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This thesis is concerned with the artificial feeding of very young children during the second half of the nineteenth century, and its implications for infant health and survival. The decline of breastfeeding which occurred in England between the years 1850 and 1900 was regarded by contemporary critics as largely responsible for the high rate of infant mortality which persisted throughout the half century, at a time when premature deaths in other age-groups were declining in number. This thesis examines, in the light both of contemporary judgements and of modern knowledge, the artificial feeding methods which were adopted in place of breastfeeding. Changes in medical attitudes and opinion during this period in relation to artificial feeding are described, and their influence on popular feeding practice in different social contexts discussed. Rival influences, such as shortcomings in the supply of certain foods and the pressure of commercial advertising, are also examined, and the influence of social factors in general on the development of effective methods of artificial feeding assessed. Finally, the state of health of handfed infants as described in contemporary sources is considered in relation to their diet. Contemporary assumptions about the relationship between artificial feeding and high infant mortality and morbidity are largely found to be justified; it is argued that the period 1850 to 1900 was, nevertheless, one of notable advance both in attitudes towards handfeeding and in the technical skill and understanding which was brought to bear on the problems it involved. Although this period itself saw no reduction in the infant mortality rate, it is seen as a time of adjustment to new ideas and practices, forming a necessary prelude to subsequent and more effective attempts at reform.

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This thesis has examined the contention of the late Philip Abrams that a town should not be considered as a distinct social entity, but in relation to its setting and to "the complex of domination" in which it is embedded. It was decided to use St Ives in Huntingdonshire as the area of study. Sources have included manorial, parish and dissenting records, inventories, marriage bonds and the Pettis Survey of St Ives, with its maps, lists of property owners and land tax payments. After defining the boundaries of the hinterland, the demography and economy of it and the town were studied. Four adjacent villages revealed urban features. The economic, social and religious networks, that bound their inhabitants to the town, were so dense that they produced a cohesive unit, or "urban society". A core of focal families provided continuity of leadership in administration, business and nonconformity. The strengths and weaknesses of the society's component parts have been traced, particularly through the experience of dissenters and watermen. The relationship of this urban society to the wider world has also been analysed. The Duke of Manchester controlled most of the manorial lordships. In the town, he protected his interests by the deployment of key personnel in the vestry and manor. The Church of England was less successful in protecting its position, and eventually had to accept symbiosis with three nonconformist churches. St Ives' proximity to the county town of Huntingdon ensured that, instead of competing with one another, they formed a dispersed urban conglomerate with complementary functions. In its attempt to meet Abrams' requirements, this thesis proposes the concept of an urban society as a useful device for comprehending the breadth of local networks which united the inhabitants of a town and its neighbouring areas.

To what extent con on administrative unit be described as a community. To investigate, a case study of the West Midlands parish of Old Swinford was undertaken utilising parish registers, poor low records, family papers (correspondence, account books and a diary), probate items, and quarter sessions and consistory court records. Economic forces bound the parish into the wider North Worcestershire/South Staffordshire locality, thus circumscribing Old Swinford's individuality. Moreover, the parish exhibited considerable social and spatial differentiation. Giving the parish its unity, however, was the poor law. This provided the basic framework for the parish's social hierarchy, and created a web of obligations and rights enveloping the whole parish (save possibly Amblecote settlement). It is further suggested that the poor law intimately affected the parish's demographic profile - in particular nuptiality, bastardy, migration, and household structure. Parochial power was certainly unequally distributed and, indeed, became more concentrated over time. Nevertheless, positions of power were not entirely monopolised by the economic elite, and such power was used with considerable discretion, with little obvious crude material or ideological motivation. The degree to which Old Swinford constituted a cohesive ritual field is assessed through the study of religious conformity and ritual activities within the parish. Whilst opportunities existed which allowed the parish to celebrate its uniqueness, it nevertheless has to be accepted that Old Swinford's ritual life meshed it closely into the wider locality. The parish is found to have been a real focus for the social and kinship networks of parishioners. Communality was, moreover, seemingly aided by the criss-crossing of social networks across the social hierarchy, the low level of inter-personal conflict and the failure of the development of any alternative culture. It is concluded that the notion of Old Swinford as a community is, on balance, justified.

No description available.

This thesis explores the black labor situation in postwar Tennessee from 1865 to 1868. Using a wide array of primary sources from Tennessee, the research unveils an inherent bias in the Freedmen’s Bureau’s forced contract system of labor. My conclusions highlight the collusion and complacency of bureau officials and planters who confined freedpeople to agricultural labor during the initial years of African-American freedom. Whites—Northern and Southern—worked cohesively toward common goals of agricultural prosperity, law and order, and white supremacy. The bureau’s contract system was devised as an emergency measure to put idle blacks back in their “appropriate” positions as agricultural laborers, but bureau officials failed to recognize that freedpeople refusing to work on farms were not lazy and irresponsible; rather, they were discontented with former slaveholders and desperate for non-plantation work. Contracts served the needs of the planter class and the free-labor proponents of the North. The bureau restored order and productivity to Tennessee by providing ex-slaveowners with the legal means to acquire cheap and exploitable labor. Formal stipulations codified the old system of enslavement through a new medium, and bureau-approved contracts became the new figurative overseers of African-American agricultural laborers in the post-emancipation South.

This thesis explores the black labor situation in postwar Tennessee from 1865 to 1868. Using a wide array of primary sources from Tennessee, the research unveils an inherent bias in the Freedmen’s Bureau’s forced contract system of labor. My conclusions highlight the collusion and complacency of bureau officials and planters who confined freedpeople to agricultural labor during the initial years of African-American freedom. Whites—Northern and Southern—worked cohesively toward common goals of agricultural prosperity, law and order, and white supremacy.The bureau’s contract system was devised as an emergency measure to put idle blacks back in their “appropriate” positions as agricultural laborers, but bureau officials failed to recognize that freedpeople refusing to work on farms were not lazy and irresponsible; rather, they were discontented with former slaveholders and desperate for non-plantation work. Contracts served the needs of the planter class and the free-labor proponents of the North. The bureau restored order and productivity to Tennessee by providing ex-slaveowners with the legal means to acquire cheap and exploitable labor. Formal stipulations codified the old system of enslavement through a new medium, and bureau-approved contracts became the new figurative overseers of African-American agricultural laborers in the post-emancipation South.

This thesis investigates the multi-faceted use of haute couture in Toronto as a symbol of English-Canadian women's postwar cultural identity. European and Canadian couture are related to their socio-economic use in the wardrobes of elite Toronto women whose needs and taste directly reflected etiquette codes, the expanding social season, and the requirements for functioning within it. Couture is contextualized beyond a status symbol, and seen to be a necessity in the performance of women's social roles and volunteer work in establishing arts and charitable organizations. It was vital in creating a national sartorial taste for English-Canadian women, and in defining their social and cultural identity during the postwar years. Further, it examines and analyzes the systems of buying and distributing European couture by Canadian retailers, then explores the relevance of these imports for Toronto's department stores, boutiques and their customers. Integral to this documentation and analysis, is the use of a multidisciplinary methodology that weds material culture with oral history, film and printed archival research. This has made it possible to document the movement and the function of couture from production, distribution and consumption, to its use and meaning in the context of postwar Toronto. By examining couture consuniption in terms of its cultural and economic meaning this study touches upon and informs several academic fields; it contributes to the scant research on twentieth century couture, especially on Canadian dress, as well as to Canadian women's social history.