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Petticoats and Prejudice: Women and Law in Nineteenth-Century Canada
1991 by Constance Backhouse, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa. Published with Womens Press, 1991.
This is the first comprehensive work in the field of Canadian women’s legal history. Author Constance Backhouse, an internationally-recognized authority on Canadian women’s legal history, has compiled here the most important of her decade’s worth of research. This highly-readable book highlights the status of women through in-depth case profiles of individual women who were swept up into the 19th century legal process as litigants, accused criminals and witnesses. The cases span the country, providing information about all the common law provinces as well as Quebec. Awarded the Willard Hurst Prize in American Legal History, 1992.
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Contents
Contents
Foreword
R. ROY McMURTRY AND PETER N. OLIVER ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
PART I: THE REGULATION OF MARRIAGE, COURTSHIP, AND
SEXUAL VIOLENCE
1 The Ceremony of Marriage 9
2 Seduction 40
3 Rape 81
PART II: FERTILITY
4 Infanticide 112
5 Abortion 140
PART III: THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY FAMILY
6 Divorce and Separation 167
7 Child Custody 200
PART IV: WOMEN’S WORK IN THE PAID LABOUR FORCE
8 Prostitution 228
9 Protective Labour Legislation 260
10 Lawyering: Clara Brett Martin, Canada’s First Woman Lawyer 293
Conclusion 327
Notes 339
Selected Bibliography 441
Index 454
Awards
- Winner - J. Willard Hurst Prize (1992)
- Winner - Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States Outstanding Book Award
Reviews
A fascinating and unusual book, one that adds significantly to the collection of path-breaking articles on Canadian women's legal history she has already published. Elizabeth Clarke, Law and History Review, vol 11, 1993, p. 209.
L’autre a ainsi atteint son objectif de rendre ses recherches accessibles au public non initié... La facilité de la lecture ne doit pas porter ombrage à la somme de travail qu’ont exigée ces recherches. Louise Langevin, Cahiers de droit, vol 34, 1993, p. 309.
This is legal history that is open and accessible - legal history at its best .... An insightful and coherent study...essential reading. In this first comprehensive study of women's legal history, University of Western Ontario historian Constance Backhouse deftly romps through the seedy underside of life to provide a penetrating portrait of the law's effect on women. Terry Crowley, Ontario History, vol 84, 1992, p. 69.
Norma Basch, Journal of Women’s History, Vol 5, 1993, p. 129.
Bettina Bradbury, Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol 28, 1993, p. 159.
Alison Diduck, Canadian Journal of Law & Society, Vol 8, 1993, p. 181.
Joan Sangster, Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol 28, 1993, p. 199.
Anonymous, Law & Social Inquiry, Vol 17, 1992, p. 575.
Annalise Acorn, Alberta Law Review, Vol 30, 1992, p. 1031.
Lesley Jacobs, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol 25, 1992, p. 397.
Mary Kinnear, Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Vol 5, 1992, p. 212.
Greg Marquis, Acadiensis, Vol 21, 1992, p. 171.
Melody R. Martin, University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review, Vol 50, 1992, p. 301.
Margaret E. McCallum, Queen’s Law Journal, Vol 17, 1992, p. 521.
Joy Parr, Canadian Forum, Vol 71, 1992, p. 36.
Kathryn S. Sainty, Canadian Journal of Family Law, Vol 10, 1992, p. 309.
Constance Anthony, Books in Canada, 20, 1991, p. 39.
Catherine J. Bruce, The Advocate (Vancouver Bar Association), Vol 4, 1991, p. 954.
Louise Gagnon, The Gazette (Montreal), 7 September 1991, p. J2.
Sheila Munro, The Vancouver Sun, 5 October 1991, p. D19.
Susan Sterett, Women’s Review of Books, Vol 9, 1991, p. 28.
