The Governess, from Jane Austen’s World. This is a nice precis.
Here’s a BBC podcast on the subject in the form of a discussion of Ruth Brandon’s book “Other People’s Daughters: The Life and Times of the Governess.” I think the title says it all.
Over at Literary Detectives there’s a nice blog about Governesses in Jane Austen.
This Wikipedia article has a section on Notable governesses one of whom is Marie Curie. Governess and Nobel Prize winner.
About halfway down the page of this V&A article on some paintings is one on The Governess by Richard A Redgrave. The article is a bit High Schoolish in tone, but it’s quite interesting.
The London Life also has some discussion of Governesses.
And then, because this a just a nice resource, here’s a Pinterest board on Regency era gowns
Lastly, I leave you with this exchange which proves the importance of good website navigation because this site The Loiterer — does not have it. But some interesting stuff here!