Minding Baby

The painting depicts what some Victorians called ‘the respectable poor’, who were seen to be hard-working and thrifty, making the best of their opportunities. The cottage and its contents are plain but in sound condition. The book is probably a copy of the Bible. The young woman’s knitting is not a hobby but a chance to save or earn money. The mothers of even the youngest children in such communities usually had to work to make sure that the family could afford food, so a relative or neighbour would look after (‘mind’) the baby for a while.