Labourer

This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.

By the mid-19th century, the typical village was sharply divided between the landowning class and the landless, voteless and largely illiterate labourers.