French, music, and art.

The governess occupied an unusual position in the household. She wasn't a servant, since she was educated and worked as a teacher, but she also wasn't part of the family. She typically ate meals alone, taught lessons in a special schoolroom, and lived in a small bedroom in the house. Many governesses were women from respectable families who had fallen on hard times and needed to earn money, but they often felt lonely and isolated in their employer's home.

You'll encounter governesses in many classic books set in the Victorian era. In Jane Eyre, the title character works as a governess at a grand estate. In Mary Poppins, the magical nanny is similar to a governess because she cares for and teaches the Banks children.

Today, most children attend regular schools, so governesses are quite rare. However, a few extremely wealthy families still employ private tutors who work similarly to the governesses of the past.