Sex Scandals and Papist Plots: The Mid-Nineteenth Century World of an Irish Nurse in Quebec

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Sex Scandals and Papist Plots: The Mid-Nineteenth Century World of an Irish Nurse in Quebec
Abstract
Jane Hamilton left Ireland for Canada in 1849. Upon her arrival at Quebec City, she settled into employment as a nurse at the Quebec Marine and Emigrant Hospital where she quickly gained the respect of the doctors and patients with whom she worked. The author points out that in spite of her reputation as the hospital's most competent, well-liked nurse, Hamilton became the focus of an aggressive smear campaign. Slanderous gossip suggesting that she had engaged in illicit sexual relations with doctors, and that she had facilitated death-bed conversions of patients to the Roman Catholic faith, took on a life of its own. Ultimately, due in part to the scandal associated with Hamilton, the colonial government was forced to open an official investigation into the management of the hospital. The author considers the social politics involved in this case, giving particular attention to the work of British imperialism on social relations in mid-nineteenth-century Quebec.
Publication
Journal of Women's History
Volume
Vol. 27
Issue
no. 3
Pages
109-131
Date
Fall 2015
Language
en
Citation
Chilton, Lisa. “Sex Scandals and Papist Plots: The Mid-Nineteenth Century World of an Irish Nurse in Quebec.” Journal of Women’s History Vol. 27, no. 3 (Fall 2015): 109–131.
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