Parlour boarder

A parlour boarder was a special class of lodger who lived with another family, ate at their family table, but in addition had the use of a personal sitting room - the parlour. The term also applied to a special category of boarder at a boarding school, where the lodger would be the child of deceased and/or wealthy parent/s, put in charge of the headmistress of the school and while attending classes with the rest, was nevertheless treated as a cut above the other students, possibly even having a servant to attend her. Frequently the minor had a rich guardian somewhere, or a fortune in the hands of trustees left for the education and maintenance of the child. Parlour boarders might have had a difficult position in the household, for often there was little affection and even resentment directed at the child by other members of the family, on account of their 'special status' and its attendant privileges. Parlour boarder were often the children of wealthy widows or widowers would couldn't cope or simply did want want to look after the child themselves, or they might have been the offspring of guardian stationed in some capacity abroad, as so many were in India, where a young child might not safely accompany their guardian/s.