This thesis argues that the British Public Health movement did not begin in 1842 with Edwin Chadwick's publication, Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain (1842), or in 1848, with the subsequent passage of the Public Health Act. The beginning of the public health movement was instead the product of local initiatives such as the Manchester Board of Health, administered not by central government, but by members of the local community supported by predominantly philanthropic funding. The Manchester movement predated Chadwick's efforts by at least half a century and bore a greater resemblance to the modern idea of an organized public health system than that advanced by Chadwick and his contemporaries. This is because the Manchester movement emphasized not only those sanitary ideas ascribed to Chadwick but also included a broader spectrum of public health measures, including but not limited to ; preventative medicine, occupational health, and the reduction of contagious diseases. / by Jennifer L. Boxen. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Orphans of British Fiction, 1880-1911 Abstract William David Floyd Orphans of British Fiction, 1880-1911 focuses on the depiction of orphans in genre fiction of the Victorian fin-de-siecle. The overwhelming majority of criticism focusing on orphans centers particularly on the form as an early- to middle-century convention, primarily found in realist and domestic works; in effect, the non-traditional, aberrant, at times Gothic orphan of the fin-de-siecle has been largely overlooked, if not denied outright. This oversight has given rise to the need for a study of this potent cultural figure as it pertains to preoccupations characteristic of the turn of the century. The term “orphan” may typically elicit images of the Dickensian type, such as Oliver Twist, the homeless waif with no family or fortune with which he or she may discern identity and totality of self. The earlier-century portrayals of orphanhood that produced this stereotype dealt almost exclusively with issues arising from industrialization, such as class affiliation, economic disparity and social reform and were often informed by the cult of the ideal Victorian family. Beginning with an overview of orphanhood as presented in earlier fiction of the long nineteenth century, including its metaphorical import and the conventions associated with it, Orphans of British Literature, 1880-1911 goes on to examine the notable variance in literary orphans in genre fiction at the turn of the century. Indicators of the zeitgeist of modernism’s advent, turn-of-the-century orphans functioned as registers of burgeoning cultural anxieties particular to the fin-de-siecle, such as sexual ambiguity, moral and physical degeneration and concerns about the imperial enterprise. Furthermore, toward the century’s end, the notion of the ideal family fell under suspicion and was even criticized as limiting and oppressive rather than reliable and inclusive, casting into doubt the institution to which the orphan historically aspired and through which the orphan state was typically rectified. As a result, in contrast to the sentimental street urchin of early and middle century fiction, fin-de-siecle orphans are often unsettling, irresolute, even monstrous and violent figures.

The research field of this thesis is framed by the major political and legal women's movement campaigns from the 1840s to the 1870s: the debates over the Married Women's Property Act; over philanthropy and methods of addressing social ills; the campaign for professional opportunities for women, and the arguments surrounding women's suffrage. I address how these issues are considered and contextualised in major works of Victorian fiction: Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South (1855), Charlotte Bronte's Villette (1853), and George Eliot's Middlemarch (1871--2). / In works of fiction by women, concepts of social justice were not constrained by layers of legal abstraction and the obligatory political vocabulary of "disinterest." Contemporary fiction by women could thus offer some of the most developed articulations of women's changing expectations. This thesis demonstrates that the Victorian novel provides a distinct synthesis of, and contribution to, arguments grouped under the rubric of the "woman question." The novel offers a perspective on feminist politics in which conflicting social interests and demands can be played out, where ethical questions meet everyday life, and human relations have philosophical weight. Given women's traditional exclusion from the domain of legitimate (authoritative) speech, the novels of Gaskell, the Bronte's, and Eliot, traditionally admired for their portrayal of moral character, play a special role in giving voice to the key political issues of women's rights, entitlements, and interests. Evidence for the political content and efficacy of these novels is drawn from archival sources which have been little used in literary studies (including unpublished materials), as well as contemporary periodicals. Central among these is the English Woman's Journal. Conceived as the mouthpiece of the early women's movement, the journal offers a valuable record of the feminist activity of the period. Though it has not been widely exploited, particularly in literary studies, detailed study of the journal reveals close parallels between the ideological commitments and concerns of the women's movement and novels by mid-Victorian women.

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This thesis is a study on Fabian attitudes towards the struggle for independent labour representation during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The Fabian Society has often claimed it greatly influenced the struggle to establish a working-class political party prior to the inauguration of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) in 1900. Yet, many of the Fabians' contemporaries disagreed. This thesis challenges any assertion that the Fabian Society greatly influenced the LRC. Through a study of the Fabian Society's early history, beliefs and attitudes it is clear that the Fabians were more likely to be very negative towards any rank and file movements. The Fabians had little faith in the "average sensual man". Even their Manifesto "To Your Tents Oh Israel" cannot, in the final analysis, be viewed as concrete proof that the Fabian Society placed great hope in the working man and in his struggle for labour representation.

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