Meaning
A woman employed to work in a dairy producing butter and cheese.
Description
Dairymaids milked cows, skimmed cream, churned butter and made cheese in the dairy of a farm or large estate. The work required cleanliness, skill and knowledge of the processes that converted milk into storable products. Dairymaids were employed on farms throughout the country and were a common feature of both working farms and ornamental model dairies on aristocratic estates. The role was almost exclusively female. Many dairymaids lived in the farmhouse as domestic servants. The mechanisation of dairy processing in the late 19th century gradually reduced the need for skilled hand dairying.
Also Known As
Dairy Woman, Milkmaid
Commonly Found In
- Census Returns
- Parish Registers
- Estate Records
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