Upper Class Reaction to Poverty in Mid-Nineteenth Century Montreal: A Protestant Example

In 1850, Montreal was entering a period of extensive industrialization and urbanization. With no state relief programs to deal with the growing population, seasonal employment and increased poverty, the city's upper classes filled the vacuum by creating private charities to relieve destitution. The author studies five Protestant charities which existed in Montreal between 1850 and 1867 which, she argues, were a reflection of upper class attitudes towards poverty and charity. The five charities were: The Montreal Protestant Orphan Asylum; The Montreal Ladies Benevolent Society; The Montreal Home and School of Industry; The Protestant Industrial House of Refuge; and the Montreal Protestant House of Industry and Refuge. The author argues that the wealthy saw poverty as a result of immorality, not underemployment, and oriented charity towards moral reform. The main themes running through the study are: the Victorian emphasis on morality and work; the question of industrial versus outdoor relief; and the extension of relief to the able-bodied unemployed.

Master's Thesis

McGill University

Montreal

1978

xiv-295p.

en