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Law Legal History

Married Women and the Law of Property in Victorian Ontario

by (author) Lori Chambers

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Oct 1997
Category
Legal History, Women's Studies, 19th Century
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442677098
    Publish Date
    Oct 1997
    List Price
    $91.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802078391
    Publish Date
    Nov 1997
    List Price
    $40.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802008541
    Publish Date
    Nov 1997
    List Price
    $91.00

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Description

Until this century, married women had no legal right to hold, use, or dispose of property. Since the ownership of property is a critical measure of social status, the married women's property acts of the nineteenth century were important landmarks in the legal emancipation of women. Reform campaigns represented the first organized attempts by women in Upper Canada to challenge their status in society. Ironically, emancipation was not the first goal of reformers: their demands reflected a concern with protection from economic instability. The laws granting women new rights and privileges were designed to force men to behave more responsibly and to mitigate the worst hardships imposed upon wives by abusive or negligent husbands.

The most detailed and complete account of married women's property law reform yet written for any North American jurisdiction, this fascinating study will be of interest to those in the areas of law, women's studies, and nineteenth-century social history.

About the author

Lori Chambers teaches at McMaster University. She is the author of Married Women and Property Law in Western Ontario.

Lori Chambers' profile page

Awards

  • Short-listed, Alison Prentice Award, Onario Historical Society