Mary King n. Kerr (12 December 1905 to 25 May 1998) was a bondager and domestic servant who was born in Bellshill and died in Edinburgh, Scotland.
[1] The very physical work involved planting and digging potatoes and turnips, mucking out the cow barn, repairing sacks, loading, driving a cart and more.
[1] In the 19th century, Borders area of Scotland and Northumberland in England, large numbers of rural women and girls were made to work as 'bondagers'.
What this system of work meant was that, in order to secure a contract (or bond) of employment with a farmer, a married ploughman would need another person willing to work long hours in the fields, normally a woman (his wife, his daughter or, if he had neither, this meant employing a complete stranger).
[2] This feudal system was unpopular with the 'hinds' (the ploughmen) as they were expected to provide bed and board, clean clothes and pay for the woman when they would often only have one room for their entire family to live in.