Wife to Widow: Lives, Laws, and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Montreal

by Bettina Bradbury

This monumental study of two generations of women who married either before or after the Patriote rebellions of 1837-38 explores the meaning of the transition from wife to widowhood in early nineteenth-century Montreal. Bettina Bradbury weaves together the individual biographies of twenty women, against the backdrop of collective genealogies of over 500, to offer new insights into the law, politics, demography, religion, and domestic life of the time. She shows how women from all walks of life interacted with and shaped Montreal’s culture, customs, and institutions, even as they laboured under the shifting conditions of patriarchy. Wife to Widow provides a rare window into the significance of marriage and widowhood.

Genres: History, Canada

520 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2011

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "Wife to Widow", gender historian Bettina Bradbury outlines the lives of Montreal widows in the 19th century and how their status as wives, widows, and women within the city intersected with patriarchy, laws, and politics of the period. Using records from women who had married in Lower Canada/Quebec in the 1820s and 1840s (marked by the rebellion), Bradbury traces the lives of these women from the early days of their marriages (how they registered to marry, where they married, how they set up homes, and how marriage contracts/laws shaped their marriage and widowhood) to widowhood (the early days of funeral arrangements, death notices, settling estates, how they lived outside of marriage, and what carework was involved in their last days) to explore how ideas around patriarchy, law, and even politics shaped the daily experiences of these women. Situating her study in Montreal, which in this period transformed from pre-industrial artisan town to a modern capitalist metropolis, Bradbury is able to explore the complexity of marriage contracts, wills, and legal systems regarding marriage thanks to the unique positioning of Montreal that followed both French civil law and English Common law and its use of "dower". Outside from exploring how patriarchal institutions impacted Montreal widows, Bradbury pushes back on stereotypes regarding the Victorian widow as existing entirely within private/domestic space, instead demonstrating the numerous ways widowhood involved public performance and allowed some widows to engage in public, political spheres. Incredibly detailed and immersive, this book serves as an excellent analysis of women, marriage, and widowhood in nineteenth century Montreal.

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LOOKS AT WIVES AND WIDOWS IN MONTREAL