Businesswomen and financial management: Three eighteenth-century case studies

This article considers how three English businesswomen managed the financial aspects of their enterprises in the 'long' eighteenth century. The discussion focuses on two areas: their ability to keep adequate records and their management of trade credit. Whereas earlier studies of women's credit transactions have argued for its specifically 'feminine' nature, it will be demonstrated that men and women conducted business credit dealings on gender neutral lines. Three case studies are presented to show that the success or failure of a woman's business depended on her commercial competence, not her gender.