Tenants in time : family strategies, land, and liberalism in Upper Canada, 1799-1871 / Catharine Anne Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Catharine Anne, 1958-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agriculture--Ontario--History--19th century.

Agriculture.

Farm tenancy--Economic aspects--Ontario--History--19th century.

Farm tenancy.

Farm tenancy--Social aspects--Ontario--History--19th century.

Land tenure--Ontario--History--19th century.

Land tenure.

Landlord and tenant--Ontario--History--19th century.

Landlord and tenant.

Tenant farmers--Legal status, laws, etc--Ontario--History--19th century.

Tenant farmers.

Tenant farmers--Ontario--Social conditions--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (394 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The freeholding pioneer is a powerful image in settlement history - Tenants in Time tells a different story. Tenancy, though relegated to the periphery by the liberal idealization of ownership, was a common and vital part of the economy and society. Against a background of international land agitation and using an inter-disciplinary approach, Catharine Wilson looks at life as a tenant farmer, providing new insights into family strategies, land markets, and the growth of liberalism. Using evidence from across Upper Canada she shows how tenancy transformed the landscape and tied old and new settlers together in a continuum of mutual dependence that was essential to settlement, capital creation, and social mobility. Her analysis of customary rights reveals a landlord-tenant relationship - and a concept of ownership - more complex and flexible than previously understood. Landlords, from ordinary farmers to absentee aristocrats, are also part of the story and the much-criticized clergy reserves take a positive role. An intimate exploration of Cramahe Township follows tenants over the generations as they supported their families and combined liberal ideas with household-centered ways. From aggregate statistics to individual human dramas, Tenants in Time unravels the life of the tenant farmer in a wonderfully documented, engaging, and compelling argument.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Maps and Tables

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Perspectives and Ideologies

Introduction

The Ideology of Landholding

Tenants and their Lives

Tenancy and Tenants

Their Landlords and the Landlord-Tenant Relationship

Their Rent

Their Lives within a Legal Framework: Distraint and Eviction

Their Legal and Customary Rights

Their Farms, Families, and Agricultural Practices

Their Aspirations, Successes, and Failures

Conclusion

Appendices

Note on the Database and Sources

Statistical Tables

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612865688

9780773578272

0773578277

9781282865686

1282865684

9780773575134

0773575138

OCLC:

549311192