This thesis is a study of a specific occupational field and of its development as a role for women, considering both the occupation itself and its participants. It covers a time span of some 40 years between the time when women first began to enter the clerical workforce c1870 and the onset of the Great War, which brought many changes affecting both the occupational culture and the workers within it. It is essentially a study of an emerging middle-class gender specific occupation and of the life-styles and experiences of the members of it. This is an under-researched area which offers a wealth of socio-historical data providing insights into a hitherto marginalised aspect of Victorian and Edwardian society. The study begins by examining the role contemporaneously, continuing with analysis of sociological factors related to the modern day world of office work. It then moves from a sociological perspective to a socio-historical one, studying the early history of office work and concentrating on a detailed study of both the women of the period and their entry to the clerical workforce. Here the particular focus is on the experiences of the women pioneers within this occupational role, seeking to study the substantive area both analytically and empathetically.