mothers-in-all-but-fact

Updated: May 28, 2025

It seems almost indelicate to apply this phrase to the noble army of British spinsters, for the most part dignified, worthy women, comprising ratepayers, householders, philanthropists, mothers-in-all-but-fact working parochially, among the poor, in hospitals, schools, homes, offices, and studios on public bodies, on the staff of newspapers generally cheerful and helpful, sometimes clever, often charming, occasionally a little narrow perhaps, but on the whole upholding the best traditions of their sex, and of course never admitting that they would like to have married.

Maud Churton Braby - Modern marriage and how to bear it