Ann Hanslip
Ann Hanslip was one of the first female clerks to be employed by Prudential and the daughter of one of the company’s founders. When she left the company in 1873 the company minutes remarked: ‘this board, hearing that the daughter of their late solicitor Mr Hanslip was about to be married, request her acceptance of 20 guineas as an acknowledgement of their esteem for her father who was one of the early promoters of the company, and who in its early stages rendered it essential services.’
Ann Hunnings Hanslip was born in 1844 in Lincolnshire. Her father Captain Charles Hanslip, a solicitor and ‘parliamentary agent’, was instrumental in the establishment of Prudential in 1848. He was one of the first directors and many of the earliest Prudential shareholders appear to have been recruited from amongst his business and social contacts. In this respect, he used his considerable influence to further the interests of the new company. Charles Hanslip’s association with Prudential ceased on his retirement in 1871, but his daughter’s employment by Prudential in the same year ensured that, for a time, the family retained close links with the company.
In 1871, Prudential became the first large city company to appoint women clerks. The Board resolved that all female clerks should be the daughters of professional men, aged between 18 and 25, and should not have been employed elsewhere. All applicants also had to pass an entrance examination in arithmetic, spelling and handwriting. The creation of the Ladies Department provided an opportunity for middle class women to earn a living at a time when their other employment options were limited. Their work consisted mainly of copying out letters and Industrial Branch policy documents, for which they earned a salary of £30 per annum, with a yearly rise of £10. The initial intake comprised four female clerks, one of whom was Ann Hanslip. The first supervisor was Miss A Wood who worked for Prudential until 1891.
The Ladies Department grew rapidly: by 1879 there were over 200 female clerks and by 1904 Prudential was the second largest employer of lady clerks in Britain after the Post Office. Female clerks were entirely segregated from male clerks with separate entrances for men and women. Also, lady clerks enjoyed exclusive use of a dining room, recreation room, library and roof terrace.
Ann Hanslip left Prudential in 1873 on her marriage to George Rutter Fletcher (in common with many other city firms at this time, Prudential did not employ married women). She had five children and died in 1917.
