Abstract
This article discusses how three illegitimate children of a poor maidservant built their lives in Finland at the end of the long nineteenth century. The eldest followed in her mother's footsteps by becoming a maidservant with an illegitimate child of her own, but the two younger ones cut loose from the traditional setting of the family, both geographically and socio-economically. They joined the middle class, which was then emerging and taking shape at the turn of the century. This article shows how the rise of the younger Ahrenberg siblings was made possible by the new social structures in Finnish society: increasing educational openings for common people; economic liberalization; and the emergence of new career opportunities within the expanding field of public sector social work. The article also analyzes the impact these changes had on the self-understanding of the siblings. Moreover, the article sheds light on the means of mutual assistance by which the Ahrenberg siblings helped each other seize the new opportunities and fight the insecurity of Finnish society at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
