To love, honour and obey: wife-battering in working-class Montreal, 1869-79.

To love, honour and obey: wife-battering in working-class Montreal, 1869-79. Abstract This paper aims to reconstruct some of the causes and the contextof wife-battering in Montreal between the years 1869-1879. It seeks todetermine what the immediate causes were as well as the underlyingfactors that shaped these conflicts. It also describes how theindividuals involved responded, what the role of neighbours was and howthis problem was viewed by the society at large. At a broader level,this research seeks to insert one largely ignored aspect of women'slived experience into the historical record while furthering ourknowledge of relationships between men and women and working-classfamily life in general in the mid nineteenth century. Resume L'auteure s'interesse au phenomene des femmes battues aMontreal durant les annees 1869-1879. Essayant d'en etablir lescauses immediates, d'en restituer le contexte et de degager lesfacteurs qui ont modele ces conflits, elle decrit les reactions despersonnes impliquees, le role joue par leurs voisins et l'attitudede la societe en general face a ce provleme. Plus largement, cetterecherche re��cher��ch��?adj.1. Uncommon; rare.2. Exquisite; choice.3. Overrefined; forced.4. Pretentious; overblown. vise a integrer a l'histoire officielle un aspect tresmeconnu de l'experience des femmes, et a mieux connaitre lesrelations hommes-femmes et la vie de la classe ouvriere au milieu mi��lieun. pl. mi��lieus or mi��lieux1. The totality of one's surroundings; an environment.2. The social setting of a mental patient.milieu[Fr.] surroundings, environment. duXIXe siecle. ********** "On thursday evening last, the twenty fourth day of July instant, my husband, the said Thomas Craven, of the said city of Montreal, Carter came home drunk. On the folowing (sic) morning the twenty fifth day of July instant I scolded and abused my said husband because he had come home drunk on the evening previous. I was then in my Kitchen and he was in his bedroom and whilst I was abusing him as aforesaid, he came into the Kitchen and struck me a blow with his hands, I cannot say whether it was open or shut, in some part of the head. After I got a blow from my said husband I struck him a blow with a stick, on the arm. He then took hold of me and shoved me out and I went back into the house and took on the stove a Kettle full of cold water and I threw it at him and he then pushed me back out of the house which is off Prince street ... and I fell on the footwalk and in the fall I broke my right ankle. In that scuffle I also received on the side of the left eye a wound about one inch in length, and I cannot say whether it is the result of a blow or the effect of the fall. I cannot tell whether the said Thomas Craven intended when he so unlawfully assaulted me, to do me grevous(sic) bodily injury. (1) These words, written in the language of the court clerk A court clerk, in British English clerk to the court or in American English clerk of the court is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court. Another duty is to swear in witnesses, jurors, and grand jurors. , give shapeto the story of Bridget McLoughlin, one battered woman living inMontreal in the 1870s. This case, and the one that follows, wasconsidered severe enough to merit a trial before the Court of GeneralSessions. Even though the injuries sustained by the wife in the secondcase were life-threatening and those involving Mrs Craven were not, bothhusbands were charged with the same offense, wounding with intent to dobodily harm The medical idea of (grievous) bodily harm is more specific than legal ideas of assault or violence in general, and distinct from property damage.It refers to lasting harm done to the body, human or otherwise, although in its legal sense it is exclusively defined as lasting . In August 1873, Philomene Silvestre was turned out of the familyhome by her husband. It was not the first time. It would be the last.For 15 of the last 24 months she had lived with her brother, Felix, andhis wife who ran a hotel on Craig Street near Viger Gardens. She soughtrefuge there whenever she was thrown out by her husband, returning toher family when the crisis had passed. Five months later her husband, Joseph Laporte went to see his wifeat her brother's house armed with a large pocket knife. With it hestabbed her fifteen times. (2) Marguerite Marguerite, for French women thus named, use MargaretMarguerite.For French women thus named, use Margaret.marguerite, in botanymarguerite:see daisy. St Jean, an elderly widow, was scrubbing the stairsleading to the Silvestre's apartment at the time of the attack. Shetold police that "she saw the prisoner come at three differenttimes to look in the door that opened upon the stairway stairwayor staircaseSeries or flight of steps that provides a means of moving from one level to another. The earliest stairways seem to have been built with walls on both sides, as in Egyptian pylons dating from the 2nd millennium BC. and, afterlooking for the third time, he mounted hastily to the second storey,from whence whence?adv.1. From where; from what place: Whence came this traveler?2. From what origin or source: Whence comes this splendid feast?conj. she immediately afterwards heard cries of distress. She ranup instantly and found the accused striking violently his wife."(3) Felix Silvestre was at home that evening of 13 January when hiswife burst into their apartment crying, "Felix, ascend (sic)quickly; Joseph is murdering Philomene." (4) Silvestre, in hisdeposition said that when he entered his sister's room it was toodark to see what object his brother-in-law had in his hand. On arriving,he saw Laporte strike his sister and immediately seized him and broughthim outside where he stopped a passing policeman. At the trial, counsel for Joseph Laporte based his defense on thefollowing arguments. The accused did not deny stabbing his wife but"alleged improper conduct on the part of Mrs. Laporte which ispretended to have driven her husband, from whom she had been for aconsiderable period separated, into such a phrenzy(sic) that itsnecessary consequence was the murderous assault in question." Healso appealed to the jurors' "sympathies on the score of hischildren, who would lose by his conviction his care andprotection." It was also pointed out that the accused "was toodrunk at the time to possess any recollection of his actions". "The jury without leaving their seats returned a verdict ofguilty". (5) The prisoner was sentenced to five years for woundingwith intent to do grevious bodily harm, the maximum sentence being lifeimprisonment ImprisonmentSee also Isolation.Alcatraz Islandformer federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218]Altmark, theGerman prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. . These two cases are not cited here because they are in some waytypical. The severity of the charge, intent to do grevious bodily harm,and the fact that they were seen by a higher court, set them apart fromthe cases of assault and battery which make up the bulk of this study.What they serve to illustrate is the diversity of situations andresponses. Cases of wife-battering in nineteenth century Montreal did notfollow one script, but many. The stories of Bridget McLoughlin andPhilomene Silvestre that introduce this article, together provide awealth of information about wife-battering. Sometimes a wife resistedand on other occasions she did not. Police were occasionally on hand,but in the case of Bridget McLoughlin, it was her children who ran tosummon the police. One attack was premeditated pre��med��i��tat��ed?adj.Characterized by deliberate purpose, previous consideration, and some degree of planning: a premeditated crime. and involved the use of aknife. In the other, a tense situation turned violent and any weapon athand, from fists to a kettle, expressed this anger. Both women werethrown out of their homes, a gesture that characterized many of theassaults, yet Philomene Silvestre's decision to move in with herbrother was rare. The ambivalence expressed by Bridget McLoughlin overhaving her husband prosecuted was shared by many of the women. Althoughthe content of the stories changed, the co-authors of these domestictragedies remained the same: male dominance Male dominance, or maledom, generally refers to heterosexual BDSM activities where the dominant partner is male, and the submissive partner is female. However, the term is sometimes used to refer to homosexual BDSM activities, where both partners are male and one is dominant. and female dependence. This article seeks to analyse the kinds of situations in whichworking-class husbands in Montreal beat their wives and to examine theresponses women could make. From the details of these cases ofwife-battering, discovered in the newspapers and court records ofMontreal, there emerges a sense of what it might have been like to be abattered women in working-class Montreal during the 1870s. (6) The reasons men gave for beating their wives illuminate much morethan marital violence. They take us to the heart of gender relations,revealing wives' and husbands' expectations of themselves andof each other within marriage; as well as indicating the factorsprecipitating the violence. Prominent among the latter were drink,struggles over money, jealousy, and authority over children. The reportsshow too, numerous prohibitions that prevented women from reporting thiscrime and underline the unequal distribution of power between men andwomen within marriage and within the society at large. The analysis that knits these newspaper stories and court casestogether, is derived, in part, from the ideas of four historians: NancyTomes, (7) Ellen Ross, (8) Pat Ayers and Jan Lambertz, (9) who havewritten on domestic violence in working-class London and Liverpool. Insearch of an answer as to why married women were beaten by theirhusbands in this period, they have concluded that the increaseddependence of working-class wives on their husbands' wages, throughtheir exclusion from paid labour, made women more vulnerable to maleviolence. The similarity of their conclusions points to their sharedapproach. The family economy model provides the organizing principlearound which their arguments and mine revolve re��volve?v. re��volved, re��volv��ing, re��volvesv.intr.1. To orbit a central point.2. To turn on an axis; rotate. See Synonyms at turn.3. . Their work provides animportant critique of married women's dependence and husbands'dominance where the individual and the society meet in the family. Montreal in the 1870s, did not provide a hospitable hos��pi��ta��ble?adj.1. Disposed to treat guests with warmth and generosity.2. Indicative of cordiality toward guests: a hospitable act.3. environment forits working-class inhabitants :This article is about the video game. For Inhabitants of housing, see Residency Inhabitants is an independently developed commercial puzzle game created by S+F Software. DetailsThe game is based loosely on the concepts from SameGame. . Life was tempered by frequentconfrontations with hunger, disease, discontinuity dis��con��ti��nu��i��ty?n. pl. dis��con��ti��nu��i��ties1. Lack of continuity, logical sequence, or cohesion.2. A break or gap.3. Geology A surface at which seismic wave velocities change. , and death. Scarcitytook many forms. Food, clothing, a comfortable place to sleep, and aplace where emotional needs could be met were all in short supply. Inthis context, the working-class family, in which parents and childrenpooled their individual earnings and resources toward a commonsubsistence, provided the means for survival. One of the prerequisitesof a smoothly running family economy was a regular wage earned by themale head. Yet the economic conditions created by industrial capitalismcould not always meet this need. Male authority and female subservience sub��ser��vi��ent?adj.1. Subordinate in capacity or function.2. Obsequious; servile.3. Useful as a means or an instrument; serving to promote an end. were being undermined by changes in the economy. Increased competitionfor scarce jobs and men's loss of control over the work processchallenged traditional definitions of masculine authority. Authority, opportunity, and responsibility remained unequallydistributed between husbands and wives, setting the stage for theviolence found in the domestic disputes. This evidence shows that somewomen did not passively accept being beaten by their husbands, nor didall members of society accept as legitimate, husband's right topunish his wife. Wife-battering became an issue of public concern in Montreal in the1870s. Historians Margaret May Margaret Ann May (born 30 June 1950), Australian politician, has been a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998, representing the Division of McPherson, Queensland. and Angela Weir have pointed out thatdomestic violence is an issue raised during periods of active feminism.(10) In Montreal, the reasons behind this upsurge in interest in the1870s, and the role played by women reformers and feminists, remain tobe unravelled. The existence of newspaper accounts and court casestreating wife-abuse, attests to a public awareness of it as a socialproblem. (11) During this period, the voices of the temperance movement temperance movementInternational social movement dedicated to the control of alcohol consumption through the promotion of moderation and abstinence. It began as a church-sponsored movement in the U.S. in the early 19th century. and middle-class law and order reformers joined in chorus to alert thepublic to the evils of alcohol abuse. The link made by the temperancemovement between drunkenness and wife-battering focussed thepublic's attention on a crime that remained unnamed in otherperiods because it had no public face. The resulting visibility both inthe courts and the newspapers makes this research possible. It is to thecauses, context, and contents of these domestic disputes that we nowturn. In the majority of cases, men were arrested both for being drunkand for striking their wives. There seemed to be a consensus amongobservers and those actually involved in the disputes, that drink was atthe root of the problem. This consensus was in part forged by thenewspapers themselves. The Montreal Star and the Montreal Daily Witness,both newspapers that reported crime in a similar fashion, were strongtemperance TemperanceAlcoholics Anonymous (AA)organization founded to help alcoholics (1934). [Am. Culture: EB, I: 448]amethystprovides protection against drunkenness; February birthstone. supporters. John Dougall, the editor of the Montreal DailyWitness, and one of the leading advocates of temperance in Montreal,aggresssively attacked the 'liquor interests' from the pagesof his newspaper. The police also endorsed the theory that alcohol wasat the root of most crime. 'Drink and its Doings' was amuch-used heading in the police court reports. (12) For some men, wife-beating ranked as a sport that accompanied about with the bottle. August Guilmette, 40, shoemaker, when asked by theRecorder "if jeolousy (sic) was the cause of his malignantconduct," answered, "No, the liquor made his blood warm in hisveins and he could not do without exercise." (13) Drink, the mostfrequently-cited reason for the violence, quickly became, in the mouthsof husbands, its justification. Charles Belmont came home drunk andfound his wife asleep with her baby. He then emptied the red fire fromhis pipe on to her face to burn her. He pleaded not guilty to assaultand battery. (14) A number of other men pleaded guilty to drunkennessbut not guilty to assaulting their wives. They claimed that the alcoholmade them violent. Joseph Laporte too, pleaded not guilty to thestabbing of his wife Philomene Silvestre, alleging that he was too drunkat the time to possess any recollection of his actions. (15) Despite middle-class reformers' efforts at controlling alcoholabuse, working-class drinking culture Drinking culture is the notable customs shared by groups of people around the world involved in drinking alcoholic beverages.Although the type of alcohol, social attitude toward (and acceptance of) drinking varies around the world, nearly every civilization has flourished in Montreal, to thetune of one tavern for every 143 inhabitants in 1870. (16) PeterDeLottinville's research on Joe Beef, the most famous of the tavernproprietors of this period, highlights how important tavern life was forworking-class men, over and above the basic food and drink it provided. Joe Beef's Canteen functioned as a kind of informal aidsociety, dispensing food and drink to the luckless and to striking canalworkers, providing medicine for the sick and jobs for the unemployed. Itwas also a place of entertainment, gathering together those in search ofpleasant diversion. Entertainment at Joe's took a variety of forms.One of the the special talents of proprietor Charles McKiernan was totransform any subject into rhyming couplets for the amusement of hiscustomers. The temperance crusader, the minister, the landlord and theRecorder, as symbols of authority and agents of social control, werefrequently the targets of Joe's poetic attacks. DeLottinvillesuggests that "McKiernan's humour allowed his patrons atemporary mastery over the forces which dominated their lives outsidethe Canteen doors." (17) One can only speculate on whether wives,in this context, came in for their share of ridicule, but it seemsplausible. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. James Snell Snell, George 1903-1996.American geneticist. He shared a 1980 Nobel Prize for discoveries concerning cell structure that enhanced understanding of the immunological system, resulting in higher success rates in organ transplantation. , jokes about marriage made at thewife's expense, were a popular form of humour in at least oneCanadian magazine at the turn of the century. He argues "...marriage humour operated as a social control mechanism, reasserting thetraditional behaviour expectations and censuring 'deviant'female activity." (18) But there was a darker side to tavern life that cast its shadowover the lives of the women and children left outside. Linda Gordon inher study of domestic violence in Boston has noted that" ... salooncamaraderie ca��ma��ra��der��ie?n.Goodwill and lighthearted rapport between or among friends; comradeship.[French, from camarade, comrade, from Old French, roommate; see comrade. tended to escalate men's hostility to women, or atleast consolidated and encouraged it." (19) DeLottinville makes a convincing argument for the tavern as "astronghold for working class culture ... where an alternative to theindividualist in��di��vid��u��al��ist?n.1. One that asserts individuality by independence of thought and action.2. An advocate of individualism.in , competitive philosophy of the nineteenth centurymiddle-class" was practiced. (20) Coexistent co��ex��ist?intr.v. co��ex��ist��ed, co��ex��ist��ing, co��ex��ists1. To exist together, at the same time, or in the same place.2. with this was thetavern as a bastion of masculinity which celebrated drunkenness, engagedin blood sports blood sportsblood npl → sports mpl sanguinaires, and exercised in street brawls. It was this aspect ofworking class male culture that most put women at odds with their mate.Resentment surfaced when these women were faced with a drunken husbandwhose leisure activities put her family's survival in jeopardy.Irrate wives, attempting to retrieve drunken husbands from the reachesof the tavernkeeper, were among the cases of assault and battery seen bythe Police Magistrate during this period. In one such case, the wife ofthe tavern keeper Noun 1. tavern keeper - the keeper of a public housepublicanBritain, Great Britain, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England , Mrs MacDonald was charged with assaulting the wife ofone of her regular customers, Mrs Farmer, who had come to collect herhusband. It appeared from the evidence that Mrs Farmer, certain that herhusband, a milkman, was at this tavern, where she alleged he spend alarge portion of his earnings, proceeded to the barroom to induce him toreturn home, (whereupon where��up��on?conj.1. On which.2. In close consequence of which: The instructor entered the room, whereupon we got to our feet. ) he resisted. (21) It might well have enraged en��rage?tr.v. en��raged, en��rag��ing, en��rag��esTo put into a rage; infuriate.[Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref. wives to be excluded from sharing in the all important decision on how ahusband's wage was to be spent. The actual physical separation of work done by men and women andthe fact that one was waged and the other was not helped transform boththe idea and the reality of leisure. Previously, at least in manypreindustrial pre��in��dus��tri��al?adj.Of, relating to, or being a society or an economic system that is not or has not yet become industrialized.preindustrialAdjectiveof a time before the mechanization of industry settings, men and women had worked and played side byside. They had pursued in E.R Thompson's words,'task-orientation', meaning that a worker's own sense ofneed and order dictated how the work would be carried out. "Socialintercourse Noun 1. social intercourse - communication between individualsintercourseintercommunication - mutual communication; communication with each other; "they intercepted intercommunication between enemy ships" and labour are intermingled ... the working-day lengthens orcontracts according to the task--and there is no great sense of conflictbetween labour and 'passing the time of day'. (22) When menleft home to follow waged labour into the factories, they were made toembrace new rhythms of work and pleasure based on'time-discipline'. Work was now measured in pay and pay wasneeded to buy both bread and pleasure at the end of the day. In thiscontext, drinking became both the compensation and the affirmation ofmen's wage-earning status. Drink now might be claimed as an inalienable Not subject to sale or transfer; inseparable.That which is inalienable cannot be bought, sold, or transferred from one individual to another. The personal rights to life and liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States are inalienable. right, one which menmight or might not choose to share with their women. The emphasis hereis on choice, for it was the men who did the choosing. John Stanton hadhis wife, Mary Riley, arrested for assault because he suspected her ofdrinking in his absence. The witness for the prosecution actually provedthe husband guilty of assault. "Well surs, the man he cummed home,an' smelt the licker on her, an' shure he offered a fewinsults, which made her feel disagreeable dis��a��gree��a��ble?adj.1. Not to one's liking; unpleasant or offensive.2. Having a quarrelsome, bad-tempered manner.dis about it, as no doubt, an thenhe strikes her just very gently on the mouth wid an axe-handle but notto excess." (23) It is interesting to note that, in her defense,Mary Riley emphatically em��phat��ic?adj.1. Expressed or performed with emphasis: responded with an emphatic "no."2. Forceful and definite in expression or action.3. denied interfering with her husband. Herpassivity thus established her credibility as a 'good wife'. Women also drank and at times to excess, but overall it seems womendrank less than men. Responsibility for children, limited access or theright to cash, and a work day that stretched from dawn until duskimposed its own limits. The adage 'a woman's work is neverdone' simply meant that the type of labour women were engaged in,the care and maintenance of the family, called for different workrhythms more akin to pre-industrial patterns of labour. (24) A wife's leisure time was not concentrated at the end of theday. It was snatched in breaks between chores and combined with otherresponsibilities. Recreation for women remained inextricably in��ex��tri��ca��ble?adj.1. a. So intricate or entangled as to make escape impossible: an inextricable maze; an inextricable web of deceit.b. bound towork. Where and how women drank confirms this. Alcohol was available towomen at a variety of places, including grocery stores. Although it wasillegal, some grocers sold drinks by the glass to their customers, manyof whom were women out doing the daily shopping. (25) Women who attempted to deprive men of drink by refusing to givethem money or by taking it from them were chastised chas��tise?tr.v. chas��tised, chas��tis��ing, chas��tis��es1. To punish, as by beating. See Synonyms at punish.2. To criticize severely; rebuke.3. Archaic To purify. with violence. Whenthe husband of Celaniere Trudeau arrived home drunk, she tried toprevent him from drinking the bottle of whisky that he had brought withhim. He responded by seizing the bottle and striking her on the head andabdomen. (26) A number of wives attested to the otherwise good character of theirhusbands when not transformed by drink. Despite the fact that PatrickBrennan Patrick Brennan may refer to: Patrick Brennan (Garda), Irish politician, TD 1921–1923, Assistant Commissioner of the G��rda S��och��na (Patrick) Paudge Brennan (1922–1998), Irish Fianna F��il TD and Senator had threatened to 'kill her by inches', as he had saidhe had done to his former wife, and then commenced to do just that, MrsBrennan testified that he was a good husband when sober. (27) Mrs Scott"gives a sad account of the ruin and misery which has overtakenherself and children by the indulgence indulgence,in the Roman Catholic Church, the pardon of temporal punishment due for sin. It is to be distinguished from absolution and the forgiveness of guilt. The church grants indulgences out of the Treasury of Merit won for the church by Christ and the saints. of her husband in drinking. Whenfree from intoxication intoxication,condition of body tissue affected by a poisonous substance. Poisonous materials, or toxins, are to be found in heavy metals such as lead and mercury, in drugs, in chemicals such as alcohol and carbon tetrachloride, in gases such as carbon monoxide, and she admits he is a good husband but it is onlyseldom that he keeps steady." (28) These women defined a good husband as one who made a regularcontribution to the family purse and did not squander squan��der?tr.v. squan��dered, squan��der��ing, squan��ders1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste.2. money on frequentvisits to the tavern. It is difficult to separate the cases thatinvolved alcohol from the struggles over money. Drinking put anintolerable strain on family budgets that were tight, even before thedepression hit the Montreal economy in 1874. Men and women often haddifferent ideas of how a man's salary should be spent. Men'sdrinking was clearly at odds with women's concern with feeding andclothing her family. The sexual division of labour within the family helped create thesetensions. Women's dependence on an inadequate male wage, matchedwith male expectations of having their physical and emotional needs metfirst and without fail, provided fertile ground for conflict. Men andwomen often had different ideas of how a man's salary should bespent. Men who were employed occasionally, or turned their salary over tothe tavernkeeper instead of their wives, wrecked havoc with awoman's ability to make ends meet. Most labourers could not dependon steady work. Even those labourers who were employed could not alwaysrely on being paid regularly or in cash. Women's anger mounted whentheir husbands' inadequacy as a provider was brought home to themevery time the bills were not paid and there was no food for the table.A husband's non-support added to the considerable physical burdenof housework as the conflict between Ellen Fitzgerald and her husbandillustrates. Ellen Fitzgerald had been married to Patrick Hennessy for for 28 years. He had property from which he received $11.00 per month rental. Her husband was in the habit of going on a spree and did not support the family properly. Their water rates were not paid and the water was turned off. On Saturday night she went to the neighbours for a pail of water and when she returned her husband was quarrelling with the son. She said, 'let him alone, you don't support him, you don't support yourself'. At this he grabbed her and scratched her forehead with his first or nails. (29) Husbands, too, were dependent, but it took different forms. Menrelied on women to feed and clothe them. When a wife failed to carry outher prescribed tasks, a husband's frustration was at times measuredin blows. Louis Brisson returned home one Tuesday night to find onlybread and butter for supper. Brisson, a tinsmith tin��smith?n.One that makes and repairs things made of light metal.tinsmithNouna person who works with tin or tin plateNoun 1. , had been drinking hardlately and on Saturday night gave Henriette, his wife $1.00, although hehad earned $7.00 that week. He would not accept her explanations for themeal and struck her violently in the face with his fist. (30) In many of the accounts, men drank their salary but still expectedtheir wives to provide for them. It seems that in men's eyes, lackof payment towards the household expenses was not sufficient reason forannulling this socially-sanctioned sexual contract. Some women obviouslyfelt differently. This was one right for which they were willing tofight because they had few alternatives. Between 1874 and 1875, eightseparate accusations of unlawfully and wilfully WILFULLY, intentionally. 2. In charging certain offences it is required that they should be stated to be wilfully done. Arch. Cr. Pl. 51, 58; Leach's Cr. L. 556. 3. neglecting to providefor wife and children were brought by women before three separate judgesfrom the Court of Special Sessions. (31) Not one of the petitions wassuccessful, although it is difficult to know on what grounds they wererefused. In all of the cases, the women established that they werelegally married and that their husbands had stopped providing for them.Even if they had been successful, one husband's threat to leave thecity rather than support his wife exposed the essential weakness oflegal redress. Yet some men felt no lack of compulsion COMPULSION. The forcible inducement to au act. 2. Compulsion may be lawful or unlawful. 1. When a man is compelled by lawful authority to do that which be ought to do, that compulsion does not affect the validity of the act; as for example, when a court of when helping themselves totheir wive's earnings and in this they were supported by the law,In Quebec, wives were not legally entitled to have an occupationdifferent from their husbands, nor did they have the right to dispose of To determine the fate of; to exercise the power of control over; to fix the condition, application, employment, etc. of; to direct or assign for a use.See also: Dispose their salaries. (32) Some of the beatings were the result of womentrying to protect their earnings from whisky-consuming husbands. Annie Simpson had been married to Antoine Stall for 16 years in1876. They had had three children together, the eldest being 13 years atthe time. Stall was a carter by trade, but for the last two years hadgiven nothing towards the housekeeping expenses. He spent all of hisearnings on drink. The family survived on the proceeds of washing and alittle shop kept by Simpson. Despite his lack of participation in thefamily economy, Stall expected his meals on the table and showed upregularly for them. He also would steal from his wife's pocketbookand threaten her life when she tried to stop him. (33) The strategies that women used in order to get by in the absence ofa dependable male wage varied depending on the age of the children andthe resources they had at their disposal. Some of the following storiesserve to illustrate how women coped. Henriette Brisson did what manywomen in her situation were forced to do: she cut costs. She beganserving bread and butter for supper instead of something moresubstantial. In order to stretch food supply even further, women cutback on what they ate. Evidence for this is found in the work of Peterand Patricia Ward, who linked the fall in birth weights of babies bornto poor English speaking women using the University Lying-in Hospitalbetween 1851 and 1905 to declining nutrititional standards among theworking poor. (34) Bettina Bradbury in her work on the family economy inworking class Montreal argues that "the brunt of low standards ofliving may well have been born largely by married women and thoseoffspring whose future life chances were largely determined before theywere born. Gender combined with class position apparently made workingclass women, particularly married women, the least well fed andunhealthiest of Montreal's citizens." (35) Working for a wage was one option that few married women chose. Inthe working class wards of Ste Anne's and St Jacques, Bradburyfound that between 1861 and 1881 only one to five percent of marriedwomen reported working. There were good reasons for this. Jobs werescarce and high unemployment throughout the 1870s created fiercecompetition. Wages were also universally low for women, ranging anywherefrom $1.50 to $5.00 a week, and less if they were employed at homesewing clothes or shoes. (36) Peddling food, rag picking, doing laundryand child-minding were the likely means used by women to make ends meetunder these circumstances. Going to court to press a claim to ahusband's wages was another device, but if the years 1874-75 areany indication, it was largely an unsuccessful one. Some men did nottake kindly to any criticism of their behaviour. Whether womenintervened to save a child from their father's wrath or to protesta husband's infidelity, the response was often the same. For LouisMontbriant of St Paul St, violent language on the part of his wife (whenshe remonstrated with him for upsetting a salter salt��er?n.1. One that manufactures or sells salt.2. One that treats meat, fish, or other foods with salt.Noun 1. ), merited a clout withthe bottle from which he had been drinking. (37) Scolding behaviour on the part of the wife was considered by thehusband, and in some instances by the Police Magistrate, to be a seriousbreech breech(brech) the buttocks. breechn.The lower rear portion of the human trunk; the buttocks.breech, britchthe buttocks of an animal; the backs of the thighs. of male authority. Women convicted of abusive language were inmany cases given a stiffer sentence than men convicted of assaultingtheir wives. The practice of punishing women more severly than men, itseems, was not limited to the crime of employing abusive language. Thebroader issue of unequal sentencing was first brought to publicattention by The Society for the Protection of Women and Children in1887. (38) Jealousy was identified as the culprit in a number of the beatings.Mrs Scanlan "was felled to the ground as a butcher would anox" by her husband on New Year's Day New Year's Day,among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated among Christians usually on Mar. 25. . A friend of the family,William Clark, had payed a call to wish them a happy New Year and hadkissed Mrs Scanlan, as was the custom. (39) In Mr Scanlan's mind,what was really at stake here was his absolute control over his wife. Leaving a husband was no guarantor of peace. Often it meantinvolving more people in the conflict. A number of the assaults werereported by women who already had left their husband because ofbrutality and lack of financial support. Mrs Irvine's testimonyechoed the sentiments of these women, "I can live better withouthim, your Honor, I only stand in dread of my life day after day."(40) Social, political, economic and legal constraints combined to limitwomen's responses to male violence. The formalisation Noun 1. formalisation - the act of making formal (as by stating formal rules governing classes of expressions)formalizationsystematisation, systematization, rationalisation, rationalization - systematic organization; the act of organizing something of the QuebecCivil Code after 1866 changed little for women, simply rendering moreclearly their inferior legal status. (41) The Civil Code re-affirmedmen's superior authority within the family, that is their power ashusbands and fathers. The unequal legal status conferred on the membersof the family was predicated on a married woman's legal incapacity The absence of legal ability, competence, or qualifications.An individual incapacitated by infancy, for example, does not have the legal ability to enter into certain types of agreements, such as marriage or contracts. .When a woman married, she lost her autonomy and was subject to theauthority of her husband, who was legally entitled to make all decisionsconcerning her civil rights and her children. (42) In short, marriedwomen shared the same legal status, with children and the mentallyunfit. Similar constraints were applied to women's politicalparticipation. At the beginning of the century, women were eligible tovote based on the same conditions as men. By 1849, the parliament of theProvince of Canada For other uses, see Provinces and territories of Canada and Ecclesiastical Province of Canada.The Province of Canada or the United Province of Canada was a in North America from 1841 to 1867. formally abolished this right. Women who left abusive husbands risked losing their children andtheir social identity. Being a woman in this period was synonymous with synonymous withadjective equivalent to, the same as, identical to, similar to, identified with, equal to, tantamount to, interchangeable with, one and the same as being a wife and mother. Leaving home stripped her of both roles. Italso left her without those measures of economic protection that thefamily provided and without the legal autonomy of unmarried women andwidows. A women who deviated visibly from the social norm by being asingle mother, a drunkard One who habitually engages in the overindulgence of alcohol.In order for an individual to be labeled a drunkard, drunkenness must be habitual or must recur on a constant basis. , or a prostitute, automatically forfeited theright to sympathy and help afforded women who embraced the values of'true womanhood.' (43) For the majority of women leaving their husbands for anything but ashort period of time was impossible. A few certainly tried. It was morethan chance that explains Philomene Gavreau's presence one week atthe Recorder's Court The Recorder's Court, in Detroit, Michigan was a state court of general jurisdiction which had, for most of its history, exclusive jurisdiction over all felony cases committed in the city of Detroit. to press charges of assault and batteryagainst her husband and in Superior Court the following week to applyfor a 'Separation of bed and board'. Gavreau, who ran abrothel on St Elizabeth St, could conceive of Verb 1. conceive of - form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case; "Can you conceive of him as the president?"envisage, ideate, imagine living apart from herhusband by virtue of her financial independence and status asprostitute, which had already placed her outside the bounds ofrespectable society. (44) The Montreal Star, March 19, 1874. In thesocial and economic climate of the 1870s, women alone with childrenfaced a struggle to survive. The institution of the patriarchal family,despite its limitations, conflicts and contradictions, remained the bestsurvival strategy available to working-class women. Alternatives to thefamily, such as the convent, the brothel or domestic service, were byand large only the options of single women. How could women haveimagined autonomy, a life outside of the patriarchal family, whenexisting economic and social structures permitted no such configuration. Women may have turned to their extended families as a short termsolution, but the resources of the working class were quickly exhausted.Space was at a premium in most working-class housing. (45) In manyinstances, adding another family would have transformed a bearable bear��a��ble?adj.That can be endured: bearable pain; a bearable schedule.bear living situation into an intolerable one. The sympathy offered byrelatives to battered women could be limited by deeply engrained socialattitudes which resisted female demands for autonomy. 'To love,honour and obey' was a married woman's lot. We can only speculate as to which institutions--other than thepolice and the courts--battered women turned outside the family. AnnieBanks and her three year old son Edward were admitted to the home run bythe Montreal Ladies Benevolent Society The Benevolent Society is Australia’s oldest charity, although it now prefers to regard itself as a ‘’social enterprise’’. It was founded as the Benevolent Society of New South Wales in May of 1865. The reason givenfor accepting the Banks family was that the husband was a confirmeddrunkard and Annie Banks could not live with him. Two months later shereturned to her husband. (46) Whether violence was one reason behind herleaving is a matter of conjecture CONJECTURE. Conjectures are ideas or notions founded on probabilities without any demonstration of their truth. Mascardus has defined conjecture: "rationable vestigium latentis veritatis, unde nascitur opinio sapientis;" or a slight degree of credence arising from evidence too weak or too . Drunkenness and the death ordesertion of a husband were frequently cited circumstances leading tothe placement of children and women with children in this institution.Although domestic violence was never mentioned explicitly in theadmittance AdmittanceThe ratio of the current to the voltage in an alternating-current circuit. In terms of complex current I and voltage V, the admittance of a circuit is given by Eq. (1), and is related to the impedance of the circuit Z by Eq. (2). records, drunkenness was often used in this period as a codeword for domestic violence. There were other obstacles preventing battered women from seekingimmediate relief. Some women turned to the police for protection. Thiswas not necessarily an effective option. In 1875 only 38 policemenwalked the beat in Montreal. (47) In a city of 160,000 that meant onepoliceman for every 4,210 inhabitants. This ratio compares with theearly twentieth-century idea of one constable for every 1000 residents.The chances of a policeman in this city at this time actuallyintervening in a domestic quarrel were slim. During the winter months,when life was centred indoors, the possibility was even more remote.Often the law would be summoned by a relative or neighbour, but by thetime help arrived the 'row' was over. As one officercommented, "there was nothing to be done." (48) If a husbandwas also found to be drunk and/or disturbing the peace, he was arrestedand charged accordingly, but the original reason for which the policehad been summoned went unpunished unpunishedAdjectivewithout suffering or resulting in a penalty: the guilty must not go unpunished, such crimes should not remain unpunishedAdj. 1. . In many cases, it was the woman herself who was obliged to reportthe crime. The procedure that the victim was obliged to follow entaileda personal appearance at the closest police station, soon after havingexperienced a beating. The next step was to pay a dollar to cover thecost of a warrant for her husband's arrest. Without this dollar hercomplaint would be dropped. For wives who did not participate in thewaged economy, a dollar was large sum to have on hand. At a time when apoliceman and many labourers earned a dollar a day, this amount musthave prevented many women from seeking justice. Yet wives, as managersof the family economy had some income at their disposal which they mayhave used for this purpose. Later we will see how being keeper of thefamily purse worked against wives, but in some contexts it might haveworked to their advantage. Both the newspapers and the police remarkedon wives' reluctance to prosecute their husbands. A police chief inhis year-end report on crime noted that "... it is difficult toobtain evidence which the wives are often unwilling to give until theyare driven to it from terror of their lives." (49) It is notsurprising that, of the 349 cases reported in the Montreal Star, atleast 45 were dropped because the victim failed to substantiate To establish the existence or truth of a particular fact through the use of competent evidence; to verify.For example, an Eyewitness might be called by a party to a lawsuit to substantiate that party's testimony. thecharge. Fear kept many women away from the court room. George Scott, whenarrested for assaulting his wife threatened, 'to pay her offafterwards'. The woman was too afraid to appear. The magistratepostponed the case to ensure Mrs Scott's presence, but to no avail.The next day she wasn't to be found. (50) Fear and a costly judicial system that discriminated against thosewho were poor and did not necessarily have access to cash must havestopped many victims from procuring punishment for their abusers. Forsome women, having their husbands arrested was punishment enough. Once awoman paid the cost of the warrant, her husband's presence behindbars was assured until the trial. If the case was seen by the Recorderor Police Magistrate this meant a maximum stay of a few days, but in thecase of the Court of Special Sessions imprisonment could be prolongedfor up to a month. This delay may explain why the majority of theassault and battery cases were tried by the lower courts. Most men mayhave preferred to forfeit To lose to another person or to the state some privilege, right, or property due to the commission of an error, an offense, or a crime, a breach of contract, or a neglect of duty; to subject property to confiscation; or to become liable for the payment of a penalty, as the result of a a right to trial by jury at the Court ofSpecial Sessions in order to hasten has��ten?v. has��tened, has��ten��ing, has��tensv.intr.To move or act swiftly.v.tr.1. To cause to hurry.2. release from the city jail. (51) Yet this incarceration Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment.Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. was a costly act of retribution orprotection. When a woman failed to appear after laying a charge, she wasstill bound to pay any costs incurred by the court. When Elize Chasewithdrew her assault charge against her husband, he was discharged and"the costs amounting to $4.50 fell upon the woman, and as she was arespectable but poor person, she was given 20 days to pay up." (52)Default meant a jail term for her. When a husband was found guilty, with few exceptions he wassentenced to a fine and to payment of court costs court costsn. fees for expenses that the courts pass on to attorneys, who then pass them on to their clients or, in some kinds of cases, to the losing party. . If these costs werenot paid and the husband was jailed instead, the sources are unclear asto who assumed the costs, the wife or the courts. A few judges refusedto impose a fine and recommended jail instead. They were aware that afine was apt to punish a wife more than her husband. The ultimate ironywas that as keeper of the family purse, the paying of a husband'sor close male relative's fine, was one of the tasks that fell towomen. Louis Lache was fined $2.50 or 15 days in jail. "As he wasleaving the dock he turned to his wife and told her if she had the moneyto pay the fine he would pay her again." (53) Many women could not afford to have their husbands jailed. Theywere forced to weigh the loss of his contribution to the family economyagainst their own physical well-being. Nowhere is women'ssubordination within the family clearer than in the example provided bybattered wives. In many cases forfeiting their own personal safety wasthe price women paid for securing the family against destitution des��ti��tu��tion?n.1. Extreme want of resources or the means of subsistence; complete poverty.2. A deprivation or lack; a deficiency.Noun 1. . Inthis situation a wive's personal survival was simultaneously boththreatened and guaranteed by her place within the family. On one hand,she was subject to the violence of her husband. On the other, being partof a family economy kept her from starvation. To protect herself againstone helped undermine the other. Interpersonal violence in working-class Montreal was not limited towife-beating, nor was it only initiated by men. Men, women, and childrenoften used their fists or whatever was at hand to resolve conflicts.Ellen O'Loughlin attacked Catherine Owens with a meat bone. (54)The weapon may have been original, but the act was typical ofindividual's responses to conflict. Men tended to use their fistsor the tools of their trade as their preferred weapons. Women'swork and therefore the objects they employed differed. Emptying chamberpots 'with malicious intent,' or pouring kettles of boilingwater on victims' heads were the some of the violent gesturesemployed by women. Another dimension of family violence consisted of the attacks thatpitted families against neighbours, or bailiffs and policemen. In sum,families would rally to drive off outsiders who threatened familystability. The most common cases involved husbands, wives and, in somecases, children, teaming up to prevent a bailiff bailiffOfficer of some U.S. courts whose duties include keeping order in the courtroom and guarding prisoners or jurors in deliberation. In medieval Europe, it was a title of some dignity and power, denoting a manorial superintendent or royal agent who collected fines and from seizing theirproperty. For example, Michael Duggan Michael Duggan began his career writing in 1981 for the TV show Hill Street Blues and then moved on to shows such as St. Elsewhere and Law & Order. He began producing television shows in 1984 with Miami Vice and Midnight Run. and his wife Mary Ann both werecharged with assaulting a baliff when he visited their store in theexecution of his duties. (55) This is not to say that violent behaviour was equally distributedbetween the sexes. Men were clearly more violent. In 1874, of theassault and battery cases that came before the Court of SpecialSessions, 138 involved acts of violence between men, 43 violence betweenwomen, 36 were attacks on women by men other than their husbands and 7involved women attacking men. In the cases of domestic violence, 25husbands and 5 wives were accused of beating their spouses. (56) This culture of violence included incidents of wife-batteringdespite the fact that the criminal justice system did punishperpetrators of domestic violence. The original intent of the lawsrestricting drunkenness and violence was to control working-classmen's behaviour and not to protect women. That women may havebenefitted from these laws, was secondary. (57) This claim is borne out by the type of sentences handed down to menconvicted of beating their wives. In 1875, of the 31 cases that camebefore the Court of Special Sessions involving wife-battering, 12 weresettled by the judge, meaning that the husband was not penalized pe��nal��ize?tr.v. pe��nal��ized, pe��nal��iz��ing, pe��nal��iz��es1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish.2. and areconciliation was imposed, and one case was dismissed because the wifefailed to appear. Only one husband received the maximum sentence of sixmonths imprisonment with hard labour and that was because the wifealmost bled to death as a result of the attack. When a woman's lifewas not considered to be in danger, the judge would impose areconciliation, or a fine was demanded of the guilty party of $5.00 onaverage and ordered to pay court costs. Default on payment meant a monthin the city jail. This penalty contrasts with the punishment meted out Adj. 1. meted out - given out in portionsapportioned, dealt out, doled out, parceled outdistributed - spread out or scattered about or divided up to men andwomen convicted of selling liquor without a license. Most of theconvictions were for small amounts of alcohol, but the sentences werethe same, a $50 dollar fine plus costs or three months imprisonment. Theeconomy of punishment practiced by the lower courts that elevated theillegal sale of alcohol over wife-abuse, was completely consistent withthe popularly held theory that alcohol caused most social problemsincluding wife-battering. In the community, wife-beating was tolerated, within certainlimits. People seemed ready to intervene and offer assistance only ifthe violence passed a certain threshold, or if sympathy was evoked by avictim's age, physical condition (whether she was pregnant or not),or if a weapon was involved. As the story 'Affray in WolfeSt.' shows, the community was willing to turn a blind eye onwife-battering until it invaded the public space and/or there was a riskof murder. Another of those brutal affrays which every now and then occur to alarm peaceful neighbourhoods, and render night hideous, took place last night in Wolfe St. The stillness of the evening was broken about 10 o'clock by a succession of piercing shrieks, followed almost instantly by a rush into the street from a back yard of a number of people, surrounding a woman struggling in the grasp of a man who held her by the hair, and beat her cruelly. No one interfered for some time, and the shouts and cries in mixed French and English rendered the scene exciting and painful in the extreme. The man and woman had quarrelled in their house, and it appears he had followed her into the yard, beaten her unmercifully, and in her struggles to escape, had dragged her into the street. It was some time before the spectators could separate the infuriated pair by threats of sending for the police, but at length quiet was restored before murder was done. (58) On occasion, the fear that one day a husband would go too far andcommit murder prompted a wife to take action. It was this extreme casethat was most likely to receive validation and support for it mirroredthe community's own standards toward domestic violence. Even this modicum of protection was not forthcoming in the case ofa certain Mrs Franklin's. Her 'greatly bruised and dis figuredbody' was found dead upon a sofa. One cannot help but wonder if MrsFranklin's murder by her husband, the only such murder recordedfrom 1869-1879, could not have been averted had her neighbours applied amore stringent set of community standards Community standards are local norms bounding acceptable conduct. Sometimes these standards can itemized in a list that states the community's values and sets guidelines for participation in the community. to wife-battering. The factthat it is the only case of a woman beaten to death suggest that formaland informal mechanisms of control generally succeeded in preventingthis most extreme form of abuse. Another possible explanation is thatmost attacks happened in the home and were not premeditated. In theabsence of a really lethal weapon such as a gun or knife, the damagemost men could inflict with their fists fell short of murder. At the inquest inquest,in law, a body of men appointed by law to inquire into certain matters. The term also refers to the inquiry itself as well as to the findings of the inquiry. into Mrs Franklin's death three people testified that they had witnessed the beatings or their aftermath. Marie Deserault, a servant employed in a neighboring house, testified that she had noticed the prisoner beating the deceased with his fists, and had been informed by the latter that she had slept in an adjoining shed to escape ill-treat ment at the hands of her husband: she had heard no noise in the house either the night before last or yesterday morning, but on calling to see the deceased on Monday last, had been told by the prisoner that she was in bed. Albert Kay, a lad of thirteen, living with his mother in an adjoining house off St. Francois de Salles st., deposed that about three weeks since he had heard a woman sobbing in the kitchen of the house, which is nearest the lane on which it faces, and then screaming 'I am killed, I am killed ...' Some days previously, the deceased, who was at the time under the influence of liquor, had told him that she had been frequently obliged to escape the cruelty of her husband, and go sleep in his mother's shed, which was near by; he had also on one occasion observed the deceased standing on the street quite red in the face, with her tongue lolling out as if she had been choked, and holding her hand to her throat. Thomas O'Neill, aged seventy-eight, baliff of the Court of the Queen's Bench, stated that he had known the prisoner and his wife since the year 1853; the latter had worked for his family for several years, and to whom they were all greatly attached; on the 21st the prisoner came to his house, and in answer to their enquiry said that he had left his wife in the house--also that she was probably dead; they became alarmed, and consequently, later in the day he visited the premises ... the deceased came in by the front door; she presented a horrible appearance; the left side of her face was black, blue and swollen, and one of her eyes was in the same condition; had exclaimed 'Oh Mary, what has happened to you?' She was very feeble being unable to cry, but perfectly sober, prisoner explained to account for the blackened eye, that she had fallen against the stove; she said 'Oh Mr. O'Neill, I am killed! (59) A number of factors contributed to the murder of Mrs Franklin. Italready has been mentioned that her neighbours failed to act. Nocommunity constraints bound Mr Franklin's vicious temper. Thepolice did not intervene, quite possibly because they were nevernotified, and Mrs Franklin's passivity acted as poor protection.This is not to suggest that Mrs Franklin was in some way respon siblefor her own death, but rather to highlight how passivity and aggressionwere two forms of woman's resistance. In this period there isevidence to show that these strategies were also subject to change. Some women resisted their husbands physically. Evidence for this isfound in the cases of marital violence in which 10 percent involvedhusband-beating. (60) Mrs Craven's fight with her husband was notcompletely one-sided. No doubt this was true of other marital conflicts.In this period, the work done by both sexes was physically demanding.Working-class women's strength and stamina were pre-requisites forsurvival. Women did battle with store-keepers, baliffs, children, women,and most certainly their husbands. A distinction can be made between violence used by women and bymen. Women's violence was in reponse to male aggression, whileamong men, violence was more readily used as a form of communication. Awoman's willingness to assert herself in a domestic quarrel wasinfluenced by competing notions of femininity FemininityBelphoebeperfect maidenhood; epithet of Elizabeth I. [Br. Lit.: Faerie Queene]Darnel, Aureliapersonification of femininity. [Br. Lit. . Middle class ideas ofproper feminine behaviour strongly condemned working-class women whofought back. (61) Passivity and dependence on patriarchal institutionsfor protection were considered the appropriate response. One of theconclusions Nancy Tomes drew from her research on wife-battering inworking-class London between 1850 and 1890 was that as women'sviolence declined, shame about being beaten increased. (62) In the last ten years, domestic violence has once again beenbrought to the public's attention. It has been placed on thepolitical agenda by the feminist struggle to unite the private with thepublic sphere The public sphere is a concept in continental philosophy and critical theory that contrasts with the private sphere, and is the part of life in which one is interacting with others and with society at large. . What was once considered a family matter, and thereforeprivate, has now been exposed to the light of public scrutiny. Today, as in the past, public concern has been fed by themedia's interest in the most brutal cases. What has changed tosustain this interest, is the work done by the network of batteredwomen's shelters that have been built from the energy unleashed bythis wave of feminism. As a feminist historian concerned with domesticviolence, it seems to me not only logical but essential to look atrelationships between husbands and wives in the past as a potentialsource of insight into this present day conflict. The conflicts that made these unions so problematic in the latenineteenth century had their sources in the unequal distribution ofeconomic and legal power between men and women, as well as in men'salmost unrestricted right to chastise chas��tise?tr.v. chas��tised, chas��tis��ing, chas��tis��es1. To punish, as by beating. See Synonyms at punish.2. To criticize severely; rebuke.3. Archaic To purify. their wives. In parthusband's beat their wives because they thought they could get awaywith it. The cases examined in this article capture the experience ofthat minority in the 1870s who, to a greater or lesser degree, did not. Notes (1) Archives Nationales de Quebec a Montreal (hereafter In the future.The term hereafter is always used to indicate a future time—to the exclusion of both the past and present—in legal documents, statutes, and other similar papers. ANQM),pre-archivage, Court of General Sessions, Montreal, August 4, 1873,#469. (2) ANQM. pre-archivage, Court of General Sessions, Montreal,January 19, 1874, #473. (3) The Montreal Star, January 14, 1874. (4) The Montreal Star, Janaury 17, 1874. (5) The Montreal Star, January 21, 1874. (6) Domestic violence does not respect class divisions. The focuson the working-class was determined by the sources and not by aconviction held by this writer that wife-battering was an exclusivelyworking-class phenomena. This study is based on a sample of 349 cases of wife-batteringwhich were brought before the Recorder and Public Police Courts in theyears between 1869 and 1879 as reported three to four times a week inthe pages of the Montreal Star. This source was supplemented by ananalysis of all cases of assault and battery involving wives andhusbands, seen by the Court of General and Special Sessions in Montreal,for the years 1870, 1874 and 1875. The court provided the backdrop forthe reporting of these cases. It was only in the criminal courts thatthese domestic dramas were given a public face. It was also this levelof justice that was most pre-occupied with crimes committed by membersof the working class. (7) Nancy Tomes, "A 'Torrent of Abuse': Crimes ofViolence Between Working-Class Men and Women in London, 1840-1875,"Journal of Social History, 11, 3(1978) 328-345. (8) "Fierce Questions and Taunts: Married Life inWorking-Class London, 1870-1914," Feminist Studies, 8(1982)575-602. (9) Patayers and Jan Lambertz, "Marriage Relations, Money andDomestic Violence in Working Class Llverpool 1919-1939" in JaneLewis, ed. Labour and Love. Women's Experience of Home and Family,1850-1940, (Oxford: 1986) 195-219. (10) Angela Weir, "Battered Women: Some Perspectives andProblems" in M. Mayor ed. Women in the Community, (London: 1977)109 and 113. (11) "Annual Report of the Chief of Police", MontrealAnnual Reports, 1866-1877, 1879-1888. Wife-battering first appears as aseparate crime in the arrest statistics found in police reports in 1866.In 1878 no statistics were tabulated for wife battering. The followingyear, 13 men were charged and 8 women. It is the first time statisticson husband battering are noted. By 1888, neither category is used in therecord of arrests. In The Montreal Star, stories of wife battering appear with muchless frequency by the beginning of the 1880s. This in part, can beexplained by changes in the newspaper's format, which put lessemphasis on the reporting of the activities of the Police andRecorder's Courts. (12) The Montreal Star, July 29, 1872. (13) Ibid., October 26, 1875. (14) Ibid., February 26, 1969. (15) Ibid., January 21, 1874. (16) "Annual Report of the Chief of Police", MontrealAnnual Reports, 1870. (17) Peter DeLottinville, "Joe Beef of Montreal: Working-ClassCulture and the Tavern. 1869-1889", Labour/Le travailleur, 8/9(1981-82) 16. (18) James G. Snell, "Marriage Humour and its SocialFunctions, 1900-1939", Atlantis, II, 2 (1986) 70. (19) Linda Gordon, Heroes of Their Own Lives, The Politics andHistory of Family Violence, (New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : 1988) 265. (20) Peter Delottinville, "Joe Beef of Montreal: Working ClassCulture and the Tavern, 1869-1889", 10-11. (21) The Montreal Star, January 14, 1874. (22) E. P. Thompson, "Time, Work-Discipline, and IndustrialCapitalism", Past and Present, 38 (1967) 56-59. (23) The Montreal Star, June 27, 1871. (24) Nancy Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood, (New Have, Conn.: 1977)60-61. (25) Bettina Bradbury, "The Working Class Family Economy:Montreal, 1861-1881" (Concordia University: unpublished Ph.D.dissertation, 1984) 284 and ANQM, pre-archivage, Court of SpecialSessions, Montreal, 1870-1875. (26) The Montreal Star, February 26, 1869. (27) Ibid., May 30, 1877. (28) Ibid., August 14, 1878. (29) Ibid., November 12, 1878. (30) Ibid., July 15, 1870. (31) ANQM, pre-archivage, Court of Special Sessions, Montreal, Nov.6, 1874, #471, Dec. Term, #473, July 8, 1875, #447, Oct. 29, 1875, #477,Oct. 20, 1875, #477, Nov. 8, 1875, #477, July 20, 1875, #477, and Dec.30, 1875, #478. (32) Paul-Andre Linteau, Rene Durocher and Jean-Claude Robert,Quebec A History 1867-1929, (Toronto: 1983) 187-188. On the acquisitionof this right in different American states see Amy Dru Stanley,"Conjugal Pertaining or relating to marriage; suitable or applicable to married people.Conjugal rights are those that are considered to be part and parcel of the state of matrimony, such as love, sex, companionship, and support. Bonds and Wage Labour: Rights of Contract in the Age ofEmancipation," The Journal of American History The Journal of American History (sometimes abbreviated as JAH), is the official journal of the Organization of American Historians. It was first published in 1914 as the Mississippi Valley Historical Review , 75, 2(1988)471-500. (33) The Montreal Star, June 2, 1876. (34) W. Peter Ward and Patricia C. Ward, "Infant Birth Weightand Nutrition in Industrializing Montreal," American HistoricalReview, 89, 2 (1984). (35) Bettina Bradbury, "The Working Class Family Economy:Montreal, 1861-1881," 462. (36) Ibid., 319. (37) The Montreal Star, May 28, 1874. (38) National Archives of Canada, Montreal Society for theProtection of Women and Children, MG 28 | 129, Monthly Minutes andAnnual Reports, 1887. (39) The Montreal Star, January 9, 1877. (40) Ibid., February 25, 1879. (41) Paul Andre Linteau, et al., Quebec A History, 1867-1929,186-188. (42) Ibid., 188. (43) For a later period, see Andre Levesque, La Norme deviantes Desfemmes aux Quebec entre deux-querres (Montreal, 1989). (44) Philomene Gavreau charged her husband, lgnace Choquette withdrunkenness and assault. The case came before the Recorder March 7,1874. (45) Whether the practice of doubling-up (working-class familiessharing loggings) was common in Montreal is disputed. Two differencinterpretations are found in the work of Bettina Bradbury, "Pigs,Cows, and Boarders: Non-Wage Forms of Survival Among Montreal Families,1861-91." Labour/Le Travail TRAVAIL. The act of child-bearing. 2. A woman is said to be in her travail from the time the pains of child-bearing commence until her delivery. 5 Pick. 63; 6 Greenl. R. 460. 3. . 14 (1984) 32-44 and Gilles Lauzon,"Habiter un nouveau nou��veau?adj.New and different, often fashionably so: "The perfect [Los Angeles]combination: a gas station that is also a nouveau convenience store"quartier ouvrier de la banlieu de Montreal;Village Saint Augustin (Municipalite de St Henri)", M.A. thesis,history, UQAM, 1986, 75-107. (46) The National Archives of Canada, The Montreal Ladies Benevolent Society, MG 28 | 388, Register of Admissions, 1865, Vol. 5. (47) The Montreal Star, October 1874. (48) Ibid., August 9, 187?. (49) "Annual Report of the Chief of Police," MontrealAnnual Reports, 1868. (50) The Montreal Star, October 14, 1870. (51) Henri Elzear Taschereau, LL.D., The Criminal Statute Law ofthe Dominion of Canada, 3rd ed., (Toronto: 1893). (52) The Montreal Star, October 14, 1870. (53) Ibid., April 24, 1873. (54) ANQM, pre-archivage, Court of Special Sessions, Sept. 10,1875, Box #609. (55) Ibid., May 1870, Box #459. (56) Ibid., 1874, Box #471, 472 and 473. (57) Ibid., 1875, Box #477, 478, 479 and 480. (58) The Montreal Star, May 11, 1869. (59) Ibid., November 22, 1873. (60) ANQM, pre-archivage, Court of Special Sessions, 1870, 1873-75.Of the 87 cases of marital violence found recorded, 11 involved husbandabuse. (61) Linda Gordon, "Heroes of Their Own Lives", 276. (62) Nancy Tomes, "A Torrent See BitTorrent. torrent - BitTorrent of Abuse: Crimes of ViolenceBetween Working class Men and Women in London, 1840-1875", 328-45.