Women's Work, Markets and Economic Development in Nineteenth-Century Ontario [1 ed.] 9781442657526, 9780802066770

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THE STATE AND E C O N O M I C LIFE EDITORS: Mel Watkins, University of Toronto; Leo Panitch, York University 11 M A R J O R I E G R I F F I N COHEN

Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development in Nineteenth-Century Ontario

In this study Marjorie Griffin Cohen argues that in research into Ontario's economic history the emphasis on market activity has obscured the most prevalent type of productive relations in the staple-exporting economy - the patriarchal relations of production within the family economy. Cohen focuses on the productive relations in the family and the significance of women's labour to the process of capital accumulation in both the capitalist sphere and independent commodity production. She shows that while the family economy was based on the mutual dependence of male and female labour, there was not equality in productive relations. The male ownership of capital in the context of the family economy had significant implications for the control over female labour. Among countries which experience industrial development, there are common patterns in the impact of change on women's work; there are also significant differences. One of the most important of these is the fact that economic development did not result in women's labour being withdrawn from the social sphere of production. Rather, economic growth has steadily brought women's productive efforts more directly into the market sphere. In exploring the roots of this development Cohen adds a new dimension to the study of women's labour history. M A R J O R I E G R I F F I N C O H E N is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

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Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development in Nineteenth-Century Ontario MARJORIE GRIFFIN COHEN

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

© University of Toronto Press 1988 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-2651-6 (cloth) ISBN 0-8020-6677-1 (paper)

Printed on acid free paper

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Cohen, Marjorie Griffin, 1944Women's work, markets, and economic development in nineteenth-century Ontario Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-8020-2651-6 (bound) ISBN 0-8020-6677-1 (pbk.) 1. Women - Employment - Ontario - History - 19th century. 2. Sexual division of labour - Ontario History - 19th century. 3. Ontario - Economic conditions - 19th century. I. Title. HD6100.06C63 1988

331.4'09713

C88-093369-0

Cover photo: Mrs Otto, Miners Bay, Ontario, circa 1900 (National Archives of Canada, C 27547)

For Sam and Sophie

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Contents

Tables / ix Acknowledgments / xi 1

Introduction / 3

2 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, and Women's Work / 14 3 Division of Labour in a Staple-Exporting Economy / 29 4 Farm Women's Labour in Ontario's Staple-Exporting Economy: Early to Mid Nineteenth Century / 59 5 The Changing Conditions of Women in Dairying / 93 6 Women's Paid Work and the Transition to Industrial Capitalism 1850-1911 / 118 7 Conclusion / 152

Appendix / 159 Notes/ 171 Bibliography / 219 Index / 247

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Tables

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Bequests to wives in wills by males, Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry, Ontario 1800-11 and 1850-58 / 50 Bequests to daughters in wills by males, Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry, Ontario 1800-11 and 1850-58/55 Household fabric production 1842-81 / 82 Home-made butter and cheese production 1851-91 / 104 Employment in cheese factories 1871-1911 / 108 Butter production in Ontario, Quebec, and Canada 1901-41 / 110 Bequests to wives in wills by males, Wellington County, Ontario 1858-60 / 159 Bequests to daughters in wills by males, Wellington County, Ontario, 1858-60 / 159 Bequests to wives in wills by males Wellington County, Ontario 1890 / 160 Bequests to daughters in wills by males, Wellington County, Ontario 1890/161 Population and sex ratio, Ontario 1824-1911 / 162 Population and sex ratio for largest cities 1851-1901 / 163 Sex ratios by age group, Toronto 1851-1901 / 164 General fertility rates, Ontario and Canada 1851-1911 / 164 Sex ratio at marriageable age and average age at first marriage, Ontario 1851-91 / 164

x Tables 16 Per cent of females married by age group,

Ontario 1851, 1871, 1891, 1911 / 165 17 Occupational distribution, Ontario 1851-91 / 165 18 Number of families, food animal population, and food production, Toronto 1871-1901/166 19 Number of females in occupations listed in early censuses, Ontario 1851-81 / 166 20 Leading industrial establishments employing females, Ontario 1871-91/167 21 Female population and labour force, Ontario 1891-1921 / 167 22 Female domestic servants and labour force, Ontario 1842-1911 / 168 23 Female employment in industrial establishments, Ontario 1871-91 / 168 24 Employment in manufacturing, Ontario 1891-1921 / 169 25 Leading industrial establishments employing females, Ontario 1901-11 / 169 26 Female employment by occupational group, Ontario 1891-1911 / 170 27 Clerical labour force, Ontario 1891-1921/170

Acknowledgments

Many people helped in the various stages of preparation of this book. In particular I would like to thank Thelma McCormack, Paul Craven, Gail Brandt, Sylvia Van Kirk, Derek Cohen, Laurell Ritchie, Tom Travis, Rusty Neal, Daniel Drache, Marion Heeb, Letty Anderson, Caoren Sowton, Jean Wilson, Stephen Freed, Naomi McCormack, Mary Smith, and Connie Backhouse. An earlier version of Chapter 5, entitled The Decline of Women in Canadian Dairying,' was published in Histoire sociale / Social History XVII, 34 (November 1984) 307-34. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Mrs Otto, Miners Bay, Ontario, circa 1900 (National Archives of Canada [NA], C 27547)

Woman with wooden plunger-type churn, near Long Branch, Ontario, 1893 (NA, PA 126654)

Mrs David Jack and daughter churning butter with hand-made wooden churn, Cayuga, Ontario, 1912 (Geological Survey of Canada, No. 17117)

Mrs Winges hanging out clothes at 54 Main St, residence of James Ballantyne, Ottawa East, 1903 (NA, PA 133487)

Margaret Hyde washing dishes, Ottawa East, 1893 (NA, PA 131936)

School nurse examining children in the classroom (Archives of Ontario, 9160-S15512)

Ironing room, Home for Friendless Women, Ottawa 1895 (NA, PA 27434)

Diet kitchen of the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, circa 1900 (NA, C 27350)

Tailoring workshop, circa 1890 (Metropolitan Toronto Library, T 13569)

Ironing room, Good Shepherd Convent, Ottawa 1909 (NA, PA 42512)

Sausage factory, George Matthews & Co., Ottawa 1907 (NA, PA 42288)

Filling cans with damson plum jam, E.D. Smith's, Winona, Ontario, circa 1911 (NA, PA 9808)

Walthousen Hat Corporation, Brockville, Ontario, 1907 (NA, PA 107282)

Workers at looms, circa 1908 (City of Toronto Archives [CTA], James 137)

Robert Simpson Co. Mail Order Room 1909 (CTA, James 136A)

Visiting nurse, circa 1912 (CTA, DPW 32-95)

Clothing factory, London, Ontario, 1912 (NA, PA 74737)

Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development in Nineteenth-Century Ontario

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1

Introduction

For some time feminist scholars have argued that any analysis of society is incomplete if women's participation is ignored. The ideas and assumptions on which theories about society and social change were developed are usually assumed to pertain to the human experience in general, but on closer examination their androcentric bias has become obvious. Traditional academic disciplines not only have had difficulty 'seeing' women, but also have had a distorted view of social mechanisms in general because of their exclusive perspectives. Including women in our analysis of society, then, involves more than simply finding out how women 'fit in,' for a more inclusive approach to history and political economy may radically change our perception of what happened. Understanding the nature of economic development in Ontario is a good case in point: one objective of this book is to show how what we believe to be true about the nature of economic development and the productive relations associated with this process in Ontario is extremely narrow because the usual analysis neglects the central place of the most prevalent mode of production and its labour relations - the household economy. But the intent of this book is not only to change the accepted version of how the economy developed. It also offers an alternative to the usual ideas about the effect of industrialization on women. Conclusions about the impact of industrialization on women are based on an analysis of economic and productive relations that existed in England and Europe. These conditions were distinct from those in Ontario and, therefore, have produced an analysis not applicable to experiences here. Not only is our understanding of the nature of

4 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

economic development incomplete because the labour relations and production of a huge portion of the population have been ignored, but even our understanding of what happened to women in the development process is faulty because it is assumed to follow patterns established elsewhere. The major objectives of this book are to show that women's productive activities were crucial to Ontario economic development in ways which were distinct from what is usually understood; that the productive relations of the household are critical to analyses of the nature of economic development; and that women's involvement in the industrialization process took a different form from that in older societies which were industrialized first. Economic Development Economics is fundamentally a discipline concerned with market behaviour. Its major objective is to discover how decisions are made about what is to be produced for the market and who will get these things. Since women's labour for the most part has been directed toward non-market activities, their labour has been removed from consideration in traditional economic theory.1 In some respects this has been an odd development because the origin of the word 'economics/ as each new student of economics is told, is a Greek word pertaining to management of a household and the ordering of private affairs. That women were at the centre of this activity is obvious and is clearly reflected in the first English use of the term, which refers to 'woman' who 'doth employ her Oeconomick Art ... her Household to preserve.'2 Recently some economists, albeit a small minority, have become interested in women's work, particularly as women have become a larger proportion of the paid labour force. In addition, there have been attempts to apply economic theory to the economics of the household.3 But the results have not substantially changed the focus and analysis of the discipline, which is still overwhelmingly preoccupied with market activity, even when the market does not govern the bulk of productive activity and does not involve the labour of most people. This focus on market activity presents problems for the study of an economy, such as that of pre-industrial Ontario, which was primarily oriented toward subsistence production. The theoretical

5 Introduction

approaches that focus on market activity have created methodological tools based on this type of activity; there has been a tendency not to develop adequate ways of looking at non-market activity, except as an adjunct to market activity. Karl Polanyi made the important point that the motivation for economic behaviour changed slowly and painfully during the rise of the market economy, and that the regulation of society by gain and profit from exchange is a relatively recent development: no society organized production like this before the nineteenth century.4 Yet almost the entire focus of our economic history is based on market developments, to the extent that the most characteristic mode of production remains obscure. Probably the most significant contribution of Canadian economists to economic theory has been the staple theory of development. This theory has had a significant impact on both the understanding of the mechanism of growth in an economy involved in the production of export staples and development of dependency theory. Essentially, the staple theory explains how the technology and geographical circumstances associated with specific staple commodities affected the patterns of development and how the character of the staple determined the social and political organizations of the region. In recent years the staple approach has been criticized for the absence of people in its analysis. The criticism is that its focus on external factors as explanations for growth and change neglects the significance of labour and class issues as formative aspects of Canadian development. However, even the studies that have attempted to redress this imbalance tend to treat the issues of labour and class narrowly. They focus only on productive relations associated with paid labour. The real nature of capital accumulation and the most prevalent productive relations in the economy continue to be obscured. For example, H. Clare Pentland was among the first to attempt to bring labour and class issues to the fore of development issues in Canada. His particular interest was to show how the organization of production in society follows from labour conditions. At the beginning of his most important work he states the problem: 'A fundamental problem of any society is the organization of its labour force for production. If the society is to survive as an entity, ways must be evolved or devised to maintain or increase the labour force, to determine the nature and extent of the division of its labour force

6 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

(the techniques to be used), and to establish and enforce the system of incentives. The solutions of these problems fasten their appropriate behaviour patterns upon the various members of each society/5 Pentland's first concern was the evolution of a capitalistic labour market in Canada, with the transition from what he called paternalistic labour relations to capitalistic labour relations. Paternalistic, or personal, labour relations were those associated with employers and employees in the period before a genuine labour market existed. His point was that the productive relations were less governed by incentives of the market than by personal relations. This analysis was an important advance in bringing labour and class to the centre of development issues. But the analysis really only pertains to a small fraction of the total relations of production at any period of the great staple exports. It is not surprising, given the prevailing focus of economists generally on the market (and in Canada on the export staple), that an analysis that finally considered the significance of labour relations would turn to labour associated with the market when labour was considered at all. What now must be considered is the fact that the most significant sector in the pre-industrial period (in terms of the number working and the level of production) was not the staple-exporting sector, but the agricultural sector, and that in this sector waged labour was considerably less important to the production process than was the non-wage labour of family members. It is these productive relations of the family unit that have been ignored. Most economists would acknowledge that the family as a labour unit is crucial to agricultural production, but generally family labour is treated as undifferentiated labour. The members of a family unit are treated as a 'collectivity' of labour whose economic objectives are compatible and whose contributions and rewards are symmetrical. The particular oversight by scholars trying to understand the nature of capitalist development in Canada has been their failure to investigate the extent to which household labour has contributed to capital accumulation. This failure, of course, leaves the productive relations of this form of capital accumulation obscure. The staple theory follows from a general perception that capitalist development is an economic force whose impetus came from outside the family or household. So while the impact of economic development or industrialization on the family has been of some interest, the formative nature of household activity in shaping the economy has not.

7 Introduction

The staple approach has also received criticism from economic historians for its single-mindedness in focusing on exports as the engine of growth. In recent examinations of the early periods of Ontario's wheat-exporting economy, for example, it has been noted that growth continued even when wheat exports were in serious trouble. The two main questions asked are: how could this occur if wheat exports caused growth; and what was it that caused wheat output to increase in the first place? The attempts to answer these questions stress that other forms of market activity must have been significant. That is, internal markets must have been more important in the export staple economy than had been previously believed. This is undoubtedly true and it is an important corrective to recognize that local markets existed. However, what is denied is the idea that farmers could withdraw from the market periodically and rely on subsistence production. This idea is discounted because it is well known that all the things necessary to sustain production simply could not be provided by the household itself, that is, that the entirely self-sufficient farm was a myth. Indeed, it is a very rare economic unit that exists in self-sufficient isolation. Yet, in fixing on the market for explanations of the farming community's ability to cope during periods of declining export-staples, economists have neglected the true significance of the subsistence sector in the process of capital accumulation. And it is here that the productive relations of the family can be critical to understanding what occurred. If we begin with the most characteristic form of labour, rather than with markets, our analysis of growth might be different. This is not easy to do when we look at labour within the family unit because the concept of the family implies an indivisibility of income and a community of effort that does not readily lend itself to the type of class analysis possible when the object of study is waged labour. Yet the issue of ownership and control of labour is as significant in the family economy as it is in more identifiably capitalist relationships. In the family economy, ownership of the means of production both in law and in practice was in the hands of the male head of the household. The productive relations in this type of labour unit are frequently referred to by feminist anthropologists and sociologists as patriarchal productive relations. This is apt. If we look at the tremendous control ownership exerts over the product of labour, we can understand the extent to which female labour was 'expropriated' for the process of capital accumulation. To understand the

8 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

forces of accumulation in the pre-industrial economy, the division of labour within the family unit should be the starting-point. Obviously this division of labour was not determined without reference to general economic conditions and demographic and cultural factors of the time. But by starting with the family, rather than the market, we may learn about the various strategies families adopted in order to survive in the face of extremely unstable market conditions. In fact, a dual economy existed: subsistence production, which provided the most basic needs of the household, and the market-oriented production, which provided income. Women's labour in this scheme was critical to capital accumulation. To the extent that women's productive efforts sustained the family in its basic consumption needs, male labour was free to engage in production for exchange on the market (through either commodity production or waged labour); to the extent that the total income from market production need not be expended on consumption, accumulation of capital in the family productive unit could occur. While it is certain that an understanding of the economics of the family would not get far without reference to the market, it is equally clear that an understanding of the market is not possible without reference to the basic unit of production - the family. So far, the dynamics of the family as a productive unit are relatively unknown. In particular, we need to examine how the accumulation of capital affects the relative position of the various labourers within the family unit and how this, in turn, relates to economic change. Women's Labour and the Transition to Industrial Capitalism There have been, to date, few attempts to analyse long-term changes in women's labour and the relationship between industrialization and women's work in Canada. Most analyses which discuss women's labour assume that the transformation to an industrial economy in Canada had the same effect on women's work as it did in other countries. However, while there are important similarities among countries that experience industrial development, attempts to find common patterns in the impact of change on women's work have blurred some significant differences resulting from unique historical, economic, and cultural circumstances.

9 Introduction

The colonial nature of Canada, which underwent a transition from a resource-exporting and agricultural economy to an industrial one, presents a distinct type of economic development, one that affected women's work in specific ways. I shall demonstrate this for Ontario during the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century. This period covers early staple development, the transformation to an industrially based economy, and the increase of waged work for women. After World War I the labour experience of women in Canada more and more resembled that of other industrialized nations. Because Ontario had a more integrated and complete industrial transformation than any other province, it is ideally suited to a discussion of how the process of change from subsistence and exportstaple production to industrial production affected women's work. However, as the labour experiences of women in other parts of the country at comparable stages of development were often similar, they will be used for corroboration and comparison. In Chapter 2, I begin by discussing current interpretations of the effect of capitalist industrial development on women's labour, in order to show that a paradigm, based chiefly on the British experience, has frequently been assumed to apply wherever industrialization occurs. This paradigm considers three changes to be particularly significant. First, industrialization separated the home and the workplace. In the pre-industrial period the household is seen as a productive unit with the family working together in the production process. As industry moved out of the household, the home was no longer a place of production and the family's function as a productive unit by and large disappeared. Second, this process brought about an increased differentiation in the division of labour by gender. As the physical location of production separated male and female labour, occupational and industrial segregation by gender became more pronounced. Males, through productive activities outside the home, became increasingly responsible for securing the family income, and male involvement with domestic affairs became negligible. At the same time females' productive activities became less significant to the family economy and their dependence on males increased. The third major change associated with industrialization is that a much sharper division was created between the public and private worlds of work. In pre-industrial economies the household is identified as the major focus of economic activity, and

10 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

the distinctions between work and life and between the public and private functions of specific individuals within the household are largely insignificant. As production and males leave the household they become identified with the public sphere, where the female sphere becomes increasingly confined to the private world of the household as women's production for the market is restricted. This model does not fit women's experience in a colonial, subsistence-oriented, and staple-exporting economy. In Ontario, industrialization did not initiate the separation of women from production for the market and did not intensify the public/private split and the division of labour by gender; these factors had been common features of productive relations in the pre-industrial period. Rather, economic growth brought women's productive efforts increasingly into the market's sphere. This was by no means a simple progression embracing all sectors of the economy and affecting all groups of women similarly, for even by the end of the period most women's labour was not directed toward the market. But the trend toward greater market participation was evident as women's labour began to be integrated into the public sphere of production in a way that had not been possible when subsistence and staple production were dominant. In Chapter 3 I discuss the division of labour by gender in an economy where the most significant market activity was directed toward the production of staples for the export market. This form of commodity production was separate and distinct from the production that took place within the household and was, for the most part, performed by males. Production within the household was largely for the family's use and performed mostly by women. The fact that women's economic activities were primarily of a subsistence nature while men's work was more market-oriented does not imply that the labour of females was insignificant during periods of intense staple production. Because of the extremely volatile nature of export markets, the general scarcity of labour, and the underdeveloped and poorly integrated nature of the domestic market, the activity of women in the subsistence sector was integral to staple development and critical for capital accumulation. However, while male and female labour in the family economy was interdependent, their productive relationships were not equal. Ownership of the means of production and control of labour were as significant in the family economy as in more identifiably capitalistic relationships. In the

11 Introduction

last section of Chapter 3,1 examine how ownership of the means of production, both in law and in practice, was firmly in the hands of the male head of the household, and consider the implications of this for control over female labour. One major objective of this book is to show how in Ontario the growth of local markets, which was related to improved transportation and population growth, brought women's productive efforts more directly into the market's sphere. Initially the kind of work women performed did not change significantly, but as the outlets for surplus household production expanded, women's work in the household became increasingly market-oriented. In Chapter 4 I examine the factors that affected women's production for the market in the farm household, showing how their market activities became more important to the family with respect both to family consumption and to the accumulation of capital on the farm. In particular, I discuss how the volatile nature of the wheat stapleexporting economy made families vulnerable to the extremes of international staple markets. This forced them to rationalize production in specific ways so that they would both have access to incomes generated by this market and yet be protected from its extremes. As the economy grew, the protection offered by subsistence production became less central to the family economy. The result was that women's productive efforts could then become more oriented toward the market. Chapter 5 examines this process in the development of the dairy industry. Dairy production has been selected for a detailed study for several reasons: women were the main producers of dairy products in the pre-industrial period; it was an industry which became increasingly significant to the Ontario economy; and, because of its economic importance, both to families and to the economy in general, detailed information about changes in the production process is available. Initially, dairy production was for household consumption, but as markets improved, women's dairying became an important source of income for farm families. While women remained in the industry as it expanded in its pre-industrial stage, they did not manage to develop large-scale capitalist enterprises as the industry moved from household craft production to more capital-intensive factory production. Instead, women's work in dairying tended to remain labour-intensive and confined to what could be performed within the household.

12 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

Patriarchal productive relations were significant in limiting the scope of farm women's market-oriented activities as the work they traditionally performed became the main business of the farm. However, while women's ability to produce for the market within the farm household was slowly being restricted, their ability to participate in market-oriented activities increased in other ways. In urban areas women's waged labour slowly and steadily increased. At the same time, market-oriented labour in the home, although different from that performed by farm women, continued to be a significant income source for many working-class families. In Chapter 6 I examine the effect of economic growth and industrial development on women's paid labour. While jobs women performed outside the home were generally similar to the types of work women performed in other countries experiencing industrialization, the absence of large labour surpluses in Ontario meant that the growth in waged labour was less confined to domestic work than was typical of the pattern for women elsewhere. In the first part of Chapter 6 I discuss the demographic changes associated with economic growth and show how dramatic these changes were for women. In the remainder of the chapter I point to the areas where women's work for pay was expanding and examine the factors that affected the nature of this work. The intent throughout is to do several things. One is to explain how the process of economic development and its effect on women in a staple-exporting economy was distinct from that usually associated with industrialization. Most important, I want to show that it is wrong to assume that in Ontario the economic development associated with industrial capitalism restricted women's economic sphere. The effect of development on women varies considerably according to the historical conditions under which development occurs. The variability and unevenness of Ontario's development means women's relationship to the process cannot be seen as linear; that is, there was not a simple movement transferring household production to waged labour. The second objective is to challenge the elaborate economic arguments that have ignored the gender of the participants in the panorama of economic change. This gender-blindness has obscured the productive nature of a whole sector of the economy and presents distorted ideas about the nature of the economy and the forces of change. Women's labour was directly related to the process of cap-

13 Introduction

ital accumulation in the pre-industrial period. Most analyses acknowledging the significance of female labour recognize the indirect contribution it has made to capitalist development through social reproduction. Although this is certainly significant, the importance of female labour is not confined to this sphere. The limits of this book are considerable. It certainly is not meant to be a definitive study of women's labour in the nineteenth century, for there are many areas not taken up. For example, there are no detailed accounts of methods of child care, cooking, and cleaning. Neither are there examinations of the management of social and sexual relations, or of all the various kinds of work women did for pay. These are all aspects of women's labour that are critical to a full understanding of their economic and social relations. Rather, the focus here is more limited and deals with the variety of factors pertaining to women's relationship to market activities and capital accumulation. I use the term 'Ontario' throughout, even though this region was known as Upper Canada for much of the period under discussion.

2

Capitalist Development, Industrialization, and Women's Work

Early Perspectives on Industrialization Over time, the understanding of the effect of industrialization on women's work, based primarily on the British experience, has undergone considerable change. It has shifted from a perspective which saw the process as one that would bring women's work from the margins to the centre of productive activity, to one which sees industrialization as essentially restricting the nature of women's work. The tendency in the nineteenth century was to see the impact of industrialization on women as a dramatic one which greatly changed the nature of the household and the nature of women's work.1 During industrialization, in particular the transformation from cottage industrial production to factory production in Britain, the most noticeable change in female employment was the extent to which women were leaving the home to work. At the time this appeared to be a general feature of the industrializing process that would undermine the position of male labour and the family as industrialization progressed. In the words of one observer, the factory process was having disastrous consequences because of the 'gradual displacement of male by substitution of female labour in a large proportion of the industrial occupation of the country ... This evil ... is spreading rapidly and extensively ... desolating like a torrent, the peace, the economy, and the virtue of the mighty masses of the manufacturing districts. Domestic life and domestic discipline must soon be at an end.'2 Marx and Engels also stressed the tendency for male labour to be displaced by female labour as industria-

15 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, Women's Work

lization progressed: 'the more modern industry becomes developed, the more is the labour of men superseded by that of women. Differences of age and sex have no longer any distinctive social validity for the working class.'3 In hindsight this perspective appears to have greatly exaggerated the true state of things. But however melodramatic the prediction appears now, it was not based on an unfounded perception of what seemed to be occurring at the time. The critical industry in Britain's industrialization process was the textile industry, and the changes occurring in it appeared to contemporary observers to offer insights into the likely effects of industrialization as industry after industry was drawn into the factory. There is substantial evidence to show that in the early stages of factory work, workers in the textile industries were primarily women and children.4 The expansion of women's work outside the home in the first industries to become industrialized quite naturally led contemporary observers to assume that a revolution was taking place in work for women. This was almost universally assumed to be bad for the entire family - not because women were working, for women had certainly worked in the family economy, but because this work was taking women away from the home, where they had combined paid employment with domestic responsibilities.5 Even Engels, who understood the necessity of women's work outside the home as a step toward their emancipation, was horrified by the drastic changes in the social order and in particular by the way women's paid work was destroying traditional relationships between husbands and wives. He recognized that women's work outside the home was important because it would permit them to spend less time on domestic work and more on production on a large, social scale. 'And only now has that become possible through modern large-scale industry, which does not merely permit of the employment of female labour over a wide range, but positively demands it, while it also tends toward ending private domestic labour by changing it more and more into a public industry.'6 However, this change was harmful to the family: 'In many cases the family is not wholly dissolved by the employment of the wife, but turned upside down. The wife supports the family, the husband sits at home, tends the children, sweeps the room and cooks.'7 Engels saw this as an 'insane state of things' which 'unsexes the man and takes from the woman all womanliness.'8 Women's work outside the home affected their

16 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

domestic functions since unmarried women did not acquire domestic skills and married women had no time to perform them. It also had moral consequences that were 'not calculated for the favourable development of the female character';9 it adversely affected women's health; and it increased child mortality. Engels's position, of course, was not that the condition of women in the pre-industrial family economy represented an ideal that should be perpetuated, but that it was also oppressive in being based on the superior position of the male in the economic system. We must admit that so total a reversal of the position of the sexes can have come to pass only because the sexes have been placed in a false position from the beginning. If the reign of the wife over the husband, as inevitably brought about by the factory system, is inhuman, the pristine rule of the husband over the wife must have been inhuman too. If the wife can now base her supremacy upon the fact that she supplies the great part, nay, the whole of the common possession, the necessary inference is that this community of possession is no true and rational one, since one member of the family boasts offensively of contributing the greater share.10

In short, the industrialization process was seen by contemporaries as drastically changing women's work as a whole by removing their paid work from the home to the factory and by radically reducing their ability to perform traditional household duties. To those who expected factory work to increase dramatically, it appeared that the tendency for women to become wageearners could only accelerate. Twentieth-Century Perspectives on Industrial Capitalism: A Paradigm By the beginning of the twentieth century it had become clear that women were being drawn into waged work to a much smaller extent than had been anticipated. For example, a British pamphlet on women's work at the turn of the century noted that 'In the past half century there has been no real invasion of industry generally by women, but rather a withdrawal from it.'11 Among feminists there was a growing recognition that modern industrial capitalism had reduced the working sphere of women. Not only were women being

17 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, Women's Work

confined in small numbers to narrow areas of paid labour, but also their ability to contribute to the family income through labour in the home had been severely restricted. Olive Schreiner was among the first to emphasize this effect of industrialization, saying that it 'tended to rob woman not merely in part, but almost wholly, of the more valuable of her ancient domain of productive and social labour.'12 Throughout this century there has been considerable disagreement about whether the changes brought by capitalist industry resulted in a deterioration or an improvement in women's position, but the restrictive effect on the nature of women's labour has been widely accepted.13 This emphasis on the narrowing of women's labour sphere has become basic to current analyses of the transition from pre-industrial economies to industrial capitalism. In fact, a general paradigm of the effect of industrialization on women's labour has developed, based on the British and Western European experience. While there is not, of course, total agreement about the details, and while various aspects of the paradigm have been questioned and modified over time, its principal outlines are generally clear. What is more, they are frequently accepted as typical characteristics of the development of capitalist industry wherever it occurs. The changes in women's labour associated with capitalist industrialization occurred primarily because the home was separated from the workplace. As industry moved out of the household, the home was no longer a place of production and the family's function as a productive unit disappeared.14 This significantly narrowed women's ability to contribute to the family economy. When production occurred within the household, women's labour was an integral part of how the family earned its living. While the distinctions between male and female work in the pre-industrial family economy are acknowledged, and are understood to be a function of women's responsibility for children and housework, the relatively more integrated nature of the family's work is stressed.15 Men and women did much the same type of work, even if the actual tasks they performed were different. In agriculture, women were as much a part of the productive process as men. While male labour was more likely to involve field work and women's labour was more likely to be centred around the immediate environs of the dwelling-place, the family's livelihood was dependent on the labour of both. In cottage and craft

18 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

production the whole family would be engaged in the work process - the income of the family was critically dependent on the complementary nature of the tasks performed by males and females in the production of commodities. There are different opinions about whether women's labour in the pre-industrial household was valued by the family as being equal to that of males. Some stress that the complementary nature of the labour meant that women's labour was not subservient to men's.16 But for the most part women's labour is considered to have been subservient to male labour, even when this labour was critical to how the family earned its income.17 The separation of production from the household greatly increased the differentiation in the division of labour by gender.18 As the physical location of production separated male and female labour, both occupational and industrial segregation by gender became more pronounced. Through their productive activities outside the home, males became increasingly responsible for securing the family income.19 Since waged labour forced males to be absent for long periods of time, male involvement in domestic affairs became negligible. The correlative of this situation was that housework and child care became more and more the primary responsibility of women. While women had certainly been more involved with these tasks than men in the pre-industrial household, the ability to combine domestic tasks with the general productive work of the family meant that domestic activities did not consume the whole of women's labour. In fact, it is frequently maintained that child care and housework were considerably subordinate to female labour in the family enterprise in the pre-industrial period.20 With the removal of the main source of the family's income from the home, the married woman's ability to combine income-producing labour with domestic labour was seriously curtailed. Initially this affected married middle-class women and the wives of wealthy farmers, changing their lives from intimate involvement in the family enterprise to essentially lives of leisure.21 Eventually this retreat of women into the domestic sphere became characteristic of working-class women too. The difficulties of combining domestic work with waged labour when waged labour involved excessively long hours and when there were few substitutes for women's domestic labour meant that, increasingly, only those families on the margins of economic existence would continue to rely on the labour of the married woman outside the home.

19 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, Women's Work

The rise of the housewife, then, as the 'dominant mature feminine role' is perceived to have emerged with the development of industrial capitalism.22 Whether this was a positive or a negative development is a subject of considerable debate. To some, the loss of income-earning activity increased the married woman's dependence and adversely affected women's status in society.23 To others, the change in the basis of marriage from an economic partnership to one of economic dependence for the wife had a more positive impact because it improved the standard of living for the average family, in particular because the mother and wife had more time to devote to the well-being of her family and its domestic circumstances.24 Nevertheless, there is general agreement that the labour sphere of the married woman was considerably restricted as her duties became more centred on child care and housework. She became dependent on her husband economically and became more isolated as her work assumed a less collective nature. The increased rigidity in the division of labour by gender also affected the labour of women who worked outside the home. Waged work for women may have increased through the industrial transformation process, but rather than expanding the occupational diversity for women, as was initially anticipated, women's paid work was increasingly restricted to a small range of jobs.25 In the manufacturing sector, women's paid employment was confined almost exclusively to those industries which were industrialized first. As industrialization spread, women did not move into new areas of work. Rather, 'the rise of the factory girl was an exceptional and atypical development in the industrializing economy.'26 As crafts and trades were taken outside the household and developed along capitalistic lines, women's ability to participate decreased. Daughters and wives were excluded from production as wagedlabour became more significant to the larger-scale organization of these industries, and as industries in which women had once been dominant required greater amounts of capital. Structural changes in the economy reduced the significance of agriculture as an employer of labour altogether, so women's agricultural occupations, which had employed the greatest proportion of females in the pre-industrial period, declined rapidly.27 The decline in female employment, as cottage industries were transformed by industrialization, was partially offset by the feminine nature of the early factory work-force, but the expansion of factory jobs did not fully

20 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

replace the loss of female employment in cottage production. Ivy Pinchbeck maintains, for example, that the proportion of males in the textile industry was greater under factory production than it had been under the domestic system, where the estimates are as high as eight women and children to every man employed.28 The striking feature of industrialization's impact on women's paid labour throughout the nineteenth century was the increased concentration of women in one area of employment which clearly was expanding for them - domestic service.29 Early studies of women's labour during industrialization tended to ignore the effect of the development process on this type of work, assuming either that it remained relatively unchanged until late in the nineteenth century or that the rise of factory labour for women meant that single women became less dependent on domestic service for employment.30 Recently there has been much more attention paid to the rise of domestic service as a typical pattern, cross-culturally, for female employment during the industrializing process. In Britain this type of work absorbed an increasing proportion of the total labour force in the second half of the nineteenth century, rising from 13 per cent of the total labour force in 1851 to 16 per cent by 1891, while at the same time it became both more feminized and more characterized as temporary employment.31 Women tended increasingly to find work in domestic employment as the demand for this type of work expanded while opportunities in other areas of employment were decreasing.32 In addition to domestic service, other types of work that continued to be significant for women were the more marginal types of employment associated with intermittent, casual jobs. These tended to be the kinds of work that demanded less rigid and specific time commitments than did factory labour, jobs which married women could more easily harmonize with their domestic responsibilities to their families. Much of this work had been typical of women's work in the past, including home work in the slop and sweated trades and the more casual paid domestic work performed as washerwomen, boarding-house keepers, chars, and day maids.33 While the extent of this labour is not known, primarily because its more marginal nature meant that it escaped the rigid job classifications of the census, information about the period up to the mid-nineteenth century indicates that in some areas this labour was an important source of income for married women.

21 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, Women's Work

The separation of the home from the workplace clearly had significant implications for the increased rigidity in the division of labour by gender. But as significant as its effect on reducing occupational diversity for women was its effect on reducing women's overall ability to participate directly in how the family earned its income. That is, not only were the types of income-earning jobs women could perform being restricted, but so too was the number of income-earning opportunities, relative to the size of the female population.34 The participation of women in the income-earning areas of economic activity is now widely accepted as having reached its peak in the pre-industrial period, and as having declined during the initial phases of industrialization only to recover the previous high degree of participation over the very long run. In fact, it is now posited that there has been, historically, a high correlation between the household mode of production and female work-force participation, a correlation further evidenced by the analysis of women's labour experience in Third World countries today as capitalist industry transforms certain sectors of the economy.35 In Britain, women's participation experience is described as a U-shaped curve, with the low point in activity occurring in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.36 The recovery to pre-industrial levels is seen as occurring only in the second half of the twentieth century, when married women's participation in wage-earning occupations increased rapidly. This general paradigm of social development and its effect on female labour through the capitalist industrialization process can be summarized as positing three major changes. First, industrialization separated the home and the workplace. In the pre-industrial period the household was the productive unit, with the family working together in the production process. As industry moved out of the household, the home was no longer a place of production and the family's function as a production unit disappeared. Second, this process brought about an increased differentiation in the division of labour by gender. As the physical location of production separated male and female labour, occupational and industrial segregation by gender became more pronounced. The rise of waged labour meant that males became increasingly responsible for securing the family income. At the same time, the division of labour in the family, in which women had always been more responsible for child care and

22 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

housework than males, became more pronounced as women's opportunities to combine income-earning labour with household activities decreased. Married women's labour in the home became characterized by maintenance activities for the family: reproduction, child-care activities, and housework became their primary work roles. While unmarried women's work was likely to be associated with market activity, it was occupationally and industrially segregated from the work of males and for the most part was temporary. The third major change associated with capitalist industrialization - a change integral to the separation of the household from income-producing activities, married women's retreat into the home, and the restricted nature of women's paid work - was the progressive polarization of the public and private spheres of life, with men increasingly associated with public life and women relegated to the private sphere.37 In the pre-industrial household, work was integrated with other types of household activities, so the distinction between the public and private functions of specific individuals within the household was largely insignificant. But, as income-earning activities were withdrawn from the household, a sharper distinction was made between the private sphere of the home and the public sphere of economic life. As women were confined to the household, their world and work became increasingly privatized and isolated, and the new ideology that women's rightful place was in the home gained currency.38 A Universal Model? It is important to note that while it is frequently assumed that capitalist industrialization affects women's labour in broadly similar ways wherever it occurs, this assumption is not valid.39 Rather, the paradigm of the effect of the capitalist industrial transformation on women's labour, as explained above, is based on a specific type of pre-industrial economy. The extent of women's participation in the income-producing activities of the pre-industrial economy was related to a variety of factors which were historically based, including the specific mode of production, the demographic circumstances of the society, and the complex interaction of all the factors affecting the nature of the division of labour by gender within the patriarchal household. In this respect, the paradigm of the effect of capitalist development and industrialization, based on the English experience, does

23 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, Women's Work

not fit the pattern of development in Ontario, where the historical circumstances of development were very different from those in England. In England the transition to industrial capitalism occurred in an economy where internal markets had long been developed.40 The small geographical area and the relatively large population meant that there was considerable interdependence among household units. In the eighteenth century, English rural households were involved in both agricultural production for the market and cottage industrial production. In fact, one distinctive feature of this transformation process was the pre-industrial phase (sometimes characterized as a stage of 'protoindustrialization,' or 'industrialization before the factory system/ or the 'protean stage of development'), which was characterized by the 'emergence, expansion and final decline' of rural industries.41 In villages, towns, and cities, crafts and shops as well as manufacturing industries were organized around the household unit. In this pre-industrial economy women contributed to the material wealth of the household in significant ways. They provided domestic work and production for home consumption; they produced goods for sales; they worked for wages; and they assisted men in their crafts and trades. In the household-based economy their market-oriented activities were considerable, so that the shift in market activities away from the household resulted in a general reduction in women's marketoriented labour. Among feminist scholars there recently has been more emphasis placed on the complexity of the industrializing process for women as a result of the variability and unevenness of capitalist development. There is a recognition that industrialization in England did not affect women in a uniform way. Rather, different conditions in different sectors of the economy meant women's wage-earning patterns and family relations changed in ways that were not as linear as was once believed.42 The point is that the variations on the impact of industrialization and economic change are not important only within a specific economy but also are considerable over space and time. The Canadian Experience The following chapters show that the colonial, export-oriented market economy of pre-industrial Ontario relied on a distinct form of production within the family and a method of organizing labour

24 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

that placed different emphasis on the division of labour by gender from that in pre-industrial Britain. The underdeveloped nature of the economy, the limited supply of labour, and the primary orientation of market activity toward the export market tended to produce a much sharper division of labour in the household economy between production for the market and that for household consumption. In the early stages of development, female labour was centred on production for the household while male labour was focused on production for the market. In this respect one cannot point to a withdrawal of females from market production as the economy was transformed to industrial capitalism. Rather, economic growth brought women's production efforts increasingly into the market's sphere, both through production for the market within the household and through waged labour. Similarly, it is not possible to see the transformation in Ontario as resulting in a major split in the public and private spheres of life, and a sharper differentiation in the division of labour by gender. The private nature of production, the isolation of female labour, and a rigid division of labour by gender were common features of the pre-industrial period. The changes in women's labour which occurred as local markets developed and the economy industrialized were complex and uneven. Even by the end of the period under consideration most female labour was not directed toward the market. But ultimately there was neither an overall decline in the proportion of women active in production for the market nor a restriction in the number of occupations available to women. Specifically, the pattern of women's market-oriented activity did not assume the U-shape of the English experience. It may be more appropriately characterized as a pattern of slow and steady increase in participation, but one which affected women in different sectors in different ways. It is important to note that when I refer to an increase in women's participation I am referring to their labour associated with the market (i.e., the type of labour discussed when the U-shaped pattern of women's work is described in Britain). This change associated with economic development and industrialization relates to the overall level of women's participation in income-earning activities in general, including production within the household and wageearning activities. Frequently there is confusion about exactly what aspects of women's labour are affected because of the rather vague reference to a decline in women's 'productive' labour. Sometimes

25 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, Women's Work

this seems to refer specifically to the contribution women make to the family production of goods and services for exchange, but in other instances the term is used more generally to refer to production for use by the family as well. When used in the latter sense, 'productive' activity is seen in a very conventional way, that is, what is produced either for the market or what is produced for the family, but is tangible, and is later provided through the market. This perspective sees women's labour as being 'productive' when it produces clothing for the family, but not when it produces the family meals. All women's indirect contributions toward how the family earns its living, then, are not included as 'productive' labour. As women increasingly spend a greater proportion of their labour time on child care and housework, their labour tends to be described as being less productive and they are seen as being economically inactive. This division of women's labour into productive and unproductive spheres is not particularly helpful in trying to determine the extent of change in women's labour, and it leads to confusion about whether the decline in women's economic participation refers mainly to changes in the nature of women's labour in providing directly for the family through work in the household, or whether it refers to their direct participation in how the family earns an income. Recent examinations of housework stress that women's unpaid labour in the home has economic significance, even if this activity is solely confined to reproductive activities centred on the household and the care of children. In fact, the very nature of capitalism is seen to be dependent on the existence of this form of labour, and to perpetuate it.43 Also, cross-cultural and cross-generational studies of housework indicate that there are not marked differences in the total labour time women spend on housework. That is, even though the nature of the labour performed within the home may change, women generally do not greatly reduce the amount of time they work in the home.44 The main point to be made, then, is that shifts in the production of tangible goods to untangible services do not amount to a reduction in productivity per se. For the most part those discussing the effect of industrial capitalism on women's labour in Canada tend to be cautious in providing an analysis of long-term changes. No doubt this has been because the history of women's labour has been a seriously underdeveloped subject, and, until recently, relatively little has been

26 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

known about the relationship of women's work to the economy. In the past ten years there have been several good accounts of changes in women's labour in the twentieth century and some useful studies of women's work in specific occupations or areas of the country for earlier periods. But generally those studies which address the larger issues of change from one century to another adopt the latent assumption that it followed the pattern established in Europe. Robert Johnson does this, for example, in his study of the origins of industrial home work in Canada.45 He moves easily and directly from a discussion of the system of cottage production and puttingout in the textile industries in Europe to the mechanization of production in factories in Canada as though it were all part of one continous process. Similarly, Susannah Wilson, in what is a good general analysis of women's work, does not distinguish between the industrializing experience in Canada and in Britain. She too seems to assume that women withdrew from paid labour as industrialization progressed. She sees women's labour as being restricted and increasingly privatized as 'more and more, the husband's realm became the public, the wife's the private and domestic.'46 Her supporting evidence is a long quotation from Ann Oakley which describes the effect of industrialization on women as giving rise to their role as housewife, evidence clearly based on the British experience. Margaret Benston also sees the Canadian experience as paralleling that of Britain. She explains, for example, that in England in the second half of the nineteenth century the ideal of the modern housewife had emerged, and 'women were to stop working - at least for wages. They were to withdraw from the factories and shops into their homes, there to raise children and devote their time to producing goods and services for their families.' While she notes that social conditions in North America were different, she maintains that the results were essentially the same.47 Her implication is clearly that women in some sense retreated into the home, even though they were often able to earn an income through their activities within the household.48 The pervasiveness of the view that the transformation from the pre-industrial to the industrial economy in Canada was a mirror of the British experience is evident in the popular treatment of women's work. For example, in her survey of women's own perception of housework in Canada today, Penny Kome uses British

27 Capitalist Development, Industrialization, Women's Work

data to illustrate the historical rise of the housewife and maintains that 'the pre-Industrial woman avoided financial dependence, social isolation, boredom, and other problems that plague today's homemaker.'49 Leo Johnson, in one of the few generalized accounts of women's labour in the nineteenth century, provides an interesting discussion of the aspects of property relations which relegated women's labour to a subordinate position in the pre-industrial economy. But he assumes, without any reference to specific evidence, that women's labour was withdrawn from the production process as markets expanded. In discussing economic change from 1850 to 1880, he says of farm women that 'rather than occupying an economic role which was clearly parallel to that of her husband, the farm woman's labour was reduced to activities more akin to those of a servant in a wealthier household. With little of lasting value to show for her work, her subservient status was greatly reinforced.'50 He sees the work of wives of the capitalist and the artisan classes as being similarly restricted. Bourgeois women's lives began more and more to resemble those of their aristocratic predecessors and the wives of skilled workers, those workers who could afford to maintain their families through their wage, aped the style of their husbands' employers' wives. Most writers on women's labour in Canada recognize the increased labour force activity of women in the twentieth century, and the effect of the rise of new occupations and the corresponding need for cheap labour in bringing women into the labour force. Nevertheless, they assume that women's work was increasingly privatized through industrialization. For example, Patricia Connelly, in a generally excellent study of women's labour force experience in the twentieth century, maintains that 'with the advent of industrial capitalism a split occurred between the public sphere of commodity production and the private sphere of domestic labour. Men became the commodity producers and women the domestic labourers.' She goes on to say that 'it was at this point that women were structurally defined out of the labour force and became available labour, indeed, became an institutionalized inactive reserve army of labour.'51 The analysis of Pat Armstrong and Hugh Armstrong is similar: 'Changes in the Canadian economic structure coincide with the increasing segregation of work, with the creation of the housewife.'52 The

28 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

latent assumption in all these cases is that the nature of women's work and the productive relations in the pre-industrial stage in Canada were not critically different from those in Britain. In pointing out how Canadian writers on women's labour tend to assume that the transition to industrialization has had similar impact on women, I am not being critical of their entire perspective. In all the authors cited, the references to industrialization are rather incidental to their main point. I am using these examples because there is no comprehensive account of the development of capitalist industrialization and its impact on women in Canada, and because I want to show that in the absence of a generalized account it is widely assumed to have followed the pattern established in earlier experiences. In the next chapter I focus on the distinctive nature of the preindustrial economy in Canada as a prelude to understanding the different effect of market expansion and industrial transformation on women's labour in Ontario. Economic conditions in the preindustrial staple-exporting economy were radically different from those in pre-industrial Britain. As a result, women's labour in the family economy took a distinct form. Specifically, the characteristics of the staple-exporting economy produced a division of labour within the family that relegated female labour primarily to the private sphere. Women's association with commodity production in Ontario developed only as economic growth and industrial development increased. In subsequent chapters I will examine the complex nature of the factors that determined the extent to which women's labour would be market-oriented.

3

Division of Labour in a Staple-Exporting Economy

Without exception, the important economic histories of preindustrial Canada focus on the labour of men while women's labour remains virtually invisible. This preoccupation with male labour is symptomatic of the way historians have tended to ignore women in history.1 It is also a result of a widespread undervaluation of female labour that derives from the preoccupation with market activity that dominates economic study.2 Canadian economic historians have been most interested in how the exploitation of resources for export to European markets has affected the character of the economy. Canada's attraction for Europe did not arise out of a need for land or the desire to settle and develop an agricultural society, but rather because of what it could provide to England and France in the way of fish and fur. This stress on the significance of export staples to Canadian development is known as the staple thesis. While there is considerable controversy about the period of time for which this thesis has validity, its usefulness in explaining the unique features of Canada's early years has been widely accepted.3 In recent years the staple approach has been criticized for its exclusive focus on external factors as explanations for growth and change. To some critics this 'dehumanized' approach to Canadian development tends to undervalue the significance of labour and class issues as formative aspects of that development.4 For the most part the studies which have attempted to redress this imbalance in Canadian economic history have focused on labour in the stapleexporting sector or on waged labour in the early stages of industrial capitalism. That is, they are directed toward the labour relations

30 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

immediately associated with market activity. These studies of waged labour are significant advances in understanding the complexity of the problems of development and in opening up for investigation the myriad facets of social relationships integrally linked to the process of change. Nevertheless, exclusive focus on labour directly associated with market activity neglects the major portion of the total labour involved in the production of commodities and the reproduction of labour. To fully understand the nature of the economy, productive relations, and economic change in the early periods of Canada's development, it is essential that the nature and significance of the work of individuals in non-wage sectors and the relationship between non-market and market activity be understood as well. The staple thesis has also received criticism from economic historians for its single-minded focus on exports as the engine for growth. For some, such as Louise Dechene and Jean Hamelin, the fact that only a small proportion of labour was directly involved in the staple-exporting sector is a significant indication that other forms of economic activity has been dominant even from the earliest periods.5 Kenneth Buckley also questions the validity of a staple-led growth on a national scale after 1820 by pointing to the enormous growth of the labour force in Quebec in the nineteenth century even though the staple trade in this province had been seriously eroded.6 Likewise, Douglas McCalla points to continuous growth in Ontario during periods when wheat exports were in serious trouble.7 The point of all these criticisms is that the economy was considerably more diverse than most formulations of the staple thesis have indicated. Attempts to broaden the perspective on the formative issues in Canadian growth have focused either on hitherto neglected forms of market activity or on the ability of non-staple-exporting regions to appropriate the linkages from the staple products of other regions.8 Research efforts in both directions are not incompatible and even those who look to the significance of the development of internal markets, such as McCalla, do not deny the importance of the export sector in shaping the direction of the economy.9 John McCallum's 'modified staple approach' does a great deal to explain how nonstaple-exporting sectors of the economy are influenced by staple production, and the increased interest in the development of local markets deepens our understanding of the nature of growth.10 Yet

31 Division of Labour

both these analyses explain economic development solely in terms of market-oriented activity. I attempt to add another dimension to the explanation of development in a staple-exporting economy by examining the nature of labour in the non-market areas of production and by trying to understand the relationship between market and non-market production. General Characteristics of Staple Production Staple production depends primarily upon two complementary conditions. One is the availability of a natural resource and the other is a high foreign demand for this resource. The extent to which any undeveloped land is affected by staple production depends upon the quantity and accessibility of the resource and the level of demand for that resource in foreign markets. In 'empty' lands the presence of abundant resources alone is insufficient to stimulate development, unless there are population or political pressures which make the cultivation of new areas attractive. In Canada the pattern of settlement and development of the economy was directly related to the production of staples. Staples are products having a high natural resource content which are produced for export. The way in which the autonomous demand for various staples has affected the pattern of economic growth and social formations in Canada was 'discovered' by Harold Innis and W.A. Mackintosh, although their perspectives on the significance and impact of staple production had different emphases.11 For Mackintosh the prosperity of a colony would depend almost entirely on its ability to export staples. His emphasis was on the way the export-led sector would progressively involve a colonial economy in the development of an infrastructure leading to an integrated, mature industrial economy.12 Innis's interpretation also incorporated the significance of the staple for the development of an infrastructure, particularly in relation to communication networks, but his analysis of the effect of staple development was more complex than Mackintosh's. Innis was interested not only in the growth aspects of staple production but also in the impact of specific kinds of staple production on development and change in social structure. Equally important to Innis's analysis was the dependent nature of any economy dominated by staple exports. He was particularly concerned about the various ways in which growth

32 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

could be skewed in favour of one or another region and how it could be periodically inhibited by factors external to the economy. For Innis the very nature of staple development contained contradictions that would prevent the development of a fully integrated, autonomous economy.13 This emphasis on the dependent and volatile character of an economy based on staple production is an important starting-point for a study of the nature of productive relations and the organization of labour, because the form that the social organization of production took was shaped, in significant ways, by the instability of the economy. Any economy in which the export sector dominates market activity is particularly vulnerable to external forces. The source of the vulnerability comes essentially from the inability to use the staple in any way other than for sale on foreign markets.14 The extent of the vulnerability depends on a variety of factors, many of which are directly related to the nature of the demand for and supply of the staple itself. For some staples, like fish, the demand was relatively stable in the early years since exports were mainly to Roman Catholic countries in Europe where taste was not an issue in determining relative price levels.15 But, for a staple like fur, changes in fashion could drastically change prices and could either greatly spur or inhibit production. In addition to taste, the demand for a particular staple could also be affected by a rise in competition, changes in tariffs or other trade regulations, or any change in the political or economic circumstances of the trading partner. While the most dramatic influences on staple production were likely to be from external forces, the domestic economy was not immune from the effects of economic growth on production of the staple itself. The depletion of some resources in areas where they were once easily accessible is the most obvious reason necessitating a shift in production away from certain export staples. In some cases this was the result of overharvesting in response to strong foreign demand (as in the depletion of the white pine forests in Ontario), but in other cases it had to do with the pressures of increased growth and colonization itself. Fur-trading, in particular, was incompatible with population growth because the fur-bearing animals were eliminated as settlements grew.16 But changes in the nature of the supply of a staple were more important for the direction of economic growth in the long term, while changes in demand conditions were felt more immediately.

33 Division of Labour

These vagaries of demand and supply conditions are significant problems for any economy tied to staple development, but the unique features of Canada's situation made its economy particularly subject to external forces. As a new country it had to rely heavily on the migration of capital and labour to exploit natural resources.17 The extraordinary distances from the original sources of supply meant that methods of production and labour organization had to be developed to conserve these factors of production. The smallness of the population, the immense size of the territory, and the great distances from markets dictated the exploitation of resources which were either extremely scarce elsewhere or which advanced the mercantile interests of the parent nation. The problems of size and distance also mitigated against diversity in production. Domestic markets remained underdeveloped for a long time, largely because of the problems of bringing surpluses to markets. The export orientation in the early periods did little to develop an integrated domestic economy. Also, not unimportant in limiting domestic trade were the mercantile interests of both England and France, which restricted certain industries in the colonies. The mercantile objective was to extract from colonies materials to be used in manufacturing in the parent country. The manufactured articles, in turn, were to be exported to the colony. The French, for example, preserved the manufacturing of fur hats for themselves and the British restricted Canada's boat-building industry through requirements that all trade be conducted on British ships.18 In the early periods these kinds of policies had an impact on production for local use, but even when specific restrictions no longer applied, imports from the manufacturing centres which had already experienced an industrial revolution were strong competion that not only prevented the development of a Canadian manufacturing export sector, but also inhibited the growth of a strong industry directed toward domestic consumption. The export of agricultural products and lumber also developed slowly because alternative sources of supply were closer to markets and therefore cheaper than Canadian exports.19 The vulnerability of a staple-exporting economy is highly correlated to its stage of development, with more violent swings occurring in the early periods.20 But any economy whose export-led sector is the mainspring for growth will be subject to external conditions over which it has little control and which will inhibit its ability to develop a coherent, integrated economy. For Innis, the unstable

34 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

nature of a staple-exporting economy was tied to structural rigidities associated with this type of production.21 Innis identified rigidities of the staple trade as rooted in monopolistic pricing, high fixed overhead costs, unused capacity, and a relatively high burden of debt. These rigidities had varying effects depending on the particular nature of the dominant staple. But in general the rigidities were associated with the high cost of resource extraction due to great distances from markets and the lack of integration and development in the domestic economy. Most important for Canada were the large capital costs involved in developing transportation routes to serve the export sector. These costs were long-term in nature and had to be carried regardless of fluctuations in the market. The problem of fixed overhead costs was further accentuated by the problem of unused capacity. The highly specialized nature of staple production did not generate diversified use of communication networks. These networks were originated to serve the export sector and tended to have a rather lagged effect on integrating the domestic economy. The overall result was that the considerable investment necessary for extending the export sector was slow to stimulate integration of the domestic economy. The important point with regard to the volatile nature of an economy based on staple production is that the domestic economy was not in any position to regulate its fate. The 'openness' of the economy made it vulnerable to fluctuations in international markets. In Canada, the fluctuations were extreme and necessitated specific strategies on the part of capital and labour so that staple production and social reproduction would continue.22 For the owners of capital it was particularly important both that labour costs be prevented from rising too rapidly and that there be some measure of protection from the high overhead costs of communication. In this last respect the technical innovations in transportation and ultimately the activity of government in large-scale investment projects were critical. As more capital was needed to improve and extend communication networks, the inadequacy of the private sector to carry out these projects became obvious.23 Expansion of the territory of the resource-extracting sector and the interests of the commercial sector in improved transportation forced government participation so that development could proceed. Coping with the problem of high labour costs was a persistent problem for employers in Canada, since the chronic shortage of

35 Division of Labour

labour had the tendency to bid wages up. In the early periods, contract labour solved some of the problems of severe labour shortages, but this method of providing labour also presented problems.24 Most serious was the fact that in the exporting sectors work tended to be seasonal and necessitated the expense of carrying labour during periods when there was little work to do. As Pentland has pointed out in Labour and Capital in Canada 1650-1860, the development of adequate supplies of labour has been a distinctive feature of Canadian economic history. The problem of labour organization was resolved to a considerable extent by the dual nature of the Canadian economy dating from the beginning of settlement. The volatile aspects of market-oriented activity meant that the capitalist sector alone would have great difficulty sustaining the requirements of its own labour force. The maintenance and reproduction of labour needed a more stable base from which to proceed, both from the perspective of capital and from that of labour. Dual Nature of the Economy: Market and Non-market Production The basic point of the staple theory is to explain how the technology and geographical circumstances associated with specific staple commodities affected patterns of development and how the character of the staple affected productive relations and social organization. The specific nature of productive relations varied considerably according to the nature of the staple produced and conditions of time and space. Some forms of staple production, such as timber production in the Ottawa Valley from the mid-nineteenth century, were organized as capitalist ventures. Others, such as wheat production in Ontario, were carried out by independent commodity producers.25 In the pre-industrial period, export-oriented staple production was primarily responsible for the pace, character, and direction of market development. However, market growth was not a constant or even a characteristic feature of economic life for substantial periods of Canada's history, and much of the economic activity of the country was not directly related to the staple trade. The tendency of economic historians to focus on market relations has obscured the significance of non-market production and the labour organization characteristic of this type of economic activity.26

36 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

Allan Greer has made the very important point that, in fact, the bulk of productive activity in the pre-industrial period operated outside a market system. Greer argues that the nature of this activity has been ignored because 'these people and their productive efforts made little or no contribution to the accumulation of capital.'27 While I concur with Greer's understanding of the predominance of non-market activity, I think he underestimates its significance to economic development in general, possibly because his major study of subsistence rural production focused on areas where the economy remained relatively static during the periods he studied.28 Greer's perspective considers capital accumulation only in the narrow sense of that accumulated directly through capitalist activity. I argue, rather, that the contribution of non-market production was integrally related to staple production and other forms of marketoriented activity. The labour involved in non-market activity was critical to the accumulation of capital both in those activities characterized by capitalist productive relations and in those characterized by independent commodity production. Capitalist Production The process of capital accumulation in countries on the periphery of capitalist development is highly dependent on the existence of subsistence production in agriculture. The existence of subsistence production serves a variety of functions, but its primary importance for the capitalist sector is in supplying and maintaining a labour force at prices which permit capital accumulation in this sector.29 This was particularly important in a staple-exporting economy where labour shortages tended to drive up wage rates. In Canada the capitalist staple-extracting sector relied on the subsistence sector for its labour supply, but even more important, the subsistence sector, by its very existence, was able to supply this labour relatively cheaply. The key to the availability of labour at prices which encouraged capital accumulation was a division of labour by gender such that women's primary economic activities were associated with non-wage, non-market work in subsistence production. But first, the interconnections between subsistence production and capitalist organized production need to be explained. These will be examined from two perspectives: that related to the requirements of capital accumulation, given the nature of the economy; and

37 Division of Labour

that related to the strategy necessary for family units to cope with the economic constraints and conditions they faced. The focuses of labour and capital in the development and settlement process were distinctly different. Mercantile capital was attracted to the economy because of high returns expected from staple exports. In the pre-industrial period the capital movement related to the domestic economy was primarily that which was brought by settlers. Foreign capitalists were relatively uninterested in domestic production in the colonies.30 By contrast, the attraction of labour to Canada, particularly to central Canada, had less to do with the availability of employment in the staple trades than the interest in land. While initial transfers of labour, mostly male, were associated with staple trades, either directly for work in staple production or indirectly for military employment, agrarian settlement was usually the objective of families. As a result, a potential conflict emerged between the capitalist sector's demand for labour and the possibility of alternative employment for labour on the land. Nevertheless, the logic of staple development forestalled the economic integration necessary for the growth of independent agrarian units, at least for substantial periods of time. In spite of these competing demands for labour, a symbiotic relationship developed between the capitalist demand for labour and labour requirements in independent production. The relationship between subsistence production and capitalist production varied depending on the dominant staple, but a broad pattern is distinguishable. Since staple production and the capital development related to it were often seasonal or temporary, there was not a high demand for a permanent labour force in this sector. Generally, there was a core of labour hired on a permanent basis, but for the most part labour was employed intermittently.31 From the perspective of employers in the capitalized sector, the ideal labour force was readily available, but when necessary was capable of finding alternative support during slack seasons or years. In this way the responsibility for maintaining the labour force would not have to be borne totally by the employer. To this end the sexual division of labour, the underdeveloped domestic economy, and the need for domestic units to have money to pay for imported goods were factors that contributed to meeting the labour needs of capital. The division of labour between males and females in preindustrial Canada was rigid and distinct. Undoubtedly it was predi-

38 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

cated on the notion that the basic responsibility of women was to feed, clothe, and care for family members and to supplement male labour in the male spheres of production when necessary. This perspective on the proper work for women was basically unchanged from that of European societies.32 While labour shortages in Canada might have led to some different forms of the division of labour between the sexes,33 the reinforcement of traditional customs as a result of successive waves of immigration, and the logic of peasant production which favoured high birth rates, kept women tied to the subsistence non-market activities associated with the household. In recent years the significance of female labour in the subsistence sector has been recognized as being crucial to capital accumulation. This recognition follows from a more general analysis which has tried to explain the importance of domestic labour to capitalist industrial development.34 In Ontario the significance of female non-waged labour in the pre-industrial period can be examined in relation to capital accumulation in both the capitalized areas of the economy and the commodity production of the family economy. Carmen Deere and James Sacouman have argued that in economies where labourers' families have access to subsistence production, employers need not concern themselves with providing a wage that would maintain the worker and this family.35 The fact that wages paid to labourers can be reduced by having a portion of the family's needs provided by non-wage labour means that a greater part of the labour time of the worker can be appropriated by the employer.36 In an economy where the nature of market-oriented activity meant that temporary employment was more characteristic than permanent waged labour, such as in pre-industrial Ontario, the subsistence agricultural labour of families was particularly important.37 Women's labour, then, in subsistence production served the process of capital accumulation in the capitalist sector in critical ways. By providing unpaid labour on the land, women 'freed' men for varying periods of time for waged labour. Yet because a certain level of subsistence was provided by female agricultural labour, the capitalist sector could avoid paying wages equal to the cost of maintaining the worker and his family. This permitted accumulation in the capitalist sector to proceed at a rate higher than would have occurred had the price of labour power been greater.

39 Division of Labour

The rationale for the division of labour within the family between market and non-market activities reflected the structure of the economy and was a strategy to cope with the imperatives of the dominant market activity. While this division of labour in agriculture was not simply a response to the desire to maintain low wages on the part of the capitalist sector, it nevertheless reflects the strategy necessitated by the specific conditions of staple production. The most notable condition was the unstable nature of the economy, a factor which shaped the parameters of economic activity for the family. Because of the uncertainty of income obtainable from market activity (as either wage labourers or direct producers), families were forced to pursue strategies which would both permit them access to the market and protect them to some degree from the uncertainty of market behaviour. Subsistence agricultural production gave a measure of security by providing a substantial portion of the family's needs. That this has historically been significant in Canadian economic development was pointed out in the RowellSirois Commission report: 'However prices might fall and cash income from other sources might melt away, the farm household always produced enough to prevent abject poverty ... the sharp and frequent trade fluctuations of the [pre-Confederation] period did not cause profound dislocations.'38 As Greer points out, the safetyfirst imperative of the rural economy required that dependence on the market be avoided.39 However, agricultural pursuits alone frequently were inadequate to meet a family's income needs, particularly in the early pioneering periods of any region in pre-industrial Ontario when markets were seriously underdeveloped. While agricultural units tended to operate on a subsistence basis, they were not entirely selfsufficient. Vernon Fowke has argued that the perception of preindustrial agriculturalists as self-sufficient, a view which has become an integral part of Canadian folklore, is essentially wrong. He shows how the pioneer economy of the nineteenth century forced farmers 'initially and continuously into reliance on an exchange and monetary economy.'40 Even from the beginnings of settlement, when fur was the dominant export staple, substantial amounts of goods were consumed which could not be produced on individual farm units or within the colony. Food, clothing, and

40 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

implements were provided in varying degrees by foreign markets.41 Although trading within the community, often by means of barter, direct labour exchanges, or various forms of payment in kind, provided many items which could not be produced by the household itself, the limited nature of colonial manufacturing meant that substantial amounts of goods for consumption and production could not be obtained except through foreign markets. For these transactions, cash was needed, and to the extent that agricultural markets could not provide the necessary income, some members of the family might be forced to engage in work for wages. Pointing out that the pre-industrial family economy was not entirely selfsufficient does not negate the essentially subsistence character of the economy. Although trade and waged work existed to some extent, production for the market did not dominate economic activity.42 Independent Commodity Production The significance of subsistence activity with regard to capitalist production in a staple-exporting economy is clear: its function is to provide a cheap labour force for the dominant sector. However, the significance of subsistence production becomes somewhat more complex when it is understood that the semi-proletarianization of labour was not the only dimension of labour in staple production. In some forms of staple production, waged labour was insignificant, with the work being carried on by individual producers who owned the means of production. This method of production is frequently referred to as independent or petty commodity production. While there are some difficulties with using these terms, primarily because of the inappropriateness of the term 'commodity production' when capitalist relations of production are not present, they are generally accepted as terms for market-oriented production carried on by individual household units where waged labour is not the primary source of labour power.43 In the sense that the term 'commodity production' implies expropriation of the fruits of labour for purposes of accumulation by the owner of the means of production, it will be an appropriate term here. Generally, labour involved in independent commodity production is seen as undifferentiated labour; the members of a family unit are

41 Division of Labour

treated as a 'collectivity' of labour whose economic objectives are compatible and whose contributions and rewards are symmetrical. A.V. Chayanov's study of peasant economy was path-breaking because it showed that the objective of this type of family economy were not identical with those of an economy where wage labour was common.44 However, in his study, because wages were not paid in the family economy, he treated family labour as essentially undifferentiated. This treatment is not untypical and is used even in studies concerned specifically with women. Generally the family is seen as a unit rewarded collectively for its work. For example, Ann Oakley, in a discussion of pre-industrial family industry, says its two basic characteristics were 'the unity of capital and labour: the family both owned the stock and tools and contributed the labour (receiving the monetary return for labour as a "family" wage).'45 The stress is usually on the interdependence between the labour of men and women, with the implication that the interdependence is reciprocal. In this sense a certain equality of labour is taken for granted. I take issue with this view of the family economy in the next section, where the nature of productive relations in the family will be discussed. But here it is necessary to point out that in the sense that ownership of the means of production was distinctly in the hands of the male head of the family, women's subsistence production served essentially the same function for the accumulation of capital in the family unit that engaged in commodity production as it did in the capitalist sector. That is, to the extent that women's productive efforts were able to feed and cloth the family, male labour was free to engage in production for exchange on the market; to the extent that the total income from market production need not be expended on consumption, accumulation of capital in the family productive unit could occur. This is not to imply that female labour was confined solely to subsistence production. In some forms of commodity production women's labour at specific periods was crucial to the marketoriented production process. This was particularly evident in the work of Indian women in the fur trade and women's labour in shore work in the fishing industry. However, my point is that the nonmarket-oriented activity was critical to the accumulation of capital and that this work was more central to women's economic activity than was their market-oriented activity.

42 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development Patriarchal Relations of Production Paternalism Labour relations in an economy dominated by staple production, when they are discussed at all, are usually accepted as developing from those characterized as 'personal' or 'paternalistic' to those commonly recognized as the 'classical (abundant) labour market of industrial capitalism.'46 Paternalistic labour relations refer specifically to relations between employers and employees, controlled less by market exchange than by personal relationships and bonds of mutual obligation. Because of the shortage of labour on the one hand and the unavailability of alternative forms of paid employment on the other, both the worker and the employer were obliged to respond to incentives other than those that would dominate a true labour market. The central obligation on the part of the paternalistic employer was to provide the 'fixed costs' of subsistence and reproduction in exchange for a reliable supply of labour.47 The issue is not whether paternalistic relations of production existed, but the extent to which these were the most prevalent forms of labour organization in the economy. For the permanent labour force of the fur trade and very early industrial enterprises, which Pentland focuses on, the description is probably fairly accurate.48 But for the labour force employed on an intermittent basis (which Pentland acknowledges was typical of pre-industrial societies) in the fur trade and other forms of staple production there was considerably less obligation on the part of the employer to supply the worker with his anual overhead, particularly if that cost included the worker's family as well. In the period of the great staple exports, the concept of paternalistic labour relations pertains to only a small fraction of the total relations of production. The greatest proportion of production involving the largest number of working people was centred on the family: the productive relations of this unit, although certainly related to paternalism, were distinct. Paternalism clearly involved unequal power arising from the relationship to the means of production and the conditions affecting the supply of labour. The paternalistic employer acted toward dependants 'as a father does to his wife, his children and his servants.'49 It was a case of transferring traditional forms of control and organization to market relations.

43 Division of Labour

But the more fundamental relations of production, the patriarchal relations of production within the household, were distinct because of the added dimensions of family ties and sexual subordination. Patriarchal productive relations can be defined as the organization of labour in which males, as husbands, fathers, and even sons and brothers, have power over the productive activities of their children, wives, and sometimes their sisters and mothers. This power was not confined simply to non-waged labour in the home but, since family labour was the most prevalent form of labour in the pre-industrial period, it will be the focus of my discussion of patriarchal productive relations. Patriarchy

In the agricultural sector, the non-waged labour of family members was the most important source of labour power. The significance of family labour to agricultural production is well known, but the social relations of this type of production are rarely considered.50 The concept of a family economy implies an indivisibility of income and a community of effort that does not easily lend itself to the type of class analysis possible when the object of study is waged labour. Yet the issue of ownership and control of labour is as significant in the family economy as it is in more identifiably capitalist relationships. In most analyses of productive relations the issue of ownership is understood to be critical to establishing power and control. The very principles of organization of labour within a society are based on who does and who does not own the means of production: ownership implies not simply possession but all the social institutions developed to recognize property rights. How property relations are recognized by society is most directly evident in the laws which protect property relations. But the issue of ownership extends beyond the strictly legal aspects of control, for all of the social standards, customs, and the entire complex of human relations are influenced by this fundamental relationship. The significance of who owns property at any stage in the development process has been summed up by Oscar Lange: 'It is the ownership of the means of production which decides the ways in which they are used and which thereby determines the forms taken by co-operation and the division of labour. Moreover the ownership of the means of production deter-

44 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

mines the issue of who owns the products, and hence decides how they are distributed.'51 The usual analysis of class relations deals with those clearly identified through market activity. That is, class interests are evident when owners are employers and workers receive wages. When there is no waged labour present, such as in simple or independent commodity production, the ownership is usually treated as being vested in the group which performs the labour - the family. When ownership by the family is understood to be communal, the issue of systematic domination and exploitation in the production process cannot be admitted as a possibility. Whatever accumulation of capital occurs is not seen as an expropriation of anyone's surplus labour if it is assumed that the group shares in ownership. However, the family in nineteenth-century Ontario was not an egalitarian unit and neither custom nor law considered that the family per se owned the means of production. Only under exceptional circumstances did women own the means of production. For the most part property was owned by the male head of the family. Wives and children were the proletariat of the family farm, the workers whose labour was rewarded according to the good fortune or goodwill of the owner. The significance of male control over female labour has been obscured because of the conjugal relationship, their mutual dependence, and their shared standard of living, yet female labour was not in a position of equality with male labour in the family economy where the ownership and control of property were in the hands of the male alone. The important point to be made here is that the question of power through property relations in general is not unique to capitalist relations, but is crucial to understanding productive relations within the family economy as well.52 Male control over labour was established through the power of ownership. In the family economy the issue of power was complicated by the personal relationships of the family and the fact that the male head of the family was clearly part of the labouring unit. But his position was distinct from the others; all surplus produced by the non-waged workers who did not share in ownership was, in effect, expropriated by the owner.53 Whatever accumulation of capital occurred was legally his. Nonwaged family workers had certain rights with respect to their membership in the family: children and wives could claim support from their fathers or husbands, but the general understanding was

45 Division of Labour

that this support was their right, less by virtue of their contribution than by virtue of their economic helplessness. They had no legal rights to what they produced through their labour even though the contribution of family members was critical to the success or failure of the economy of the family unit. The implications of patriarchal productive relations were distinct for different forms of labour within the family unit. While male and female children and wives were all labourers subject to the authority of the male owner of the means of production, there were significant differences in the duration and extent of patriarchal dominance. Until the father died or gave his property away he exerted considerable control over his children's labour. But male and female children were treated differently, particularly with regard to their ultimate relationship to property. For women, both as children and as wives, patriarchal control took a different form than it did for men in that it did not cease with the passing of time, but was likely to continue throughout their lifetimes. The Law

Male domination in property issues was stipulated in law in nineteenth-century Ontario. The rights of women to own property and even to claim ownership of the product of their own labour were severely restricted. Single women over twenty-one years of age and widows were, by law, given the same rights as males over property. But inheritance practices and social and legal restrictions with regard to occupation and appropriate behaviour meant that most property was controlled by males. For single women the period of time during which they were likely to be legally free from the control of either a husband or a father was non-existent or comparatively short. (See Appendix, Table 15.) For most women the property protection for single women was irrelevant. The labour a single woman provided on the property of a male relative generally was understood to have been freely provided and did not provide the woman with either a claim on the property or a claim to a wage. Paul Craven's study of court cases in nineteenthcentury Ontario indicates that the law upheld the assumption that any work a woman performed for a member of her family was part of her natural duty. In one striking case, where a woman unsuccessfully sued her brother for wages for the work she had per-

46 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

formed for several years on his farm, the judge was explicit in this regard: Nothing was more natural than an unmarried young woman should live with and keep house for her brother, especially while he was also unmarried, and that without the idea of hiring or wages entering into the mind of either. It would be we fear a mischievous doctrine to lay down that in every case in which a niece, or cousin, or sister in law is proved to be living in a farmer's house, treated in every way as one of the family, and assisting in the work of doing all or most of the house-work, she could, in the absence of any evidence whatsoever as to hiring or wages, be held entitled to the direction of a judge that the law in such a case implied a promise to pay.54

Until 1859 married women in English Canada had no right to property in their own name. This legal disability was based on English common law where, in the words of the English jurist Sir William Blackstone, 'the husband and wife are one and that one is the husband.'55 Upon marriage women were considered the responsibility of their husbands and in this respect the law recognized it as the wife's legal right to be supported by the husband.56 But the price of protection was the loss of independence of action, and of ownership and legal control over the products of a woman's labour. Even the primary products of her labour, her children, were legally under her husband's control. Until about the mid-nineteenth century, she could not claim them as her own under any circumstances and even when her husband died she would not automatically be recognized as the legal parent. Her husband could, if he wanted, appoint someone other than their mother as their legal guardian. In fact, anything a woman might produce, sell, or earn through her labour was legally the property of her husband and she could not use or dispose of it without his approval. By mid-century, legislation was enacted to expand women's rights with regard to both their children and their property. In 1855 an act was passed giving women in Ontario the possibility of obtaining custody of their children under twelve years of age in cases where the judge 'saw fit.'57 It followed similar custody legislation passed in England in 1839. In some cases, the courts rendered progressive interpretations of the law and women were not only awarded custody of their children, but also provision for their maintenance.

47 Division of Labour

However, in the majority of cases, courts upheld the idea that the common law rights of fathers over their children was not abrogated by enactment of the new legislation. According to legal historian Constance Backhouse, improved custody rights for women had less to do with women's rights, per se, than with the growing recognition of the need to protect children and to award custody in their interests.58 In response to considerable pressure from women, the Ontario government in 1859 passed An Act to Secure to Married Women Certain Separate Property Rights.59 This act gave women rights to property they had owned before marriage which had not been covered by a marriage contract or settlement. However, a wife's earnings still belonged to her husband and while the law legally entitled her to make a will, her heirs could only be her husband or her children.60 Once again, while the intent of the law seemed fairly clear, the tendency of the courts was to continue to uphold a husband's control over his wife's property, including her ability to make contracts and to convey her land.61 The Married Women's Act of 1872 extended women's property rights somewhat. With this act, married women were permitted to own and administer separate property and to enter into contracts as though they were unmarried.62 However, they were not given increased control over family property; rather, women's power existed only with regard to property that was distinctly in their name alone. With the Married Women's Property Act, a woman's earnings were considered her separate property. However, this provision was limited to earnings specifically arising out of the woman's employment in a trade or occupation where her husband had no proprietary interest. So while a married woman would be permitted to retain the earnings she might receive from production on her own land, from waged work, or from any special literary or artistic talent she might possess, she would not be legally entitled to the income from her labour on the family enterprise because the family property was still legally the husband's. The change in the law regarding women's property did not change the control a man could exercise over his wife's labour. His consent was still needed if she wanted to work for wages or engage in some sort of business on her own.63 Nevertheless, throughout the second half of the nineteenth century the law was gradually improved so that its intent in providing greater property protection was clear. By the end of the century, women's

48 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

separate property rights were considerably more secure than they had been at mid-century. Inheritance While family practices may have mitigated the practical effects of the law for some women in their daily lives, the significance of male legal superiority became especially clear when the husband or father died. An examination of the wills in one county - Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry, Ontario - for two periods, from 1800 to 1811 and from 1850 to 1858, gives a clear indication of the tenuous claim women had on all forms of property.64 The wills indicate not only the infrequency with which property was transferred to women, but also the understanding of the will-maker that the family property was entirely his. This particular county was chosen because records of wills are available from the early period of settlement and a comparison can therefore be made between inheritance practices when land was relatively plentiful and when it became more scarce. For the purposes of this study it would have been preferable to use data from a county more oriented toward wheat production, but since such counties were settled later, the changes in inheritance practices over a fairly long period of time (i.e., from mid-century when data are available to the end of the century) also reflected changes in legislation regarding women's property rights. While the changes in inheritance are significant in indicating the relative strength of patriarchal control as the economy became more industrialized and laws changed, at this point I want to focus on patriarchal control of all forms of property before legislative changes occurred.65 Although Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County did not generate the wealth typical of wheat-exporting counties farther west, the economy in the early period relied heavily on timber exports and later was strongly influenced by the staple-exporting trade of other sections of the province.66 To establish the validity of using information from this county as an indication of the general nature of female inheritance in the first half of the nineteenth century, I have also examined the wills of a wheat staple-exporting county, Wellington, for comparison (see Appendix, Tables 7-10). Since the inheritance pattern in Wellington County indicates that men there were

49 Division of Labour

no more generous in their distribution of property to the women in their families, it is fairly reasonable to assume that the infrequency with which property was transferred to women in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry was not atypical. Wives' Inheritance In 1801 the Surrogate Court for the Eastern District of Ontario received a petition from Mary Links for permission to administer the estate of her husband, Matthew, who had died intestate. The inventory of his property indicates that not only were all the farm stock and implements considered to be his possessions, but all of the household items as well. Since these items are usually the tools of women's labour, their express ownership by the husband is noteworthy. Included in the inventory were the following: '1 collender, half a dusen of knives and forkes, 1 dusen of spunes, 1 candle stick and snuffer, 2 chairs, 3 tin canasters, 1 cuking glass, 1 frying pan, 1 dresser, 3 tin tumblers.'67 This inventory was not an isolated instance. In most cases men did not leave wills, so the court, usually after petition from a relative, would assign someone to be an administrator of the estate and would order an inventory of property to be taken. The inventories overwhelmingly indicate that household utensils, furniture, and linens were the property of the husband. Widows were legally able to own property, but inheritance practices were such that males exerted considerable control over their wives after their deaths. Only in rare circumstances in the first half of the nineteenth century was a woman given total control over her husband's property when he died. In the wills of males in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County, Ontario, for the two periods studied, women inherited their husband's property outright in only 6 to 8 per cent of the cases (Table 1). Women appear to have been given complete control of the property to dispose of without restriction only when there were no children of the husband living. But generally even if there were no children, directions were explicit about what should be done with the property after the wife's death. Frequently the wife was given the use of the property for her lifetime, with instructions for further inheritance clearly laid out. In the early nineteenth century this was a much more common practice than later. In Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry about one-third

50 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development TABLE 1 Bequests to wives in wills by males,1 Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry, Ontario, 1800-11 and 1850-58 (%) 1800-11 Wife inherits outright Wife granted usufruct Children inherit major portion (a) son to support mother (b) wife inherits portion No mention of wife Wife disinherits upon remarriage

14 32

8 30 46 16 30

1850-58

19 35

6 16 55 23 35

1 There was one woman who died with a will in the 1800-11 period and three with wills in the 1850-58 period. Sample size: 1800-11 = 37; 1850-58 = 31. Source: Public Archives of Ontario, Wills Collection csl-1251; GS 1-1253.

of the wills from 1800 to 1811 stipulated that the wife should have the estate for her lifetime. By mid-century the proportion had dropped to one-sixth. Even when wives were left the right to the estate for life, there were many restrictions laid out. Some men were quite specific about what the wife could do with the land, including instructions about whether or not she could cut timber. But the most restrictive practice was the tendency for husbands to tie their wife's use of the property to what they felt was the appropriate way for her to live the rest of her life. It was fairly common practice for men to deprive their wives of the right to inheritance if they should remarry. For example, one farmer left his wife the management of the income from the farm for as long as she remained his widow: In case my wife should remarry then in that case my executors herein after named and whom I also appropriate as Trustees for my children shall then take the sole management of the said farms and stock and rent or let the same or shares as they see fit and apply the said income to the benefit of my children whom they shall take the management of and see them educated and placed in such situation as said income will admit of and to give my widow a cow and four sheep with a bed and bedding and for her to have no more to say of my affairs. But if she remain my widow and so continues after the children are all educated and of age she shall

51 Division of Labour still have during her natural life the one half of the income of the said farm on which we at present reside.68

Roughly a third of the wills made by men in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry during the first half of the nineteenth century specifically limited wives' inheritance to the period they remained widows. This practice appears to have been widespread throughout Ontario, although in counties farther west the proportion of wills which explicitly forbid remarriage by mid-century was somewhat smaller.69 While the threat of disinheritance undoubtedly gave women few options for the future, they did have some choice over whether they would adhere to their husbands' wishes that they not remarry. But some husbands even went so far as to stipulate that their wives would lose all property rights if they cohabited.70 Over the issue of the guardianship of children, the husband's will was paramount. Women had no legal right to the guardianship of their children, either while the husband lived or when he died, and when he died he was entitled to designate anyone he chose as guardian.71 Usually the mother was named as guardian, but it was not at all uncommon for the oldest son or some other male relative to be put in control of the younger children, should the wife remarry. George Crites's instructions in his will of 1804 is typical of caveats found in many wills. 'If my widow should marry I hereby obligate my said son George to bring up and maintain the rest of my children that are not able to do for themselves and use the best endeavour to see them instructed in reading and writing.'72 Considering that his wife, upon remarriage, was to be disallowed the produce of the land and stock, the furniture, and the third part of the land which her husband had left her for life, her ability to care for these children would have been severely limited. The point remains that even if she had wished to, or if a new husband were prepared to assume responsibility for their maintenance, she would not have been permitted legally to assume this responsibility. The issue of dower rights is particularly interesting with regard to a widow's claim to her husband's property. In theory a woman was to receive one-third of her husband's real and personal property upon his death, unless he designated in his will that her portion be larger. In practice this was less strict than the law would indicate.

52 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

Dower clearly did not mean that a woman would inherit one-third of the estate outright. As mentioned earlier, it was usual for a man to stipulate who would receive his property after his wife died, even if she was to have control of it during her lifetime. The exceptions to this practice are so rare that they are remarkable in themselves. For example, although Donald Fraser left his land to his grandson, his wife was given use of the household furniture, stock, and farming implements for her life. Her husband, in addition, permitted her to dispose of this property after her death 'as she may think proper amongst her children with the consent of the majority of the executors/73 Alexander McGruner did not leave his estate to his wife for her life but trusted her judgment to a degree which was extraordinary for his time and circumstances. McGruner willed that his land be divided among his male children and that 'the dividing of the same to my said children be according to the judgment and discretion of my wife as she may think and see most suitable when said children come of age/ He also permitted his wife to take what she would need when the lands were divided 'and arrangements should take place so that as my widow she may not be dependent in her advanced age/74 It was rare for a husband to be concerned about his wife's dependency as she aged. Generally the husband ensured that his wife would be dependent upon her children through the conditions of his will. In a substantial number of the wills a son was specifically ordered to support his mother. One man, in a will which was not at all uncommon, left instructions for the care of his wife. The two sons were to share all of his property 'except the lower front room in the home which I have for the use of my wife Catherine as long as she is my widow and likewise she is to have a decent maintenance of the place suitable to her condition. But if she will marry she shall have what property she brought to my home and no more, neither will she have any title to hire, rent, or let the room to any other person or persons but for her own use only, then to be the property of my sons aforesaid/75 Generally the wills did not describe in detail how the wife would be maintained. Rather, sons were simply instructed to maintain their mother for life or as long as she remained a widow. In some cases it was specified that the support be 'in a kind, comfortable and respectable manner' or suitable to her sex and station in life.76

53 Division of Labour

Clearly the conditions of dower could be satisfied without specifically settling how much a widow would receive. And whatever protection dower gave a woman, it did not extend beyond her widowhood. The vague stipulation that the wife should be provided for by the heirs of the estate increased from 14 per cent of the wills in the beginning of the century to almost one-fifth by mid-century. This practice could be a reflection of the general tendency for estates to be settled on one son as land became more scarce and farm sizes decreased.77 The effect of making women so dependent on their sons could create real hardship and loss of position. Frances Stewart described her widowhood as a period of extreme dependency where she was never 'allowed ... to think or act but as ... guided or directed/78 While widows may have appeared to have exchanged dependency on their husbands for dependency on their sons, the loss of position in the family could drastically change their real circumstances. Susannah Moodie claimed that in some families, especially those newly in the middle class, a widow was little more than a drudge: 'the mother, if left in poor circumstances, almost invariably holds a subordinate position in her wealthy son's or daughter's family. She superintends the servants, and nurses the younger children; and her time is occupied by a number of minute domestic labours, that allow her very little rest in her old age. I have seen the grandmother in a wealthy family ironing the fine linen or broiling over the cook-stove, while her daughter held her place in the drawing room.'79 In these circumstances the women rarely had any alternative but to submit to the conditions in their children's households.80 The most common inheritance practice and one reflected in about a third of the wills studied was for the wife to inherit for her lifetime a portion of the estate, with the bulk to go to the children. If the farmer was relatively wealthy her inheritance would include land, but if the farm was small the usual practice was for one son to inherit the land, with the mother receiving the produce from a specific portion of it. John Munro was a wealthy farmer who willed that his wife be supported from the income from the property and be given the use of the house until her son married. When the son married he was to repair another house on the property for his mother's use, but if she decided to live with any of her children she was to continue to receive the same allowance from the estate 'in

54 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

order to compensate them for her support.' While John Munro envisaged this income from the estate as ultimately belonging to whoever cared for his wife, he urged his children to give their mother enough so that 'she may have what will be sufficient to keep her comfortable during her lifetime.' John Munro obviously felt somewhat guilty about his treatment of his wife and explained why she was not given control over his will: 'I should have appointed her executrix, but being sensible of her disposition I conceived it dangerous to the interest of the family.'81 Occasionally the will stipulated that the wife's share was to be in lieu of dower. In a few cases there appears to have been a conscious effort to see that the wife's one-third interest was actually what she received. But for the most part the wife's rightful and legal claim seems not to have been an issue. The fact that very few women made wills and none, during the periods examined, contested the wills of their husbands indicates the lack of control women had over property.82 Women's main security in property rights was their husbands' sense of duty to provide for them after they died. Daughters' Inheritance Patriarchal control placed sons and daughters on significantly different footings as labourers in the family economy. The labour of sons was more likely to result in a substantial share of the father's assets than the labour of daughters. In an economy where labour was scarce and land relatively plentiful, the ability of the father to retain the labour of his children often was crucial to the success or failure of the family enterprise.83 The father was frequently able to assure his labour supply through the promise of land transference to his sons. When there were sons and daughters in the family, the daughters seldom shared equally in the distribution of the family property when the father died (Table 2). This could be a reflection of the greater value placed on the labour of male children and the desire to retain these services as long as possible, or it could reflect the social and legal restrictions which would have meant that any part of the estate left to a daughter would ultimately have been controlled by her husband. Most likely both these factors influenced a father's decision to exclude his daughters from a substantial share of his estate. The sexual division of labour whereby females tended to work most often at tasks associated with family subsistence and

55 Division of Labour TABLE 2 Bequests to daughters in wills by males,1 Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry, Ontario, 1800-11 and 1850-58 (%)

Daughters not mentioned Daughters left all Daughters inherit equally Daughters given lesser portion of land Daughters paid small sum; given chattels, personal property, furniture; or to be maintained by brother

1800-11

1850-58

38 3 8 22

25 3.5 14 3.5

30

54

1 There was one woman who died with a will in the 1800-11 period and three with wills in the 1850-58 period. Sample size: 1800-11 = 37; 1850-58 = 31 Source: Public Archives of Ontario, Wills Collection, csl-1251; csl-1253

household maintenance would undoubtedly have made the daughter's labour appear less valuable to the farmer than the labour of sons, who would be more associated with labour directed toward the market. The division of property among sons took a variety of forms. Sometimes it was given to the oldest son outright, but more frequently it was divided among the sons in a way so that each would have some property.84 While the more or less equal division of land among sons was fairly common in the early part of the nineteenth century, the effect of this sort of property transfer over time, coupled with land scarcity in certain areas, meant that smaller and smaller parcels of land were being transferred. In order to pass on enough land to ensure an adequate 'man/land' ratio, repeated subdivisions of land had to be avoided.85 To this end a type of land transfer known as the 'EnglishCanadian' system of inheritance developed.86 In this system the bulk of the estate would be passed on to a single son, usually the oldest, and he in turn was obliged to settle certain amounts on other children in the family. Sometimes though, the younger sons were given lesser amounts of land and the principal inheritor was obliged only to provide the daughters with some amount specified in the will. Generally the daughters did not fare well regardless of the system of inheritance.87 In 1803, Adam Johnston of Cornwall, Ontario, left his sons equal shares of his 400-acre estate. His

56 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

daughters Nancy, Margaret, Janet, Jane, and Mary-Ann were to be given 'one shilling if demanded/88 While this appears to have been a particularly spiteful way to single out daughters in a will, this may not have been the intention. In a large proportion of the wills daughters were not mentioned at all.89 But sometimes their omission is explained by the father as a consequence of their having already received what he thought appropriate.90 The usual practice was for a father to settle some form of property or money on a daughter as her dowry when she married. Sons who inherited the bulk of the estate were frequently instructed to maintain their sisters until they were married, at which time they were to be given a cow or some sheep, sometimes with a little money as well. The majority of wills either did not mention daughters or specified a legacy which was a small sum of money, some personal property, a portion of the family furniture when the mother died, or a cow, pig, or sheep.91 In the early part of the century almost a third of the wills left some portion of the land to daughters. Generally this consisted of a small part of the total estate, with the major part going to the male heirs. But by mid-century, no doubt because of the scarcity of land in the district, the practice of leaving any land at all to daughters was drastically reduced. While over one-fifth of the wills in the early period left daughters a small parcel of land from the estate, by mid-century this was reduced to less than 5 per cent. The striking feature of the wills is the extent to which it is assumed that daughters would be totally dependent on a male, either a brother or a husband, for support. The few exceptions to this practice are interesting for what they indicate about women's work. Duncan McDonald, for example, wanted to ensure that his wife and daughters would have some source of income for themselves. In his will, although he left everything to his son with the usual caveat that he provide the women with 'sufficient fuel, provisions and other necessaries usual with their sex and station/ the son was further instructed to see that each daughter receive one cow and one fatted hog each year to dispose of as she wished. He also specified that 'the females [are] to have all poultry and the produce as their sole property.'92 A female had little recourse in law if she felt that her inheritance was an unfair reflection of her contribution to the family economy. Craven's study gives the example of one woman who had lived and cared for her father for years under the assumption that she would

57 Division of Labour

inherit from him when he died. Her suit for recompense for her labour was not found in her favour because, as the judge commented, 'this young woman could not be living any where else more properly than with her aged and infirm parent; and if she did acts of service, instead of living idly, it is no more than she ought to have done in return for her clothes and board, to say nothing of the claims of natural affection which usually lead children to render such services.'93 Ownership The concentration of ownership of the means of production in the household by males meant that women's labour throughout their lives would be subject, either directly or indirectly, to male power and authority. No part of their productive activity could escape the potential power of male domination. In this respect the issue of ownership of property in the family economy is considerably more all-encompassing than the power over labour exercised by capitalist ownership. The capitalist employer exercised control over the labour purchased, but the subsistence production of the wage worker in the family economy was distinct, separate, and beyond the employer's control. In the family economy the means of production and the means of subsistence were inseparable: women had no productive sphere beyond the power of male authority. Although the effects of patriarchal productive relations were often obscured by the close personal relationships and the interdependence of family members in the family economy, and while the degree of oppressive male dominance undoubtedly varied from household to household, the general effect of male ownership was to exercise control over female labour. The extent to which women's lives were hampered by lack of control over capital, land, and their own labour is an issue discussed in later chapters. In this section the intention has been to establish women's alienation from the system of ownership. As daughters, wives, mothers, and widows they were dependent on the will of fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers. In the transference of property the tenuous claim women had on the means of production was most obvious. Susannah Moodie's comment that 'death is looked upon by many Canadians more as a matter of business, and change of property into other hands, than as a real domestic calamity'94 is something of a mystery to historians

58 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

who feel that, considering what happened when property changed hands, there was a domestic calamity.95 Many women certainly experienced real grief when a father or a husband died, but their relationship to property was likely to change little. Perhaps Susannah Moodie was thinking less of the sentiments of widows than of children when she spoke of their calm anticipation of a relative's death. For sons with a prospect of inheritance it could not have been calamitous. For daughters, whatever change in property occurred was likely to affect them to a small degree. If any property was settled on them, it would be more likely to occur when they married than when their father died. A widow's position was considerably more precarious. While there was a possibility of increased control of property through the provisions of the husband's will, there was also the more likely possibility that her situation would deteriorate if the terms of the will made her dependent on her children. In another respect Susannah Moodie's analysis is apt for the wife as well as for the children. For the most part the intention of men's wills appears to have been that wives would maintain essentially the same position relative to property that they held while the husband was alive.

4

Farm Women's Labour in Ontario's Staple-Exporting Economy: Early to Mid Nineteenth Century

This chapter examines the nature of female labour and its significance to both the family economy and the economic development of Ontario in the pre-industrial period. Since the family economy in the first half of the nineteenth century was rooted in agricultural production, the focus will be on women's labour in this sphere. Women's production was initially confined almost exclusively to meeting the immediate needs of the family. The imperatives of a pioneer economy, characterized by poor transportation, underdeveloped local markets, and an unstable staple-exporting market, made women's subsistence-oriented labour crucial to the success of the agricultural unit. As the economy became more diversified and integrated, it slowly directed some female productive activities toward the market. The process of change was characteristically uneven.1 Areas favoured by good locations, either by virtue of proximity to populated regions or because of their access to developed transportation, were the first to witness changes in the relationship of female labour to market activity. Areas which were settled later or were more marginal to the economy tended to change slowest and least. However, while changes in the conditions of the market were particularly significant in shaping women's market-oriented productive activity in general, the ability of individual women to produce for the market also depended on labour requirements within the household. The sexual division of labour, whereby women's primary responsibility was to provide items and services for family's use, was often a barrier to the orientation of their labour toward market production, even in

60 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

those cases where the demand conditions of the market warranted increased female activity of this sort. The Economy Wheat and timber were the two export staples responsible for the pace and direction of Ontario's economic growth. Both staples were important in different ways in different regions in encouraging immigration and strengthening the domestic economy over the course of the pre-industrial period. This orientation of the economy toward the production of export staples made household units particularly vulnerable to the extremes of the international staple markets. As long as internal markets remained underdeveloped, households were forced to organize labour so that production could both generate an income through staple-market-oriented activity, and protect the family unit from the extremes of that market through subsistence-oriented activity. Subsistence Production Although subsistence production was the characteristic economic activity for new settlers, the aim of the settlers was ultimately to sell the produce of their land and labour on the market. The initial and most important task of any settler family was clearing the land. Because this proceeded very slowly, generating surpluses for sale also developed slowly. Some historians place the amount of land which could be cleared in a year at two to three acres. Others estimate that the amount was between five and ten acres. In either case clearing a farm was a slow, labour-intensive process.2 Timber, the most obvious exploitable resource, was of little value as an export staple in the early periods of settlement, and only became an export staple after the Napoleonic Wars, when Britain's demand for Ontario lumber increased.3 For new settlers then, the possibilities of generating surpluses for export markets were limited. Even when surpluses could be produced, the small size of the population, the scattered nature of settlements, and poor transportation meant that local markets for agricultural surpluses were slow to develop. Established settlers were sometimes able to find outlets for their produce by providing garrisons and new settlers with lumber, food, and other articles, but this local market was limited by the avail-

61 Farm Women's Labour

ability of transportation, money, and land near populated areas. The necessity for even the earliest pioneers to have cash to purchase items they could not provide themselves or acquire through barter or credit on local markets has led many historians, most notably Vernon Fowke, to the conclusion that self-sufficiency in pioneer times was something of a myth.4 More recently, Douglas McCalla has argued that in Ontario a simple two-sector model of development with a wheat-based export sector and a self-sufficient subsistence sector obsures the complexities of economic life which existed in even the earliest periods. In particular he has been concerned with explaining how farmers managed to survive during periods when the wheat market failed; he provides an answer by focusing on other forms of agricultural production that were directed toward the local market. McCalla's point is that the usual notion of the farmers' dependence on wheat needs to be modified: a domestic market existed and agricultural products other than wheat were produced and marketed for domestic consumption.5 This has been an important corrective to the tendency of economic historians to focus exclusively on export markets. Certainly it would have been a rare and peculiar economy which was divided into an entirely export-oriented market sphere and a domestic economy which was entirely subsistence-oriented. We need to know how local economic units interacted with each other and understand how a more integrated domestic economy developed. Although the relative significance of various sectors remains hazy and even McCalla notes, 'it is hard to estimate the scale of this activity [production for local markets] by comparison with production for the household and for export,'6 it is nevertheless essential that the contribution of the non-market sector be recognized if the complexity of the domestic economy is to be understood. As Leo Johnson has recently pointed out, the rejection of the idea of selfsufficiency among agricultural units has significantly reduced our capacity to distinguish between the economic behaviour of early pioneers and that of several generations later.7 This is an important point because the tendency to see self-sufficiency as an absolute condition deflects us from the relative significance of this form of production. Ignoring the importance of the subsistence sector also obscures the contribution of women's labour to development. Subsistence production was not incidental to the accumulation of wealth and the ability of a farm unit to survive periods of market

62 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

failure. But before the relationship between women's labour, subsistence production, and the market can be understood, it is first necessary to examine how the export-led sectors in Ontario shaped the parameters of the family economy. Wheat Understanding the central position of wheat production in the development of Ontario's economy is crucial to understanding the nature of the economy: wheat was the major cash crop for farmers throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. The need for income to import items which, because of the underdeveloped nature of the economy, could not be provided locally orientated the production for the market toward that which could be exported.8 To this end farmers concentrated on the production of wheat which, for a variety of reasons, was the logical produce of the region. First, the land and climate were well suited to the crop and its capital and labour requirements were relatively modest. Second, since roads were non-existent in most areas and extremely primitive where they did exist, wheat-growing was ideal because it was a crop which could be sent to markets by sleigh in the winter.9 Even as late as 1891 one Ontario farmer was petitioning the government for improved roads. He said the Kingston market was mostly supplied with provisions from the United States because Ontario farmers could not get their produce to market for nine months of the year.10 As significant as these supply-side conditions were the demand conditions. Internal markets for the produce from mixed farming were limited by the small scale of the market itself and by the strong competition in this market from American producers. Also, wheat was more likely to generate cash than any other form of agricultural production.11 At the same time, the opportunities for exporting wheat were increasing. From as early as 1794 Ontario farmers were able to send wheat and flour to Britain. By 1801 wheat was the leading export of the province.12 The demand for wheat in Britain was much influenced by the Corn Laws and the preferential treatment given to colonial growers. This preferential treatment meant that Canadian growers could sell wheat and flour at lower prices than countries which were not part of the British Empire, and gave growers in southern Ontario a substantial advantage over their natural competitors. But, no matter how advantageous Corn Laws were for the Canadian farmer,

63 Farm Women's Labour

their principal intent was to protect British growers. The Corn Laws permitted the importation of colonial wheat when domestic prices were high in Britain but forbade its importation when prices were low. For individual colonial producers this meant that incomes from wheat production were extremely variable.13 However, important as wheat was as a source of income for farm families, the size of the income from this source was small. John McCallum notes that exports only amounted to about thirteen bushels of wheat a year per farm between 1817 and 1825, a figure; which would have increased to about thirty bushels a year by 1830.14 Douglas McCalla has calculated that the average income from wheat exports in 1830, a particularly good year for exports, would have been less than $25 per household.15 Citing average statistics, however, obscures the variability of incomes between farm units: farms in older and more favourably situated locations marketed considerably higher amounts than those in areas where conditions were less favourable. Still, both for established farms and for those which could not generate large amounts of wheat, the unstable nature of the market meant that survival depended on the ability to provide as much as possible of what was consumed on the farm itself, and to have alternative sources of income either through waged labour or through trade on local markets. Both of these methods of obtaining income be will be discussed throughout this chapter. The point is that the major source of income was an extremely unreliable one. Despite the changeability of the export market, wheat production for export became more and more important. During the 1840s the net exports of wheat rose almost 500 per cent and they doubled again by 1861. According to John McCallum, by mid-century farmers in Ontario were even more specialized in wheat production than farmers in Saskatchewan today.16 The dependence on the export market is evidenced by the fact that four-fifths of the marketable wheat was exported and from one-half to three-quarters of the cash income farmers received was from wheat production. It was a substantial portion of total farm produce as well. At mid-century wheat accounted for more than 30 per cent of all agricultural produce (including field and animal products) and it increased to over 36 per cent in the next ten years. Of field crops alone, wheat comprised 40 per cent of the total produce by 1850 and increased to 45 per cent by I860.17 As a result of both favourable growing conditions and access to British markets, wheat-growing was the single dominant element in

64 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

Ontario's agricultural development during the first half of the century. However, for most of this period production for use rather than exchange characterized the economic activity of family units. The small size of farm incomes and the fact that the greatest proportion of total farm production did not enter either export or local markets are indicative of this situation.18 Leo Johnson has convincingly argued that the 'pioneer' or self-sufficient aspects of the economy dominated at least until the 1840s because of the basic physical barriers to more exchange-based economic activity. Scattered settlements, the small size of the population, and transportation difficulties limited demand in local markets. The family-based nature of wheat production and the uncertainty of this market limited the amounts which would be produced for the export market as well.19 However, by the end of the 1840s the dynamic nature of the economy became more apparent as both local and export markets grew. The doubling of the population between 1840 and 1851, improved transportation systems, and expansion of the export markets for wheat and timber encouraged the growth of a diverse and more market-oriented economy. Forest Industries Although it has been argued that wheat was the dominant element in Ontario's development in the pre-industrial period, the impact of lumber production was not negligible. It is true that the transport systems which developed in response to timber production were less significant for the development of an integrated local economy than were those which supported wheat production. Urban development too was much less influenced by timber than by wheat exports.20 But population growth, an essential element in development, was very much a by-product of timber production. The labour needs of the timber trade were significant and offered employment possibilities for immigrants who needed cash.21 But even more important to immigration was the cheap transportation provided by the timber trade. Large timber ships offered cheap travel for settlers and their household effects on the return trip from Britain.22 This cheap form of transportation would not have been a sufficient inducement to immigrants had not availability of land in Ontario and difficult conditions in the British Isles exerted power-

65 Farm Women's Labour

ful incentives on people to emigrate, but without cheap transportation immigration to Canada certainly would have been slower. The significance of immigration in the development of the province cannot be overemphasized. It was particularly important in increasing domestic demand and strengthening the local economy.23 In many respects the timber business was a logical one for settlers to pursue. But in the early periods, the state of markets and transportation was such that for most farmers clearing land there was no way to sell their timber. Trees felled in the clearing process were most often burnt, and while in some areas income could be generated from making potash for export markets, timber itself did not become an important staple export until the 1820s. By the late 1820s timber accounted for over half of all British North America exports, and by 1834 two-thirds of all Canadian exports to Britain was lumber.24 As British demand for Canadian timber expanded, the income from the forest industries became increasingly important to families on the forest frontier. Until the establishment of large-scale lumbering operations along the Ottawa in the 1840s, lumbering tended to be small-scale. Farmers were frequently able to supplement their agricultural income by providing lumber and potash for the local market as a byproduct of their land-clearing operations.25 In areas where income could be generated through farm production, lumbering tended to be combined successfully with agricultural production. In fact, lumbering tended not to interfere with agricultural development to the extent that it had in the eastern parts of the country. However, with the growth in the market for sawn boards, more capitalistic logging operations became the characteristic method of production.26 In some areas of the province, particularly those where wheat production was least feasible, income could be had from either waged labour or provisioning lumber camps.27 The forest industry was a male industry and demanded substantial amounts of labour during the lumbering season. This came to between 25,000 and 30,000 men each year along the Ottawa Valley by mid-century.28 To what extent labour was provided from the rural population is unclear. In the early years French Canadians were dominant in the camps, but as immigration increased they were replaced by Irish and Scottish labourers. Still, in some older, more established areas it was a regular practice for farmers to find employment in the

66 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

camps during the winter. For example, in 1847 over 2,000 teamsters from Glengarry and along the St Lawrence went to the camps above Ottawa. Farmers were also active in 'portaging' supplies to the camps.29 Economic historians tend to view the seasonal labour devoted to lumbering as compatible with farming because it would occur when farm work required little labour. Men could go to the forests in the autumn after harvesting and be back on the farm in the spring in time for ploughing or could work part-time at lumbering when agricultural production demanded less labour. It is assumed that during the periods males were absent, productive work on the farm stopped and there was little to do but 'chores/30 These so-called 'chores/ however, were the day-to-day provisioning for family needs and were the responsibility of women and those children who could work. Timber production also provided a substantial market for farms located near logging camps. Farmers who were able to establish themselves quickly could obtain cash from direct sales of farm products. In particular, a large internal trade developed in the Ottawa Valley as a result of the timber industry. Again, because such trade was critically tied to supplying the timber industry, it was also vulnerable to fluctuations in the export market. Swings in the timber trade were even more violent than those in the wheat market, leading one historian to refer to it as a 'manic-depressive industry/31 While this industry provided good incomes for some when demand for timber was high, drops in export markets could cause extreme hardship for those involved in the timber economy. Nevertheless, work in the timber trade was an important source of income in an economy in which cash was scarce. The Family Economy and Its Division of Labour The labour requirements of the wheat and timber economy of Ontario and the vulnerability of these industries to extreme fluctuations in international markets shaped how families distributed their labour power. For most families it was important to be able to provide sufficient amounts for their own consumption so that they could be protected in some measure from either market or crop failure. This, of course, is the common rationale of pre-capitalist farm production and of marginal farming even in the capitalist phase.32 But for households in a staple-exporting economy, house-

67 Farm Women's Labour

holds which were particularly vulnerable to dramatic changes in foreign markets, the ability to sustain the family when no income was received was particularly important. On the farm, a substantial portion of the family's total labour time was focused on production for family consumption. This was distinct from labour devoted to wheat production and the accumulation of capital or to lumbering. In newly settled regions, the efforts of both males and females were overwhelmingly concentrated on subsistence production.33 But even when lands were cleared and the possibility of expanded production arose, the absence of appropriate markets made surpluses irrelevant. What appeared to casual observers, particularly visiting Englishmen, to be extraordinary indifference on the part of farm families in some districts to improving production was more likely a rational response to existing economic conditions. John Howison, for example, would write in the 1820s about 'the peasantry [who] evince the utmost indifference about everything that is not absolutely necessary to support existence/34 But the reality of the time was that with the collapse of the wheat market, and the absence of local markets, there was little which could be sold from what was produced. As conditions changed, as a result of both improvement in the export market and increased immigration, expanding production became a more rational objective of farm families. The nature of the markets was such that the traditional distinctions between male and female work tended to orient males toward production for the market while females' labour remained centred on production for family use. The division of labour by gender, even in a society where labour shortages were severe and imposed a serious constraint on production, was of a fairly traditional nature. Ann Powell, writing in 1789, describes the division of labour in an early settler family: 'Her husband took care of the Farm and she of the family, and at their leisure hours she wove Cloth, and he made and mended shoes for their neighbours for which they were well paid, and every year they expected to do better and better ,..'35 Women's work was rarely the same as men's, and the major areas of responsibility for each sex were distinct. Female labour's primary responsibility was to meet the immediate needs of the family by producing clothing, food, household articles, and services for the maintenance of individuals in the family. Under certain circum-

68 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

stances surpluses from women's household production would be traded or sold, but until markets were well developed and subsistence requirements in the household were reduced by increased provisioning through bought goods, this was very much a secondary objective of women's labour. Whatever labour women expended on production for the market was taken from the total labour necessary to meet the family needs. In families where children were young and no servants were kept, the amount of time that could be devoted to activity for exchange was small. If there were many daughters in the family, or if a servant could be hired, the household would be more likely to exchange articles made by women. Male labour was more directly concerned with production for the market or, at least, this was the ultimate objective of male labour. The underdeveloped nature of markets in the early pioneer period and the difficulties and labour involved in clearing the land often limited the realization of a farmer's intent to produce for the market. Nevertheless, the farmer's labour was directed toward the market; the extent that he could be freed from providing for his family's immediate needs would determine the rate that he could accumulate capital in the form of cleared lands, farm buildings, and livestock. The apparently strict nature of the division of labour by gender in an economic setting which might have encouraged some deviation from more traditional forms is somewhat surprising; one would expect that more revolutionary forms in the division of labour might have emerged. But ultimately the patriarchal structure of the household and the economic imperatives of a country on the periphery of capitalist development ensured that the division of labour be maintained along lines which were not substantially different from those in older European societies where labour surpluses existed. The traditional forms of male and female work were undoubtedly reinforced by the continuing process of immigration, a process which would have made cultural factors more influential than they might have been had social development been more isolated. The objective of immigrants was to improve their economic and social circumstances, relative to what they had experienced in Europe, not to change them altogether. While there are frequent references, in contemporary literature for potential immigrants and in early settlers' letters and journals, to the necessity for women to do things on the frontier which would be con-

69 Farm Women's Labour

sidered unusual work for women in England, they are more a reflection of what a specific class of woman was used to doing than any real change in the nature of the work of men and women.36 Of course, the work within the household was often very different than in England. For immigrants from all classes it would be necessary to learn techniques for making yeast, vinegar, and sugar. In some areas in the early periods even grains could not be ground locally and various methods new to immigrants were used. In one area in 1818 it is reported that adults coped with the problem of grinding corn by chewing it until it was soft enough for children to eat, a practice undoubtedly unfamiliar to farmers in Britain.37 The emigration of middle-class English women was a common phenomenon. These women did not usually find themselves in social or economic circumstances for which their experience in England had prepared them. Few had experience as farmers' wives and most were more competent at directing the work of servants than in performing it themselves. They were often surprised to learn that it was essential for farm women to help in the fields: this would not have been unexpected labour for peasant women in Britain,38 but to literate women with little experience in agricultural methods the work required of them seemed extraordinary. In many respects this is fortunate for the historian. For even though one may be tempted to dismiss the writing of these women as atypical because it represents the experience of the 'gentlewoman,' there is nevertheless a great deal to be learned from their descriptions of their own work. Because these women were unaccustomed to the labour they were expected to perform, they explained, in detailed letters home, what they did in the course of the day. Though their class background made them more literate and less experienced in farm work than were most peasant women, their work was frequently the same. Activities on farms involving land-clearing and wheat production were most often male pursuits. Females certainly engaged in both types of work periodically, but these were not considered the primary responsibility of women. Chopping trees and hauling wood were heavy tasks which involved labour for considerable lengths of time outside the household. Clearing the land was not a one-time investment of labour; rather, the struggle against forest weeds was constant and would take most of a farmer's productive life.39 It was labour which women would be engaged in particularly in the

70 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

earliest stages of settlement, but as child-rearing and food-growing demanded more time, they spent less time at these more 'male' pursuits. There are stories of Amazonian choppers who performed great feats of strength. Samuel Thompson describes one such woman: 'Mary became in time a "first-rate" chopper, and would yield to none of the new settlers in the dexterity with which she would fell, brush and cut up maple or beech; and preferring such active exercise to the dull routine of household work, took her place at chopping, logging or burning, as regularly and with at least as much spirit as her brothers. Indeed, chopping is quite an accomplishment among young women in the more remote parts of the woods, where schools are unknown.'40 Mary and her sister were so strong that even when they were in their teens they would walk seventeen miles to the nearest store and return the same day, each carrying ninety pounds of potatoes. Unfortunately, Mary's unorthodox skills did not serve her well, for while still a young woman she died in a logging accident. Clearly women often were expected to perform tasks in the male area of responsibility, but this was regarded as 'helping' men. Eventually this 'help' became a seasonal activity during planting and harvesting - though it was fairly regularly supplied in the early stages of clearing the land.41 The ideal female settler was one who could work like a man when necessary, but who could be a woman too, as is suggested by Ann Langton's description of Alexander Daniel's wife: 'Daniel's spouse is a capital help-mate for a backwoodsman, for she can do the work of a man, as well as her own domestic duties.'42 But, however onerous this 'helping' became for women, or however regular at specific times, women's work, ideally, was seen as centred on the house and children. Though women's work in the male sphere of production could be essential to the success of the family enterprise, the expectation for most families was that, as the household became established on the land, women would be required to spend less time helping males. James Croil, writing in 1861, indicated the generally held view of women's farm work: The wives and daughters of our farmers are neat and tidy in their persons, industrious and frugal in their habits, and not slow to lend a hand when help is needed in the barn or field.'43 While women frequently performed work which was considered the primary responsibility of males, the converse was not the case.

71 Farm Women's Labour

Males rarely performed duties regarded as women's work. Tasks relating to child-rearing, cooking, and cleaning were strictly women's work and however burdensome these became at specific times, men were not expected to help. There were certainly some farm tasks which would be performed either by males or females milking, chopping wood, carrying water, caring for livestock or the garden, and butchering. But while there were few tasks in the male sphere which were not, at some point, performed by women, adult males ventured into the realm of the household only under the most exceptional circumstances, such as when the wife was totally incapacitated or dead. Production in the male sphere had priority over labour in the household, and when this required extra labour, women and children were expected to curtail their normal pursuits in order to help. Women's Work The work of female labour on farms varied considerably in time and location, and the type of labour women performed depended on what was perceived as rational within the economic context of the patriarchal household. The extent to which women performed activities directed toward the market was shaped both by what could be provided for by market exchange and the total availability of labour on the farm unit. When labour and cash were scarce, female labour was more likely to be confined to subsistence activities for the family. Over time, and in areas where the economy was more cashoriented and local markets developed, women were able to reduce the amount of time spent on subsistence production and to engage more in production for exchange. Meeting Family Needs Wives were a source of wealth in the settler economy, a fact which was widely advertised to those in Britain planning to come to this country. In 1821 John Howison wrote: 'Married persons are always more comfortable, and succeed sooner, in Canada, than single men; for a wife and family, so far from being a burden there, always prove sources of wealth. The wife of a new settler has many domestic duties to perform; and children, if at all grown up, are useful in various ways.'44

72 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

That few farm households could succeed without women is evidenced by the attempts of farmers without wives to find women to live on their farms. When wives were not available, it was not at all rare for men to bring their sisters to Canada so that they could assist in the settling process, this practice being seen as preferable to hiring female servants. The short supply of women in newly settled areas meant that female labour was difficult to obtain. Its scarcity necessitated paying female servants in cash, an expense to be avoided as much as possible.45 Not only was women's direct labour in the family economy critical to the success of the operation, but so too was labour involved in the bearing and raising of children. Children were an important source of farm labour on most farms, and given the labour-intensive methods of early farming, having many children was a decided asset for a family; the larger the family, the greater the quantity of land which could be cleared and farmed.46 An observer in the 1830s wrote: 'He who has the most numerous offspring, is considered to have the best opportunity of prospering, in a country where land is abundant, and in which the price of labour is high/47 In the pre-industrial economy, farm families were often large and the labour involved in feeding, clothing, and caring for large families was great. Although information about family size and fertility rates is very sketchy, there were indications that there was some correlation between family size and length of time a district had been settled, with older areas tending to have lower birth rates than those newly settled. Fertility rates varied widely over the province. In 1852 they ranged from fewer than 700 children under five years of age per one thousand adult women in the earliest settled counties along the St Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula to over 1,000 children in the newly settled areas in the northwest.48 At mid-century, Ontario had one of the highest birth rates in the world, higher even than that of Quebec and the neighbouring American states at the time. David Gagan found that in Peel County in midcentury, a completed family consisted of at least eight children. Although other evidence would indicate that families in some districts were much smaller, considering that women usually continued bearing children into their forties, and that complex families containing grandparents, other relatives, and hired help were not common, farm women would have been responsible for tasks related to child-rearing for most of their adult lives.49

73 Farm Women's Labour

It was not uncommon for farm women at times to run the farm operations by themselves or with only the help of their children's labour. One is struck, in reading the diaries and letters of women in newly settled areas, by the reported frequency of male absences.50 In the first years of settlement, families without enough money to manage until agricultural production was established were obliged to have some form of income. This frequently meant that the male farmer would have to engage in some kind of work off the farm. In fact, settlement itself was strongly related to opportunities for waged employment for males. The need for labour on canals, in mines, on the roads, or in the forest was a strong impetus leading settlers to an area. When this work was not available, males often could find work on established farms where they would receive payment in the form of seed, cloth, livestock, and sometimes even cash.51 That these wages were not sufficient to maintain the family is evident from the following comment, made in 1840, about the state of agricultural employment: 'In Canada, a man with a young family cannot maintain his wife and children in comfort upon the wages of agricultural labour, unless he is in possession of a residence of his own; nor however much the assistance of the laborer may be required at certain seasons, can the farmer afford to give such constant employment, as would enable the laborer to maintain a numerous family throughout the year/52 The regularity of male absence in one area is evidenced by Andrew Hay don's recounting of a near disaster in the district of Bathurst in the 1820s, when Mrs Dickson lost the community's only needle: 'Mrs Dickson has lost the needle while on a visit to Squire Landon's grist mill, and it must be somewhere along the way. And so the neighbourhood turned out - the women, the boys, the girls, for the men were mostly absent from the settlement engaged elsewhere, as was the custom, gaining by other means of livelihood what yet the partially cleared farms could hardly yield.'53 Besides dealing with male absences for waged labour, women often had to assume responsibility for the farm during the extensive periods when males were obliged to perform military or government service, or when they had to travel long distances to markets.54 Male absence ideally was supposed to occur during periods when heavy labour requirements were over, but sometimes women were forced to carry out even planting and harvesting without male labour. Margaret Howe told of her experience on her brothers' farm

74 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

at Perth: 'In the spring of 1823 James and John went to Brockville to earn the price of a cow and a yoke of oxen, leaving me at home to manage the farm. Harvest time came, but we were at a loss to know how it was to be garnered. There were none of your improved implements in those days - not even a sickle or any kind of handy tool. And so it fell to my lot to go to Shipman's mills (now Almonte) and procure them.'55 Without the concerted effort of male labour, however, it was difficult for any farm to advance beyond the subsistence level of production. While farmers engaged in work away from the farm in the initial periods, the heavy labour requirements of settler farming required that this not continue for long. For the farm household, the labour of both males and females was essential to its successful operation, and while males were absent, females were not able fully to replace their labour simply because of the amount of work they also needed to perform in the female sphere. Women, especially in the early years of a family's settlement, seemed to have turned their hand to many types of heavy labour which were not normally considered women's work. Fanny Hutton, whose husband spent much more time teaching than his farm work really allowed and was somewhat disabled by a bad back, was obliged to do those things which he had no time for. Her husband wrote in 1837: 1 am daily surprised how Fanny stands the constant hard work which she goes through both indoors and out. She spread and filled manure in the cart; cut nearly the whole 70 bushels of seed potatoes; laid them nearly all... She is up between 5 and 6.'56 At this time Fanny had six children, of whom the oldest was eleven and three were under five years of age. In addition, she managed to raise six cows and some poultry both for their own use and to produce a small surplus of butter and eggs for sale. This labour was not without its price. Five years later William Hutton wrote to his mother: 'Fanny has no female servant; there are two men. She is indefatigable, but looks many, many years older than she ought to look at her time of life.' The idea that early farms were self-sufficient is often evidenced by descriptions of the type of work women performed. Women's labour included a multitude of tasks in an attempt to meet the family's consumption needs. They grew their own hops to make their own rising to make their own bread. They saved ashes to make their own lye to boil with collected fat

75 Farm Women's Labour to make their own soap. They made their own candles. They spun wool, they made clothes, cutting up old garments for patterns. They had complete responsibility for the dairy, the milking, the butter-making and the cheese-making. They took part in the butchering of the beasts, in the making of sausages, the smoking of hams, the salting of pork. They did great laundries, which they finished, in spite of protective bandages, with bleeding wrists. They stood through the long nights keeping the fire going under the huge potash pots and stirring the hardening mass. In the cold spring nights they tended the fires under the maple syrup ... The women did, willingly, even harder work, such as clearing underbrush and, when things were quiet in winter, threshing ... The vegetable garden too was the woman's care, as well as the putting down of berries, pickles, fruits and preserves; the making of substitutes for teas and coffee from dandelion roots, sumach leaves and parched grain; the dying of wool and knitting; the care of poultry; the dressing and curing of fish and game. And, of course, there were three meals a day to prepare.57

Women collectively, and over time, certainly performed all these tasks and more, but the above picture in some respects distorts the relationship of farm families to markets and their dependence on them even from the earliest times. In the earliest days of settlement many of the materials necessary for home production were simply not available to the farm wife. So although the objective of the farm family was to produce as much as possible of what it consumed, for many, and for considerable lengths of time in some areas, this was not possible. Later, even when materials were available, for many farm women the labour requirements for certain types of household production were so heavy that alternative methods of providing these items were adopted. The variety of ways cloth and clothing were provided for the household over time is an indication of the myriad factors which determined whether or not this form of production would be performed by women in the household. Cloth and Clothing In England large-scale cloth production occurred before the movement of workers to factory employment. A huge rural industry developed using the labour of entire families within their own households. This is often referred to as the stage of 'protoindustrialization/ or the stage of transition from peasant society to indus-

76 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

trial capitalism where the waged work of families was organized and controlled by a 'putting-out' system of production. In this system the raw materials were supplied to the household unit by entrepreneurs; the family members did the spinning, weaving, and other tasks to produce the cloth; and the entrepeneur managed distribution of the final product. This system of production, so characteristic of early industrialization in England and elsewhere in Europe, was not characteristic of the transition to capitalism in Ontario. The family form of waged labour in the rural household, prevalent in the first countries to experience industrial capitalism, was not typical of the transformation process here because of the very different historical conditions both capital and labour faced. Women in Ontario were certainly involved in making cloth and clothing, but the effects on the family and household structures were considerably different from what they were in Europe and the transition to the factory system proceeded quite differently as well. The usual image of pioneer female labour is of mothers and daughters quietly engaged in carding, spinning, weaving, and sewing to provide blankets, linen, and clothing for the family's use. One nineteenth-century observer's recollections of his youthful pioneer days presents a rather romanticized account of women's work in providing clothing in the 1830s: The merry song of the girls, mingling with the hum of the spinning-wheel, as they tripped backward and forward to the cadence of their music, drawing out miles of thread, reeling it into skeins which the weaver's loom and shuttle was to turn into thick heavy cloth; or old grandmother treading away at her little wheel, making it buzz as she drew out the delicate fibres of flax, and let it run up the spindle a fine and evenly twisted thread, with which to sew out garments, or to make our linen; and mother, busy as a bee, thinking of us all, and never wearying in her endeavours to add to our comfort.58

But in the early periods cloth- and clothing-making consumed a relatively small proportion of women's labour. The pervasive nature of the forest and the persistence of wild animals meant that livestock, especially sheep, could not easily be raised. Initially both the lack of cleared land for pasture and planting and the threat from wolves meant that materials for clothing-making were not readily available. Until settlements were more established, either cloth and

77 Farm Women's Labour

clothing were imported or garments were made from skins and furs. The problem of acquiring adequate wearing apparel was serious for families and was not confined to a specific time period, but was characteristic of newly settled areas throughout the pre-industrial period.59 One man described just how difficult and expensive it could be: In the year 1813 Colonel Talbot sent word to the few settlers that he had wool to be let out to be made into cloth on halves. I hired a horse and went and got fifty pounds. Here was forty miles travelled. I then hired a horse and took the wool to Port Dover and had it carded, for which I paid $6.25 and returned home, which made one hundred miles more. My wife spun the rolls, and I had made a loom for weaving but we had no reed for flannel. I then went sixty miles on foot to a reed-maker's but he had none that was suitable, and would not leave his work on the farm until I agreed to give him the price of two reeds, $6.50 and work a day in his place; this I did and returned home with the reed. My wife wove the cloth, and I took my half to Dover to the fulling-mill. When finished I have eighteen yards, for which I had paid $34.75 and travelled 140 miles on horseback and 260 miles on foot, making four hundred miles, requiring all about fifteen days' labour.60

Because of the expense of importing cloth and clothing, providing materials for home production was a priority for most families and frequently cloth was made from strange things. William Canniff describes a blanket which had been 'made out of hair, picked out of the tanner's vat, and a hemp-like weed growing in the yard. The hair was first cleaned by whipping it; then it was carded and worked up with the hemp, and then spun. It was afterward doubled and twisted, and finally woven into a blanket/61 As soon as flax could be grown and sheep raised, linen and cloth were made in the household. Both processes were very labour-intensive and, as various stages of production could be performed outside the household, the usual practice was to attempt to reduce farm-women's labour in this area. Flax preparation required a great many heavy steps, some of which were undertaken by men. But women were almost exclusively involved in the spinning, weaving, and dyeing processes. Sarah Slaght, an early settler in the Long Point District, described how her husband broke the flax, 'then I took off the shives, hetcheled it,

78 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

takin' out the tow, which was carded and spun on the big wheel like wool, and which furnished the fillin' in weavin' the coarser cloth used for towelling, tickin' bagging, etc. The flax was spun on the little wheel. We were married in October, and during the winter I made up forty-three yards of cloth out of that flax/62 Home-made linen was used for bagging, sheets, pillowcases, underwear, bandages, tablecloths, and towels, but required such effort in production that it was produced only for home use and rarely for sale. Nevertheless, considerable amounts were sometimes made for the family's use: 'A young farmer would often be astonished to find on his marriage that his fair partner had got a good supply of linen for her marriage portion. I have known as much as sixty yards spun and manufactured at one bee or gathering/63 The labour involved in making linen was reflected in its price: an account book of William Nellels of Grimsby in 1790 indicates that one yard of linen was equal to one day of farm labour. Both were valued at six shillings.64 During the first half of the nineteenth century the production of linen in households dropped dramatically. This was largely because of its heavy labour requirements and the increased availability of cotton materials. There was an increase in linen production during the American Civil War, when cotton goods were scarce, but even then the total amount was insignificant, compared with domestic cloth and flannel production.65 In many families the ordinary work of the farm woman was simply too heavy for her to engage in linen or cloth production for the household, much less for the market, even though labour to this end was often expected of her. John Tidey's diary of 1839 illustrates the expectations placed on farm women and their struggle to cope. In April he describes his wife's work: 'My old woman is very intent seizing all intervals of time at drawing flax & spinning it - much devolves on her she is chief Gardener - has undertaken the job of planting the fruit Bushes - & assists occasionally in our heavy work/66 By September he was complaining bitterly over her slovenly housekeeping and inability, even with the help of a hired girl, to spin and weave enough to keep the family in clothing and pay the servant's wages. We do not have his wife's defence, but there is enough information in Tidey's account itself to indicate that his wife was not idle. He admits that she helped him log a piece of land, worked in the hayfield, and assisted with reaping the oats and

79 Farm Women's Labour

wheat. She had also worked at planting in the spring. He seems to discount her arguments that chopping and carrying firewood were time-consuming and does not mention the effort she must have expended on cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children. What offended him most was her ragged clothes, and he simply could not understand why his criticism of her appearance aroused her rage and why she couldn't make enough cloth to dress respectably: 'We have an abundance of flax-tools and all kinds to work it up - a good Loom - & she herself both a spinner & weaver.'67 Woven wool cloth, too, consumed a great deal of time in its production and was much less likely to be exchanged by farm households than were agricultural products. But in families where there were many daughters, trading in cloth could be significant to the family economy. Catharine Parr Traill was clear about the conditions under which home production was worthwhile: 'Many people think that there is little saving in manufacturing your own wool into cloth, and that it is as well to sell the raw material and buy the ready made cloth. But where there is a large family of girls who can spin on the wheel (and anyone can learn this useful art in a few lessons,) I should say that making home spun cloth and flannel was a decided advantage.'68 The experience of the Hutton family, which included five daughters, was a dramatic contrast to that of John Tidey. The women were able to keep the family supplied with clothing: 'Anne is spinning hard for flannel frocks for herself and the girls ... we have this day got home 33 1/4 yards of grey cloth 3/4 wide, worth here 6s.6d. per yard made from our own wool. Anne can spin 2 yards both warp and filling every day and is become so good a spinner that we shall spin all our wool at home next summer and make 100 yards of cloth and 30 of flannel ... What a difference it makes when the farmers own family can do it all!!!'69 At this time Anne was sixteen years old. In addition to making cloth for the family, the Hutton women were able to produce a surplus of both spun wool and cloth. Since cash was scarce, and usually was received only for wheat, clothmaking did not increase the family's cash income, but as William Hutton explained, 'it is remunerating work in this way at least, that the cloth pays Tradesmen and Laborers and will possibly furnish us a carpet as the merchants will exchange excellent carpeting for homemade cloth yard for yard.'70 Making homespun usually involved some stages being performed

80 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

within the farm household and others outside it. Spinning was most often done within the household by farm women. Frequently, a spinnef would be hired to work for a specific period of time to help with especially large amounts of wool, or to do all the spinning work if the females of the household were not skilled at the task. Spinners were usually farmers' daughters who would work as itinerant tradeswomen or as general servants who were paid additional amounts for the time they spent spinning. Knitting was also common in households, and socks in particular were traded or sold to merchants.71 Although spinning and knitting were very common activities in rural households, most families did not weave their own cloth. William Thompson, a Scottish weaver visiting Canada in about 1840, mentions that there were 13,400 domestic looms in Ontario at that time, or about one loom for each five or six families.72 But the presence of a loom in a household did not necessarily mean that family members wove cloth. In many cases weaving would have been performed by itinerant weavers. In addition to the timeconsuming aspect of this activity, there were other factors which mitigated against home-weaving. For settlers near country merchants, imported cloth and clothing were more regularly available. And since the cloth produced in English and American factories was preferred to homespun, its increasing availability resulted in a fairly rapid decline in reliance on homespun.73 While backwoods communities were more dependent on supplying their own needs, some more developed areas were more inclined to maintain production within the household than others. In areas where immigrants had come from places where handweaving was still done, women were more likely to continue the practice in Canada. Few English immigrants who came to Canada were experienced in handweaving: the Industrial Revolution had transformed textile-making from a cottage industry to factory production by the time the large waves of English migration occurred.74 In Scotland and Ireland the effects of the Industrial Revolution on textile production were felt later, so in areas settled by the Scots or Irish, women were more likely to produce cloth themselves. By mid-century most districts had professional weavers.75 In areas where a weaver was available it was most common for families to supply the weaver with materials to be worked into

81 Farm Women's Labour

cloth. The weavers would normally be paid with a portion of spun wool. The professional weavers were frequently males who had immigrated to Canada and who maintained farms while weaving part-time. Women were sometimes professional weavers, but they tended to practise their trade professionally only until they were married or if they were widowed. Sometimes male weavers would teach their daughters their craft, and their daughters would become professionals. It seems to have been less common for this occupation to be taught to sons. Although there was a fairly high demand for a weaver's skill in some areas, the availability of land and the prospects of earning a living from farming tended not to attract Canadian males to the profession. Rather, the profession was replenished by immigrants from Scotland, Ulster, and Germany.76 Although many women wove, few were considered professionals. Usually the reason given for this was that women did not have the skill to perform the more intricate types of weaving which the male professional weavers had been trained to do. However, considering some of the extremely fine work made by women which still survives, the more likely explanation is that the capital and time requirements of professional weaving would have been a deterrent to most women.77 Carding and fulling were the first steps in the production of cloth to be performed outside the household. The earliest mention of carding and fulling mills is those reported in the assessment records for York County in 1803, and by mid-century there were 147 in the province.78 Few households within reasonable distance of the mills would continue their own carding and fulling, since these tasks were particularly time-consuming and the cost of sending it out was small. Usually mill work was paid for in either grain or a share of the material being worked. There were some attempts at factory cloth production in the early period, but woollen mills were not generally successful until the late 1840s.79 By 1851 there were seventy-four woollen factories in the province producing a total of more than one million yards of cloth a year. By mid-century the production of home-made cloth in Ontario began to decline (Table 3).80 The development of the economy meant that not only were manufactured goods increasingly available, but also farm households were more able to acquire factory-made cloth because of higher cash incomes.81 Farm women's labour increasingly turned to areas of production which were likely

82 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development TABLE 3 Household fabric production, 1842-81 (yards) Year

Linen

Cloth and flannel

1842 1848 1852 1861 1871 1881

166,881 71,715 14,711 37,055 25,502 13,641

1,160,813 1,923,143 1,727,589 2,093,034 1,775,320 1,426,558

Sources: Census 1842, 1848, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881

to be more remunerative. Expending time on home production of cloth became less rational as alternative and cheaper methods of supplying it were available. With a more integrated local economy women were able to provide for their families' needs more efficiently by producing agricultural goods for the market. In some areas where factory cloth was readily available, the expense of home production made the economics of continuing it questionable. As early as 1817 it was cheaper to buy cloth in some areas, as was evident from a report from Grimsby: 'I have often heard my neighbours assert, that it was full as cheap to go to the store and buy English broad cloth as to make homespun, for his obvious reason, that by the time it went through the hands of the carder, the spinner, the weaver, the fuller, and the dyer, it cost him more per yard than the English, and generally of inferior quality.'82 A substantial 'putting-out' system of cloth production, such as had existed in England in the pre-industrial phase of cottage production, never developed in Ontario. With the shortage of labour in rural areas, combined with the availability of factory-made cloth in urban areas, this never became the important source of female income that it had been in Britain. Market Activity Female production for the market, both through waged labour and through production in the home, was limited during the period when export staples dominated the Ontario economy. A variety of factors accounted for this. The most significant factor was undoubtedly the cultural perception that the tasks of raising children

83 Farm Women's Labour

and feeding and maintaining the family were properly the woman's sphere. The more onerous this task was, because of either the size of families or the need to provide most of the necessities of the family within the household itself, the less likely it would be that women's production would be directed toward the market. Given the sexual division of labour which confined female labour to specific spheres of production in the household, the nature of the markets in the early periods made production in the female sphere less likely to be market-oriented. One major difficulty was the underdeveloped nature of the domestic market. This was the result of a complex variety of factors that isolated most farm families so that few off-the-farm connections were possible. The land survey system adopted in Ontario meant that compact agricultural villages simply could not exist. Farm families in Ontario lived on their own land in isolation from neighbours.83 This type of dispersed settlement favoured wheat production for the export market, but forestalled the kinds of social interaction which could have provided adequate markets for women's surplus production. The isolation was further accentuated by the practice of reserving a large portion of land in each district for the clergy. This land, and that obtained by speculators, tended to remain underdeveloped and further isolated farm families.84 Because of both the distances from markets which would have been appropriate for women's surpluses and the inadequacy of transportation, women's household production for the market developed slowly.85 Although I have argued that the underdeveloped nature of the market for items which were most likely to be produced by women was an important factor in limiting women's market activity, in some circumstances the markets for certain forms of domestic manufacturing would have existed had the supply conditions warranted production. In the previous section it was shown that labour requirements for cloth production curtailed the extent to which it was pursued as a domestic industry producing for the market. The significance of labour scarcity on farms and women's inability, for this reason, to engage in labour-intensive cottage industries is also indicated by the various attempts to introduce hemp production to Canada in the early part of the century. This attempt will be examined in detail because it is a good illustration of the general inability to recognize the extent and nature of women's farm labour, even during the early pioneer period when it was particularly burden-

84 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

some, and also because it dramatically shows how the availability of markets alone was not a sufficient inducement to women to engage in market-oriented production. Hemp was one of the first agricultural products to be actively encouraged by government: Britain was interested both in establishing a staple crop and in providing its navy with a secure supply.86 The expectations Britain had for hemp production in Ontario are reflected in William Dunlop's description of its possibilities. '[Hemp] is one agricultural product for which the soil and climate of Upper Canada are admirably adapted, and to which it would be of great importance in a national point of view ... In the more remote parts of the country, hemp would be a much more profitable return than wheat, as it is more valuable in proportion to its weight... and if Britain possessed a colony that could supply her with this article, so indispensable to a maritime power, it would render her independent of the northern nations/87 It was reasoned that hemp-growing was an ideal cash crop for pioneer areas because of the suitable climate and growing conditions and because women and children could be used in processing it. Soon after the British conquest, the government expressed its views on both the importance of hemp-growing and how this could be profitably pursued in the St Lawrence region: This will be one means of employing Women and Children during the long winters in breaking and preparing the flax and hemp for exportation, will divert them from manufacturing coarse things for their own use, as it will enable them to purchase those of a better sort manufactured and imported from Great Britain/88 The idea was to establish a cottage industry which would serve the mercantile interests of Britain both by providing a necessary product and by enabling settlers to buy British goods. While it was calculated that the labour required would come from the time diverted from household manufacture, there is also a sense that women and children had spare time to devote to its production. The same report continues: 'And I must repeat here, how useful this must prove to the end of promoting agriculture, of employing Women and Children during the tedious winter months, and of procuring in a short time a vast exportation of that useful commodity for which the returns will be made in British Manufactures/89 Government attempts to encourage hemp-growing in Ontario were considerable: seed was distributed free, bounties were granted

85 Farm Women's Labour

growers, and prices paid by the government were above the market value. But despite all the government assistance to hemp growers, establishing it as a staple crop was essentially a failure. The reason for this failure, the understanding of which eluded officials at the time, was quite simply that the labour requirements for processing it were too great for the typical farming family to supply.90 Clearly the extent of female labour on the family farm was little appreciated by those who thought that women could spend their time more profitably on production for the market.91 But the reality was that unless a family had a great many children or was sufficiently well off to hire servants, the ordinary tasks of providing for the family's daily needs consumed most of the farm women's time. Because so much had to be provided by the farm itself, there was precious little time for the production of commodities for the market. This does not mean that women were not at all involved in market activities, for they certainly did produce some surpluses from the earliest periods: even before local markets expanded women were able to produce for the export market. In particular, women were known to be active in making potash, and as early as 1801 there was sufficient quantities of butter and cheese produced to be exported to Montreal.92 But for the most part the remunerative activities of the female in the household were incidental to the major work of subsistence production for the family. In addition to contributing to the family income through home production for the market, some women in rural areas, usually young single women, worked for wages. According to Basil Hall, who described conditions in the late 1820s, 'All those members of each family who can be spared from field work, go off to neighboring towns, villages, or even to the better class of farm houses, and engage themselves as servants. Most of the young women are thus employed at first, and frequently also the boys/93 As noted earlier, the scarcity of female labour in rural areas forced employers to pay women cash, but sometimes the poverty of families was so acute that very young girls would be sent out to work so that they could be fed. This almost certainly was the case of Mary Ann Thompson, a seven-year-old girl who in 1825 was apprenticed with a farm for 'ten years, nine months, and twenty-eight days/ In exchange for her services she was to be provided with 'Meat, Drink, washing, Lodging, and Apparel, both linen and woolen, and all other necessaries/ She was also to be taught to read and

86 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

write, and when she left she was to be given two suits of clothes, a cow, and a bed.94 While this seems to have been an unusually young age for a girl to leave home, it was not uncommon for girls in their early teens to work as servants.95 Nevertheless, even though the age of marriage was not particularly young and few girls went to school for any length of time, there was a severe shortage of female servants throughout the nineteenth century.96 The evidence from English gentlewomen's letters and journals would indicate that the turnover rate for servants was high in Canada, and the likelihood of keeping one for a long period remote. Many found the difficulties of hiring, training, paying, and keeping servants more troublesome than they were worth. Too often when suitable servants were found, they would leave when their own families were in need of their labour. In fact, the need of girls' labour on family farms would appear to be one explanation for such a severe shortage of female labour, even though the period when young women were available for work was comparatively long.97 Females were more likely to be hired for work in the household than for work in the fields. Mary O'Brien, writing in 1832, noted the scarcity of women's paid farm labour: 'Edward has hired a great tall black girl to take up potatoes with the little Hunts. This is worthy of note because it is the first time we have ever had female Canadians as farm servants, though in my farming days I got some days' work at odd times from some English girls who were living on the farm, but this rather as a freak than anything else.'98 However, the extent to which women could find paid labour varied significantly from one area to another. This variation is indicated in replies to a questionnaire taken by the provincial government in 1840 to provide information to prospective immigrants. The following are some responses to the question "Do the wives and children of agricultural labourers readily find employment?'99 George Manvers, President of the Northumberland and Durham Agricultural Society: Women seldom do any field work here. Dairy women and good domestic female servants would readily find employment and so would children particularly boys, over 11 years of age. William B. Jarvis, Sheriff of Home District: No. The children only if they may be required as Servants. Robert Lachlin, Sheriff of Western District: It is not generally usual in Canada for Women and children to be employed in the fields; but in the W. District the exclusive culture of Tobacco, which may be considered

87 Farm Women's Labour one of the staple crops furnishes employment more suitable for both these than to men. A.B. Hawke, Chief Emigrant Agent for Upper Canada, Toronto: Children of suitable age and habits find ready employment but it is difficult to find work for their wives and younger children.

Certainly women would sometimes be hired for agricultural work on a seasonal or casual basis, but most waged work, certainly the more permanent kind for females in rural areas, centred on domestic work. Despite the lack of alternative forms of labour for most women, the general shortage of women to take paid domestic jobs was acute. For example, in Dundas County a female servant on the farm was a decided rarity by mid-century. In 1852 there were 1,570 farmers, but only 74 female servants. Of the female servants only about half worked on farms, 'so that not more than 37 farmers' wives required hired help during that year/100 This amounted to only about one female servant for forty-two farm households. The shortage of female labour did not alter the fact that women were paid less than men. In fact, the wage rates of women during the first half of the nineteenth century appear to have decreased, while that of males increased.101 In 1822 Robert Gourlay's reports of wages paid in Ontario's townships indicate that male common labourers received from 12s. 6p. to 18s. 9p. per week depending on the season. Female servants received from 5s. to 7s. 6p. a week, with variations depending more on location of employment than on the seasonal nature of work.102 On average, males received roughly two and a half times as much as females for their labour. Ten years later, William Dunlop's report on male and female wages indicates that there was neither a change in the amount paid nor in the differential between the sexes.103 By 1842, Hutton was writing that wages had not decreased, even though there were 40,000 immigrants, yet he reported that he paid 'a stout girl at 10 shillings per month/ a rate about half that paid twenty years earlier.104 Traill, writing in the early 1850s, confirmed the miserable nature of women's wages. She notes that female servants' wages had changed little in her twenty-one years of living in Canada and at that time were from $3 to $4 per month, but less if the girl was very small and ignorant.105 The fact that male wages rose, even those of male servants, while those of female servants remained unchanged, or even decreased in some areas, can be attributed to the lack of alternative income

88 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

sources for women. For males, the availability of relatively cheap land meant that the supply of male labour, particularly for work as servants, was limited. For females the alternatives to domestic labour barely existed.106 That shortages of female labour remained acute yet did not drive up female wages can be explained to some extent by the nature of household production itself. Because women's labour remained out of the market sphere for a longer period than men's, spending money on increasing the productivity of female labour by hiring labour took a decidedly second place to increasing the amount of labour devoted to marketable field products. On the whole, women's market activity tended to be more related to production within the family household than to wage labour; it usually arose from surpluses generated from production for family needs. That is, things that would normally be produced for family consumption would be sold on the market when supply and demand conditions warranted it. Surpluses of articles such as spun wool, cloth, candles, and soap were common items for women to trade or sell. Maple-sugar-making too was often women's work: 'Sugarmaking is one of the most laborious occupations while it lasts, yet a vast quantity of maple sugar is yearly made in the back woods by the joint operations of the settlers' wives, and their children.'107 As was clothmaking, sugarmaking was extremely time-consuming during the sugarmaking season and the quantities used by the family were of such magnitude that it was difficult for women to produce large quantities for the market. The example of the Hutton family's sugar production indicates both the amount used and how it was provided. Initially, Fanny Hutton produced enough for all the family's needs, but ultimately the labour involved became too great. In 1842 William Hutton wrote that his family used more than 180 pounds of sugar a year, saying 'we require a great deal for preserves and fruit as salted meat is not eatable in the hot summer weather and fresh meat will not keep three days.' The family solved the problem of providing sugar: 'We have let out our sugar bush on shares. We furnish the trees and boilers - the man does all the labour and gives us half the sugar.'108 As transportation advanced and, correspondingly, the possibility of selling larger quantities of perishable agricultural produce improved, women increasingly relied on producing food for the market. For farm women near local markets this activity could be

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considerable and an important source of income for the farm family. In 1846 James Taylor's description of the Toronto market indicated the extent to which, by this time, supplying the local market was women's work. The old market square is small and incommodious; females who attend this market to dispose of their butter, eggs, fowls, &c., as well as vendors of other commodities are fully exposed to the inclemency of the weather ... Farmers' wives and daughters, of respectable appearance, frequently enter the market with their neat four-wheeler and pair, loaded with vegetables which they sometimes dispose of by giving friendly calls as they enter the city. Females generally attend to this branch of agricultural produce; indeed it would be considered a remarkable occurrence if a farmer was seen driving his team to market unaccompanied by a female companion, who, in all weathers may be found at her post, delivering her commodities whilst her master is taking his potations of whiskey. Females of tender years are in the habit of driving alone, from considerable distances, to the markets with various articles to dispose of.109

By mid-century the economy had developed considerably and the scope for women's market activity had increased as well. Market Growth The economic development associated with the growth of more industrial and capitalistic modes of production tended to increase farm women's participation in production for the market. The growth in local markets as a result of increased population and improved transportation meant that more of the items produced by women could find outlets. Certain forms of production which had occurred within the household were gradually replaced by goods produced in artisan shops or in factories, but this did not reduce women's work in the household economy. Rather, the focus was shifted somewhat from generalized production for family use to farm production oriented more toward the market. This was a gradual process which developed over the course of the century and which was most pronounced near urban areas. It became more characteristic of women's rural labour in the province from about mid-century. During this time, areas of farm production primarily under the control of women - market-gardening, fruit-growing,

90 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

poultry-raising, and dairying - became significant in the growth of the economy. Later, as farmers turned away from wheat production, with the decline in wheat prices, and turned more toward mixed farming, men became more involved in these types of production. This was particularly the case as the products became more profitable and their production became the main business of the farm. But generally, male domination of production women had performed was an uneven process and women were active producers throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century. The point to be stressed is that the growth in the economy during the second half of the nineteenth century did not result in a withdrawal of farm women from production, but rather resulted in their increased participation in market activity. With urban growth and improved forms of transportation, the demand for eggs, dressed poultry, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables within the province increased considerably. Before the 1850s these items were insignificant as market produce. For most farmers, 'butter and eggs were almost valueless, save on [their] own table[s].'no There were factors which stimulated the export of these products as well. The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, which lasted until 1866, and the extension of American railways opened the American market to Canadian producers. In the 1850s market-gardening became especially significant near urban areas and produce was sold in nearby American markets by 'black-eyed, olive-skinned maidens, in short petticoats, from the Canada shore.'111 But gradually marketing agencies and transportation in the interior of the province improved, so that proximity to local markets became less significant for the successful production of some items.112 For the most part production of these food items did not become established as the major business for farms until late in the century, but was carried on as a part-time occupation for farm women and their children, a practice which tends to be characterized by agricultural historians as something carried out for 'pin-money ... for the farmers' wives/113 Nevertheless, in the aggregate, this trade was often of considerable importance. John Isbister has calculated the surplus food production in Ontario from 1850. While the bulk of this surplus was from field crops, principally wheat and potatoes, dairy, poultry and egg, and fruit and vegetable production slowly gained importance throughout the second half of the century.1*14 Frequently women located far from urban centres would sell their produce to

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local merchants who, in turn, would sell it to travelling dealers. Egg and dairy produce in particular was marketed in this way. When the American market was open to Canadian producers again in 1871 exports became significant. For example, Canadian egg exports increased almost threefold in five years, rising from 1.5 million dozen in 1869 to 4.4 million dozen in 1874. By 1883, when egg exports to Britain were more regular, this figure had increased to 13.5 million dozen.115 Fruit-growing too began to be a source of income for farm families after mid-century. Where previously surpluses were so unmarketable that they were given away, by the 1870s the demand was sometimes so heavy that an adequate supply could not be found.116 Apples were particularly important for sale both locally and in the export market by the 1880s. Grapes, small berries, plums, and peaches were confined to the local market, although this market grew dramatically with urban development and better transportation facilities: women's labour was particularly important in the harvesting of these more fragile fruits. For berries other than strawberries, wild sources for a long time were more important than cultivated ones, and berry-picking became a distinct occupation for some women. For example, in a list of trades and professions for North York, berrypicker is the only occupation, other than dressmaker and milliner, listed for women.117 It has been noted by some historians that the increase in commercial and industrial activity did not cause major disruptions in women's activities in farm households. For example, Leo Johnson makes the point that the rise of rural artisanship 'tended to complement, rather than supplant the various forms of household production/ Margaret Conrad, writing about the eastern provinces, notes the 'ease with which traditional rural occupations were integrated with the new commercial and industrial forces swirling around them/118 Certainly the manufactured goods which women were able to purchase reduced the amount of time they needed to spend in areas which were least remunerative and most time-consuming, while rising markets created new outlets for their farm products. But at the same time contradictions in the process arose as well. Along with expanding markets, increased productivity of farm labour was developing. This factor was particularly significant for women's work, since the productivity differentials between males and females became more pronounced. In particular, new methods

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of farming arising from more efficient machinery and better breeds of livestock and seed strains made it increasingly possible to raise greater quantities on the family farm.119 However, this did not necessarily mean that labour requirements were reduced. A study by Bill Reimer on the impact of farm mechanism on the farm household shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, mechanization is usually followed by increases in the non-paid work of the farm family. 'Almost all of these increases in non-paid labour are increases in the extent to which the farmer's spouse and/or children work on the farm/120 Capital improvements are usually undertaken in order to increase production, not to reduce the amount of labour used. When new machinery, for example, permits more land to be cultivated, this forces more labour to be expended on all ancillary tasks. The paradox for women was that while there were forces which dramatically increased their farm participation in production for the market, there were also forces which ultimately would restrict that participation, at least in the agricultural sector itself. In the next chapter I examine this paradox with respect to a specific industry, the dairy industry. Dairying became increasingly important to the economy when women were the primary producers, but it also became male-centred as it became more capital-intensive.

5

The Changing Conditions of Women in Dairying

This chapter, through a study of women's labour in the dairy industry, examines the contradictions which arose in patriarchal productive relations as the economy developed. Initially, changing economic conditions considerably extended farm women's production for the market in the pre-industrial period. However, ultimately, the nature of productive relations in the family limited the control women exercised over the process of accumulation. This development had important consequences for women's labour as the production process became more capital-intensive. The dairy industry was selected for detailed study (rather than poultry-raising or market-gardening) for several reasons: it was an industry which was transformed to large-scale capitalist enterprise sooner than was other farm production in women's hands; it was an industry which became increasingly significant to the Ontario economy throughout the period studied; and, because of its economic importance, both to families and to the economy in general, detailed information about changes in the production process is available. Dairying has been one of the most productive and important aspects of women's farm work in Canada. This, at least, was true until the rise of the factory system in the production of dairy products. Before the first cheese factories were established, farm women performed most dairy work and were primarily responsible for most dairy production in Canada. However, as various aspects of dairying moved from the farm to the factory, women's participation was gradually eliminated, particularly on farms that began to specialize in dairying. A variety of complex factors explains why this activity, which had been controlled by women, was taken over

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by men as it moved from a household craft to factory production. The patriarchal structure of the household and the underlying assumptions about the nature of the division of labour between men and women were the most significant forces leading to male control of dairying as capital accumulation became a more important aspect of production. These factors were reinforced by the economic and cultural forces peculiar to Canadian development and the tendency of governments to support only male efforts in the industry as it became 'big business.' The focus here is on the changes which occurred in dairying in the second half of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries in central Canada. Since Ontario and Quebec were major producers of dairy products in Canada and were the first provinces to turn to factory production, the information concentrates on the industry in these provinces. In addition, the chapter draws on the experiences of women as dairy producers in other provinces. The development of factory dairying did not occur evenly throughout the country, with areas closest to large markets being affected first. Yet, the factors which brought about male control of the industry were common to all areas where the transformation to factory production occurred. Dairying as Women's Work A few historians of Canadian dairying have acknowledged, but merely in passing, the significance of female labour to the industry before large-scale commercial dairying developed. For example, J.A. Ruddick in his history of Canadian dairying said: 'The work involved in making cheese and butter on the farm, which had been performed chiefly by women in the household, was taken over by men in factories.'1 Robert Jones made a brief reference to the extent of women's involvement in dairying in History of Agriculture in Ontario and Vernon Fowke acknowledged 'farmers' wives [as] the craftsmen of farm dairies.'2 But for the most part historians have been absorbed in the market conditions of dairying and have been relatively uninterested in the labour aspects of production on the farm itself.3 In large part this is a result of a preoccupation with transportation, technology, and tariffs, but it is also due to the general tendency to examine issues of labour only when wages are paid.

95 Changing Conditions in Dairying

Although there is infrequent reference to the gender of dairy workers in early records, such records as exist indicate that women as dairy workers were so usual as not to merit specific mention. One example is the reaction of a priest visiting New France in 1734. He had no direct comment about women's dairying work, merely expressing dismay that female habitants who worked tending cows during the week wore lace and hoop skirts like ladies of fashion on Sunday.4 Dairying as a commercial enterprise was slow to develop in New France and the Maritimes. Most of what was produced was consumed by the household units themselves, but a limited market in which women were active existed even from the earliest days. An advertisement appearing in Halifax in 1776 indicates that dairying was considered a women's speciality even for some slaves: 'Wanted to purchase, a Negro woman, about 25 or 30 years of age, that understands country work and the management of a dairy, she must be honest and bear good character. Enquire of printer.'5 By the nineteenth century evidence of women as dairy producers is more plentiful. The most important sources are the accounts of the producers themselves, but observers and critics also frequently comment on women's work in this area. One of the most notable such commentators is 'Agricola,' a well-known critic of inefficient agricultural practices in the 1820s. In criticizing Nova Scotian women for abandoning the labours of the dairy, he voices the notion that dairying is and ought to continue as women's work.6 However, this trend of women to abandon dairying was never noted farther west and did not continue in the Nova Scotia communities Agricola wrote about.7 In 1861 James Croil, describing the farm family as a self-contained labour unit, refers to the dairy as the province of women. He notes that the 'greater part of the labour of the farm in Canada is performed by the farmer himself, his sons and his daughters; the former managing all the out of doors operations, and the latter the dairy and domestic departments.'8 In his reference to dairying, the farmer's wife is notably absent; however, Croil continues by emphasizing that her chief role was that of administrator: 'Whatever qualifications a farmer should have, mental or physical, all are agreed upon this point, that a good wife [emphasis in original] is indispensable. What is the aim of the husband to accumulate, it becomes the province of the wife to manage, and wherever we hear of a managing wife, we are sure to find a moneymaking farmer.'9

96 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

However, most of the information about the type of dairying work performed by women, the amount of time spent on it, and its significance in relation to other farm work is the testimony of farm women and men themselves in their letters and diaries. These sources indicate that while dairying was not the exclusive occupation of farm women (as adults, children, or servants) it consumed a considerable portion of many farm women's days. These personal testimonies are extensive and cover most settled areas of the country over long periods of time. While often the reference in a letter or a diary is merely to the milking chores or the amount of butter churned in a week, taken as a whole the references point clearly to subsistence-level dairying as the responsibility of females. Accounts which indicate a surplus in production tend to be even more explicit in explaining the importance of dairying to the whole farm operation and to show that when dairying generated income, the income was recognized by the farm family as having been provided by female labour. Significance of Dairying to the Farm Economy In Wheat and Women, Georgina Binnie-Clark, a wheat farmer, explained the importance of dairy production to a farm which specialized in wheat. Her personal law of survival was that the successful farmer should never buy anything in the way of food either for livestock or for human needs. Whenever possible food should be raised on the farm and fresh meat and groceries should be obtained in exchange for dairy produce. Her two cows made a significant contribution to the farm economy: 'I used all milk, cream, and butter necessary in the house, and took several pounds of butter weekly to the Hudson Bay in exchange for household necessities.'10 In a speech to the Royal Colonial Institute in London, England, BinnieClark stressed both the precariousness of relying totally on wheat production and the essential role of dairying to farm operations. She spoke of the experience of 'one of the best commercial women farmers (and her husband)/ whose wheat crop on the farm near Lethbridge had been destroyed by hail. Disaster was avoided only through their dairying. They have proved their household expenditure to be covered by the dairy produce of three milk-cows, and had at once bought six more. They were then making sixty pounds of butter a week; out of this produce they had bought sixty hens and were prepared to buy winter feed for their thirteen pigs/11

97 Changing Conditions in Dairying

While Binnie-Clark's advice pertained specifically to western wheat-farming in the early part of this century, the strategy of combining staple production, which was primarily male-oriented, with subsistence farming, which was where women's productive efforts on the farm were mostly directed, was common in Canada. The wild fluctuations in prices received for staples in the early stages of development,12 as well as the general unavailability of certain types of goods because of underdeveloped markets, forced household units to maintain a significant level of self-sufficiency, particularly in foodstuffs. Dairying initially arose from the need of household units to safeguard against the multitude of uncertainties involved in production primarily for the export market and from the need to provide for the household. While providing for the household was the main requirement of women's farm dairying, in varying degrees it was also able to provide an income whenever a surplus was generated and a market existed. This income was often critical to survival of the farm unit, both as a source for investment in initial staple production and as a means of continuing in years when the vagaries of the market or the climate made staple production unprofitable.13 While dairying remained women's work, it slowly grew from an industry confined to consumption within the producer's household to one which generated sufficient surplus to be a significant factor in the country's export market. But the process was gradual, and expansion of the industry before factory production rarely involved the specialization of a specific farm unit.14 Rather, it was a result of increasingly larger numbers of isolated farm women producing surpluses for markets. Conditions of Female Dairying Early dairying in Canada was performed under difficult conditions which tended to limit farm dairying to small-scale, part-time work for farm women. One major disadvantage dairywomen faced as producers for the market was the poorly developed nature of the market itself. Because of the orientation of the economy toward staple exports, transportation facilities to encourage an integrated market internally were slow to develop.15 In early settlement, dairy products were scarce, and since dairying was not the primary interest of the farm unit as a whole, the resources available for its use were poor. But problems with inadequate supply were less serious

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than those of proper methods of distribution, for such surpluses as were generated were redundant without a market for their distribution. Only with the growth of towns and settlements did markets for dairy produce increase, but, even so, production techniques on farms did not change rapidly. The development of dairying in Canada may well be typical of countries where land ownership is less concentrated and wage labour more scarce than in older countries. In the United States, evidence also points to dairying as the work of individual women's efforts on farms before the factory system developed. This is particularly evident in mid-western areas, where circumstances more closely resembled those found in Canada. Here, too, women's dairying appears to have been restricted by limited markets and the tendency for the major effort on farms to have been directed toward staple production for export.16 The limited nature of markets meant that dairy production and women's work in dairying here were very different from what occurred in Europe.17 In England, for example, the large integrated markets and comparatively small land area stimulated the growth of large dairy farms well before production of dairy products moved to the factory.18 Within this large-scale farm production dairying methods required much labour. Women not only tended cows and made cheese and butter, but were also primarily responsible for the entire management of the dairy business.19 The occupation of dairymaid in Europe was a distinct, skilled, and frequently full-time job.20 In Canada the dairymaid was a much less common phenomenon. Female servants worked at dairying in Canada, but most commonly this work was only part of the labour of a general domestic servant.21 Occasionally, women were hired specifically for farm labour, but even then it was unlikely that the labour would be confined to dairying, including as well such additional farm tasks as poultry-raising and fruit- and vegetable-growing. So while dairying was a feminized industry in Canada, the dairymaid was virtually unknown. The typical dairy farmer, at least until the 1870s, was the farm wife. Often she performed the work single-handedly. In the winter the labour involved little more than feeding and caring for the cow, for not until the late 1890s was winter milking an accepted practice.22 Sometimes even these winter activities would be taken over by the male farmer during the months when outdoor work could not be performed.23 But for most of the year and certainly

99 Changing Conditions in Dairying

when dairy production was possible, the labour of dairying was the responsibility of the farm woman. For many who came to the country as immigrants, in particular the 'gentlewoman' from England, dairy work was a new skill which had to be acquired quickly, and a variety of strategies were devised to overcome the most monotonous aspects of its labour (such as Mary O'Brien's habit of churning butter with a copy of Milton in hand).24 Susannah Moodie found her first encounter with a cow terrifying and in desperation tried to get her neighbour's daughter to milk it for her: 'My request was greeted with a rude burst of laughter from the whole set. "If you can't milk," said Mrs. Joe, "It's high time you should learn. My girls are above being helps." "I would not ask you but as a great favour; I am afraid of cows." "Afraid of cows! Lord bless the woman! A Farmer's wife and afraid of cows." '25 Although Susannah Moodie was forced to learn to milk, she confessed that it was always a trial for her because she never conquered her fear of cows. But aside from the distastefulness of dairying, even only one or two cows were a heavy workload for farm women, both because of the backbreaking conditions under which the labour was performed and because of the multiplicity of additional tasks which were the total responsibility of farm women. Because dairying was rarely the primary focus of farm operations, there was a tendency to give this end of farm business short shrift when capital improvements were considered. Frequently cows were stabled in miserable sheds so that milking meant exposure to the discomforts of extreme Canadian weather.26 Also there was a tendency to use for pasturing land which was considered unsuitable for ordinary tillage purposes. Usually this was not well suited for the best grasses for dairying either.27 Rarely did the farm have a dairy room, the various stages of straining the milk and separating the cream occurring in places with neither proper temperature control nor proper ventilation such as cellars, barns, and root houses.28 Lack of proper dairy space meant that butter- and cheese-making had to take place in the farm kitchen or on farmhouse porches, which seldom provided the conditions which would have made the work easier.29 Dairy equipment tended to be primitive and improvements in technology were slow to be used widely on farms. Generally this was not because dairy women were sceptical about using them, but because they had little control over capital expenditures on farms.

100 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

The first dairy commisssioner of Canada, in an address at Berlin, Ontario, in 1889, spoke at length about the problem: I know farmers' wives are able to make the very finest butter when they get a fair chance, but the trouble has been that the men have all the good things. They [emphasis in orginal] had to have the horses, and the reaping, and mowing machines, and the driving sheds, and everything else they wanted, while their wives had to get along with one pantry for keeping the milk, the butter, the cold vegetables, the pies and everything else ... go round and see the women struggling with an old fashioned churn, working twice as long in churning the butter as there is any need for ... get rid of these old fashioned churns and milk houses and you will revolutionize the butter trade at once.30

In fact, the commissioner advocated what must have been extreme measures at the time to awaken farmers to the plight of their wives: 1 am not in favour of strikes; but if I could reach the ears of the good women that are such an ornament and joy to the households of Canada, I would have them strike and say "We won't do anything until you give us new churns and milk houses." '31 Farmers in Quebec were no more inclined to invest in dairy equipment for the 'ornaments and joys' of their households than were those in other parts of Canada. Eliza Jones, in an 1894 book on farm dairying, deplored the reluctance of farmers to invest in cream separators: 'Je ne comprends pas qu'un homme ayant le moindre egard pour ses animaux domestiques puisse se passer d'un ecremeur; cet instrument dispense en effet d'une quantite de travail surprenant, et, pour parler d'une maniere familiere, "il est generalement moins couteux d'avoir soin de sa jemme que de Penterrer" [emphasis in original].'32 The assumption in both of these examples is that the male farmer controlled capital expenditure on the family farm, even though the dairy work was in the female domain.33 The fact that women's work in dairying was less capital-intensive than other aspects of farm production undoubtedly placed female labour and its productive capabilities at a disadvantage, a factor which in turn perpetuated the tendency to concentrate capital in the areas where men worked. But the lack of direct investment in women's dairying was not the only problem affecting women's productivity. AIL aspects of women's farm labour tended to receive less attention than men's when

101 Changing Conditions in Dairying

capital improvements were being made. In a study of the reasons for the exodus of women from rural areas in the early twentieth century, the problem of the absence of capital improvements in the home was noted as being particularly significant. For example, practices such as locating wells with pumps close to barns rather than houses made male labour more efficient at the expense of women's work.34 To the extent that time on housework was not reduced, women's efforts in other areas of production were affected. Although women generated surpluses from dairy production, they were frequently unable to generate sufficient money to improve their technology because they traded in small sums or bartered.35 Until the transformation of factory production, a substantial amount of market activity in dairying did not enter the money economy. The small-scale nature of individual production and the problems of adequate transportation to urban markets often forced women to barter their farm produce for groceries or to trade with neighbours who could provide some essential service.36 This practice lasted well into the twentieth century. At least one analyst saw the prevalence of barter in dairying as the reason for the underdeveloped nature of the industry. Henry Dean, writing in 1903, said that The trading of dairy goods for dry goods and groceries is one of the greatest hindrances to the development of dairying in Canada, as it places little or no premium upon brains and skill, which are necessary factors in the making of a fine quality of dairy products.'37 However, barter was most certainly the result of underdeveloped markets and not the cause of them. In any case, its practice made reinvestment in dairying difficult. Even when money was received for dairy products, women were unlikely to be able to invest it in improved technology. Income from dairying was considered most often to be directly applicable to household maintenance so that all income from the main business of the farm could be reinvested in the farm itself.38 Another factor limiting women's dairying was the diversity of labour farm women performed. Women's basic and most fundamental tasks were having and caring for children and performing the housework essential for the reproduction of farm labour. Usually, these household tasks involved a wide variety of activities to provide food and other items for the family's consumption. The type

102 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

and extent of activities varied considerably through time and from one part of the country to another. Some activities, such as clothand clothes-making could be carried out when dairying activities were few.39 But many extremely time-consuming farm activities occurred when women were most busy with dairy work as well. In addition to dairying, raising poultry was another important source of income and was carried out on most farms.40 Many farm women also raised fruit and vegetables, and made honey and maple sugar both for family use and to trade or sell. During planting and harvesttime women were expected to work in the fields as well. In some locations the seasonal pressures on women were extraordinary. In Newfoundland, in the early twentieth century, for example, all but the poorest fishing families kept at least one cow for the family's needs. This was the total responsibility of women at a time when they spent the largest proportion of their day in the process of drying fish.41 For farm women on large wheat farms the usual farm duties were compounded by having to cook and clean for a large labour force at regular intervals. One farm woman described a typical day during a busy season: In seeding-time she will be up at 4 a.m. to get the men their breakfast. Then she will have to milk, and separate the cream afterwards, if they have a separator. If there are several cows it is quite a back-aching task. Then there will be the house to clean, the breakfast things to wash up, the beds to make, and she must not waste time over that part of her day for there is dinner to cook for hungry men by 11:30. After washing up again the afternoon will mean breadmaking, or clothes washing and ironing, or jam-making, or butter-churning - one of the endless things like that anyway, and at 7:30 or 6:30 (according to the season of the year) she must have 'tea' ready. Tea is nearly as big a meal as dinner and the last meal of the day. After that she must wash up, then milk two cows and separate her cream before she can think of going to bed. Probably there will be some darning or mending to do even then. That is a straightforward day, but it is greatly complicated when the children begin to come.42

Paid female farm labour appeared to have an equally strenuous workload. An article in the Grain Growers' Guide in 1910 pointed to the differences in the amount of work done by men and women

103 Changing Conditions in Dairying

hired on farms. The men invariably had regular hours for work, while women were expected to work all the time: 'for no farmer will pay a woman wages unless he has work enough to keep her all the long day, and paying work at that, such as butter-making for her to do/43 This was verified by the testimony of a woman who was offered a job as a home help on a farm. She was expected to cook for four men and an invalid woman, milk three cows, make butter, and do all the washing and cleaning for the household.44 But in spite of the overwhelming workload for female farm servants this rarely meant that the work of the farm wife was diminished. Usually the additional female labour made the expansion of the dairy and other market activities of the farm woman possible. One woman who did not have a servant had to keep the size of her dairy herd down because she simply could not manage more. For her it would certainly have made sense to have a servant, if she had been able to find one, because 'she would soon pay for herself out of the extra butter I would be able to make/45 Another farm woman echoed this frustration over not having time for lucrative economic activities: 'I wish I could hire one [female servant] to help me with the dairy and chickens, and the pigs, they are all my "perquisites" and I could make a lot of money by them if I had more time/46 The constraints on women's dairy work were significant. The fragmented nature of farm women's work and the problems they faced in accumulating capital and hiring labour tended to keep the production of women's dairying at a relatively low level and restricted the size of the dairy herds which could be conveniently handled by a small labour force using rather primitive technology. As markets grew and farmers recognized the advantages of expanded dairying, the small-scale production women could manage became less tenable. Growth in Markets The market in dairy products increased rapidly and exports grew considerably even before factory production began. In 1861 butter production was almost 26 million pounds in Ontario and almost 16 million pounds in Quebec (Table 4). Cheesemaking was less important than buttermaking at this time. In Ontario, little more than 2.5 million pounds of cheese were produced and in Quebec less than 700,000 pounds. Butter was considered more necessary than cheese

104 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development TABLE 4

Home-made butter and cheese production 1851-91 (million pounds)

Ontario Quebec NS NB PEI

Manitoba BC

Alberta Sask. Total

1851

1861

1871

1881

1891

butter cheese butter cheese butter cheese butter cheese butter cheese butter cheese butter cheese butter cheese butter cheese

16.1 3.4 9.6 0.8 3.6 0.6 3.1 _

25.8 2.7 15.9 0.7 4.5 0.9 4.6 0.2 0.7 0.1

37.6 3.4 24.3 0.5 7.1 0.9 5.1 0.2 1.0 0.1

54.9 1.7 30.6 0.6 7.5 0.5 6.5 0.2 1.7 0.2 0.9 _ 0.3 _ 0.1 _

55.6 1.1 30.1 4.3 9.0 0.6 7.8 _

butter cheese

32.4 4.8

2.0 0.1 4.8 0.2 0.4 _ 0.4 _ 1.5 -

51.5 4.6

75.1 5.1

102.5 3.2

111.6 6.3

Sources: Census 1871, m, iv; Census 1881, m; Census 1891, iv.

to the diet of farm families and was therefore easier to market, but this factor alone did not account for its wider production.47 Before the rise of cheese factories, butter production was more profitable, mainly because the by-product of buttermaking, buttermilk, was in demand for pig-raising.48 It was also easier to learn how to make butter and the process of buttermaking was not as time-consuming or as difficult as cheesemaking. However, buttermaking in itself was difficult and time-consuming, particularly if done by hand.49 Even when done by churn, buttermaking was hard work. The barrel churn was often extremely primitive, merely being four planks of wood nailed together on a bottom.50 A great deal of labour was involved in keeping this type of churn clean. But even though the wooden cooper-made dash churn, which was in common use on farms until the 1880s, was a considerable improvement on the cruder home-made one, it was 'an instrument of torture still remembered by those who, as boys, had to operate them.'51 Early

105 Changing Conditions in Dairying

cheesemaking was particularly difficult and time-consuming. Until cheese factories sold rennet, farm women had to make this essential ingredient themselves. This was done by cleaning thoroughly and salting, drying, and preserving the stomach of a suckling calf. With a solution of this, the curds and whey could be separated. The heaviest work involved pressing and turning the cheese: The clumsy press and its huge stone weights, the bulky cheeses themselves which had to be lifted and rubbed so many times before properly dried and seasoned, constituted very heavy labour which the worker had no appliances to lighten/52 From about mid-century the market for dairy products grew considerably. This was initially a result of the opening of American markets to Canadian producers. Rising American prices made Canadian products more attractive and in the short period between 1849 and 1851 it is estimated that butter production increased by more than 350 per cent.53 Improved transportation with the development of steamships and railways considerably expanded international dairy markets and the Reciprocity Treaty, which permitted free trade in dairy products,54 made the American market even more accessible.55 The Civil War in the United States, which caused considerable disruption in dairy production in that country, further enhanced Canadian exports. The greatest impact of the war, however, was on cheese production, and ultimately this had important ramifications for women's control over dairying. From 1860 to 1863 these exports increased by over 700 per cent.56 The high prices paid in the United States for Canadian cheese lured many Canadian farmers into specializing in dairy farming.57 The move was particularly sensible in the face of uncertain wheat production and the new technology which permitted cheese to be manufactured in greater quantities and more profitably in cheese factories.58 Butter production at this time did not develop in the same way. Rather, it remained as a part-time industry for women on farms where most productive resources were concentrated on wheat-growing or mixed farming. However, the amount of butter produced in home dairies was considerable and continued to rise until the second decade of the twentieth century (see Table 6). Paradoxically, while the opening of the American market was a great boon to the Canadian dairy industry, the closing of the same market with the end of the Reciprocity Treaty further stimulated cheese and butter production. Return of the tariff gave Canadian

106 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

producers greater control over the domestic market for dairy produce at a time when farmers were being deprived of good markets for cereals in the United States. Dairy exports to Great Britain were stimulated too. From 1865 to 1870, exports of butter increased from about 7 million pounds to almost 15.5 million pounds and butter was still considerably more important than cheese in the value of exports. In 1871 butter exports were valued at over $3 million while the value of cheese exports was $670,000.59 But the introduction of cheese factories rapidly changed the nature of the dairy industry and by 1874 the amount and the value of cheese exports were considerably higher than those of butter.60

Rise of Cheese Factories The rapid transition of cheesemaking from the farm to the factory almost completely removed women from this form of dairy production in a very short period of time. By contrast, the factory production of butter was much slower to take hold, so women's displacement from this aspect of dairying was much more gradual. Cheesemaking was the first aspect of dairying to move to the factory, and for some time remained the only form of dairy production taking place off the farm.61 The first cheese factory in Canada began in Ontario in 1864 with technology imported from the United States. Seven years later there were 353 cheese factories in the country. Of these factories 323 were in Ontario, 25 in Quebec, 3 in New Brunswick, and 2 in Nova Scotia.62 By 1881 the production of homemade cheese in Ontario, the province which had the greatest number of cheese factories, was about half what it had been in 1871 (Table 4). And in the First Annual Report of the Dairy Commissioner of Canada in 1890 it was reported that 99 per cent of the country's cheese production occurred in factories.63 By way of contrast, in the same year less than 3 per cent of the butter production of Canada was made in creameries.64 With the rise of cheese factories, the character of dairying on the farm, and in particular the division of labour in dairy work, changed considerably. The specialization of farms in production of milk to supply cheese factories meant males increasingly became involved in the production process. As large dairy herds developed, dairying ceased to be a part-time occupation for farm women and more and more became the major work of males on the farm.

107 Changing Conditions in Dairying

Milking was the first type of female dairy labour to be more regularly performed by men. When the family farm had one or two cows milking was usually women's work. The cow which, as part of the wife's dowry had become part of the family's wealth,65 was her responsibility and its products belonged to her. As farms grew, there was a tendency for milking to be assigned to the hired help. Larger farms and larger farm households greatly added to the household responsibilities of farm women and their dairy work increasingly became confined to indoor activities. As long as any aspect of production involved the farmhouse, it remained within the female domain, but outdoor dairy activity gradually became the preserve of men. Certain activities, such as barn-building, feedgrowing, barn-cleaning, and preparation of silage had been primarily male responsibilities, but increasingly the pasturing, feeding, calving, and milking were taken over by men, too. An immigrant woman writing with advice for pre-immigration training for British women in 1901 counselled that while skills in buttermaking were essential, learning to milk was not necessary: 'She will find she has quite enough to do without this, if she attend properly to the house, poultry and probably the garden.'66 In a 1911 textbook widely used in dairying colleges, the passing of women as milkers was lamented. Much might be said in favor of women as milkers. The withdrawal of women from the cow stable has been detrimental to the dairy industry. A woman has naturally greater patience and more innate kindness and a higher ideal of cleanliness than a man. The exercise of these virtues tells on the cows and on the milk-flow. Milking comes at such inconvenient hours for the housewife, and her duties are already so manifold, she should not be asked to go to the stable to milk. Moreover, many stables, I am sorry to say are not fit for her, with her skirts, to enter. It is well for the woman on the farm to learn how to milk, so that in case of sickness or absence of the men, they may attend to the cows.67

The introduction of cheese factories made it possible for greater amounts of cheese to be made by a small labour force, but for the farms which supplied the raw material, the labour involved in dairying increased. Milking remained a labour-intensive task on most farms because the use of milking machines was slow to be accepted. Until well into the twentieth century milking was usually done by hand, so it became essential, as herds grew, for the farm unit to invest more in its dairy labour force, which was mostly male.68

108 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development TABLE 5

Employment in cheese factories 1871-1911 Quebec

Ontario

Total Canada i

Year

Males

Females

Males

Females

Males

Females

Females as % of total

1871 1881 1891 19012 19113

577 1,348 1,755 2,733 2,446

322 287 175 1

37 262 876 3,630 3,255

40 62 95 -

624 1,652 2,726 6,886 6,143

374 351 287 1

37.0 18.4 9.5 -

1 Cheese production outside Ontario and Quebec was negligible for these years. Even by 1911, over 97 per cent of factory production of cheese took place in these two provinces. 2 The figures for 1901 and 1911 represent employment in both cheese and butter factories. There were 126 males and 25 females employed in creameries in Canada in 1881 and 401 males and 24 females in creameries in 1891. 3 In 1911 there were also three individuals of unspecified sex under sixteen years of age who were working in cheese factories in Ontario. Sources: Census 1871, m; Census 1881, in; Census 1891, in; Census 1901, HI; Census 1911,m

The move to factory cheese production did not immediately separate women from cheesemaking. In the early stages of factory production they were a considerable portion of the labour force although, admittedly, the labour force itself was not large. In 1871, 37 per cent of the labour in cheese factories was female (Table 5). Because production methods in early cheese factories were similar to those used in domestic production and because the factories themselves were often located on the farm, it was not unnatural for the makers of farm dairy cheese to participate in factory work. But even from the beginning it was recognized that factory production would eventually eliminate women from cheesemaking. In the year in which the first dairy factory in Canada was established, the Canadian Farmer noted that the innovation in cheesemaking would mean farm women would no longer have to do this heavy and difficult work. The old method of cheese-making has done more to injure the health of women in cheese-dairying districts than any other cause/69 As cheese production in factories became more regular, women's presence was eliminated. By the turn of the century there were no women working in cheese factories in Canada.

109 Changing Conditions in Dairying

Women continued to make some cheese in farm dairies but the amount was insignificant compared to factory production.70 Some small cheeses required too much time and trouble for cheese factories71 and were still profitable for farm women, but frequently this type of work was considered more trouble than it was worth. However, one commentator felt women tended to overestimate the amount of labour involved in cheesemaking: There is no reason why farm dairy cheese should not be made in four hours, or in such time that the farmer's wife or daughter may get through before noon, as most women object to work of this kind after dinner - and rightly so.'72 On the whole, cheesemaking by farm women ceased to be an important source of income for farm families. By 1910 the total value of home-made cheese was placed at $154,000. In the same year the value of home-made butter was over $30 million.73 Changes in Buttermaking Creameries for buttermaking were much slower than cheese factories to become established, so women continued to be Canada's buttermakers until well into the twentieth century. The first Canadian creamery began in Quebec in 1873,74 but by the turn of the century the greatest proportion of Canadian butter was still being made by farm women. The 1901 census shows that while 36 million pounds of butter were being made in factories, over 105 million pounds were produced on farms (Table 6). By 1911, only in Quebec did the factory production of butter exceed home production. For the country as a whole less than a third of butter production took place in factories.75 Butter production remained in women's hands for a variety of reasons. First, domestic buttermaking was a much simpler operation than domestic cheesemaking. Making cheese on the farm required more space and equipment than making butter and required a skill which was less readily learned.76 But also significant were the much higher costs involved in butter production in factories. The capital costs for creameries were more than two and a half times greater than for cheese factories, and the costs involved in hauling materials were considerably higher as well.77 Until separators were widely used on farms, whole milk was hauled to the creamery. Milk was also transported to cheese factories, but these establishments used the entire product, while butter factories used only cream. This involved transporting six times the bulk necessary for produc-

110 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development TABLE 6

Butter production in Ontario, Quebec, and Canada 1901-41 (million pounds)

Ontario Quebec Total Canada Farm butter as % of total

Creamery Farm Creamery Farm Creamery Farm

1910

1911

1921

1931

1941

7.6 55.4 24.6 18.3 36.1 105.3

13.9 63.2 41.8 19.6 64.5 137.1

37.2 33.5 41.6 15.5 111.7 103.5

77.5 24.3 69.7 13.7 226.0 97.6

86.3 24.5 76.5 10.2 286.1 94.3

75

68

48

30

25

Sources: Census 1901, n; Census 1911, iv; Census 1921, v; Census 1931, vm; Canada Year Book, 1924, 1933, 1942

tion to creameries.78 Also, the methods of separating cream, even at the creamery, were slow and labour-intensive. Laura Rose, a dairying expert writing in 1911, describes the gravity methods in use before the centrifugal separator was widely used. This involved letting milk set in shallow pans for twenty-four hours. The cream would rise to the top, after which it could be skimmed off the top and into a pan. She says the disadvantages of this method were serious, including 'a great surface of the milk exposed to atmospheric contamination; the milk liable'to become too rancid for domestic and feeding purposes; the cream clotted and over-ripe; the creaming incomplete; a large space necessary for the pans, and much labour involved/79 Another method was the deep can method, where cans from eight to twenty inches deep were set in tanks of cold water for twelve to thirty-six hours. This procedure involved considerable amounts of ice and much heavy lifting.80 Production in cheese factories was less wasteful and provided a more reliable product. The result was that cheese exports soared while those of butter declined. Cheese exports increased from 6 million pounds in 1868 to over 88 million pounds in 1889. During the same period butter exports dropped from 13.5 million pounds to less than 2 million pounds.81 This development of the cheese export market also retarded the growth of creameries.

I l l Changing Conditions in Dairying

Though there were several factors which perpetuated buttermaking on the farm, this method of production was frequently criticized. The uneven quality of home-made dairy products was a common complaint. Usually the blame was placed on inadequate production methods and sometimes even outright fraud.82 In buttermaking, careless and unclean production methods, the use of ordinary Canadian salt instead of specially prepared factory salt, and holding cream until sufficient quantities to churn were produced, all tended to result in a less than ideal product. So did feeding cows indifferently or with substances that strongly affected the taste of the milk. But less passive actions also resulted in inferior products. In 1872 a public analyst examined forty-nine samples of butter and found that twenty-three of them had been adulterated.83 The problems with the quality of Canadian butter, especially its lack of uniformity, prompted petitions to government 'praying that the inspection of butter may be made compulsory.'84 While the domestic methods of production were most often considered the source of problems, the entire blame cannot be laid here. In fact, many women acquired reputations as especially fine buttermakers.85 The fact that butter made in the western parts of Ontario was notoriously bad while that in the Eastern Townships was very good suggests less that women in the western part of the province were more slovenly in their production methods than that marketing problems played a major role in creating the bad reputation for Canadian butter in general. Most women had few outlets for their butter. They could trade either with their neighbours or with local merchants in nearby towns. Often the merchant could not sell the butter immediately and would store it for as much as six months in his cellar, usually without proper packing, ventilation, or ice, until a travelling butter dealer took it off his hands.86 Individual women who sold their produce where they could had no control over the quality of the article once it left their hands. Gradually the handling and transportation facilities for butter improved in some areas of the country. In 1877 a special train with refrigeration and ventilation ran from Stratford, Ontario, to Montreal every Saturday during the dairy season.87 When it reached Montreal, dairy products for export to England were immediately put on ships which were fitted with special compartments for butter and cheese, and, to minimize the amount of time the produce would spend in unrefrigerated conditions, these items were the last

112 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

freight loaded and the first unloaded. But mechanical refrigeration was not introduced on ships until 1897, so the quality of butter exports to England remained poor.88 Moreover, widespread use of refrigeration did not occur until considerably later. By the end of the last decade of the nineteenth century several important changes had occurred which were significant in transferring butter production from the farm to the factory. The change usually considered most important was the introduction of the centrifugal cream separator to Canada, the first one having been brought to the country in 1882 from Denmark.89 This new technology revolutionized the old methods of recovering cream from milk and radically reduced the amount of labour for farm women in buttermaking. However, while the separator made buttermaking on the farm easier and contributed to a more reliable product, its advent also made the use of factories more practicable. The separator worked as follows: milk was placed in the separator bowl and was then subjected to a strong centrifugal force. The heavier substance, the skim milk, was thrown from the centre and drawn off from the inside wall of the bowl. The lighter cream was forced inward and channelled off through an outlet near the centre of the bowl.90 Separating cream from milk could then be done in a relatively short time, thereby considerably reducing the risks of contamination and souring, which were common problems with the earlier methods of separating the cream. Introduction of the separator also meant that whole milk did not need to be transported to creameries, making the cost of creamery-produced butter much lower than it had been. Not only was the cost of haulage significantly reduced, but also skim milk could be left for use on farms. Altogether the new separator was heralded as an important advance. Yields would be higher and costs lower, and there was an added bonus: The farmer's wife is saved the labor and worry of making butter on the farm.'91 Government Aid Introduction of the separator was an important step toward creamery production of butter. However, it was not a sufficient inducement to farmers to turn to creameries in large numbers.92 Only with considerable government encouragement and money were farmers enticed into the industry and was buttermaking taken away from farm women.

113 Changing Conditions in Dairying

Substantial government aid was necessary to promote the rise of factory dairying in Canada.93 As is not untypical of government subsidies in development projects in general, aid in Canada was biased toward increasing male activity in the dairy industry.94 This is not to imply that government action, realistically, could have been different: the forces which restricted women's access to capital and their labour to work in the farm household were powerful deterrents to women's participation in capitalistic development. Rather, government promotion of dairying as a male activity reflected the economic position of women and the notion that a more capitalintensive industry outside the home was rightly the sphere of males. Nevertheless, although government action cannot be seen to be the cause of women's decreasing participation in dairying, it certainly accelerated the trend in this direction. Government aid to the dairy industry was motivated by a desire to stimulate and improve production as competition from American, Danish, and Australian butter increasingly threatened the Canadian export market. These countries were able to produce better products at lower costs because of improved transportation and production methods.95 If Canada was to continue exporting dairy products, the government recognized that its production methods would have to change. Governments in Canada had begun to subsidize male dairy enterprises early in the history of cheese factories. Beginning in 1873 with the Ontario government, provincial governments instituted the practice of giving grants to dairymen's associations to encourage factory production. According to one dairy historian, money was given 'ever since there has been any organization among the dairymen competent to administer such funds.'96 With the money the organizations were expected initially to provide factory inspection and education on new dairy methods. After 1890 these activities were slowly taken over by government itself, but aid to dairymen continued in the form of both new factory equipment and direct financial assistance to farmers who started dairy factories. Gradually government help took on a variety of other forms. In some cases governments became involved in the actual production of cheese and butter, although not with the understanding that this would be a permanent public venture, but to prove that the enterprise could be profitable to dairymen. Often government management was instituted in a factory primarily because male farmers

114 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

simply did not possess the skills or experience necessary for butteror cheesemaking. In these cases some investment in the factory would be made by the farmers, but government agents would operate and manage the factory until farmers acquired sufficient knowledge of the manufacturing end of the business themselves.97 Frequently, model creameries and cheese factories were established to teach new dairying techniques. Also, a variety of improvements in transportation facilities and refrigerated storage areas were made by the government. Education schemes were an extremely important component of government efforts to stimulate factory dairying among male farmers.98 Dairying schools and travelling dairies were instituted in a number of provinces to teach new dairying techniques. The first travelling dairy was sent by the federal government to Manitoba in 1894 and gave demonstrations on the use of the cream separator, the testing of milk samples, and the proper way to churn cream and work butter. Similar travelling dairies were sent to Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. The success of these dairies prompted some provincial governments to institute their own. Of particular note is that begun in Nova Scotia, because it is the only one which appears to have been operated by a woman. Laura Rose's travelling dairy, which she began in 1901, was so popular that it continued for six successive seasons and a second travelling dairy had to be added.99 Several dairy schools were open to women. In fact, at the Agricultural College at Guelph, Ontario, the dairy department was the only branch of the college which was open to women at the turn of the century. Of the eleven students in the Government Dairy School in Winnipeg, four were female. Unfortunately, the requirement for a certificate which was typical of such schools tended to keep women from the longer courses. The National Council of Women reported in 1900 that while the Kingston Dairy School provided courses open to women, none had yet entered the longer certificate-granting course. They said the reason was that the hours were long and that there was a great deal of lifting and heavy work involved. However, it should be considered that the women simply could not meet the preliminary work requirement for the course: it was necessary to have worked at least three seasons in a cheese factory or creamery.100 Since the census for 1901 reports that there

115 Changing Conditions in Dairying

were no women working in cheese and butter factories at that time, they would have had difficulty complying with this regulation. Government education efforts constantly stressed an important change in the nature of dairying. It had become 'scientific1 and was therefore more worthy of the serious farmer's attention than it had been before. Women's dairying was viewed as an instinctive type of process, although, as noted by a well-known dairy expert who specifically discussed the value of women's intuition, this approach could often be effective: 'In the domain of cheese-making these [ie, those who acquire mastery by intuition] will generally be women, at all events in private dairies; they hit upon scientific truth after another by a process of reasoning which neither they nor anyone else can explain, but which is often correct nevertheless, and they do the right thing at the right time without caring to inquire into the why and wherefore of it.'101 Whatever success women achieved was seen as having less to do with learning the trade well or acquiring skill through practice than through some haphazard approach associated with women's nature. The big business of dairying was seen as requiring a different type of approach, one that was more systematic, more intensive, and more masculine: 'to combine the home-grown fodders with the more concentrated bought feeds so as to obtain the best results; to delve into the mystery of how the cow can take this food and manufacture the same into creamy white life-giving milk; scientifically to separate the cream and make the fat into golden bricks of fragrant butter; to get this butter to the best market and obtain for it the highest price; surely to accomplish all this demands a man of no small calibre.'102 It was this type of man that governments wanted to encourage to specialize in dairying. There is no evidence to show that female butter- or cheesemakers received any form of government subsidy. Various government agencies involved in promoting dairying at times expressed sympathy with farm women for the difficult conditions under which they laboured, but the only solution deemed feasible (outside of encouraging male farmers to provide better equipment for their wives) was to remove women from dairying altogether. In some areas of the country women did try to establish cooperatives to sell their eggs, cream, and butter.103 In the West, in particular, poorly developed markets and the monopsony power of

116 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

the merchants clearly placed the isolated woman at a disadvantage when selling her produce. Elizabeth Mitchell described the situation on the prairies just before the World War I: The farmer's wife might drive in ten miles or more, in time she could ill afford, and go to the first store to offer her goods, butter, eggs, cream, vegetables, all very perishable in hot weather. A low price would be offered, which she would refuse, but by the time the second store was reached the second store-keeper would be warned by the first, by telephone, not to go above his price/104 Clearly some sort of co-operative marketing venture could have improved the farm woman's position. But the efforts of women to organize were slow to develop and did not serve as an alternative to the growing tendency for the industry to be controlled by males. Dairymen's associations already had been well established and the various governments had found them useful channels for subsidizing dairying efforts. Home-makers clubs and Women's Institutes had become interested in providing information to farm women on dairying techniques,105 but the focus of these organizations regarding dairying was less on organization and distribution than on production techniques on the farms themselves.106 By this time the future of dairying was clearly male work in the factory. To be sure, dairy production in the western provinces still was almost exclusively taking place on the farm and was being done by farm women, but the impetus toward factory dairying for the country as a whole was firmly established.107 No evidence so far suggests that women on farms perceived the government aid to males as a threat to their interests. However, one difficulty in understanding the relations of production within the family context is in ascertaining the extent to which changes in activities are understood by family members as being significant shifts in areas of control. Because the farm family is an economic unit where men and women share a standard of living which is a product of their mutual and interdependent labour, the effect of change on individuals within the unit is often obscured by the perception of the benefit to the family as a whole. Close personal relationships with families undoubtedly meant that whatever antagonisms and contradictions arose in the production process was less likely to be recognized as arising from different relations in production than from the ordinary business of getting along in a mar-

117 Changing Conditions in Dairying

riage. Understanding the effect of change on women was undoubtedly complicated by the slow and uneven process of transforming dairy production from farm to factory, a process which meant that women were not abruptly displaced from the control of dairy production. Undoubtedly some women welcomed the reduced workload which resulted when dairying was no longer their responsibility, but to others it meant a certain loss of independence. In a recent study of farm women's labour, Linda Graff quotes a woman who felt the loss of income from her own work for the market. That's one thing about years ago when we had cows and hens, the women got the egg check and you had your own money to handle where you don't have your own money nowadays which is different and I don't like it as well.'108 Of course, even today some farm wives are involved in the work of dairying, but the distinction is that where women had the primary responsibility for dairying in the prefactory period, now their role is mostly to 'help.'109

6

Women's Paid Work and the Transition to Industrial Capitalism 1850-1911

The transition period during which women's labour in Ontario moved from being devoted to providing goods and services for the family's use to waged labour was exceedingly long. Only in the 1980s has a greater proportion of adult women worked in the labour force than remained within the household.1 Nevertheless, the trend toward increased participation in market-oriented activities was clear from the mid-nineteenth century. As noted in the previous two chapters, expanded markets increased farm women's production for sale. However, the development of more capital-intensive industries produced contradictions: while market conditions encouraged the growth of industries traditionally controlled by females, subsequent development of the capitalistic organization of production tended to restrict female household production for the market. It is important to note, however, that while the long-run trend was for women to be removed from certain areas of production as they moved out of the farm household, this trend occurred very unevenly. Within the dairy industry, for example, while women were virtually eliminated from cheesemaking by the last decade of the nineteenth century, they continued to be significant producers of butter until World War II. Also, while the shift in females away from dairying was occurring, other areas of farm production were expanding for women: eggs and poultry production and market-gardening and fruit-growing in particular became more significant.2 With urban development and population changes, conditions for expanded participation in waged labour occurred. For the most part, waged labour was restricted to single women and widows dur-

119 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

ing the period under consideration. Unfortunately, statistics on the marital status of the working population are not available in published census data until 1921. However, even by this date it was unusual for married women to work for pay: 50 per cent of all single women, almost 20 per cent of all widows, but only 2 per cent of all married women in Ontario received an income from their work.3 The tendency for married women's labour to remain in the household had less to do with a new ideology about the proper sphere for women than with economic necessity. It has frequently been asserted that women's domesticity was an ideal which was either fostered upon women by middle-class 'moral entrepreneurs' or arose from an unfortunate attempt on the part of the working class to ape the living style of the bourgeoisie.4 That is, ideas about the proper sphere for women were responsible for their isolation in the home and their limited participation in public life as capitalism developed. This perspective, however, neglects the imperatives of the economic circumstances families faced as capitalism developed. The work women continued to do within the household was critical to the family's survival at a time when waged work, even in urban settings, was irregular and insecure. Married women's primary duty as chief care-giver for the family had always been recognized, but equally important were their productive efforts to enable the family to retain some self-sufficiency and to cope with the irregularities of income from market-oriented activities. The increase in the significance of waged labour to the family did not change these aspects of women's work. Low wages and irregular work meant that the traditional ways in which women's work in the home permitted the family to provide for a portion of its subsistence within the household persisted even in urban settings.5 Married women tended not to work for wages outside the household because their labour was necessary within the home. However, as the ability to earn an income increasingly meant leaving the home, the tension between income-earning and the female domestic role became more evident. This was not a reflection of a new notion of domesticity, but of ways of maintaining traditional domestic values and of cushioning the family economy from the uncertainty of the market as the economy changed. Through this process, however, the labour of affluent and poor and married and single women became more differentiated. For poor women, whether married, widowed, or single, the need to earn a liv-

120 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

ing through waged work outweighed the difficulties this would cause in the domestic sphere. But for single women both the expanding demand for labour and the changes in demographic factors which affected their labour supply drew more of them into waged labour. While patriarchal productive relations in the home still characterized the productive relations of most women, the growth in waged work for women slowly eroded the strength of patriarchal control. This is not to say that male domination declined, but that patriarchal productive relations in the home gradually became weaker as capitalist industrial relations developed. Through the development of waged labour, male domination took a different form. Demographic and Economic Change The second half of the nineteenth century was a time of important changes in demographic patterns in Ontario. For women the most significant changes included the decrease in birth rates and the increased migration of women to urban areas. Both changes reflected the shift in Ontario's economy from a state in which agricultural frontiers were expanding within the context of a wheatexporting economy to one in which land was becoming scarce, wheat production was giving way to mixed farming, and commercial and industrial activity was expanding. Urban Migration

Urbanization developed slowly in Ontario, but the tendency for women to predominate in city populations was evident from early periods. As early as 1836 there were more women than men living in Toronto.6 This is somewhat surprising, since the population imbalance in favour of men in the province as a whole was large (Appendix, Table 11). While total population figures are known for the early periods of Ontario's history, until the 1820s figures for the distribution of the population between the sexes are not available. But figures for 1824 show that there were almost 113 males for each 100 females in the population. This ratio did not change significantly until the 1860s, when both the more settled nature of the province and male out-migration made the ratio between males and females begin to look more normal.7 From then until the end of the century, the sex imbalance became less and less skewed.

121 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

As urban areas grew in the second half of the nineteenth century, the tendency for women to outnumber men in cities grew as well (Appendix, Table 12). In 1851 the five largest cities tended, in total, to have the same number of men and women. But this ratio steadily and consistently changed in favour of women. By 1901 there were only 88 men for each 100 females in these cities. The imbalance in the sex ratio was highest for young adults. For example, though the figures for Hamilton in 1861 would indicate that males predominated, these figures do not indicate the imbalances which existed among young people. In the 16-to-25-year age group males were a decided minority. In 1861, of the native-born Canadians in the 21-to-25-year age group, there were only 72 males for 100 females. For the foreign-born, the imbalance was even greater, with the Irish having less than half the number of males in this age group than females.8 Although the Hamilton case in 1861 is somewhat overstated because of the severe economic conditions of the time, there was a tendency for cities to be a place for young women.9 In Toronto women tended increasingly to outnumber men in the 20-to-50 age groups, but the imbalances among those under thirty was particularly high (Appendix, Table 13). The high proportion of women in the 15-to-20 age group in 1851 is probably related to the availability of employment as domestic servants. But domestic employment decreased in importance as an occupation for women throughout the nineteenth century and does not explain the general trend for women increasingly to outnumber men in cities. In fact, there is no single explanation for this phenomenon. Expansion of industries and service occupations which favoured female employment was certainly significant, as will be seen shortly, but this alone would not have induced women into cities had not other pressures been present. Rather, the shift in sex ratios in cities reflects widespread changes in the structure of the economy, the nature of population growth throughout the province, and the persistence of a strict division of labour by gender. Fertility Decline

Ontario experienced a dramatic decline in fertility rates during the second half of the nineteenth century. Though at mid-century it had the highest fertility rate in Canada, by the end of the century it had the lowest (Appendix, Table 14).l° While there is some evidence to support the idea that families were increasingly able to plan the

122 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

number of children they would have,11 it would appear that the factors which caused both a skewed sex ratio in favour of women of marriageable age and the trend toward late marriages would have exerted a strong downward effect on the fertility rate. The fact that a smaller proportion of women married, and did so when they were older, had an impact on the number of children they would have. The closing of agricultural frontiers in Ontario was an important factor in the out-migration of young men. It has been estimated that the net out-migration of native-born Canadians in Ontario increased from about 14,000 in the 1871-81 decade to over 147,000 in the 1901-11 period.12 That this migration was primarily a male one is suggested by an old Ontario song: One by one they all clear out, Hoping to better themselves, no doubt. They don't care how far they go, From the poor little girls of Ontario.13

But the maleness of the out-migration is also reflected in the changing sex ratio of the population. This was particularly significant for the population of marriageable age: the sex ratio for this age group changed from about 104 males for each 100 females in 1851 to about 92 males per 100 females in 1891 (Appendix, Table 15).14 Male outmigration seriously affected the number of women who would marry and the ages at which they married. In 1851 about a third of the women in the 20-to-30-year age group were single, but by 1881 this figure had increased to 45 per cent. By 1891 it was unusual for a woman under 25 to be married; over 70 per cent of those between 20 and 24 were single. And even in the 25-to-34-year age group the proportion of single women (31 per cent) was large.15 As can be seen from Table 16, in the Appendix, the proportion of married women in each age group of women of child-bearing age declined from 1851 to 1911. The decline in the ratio of males to females of marriageable age appears to have affected the age at which women married. While the average age at marriage for males increased by about two and onehalf years from mid-century to 1891, that for women increased by over four years, so that in 1891 women's average age at marriage was 26.6 years (Appendix, Table 15). The delay in the marriage age for women was an important factor in limiting family size and encouraging growth in female populations in cities. The com-

123 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

paratively long period when women were available for paid employment was significant for the labour force of the growing industrial and service sectors of the economy. But also, as will be discussed in the next section, changes in the rural economy made the prospects for single women more favourable in urban areas. Economic Change Throughout the nineteenth century, Ontario's economy was based on agricultural production and its population was predominantly rural.16 But it was becoming increasingly urban: more than 85 per cent of the population lived in rural areas in 1851, but by the turn of the twentieth century this figure had dropped to 60 per cent.17 Nevertheless, the proportion of the labour force engaged in agricultural production did not decrease over this period; in fact, according to census data, it actually increased from about 35 per cent of the total labour force at mid-century to 48 per cent in 1881 (Appendix, Table 17). The statistics for the size of the agricultural class may underestimate the true growth of this sector. The large number of workers listed as 'unclassified' in the earlier censuses presents a problem in determining the shifts in the structure of the labour force over time. Most historians see this group as consisting predominantly of agricultural labourers, particularly in the early periods. Firestone describes about 55 per cent of the 'not classified' group in 1851 for Canada as a whole as agricultural labour.18 McCallum places the proportion for Ontario at 75 per cent and sees the ratio of farm labour to the total labour force as remaining fairly constant from 1851 to 1871.19 Pentland, however, tends to accept the view that Canada was 'becoming more and more an agricultural country up to 1871 and more industrial, commercial and professional at the same time/20 He sees the variations in the 'not classified' group arising from fluctuations in the demand for construction labourers and the large change in their categorization in 1891 as a result of male labourers being shifted to the domestic class. While Pentland accepts the idea of the growth of labour in the agricultural class from mid-century, he considers the large figures for 1871 and 1881 somewhat exaggerated.21 However inconclusive the actual figures for the size of the agricultural class by the end of the century, it would appear that the normal tendency for urban and industrial growth to accompany and

124 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

reinforce growth in the agricultural sector occurred in Canada.22 Only in the twentieth century were there sharp changes in the size of the labour force engaged in agricultural production.23 What is particularly important is that the agricultural sector was not reducing its demand for labour during Ontario's early period of industrial and urban growth. The male population was, to a substantial degree, able to find employment in this sector. The tendency for young males to leave the province is more a reflection of the shift in the agricultural frontier farther west than of the inability of the agricultural sector in Canada to absorb their labour. Up to 1911 the numbers of both farm wage-earners and farmers who owned their own farms increased in Ontario, while the numbers of unpaid male farm workers decreased.24 This demonstrates the tendency, specifically noted by Gagan in Peel County, for increasing farm size and decreasing land availability to force farmers' sons out of the area.25 Although Ontario's economy was firmly grounded in the agricultural sector throughout the nineteenth century, there was growth in the manufacturing and service sectors in the second half of the century, largely in response to the growth of the primary sector. All the factors which encouraged growth of the agricultural and extractive sectors further integrated the economy and increased demand for goods and services. Growth in the industrial sector occurred in both primary and secondary manufacturing. Primary manufacturing consisted in minor processing of primary products destined, for the most part, for export. It can be seen as the final stage of staple production.26 Secondary manufacturing involved a higher degree of processing to provide consumer and capital goods for the domestic market. The female labour force in the manufacturing sector was almost exclusively confined to secondary manufacturing, and within this classification was even further restricted to production of consumer goods. Primary manufacturing was male work. At mid-century, manufacturing in Ontario was still largely confined to primary manufacturing. Gristmills and sawmills accounted for the largest number of both industrial establishments and industrial workers in south-central Ontario in 1851. Of the 1,500 industrial establishments in this, the most industrialized region of Ontario at the time, almost 70 per cent were saw- or gristmills.27 The relatively large proportion of the working population listed in the

125 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

industrial class in the census (Appendix, Table 17) is accounted for by the inclusion of artisans following a trade or craft.28 For the most part these were individuals who carried out individual small-scale production for sale to the local population. After 1850 the manufacturing sector changed considerably. Improved transportation systems, increased population, and improved technology encouraged the concentration of industry. Nevertheless, it is usually pointed out by economic historians that the nature of manufacturing in many respects was not radically changed, in that the size of establishments remained small. The proportion of the labour force engaged in manufacturing grew slowly, and industries which had been the leading ones at mid-century continued to be the most significant. Where just slightly over 18 per cent of the labour force was classified as industrial workers in 1851, by 1881 this figure had increased to only 20.6 per cent (Appendix, Table 17). In 1881 sawmills continued to be the single largest employer and blacksmith shops ranked third.29 At this time the typical manufacturing establishment had fewer than five workers, a figure which was virtually unchanged from 1851.30 Nevertheless, there were important changes in the organization of production in some industries, a fact which the aggregate statistics for the province conceal. For example, although the average size of industrial establishments did not change, those located in large cities tended to be bigger. In Toronto, 70 per cent of the industrial work force in 1871 was employed in establishments with more than thirty employees.31 The cities were also slowly becoming the focus of manufacturing growth. The population in urban areas increased considerably in the thirty-year period from 1851 to 1881, growing from 14 per cent of the total population to over 27 per cent.32 During this period the farm population did not decrease; rather, the movement in population from rural areas was primarily from the rural non-farm population. Spelt speculates that this was largely a result of the shift in industries from local craft-oriented production to the rise of modern industry in larger urban centres.33 By 1881 Toronto had become the leading industrial centre in the province, with men's clothing as its main industry. But manufacturing increased at a greater rate than the growth in urban populations. In the ten-year period from 1881 to 1891, the urban population of Ontario increased by 38 per cent while manufacturing growth in the same period increased by 58 per cent.34

126 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

A great many factors influenced the rise of manufacturing in Ontario. The growth in local markets for certain products was considerably stimulated by the American Civil War. Textiles, iron and steel, boots and shoes, and the tobacco industry in particular benefited from the disruption in American production.35 Also, tariff protection played an important role in the promotion of certain industries in the manufacturing sector, particularly those where employment for women was expanding.36 But the major impetus for growth came from the general expansion of the economy. Local markets were larger because the population had grown. Improved transportation meant products could be distributed more cheaply and seasonal variations would be less disruptive. Cash transactions became more normal and, on the whole, rural populations had greater incomes and therefore greater amounts available to spend on the market.37 The rise of the factory system was stimulated by new technology and the availability of sufficient quantities of labour at low wages. Industries which had been organized primarily on a craft basis gave way to machine-oriented production. In some industries, as will be seen in the next section, this reorganization of production meant that women would be employed in work traditionally regarded as the province of men. In other industries, notably those classified as primary manufacturing, industrialization did not disrupt the traditional nature of the division of labour between men and women. But, in general, the rise of manufacturing in Ontario had important implications for women's labour. In the manufacturing sector itself, employment for women increased. Equally important, however, was the rise in the tertiary sector. The growth in the service sector of an economy is usually associated with rising industrialization and in this respect economic development in Ontario was typical.38 The proportion of the labour force in the commercial, domestic, and professional classes increased from less than 14 per cent in 1851 to over 30 per cent by 1891.39 The magnitude of this change may be overstated because of the shift in methods of classification in the census from 1881 to 1891. As noted earlier, the domestic class showed a substantial increase, rising from 5.3 per cent of the labour force in 1881 to 14.6 per cent in 1891 (Appendix, Table 17). This increase was due to the shift of most of the unclassified male labourers to this class in 1891.

127 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

The domestic class had shown a consistent decline as a proportion of the labour force from 1851 to 1881, so the reversal in 1891 is not a reasonable indication of the growth in this class. Still, the growth of the tertiary sector, even excluding the questionable statistics for the domestic group, was considerable. This is evidenced by the growth in the commercial and professional classes. While these classes accounted for 6.5 per cent of the labour force at mid-century, by 1891, 15.6 per cent of the labour force was in these groups. The growth in the tertiary sector was important in increasing the possibilities for paid employment for women. In the second half of the nineteenth century the Ontario economy experienced dramatic changes. Increased industrialization of the manufacturing sector and growth in the service sector of the economy initiated important changes in the demand for paid labour in urban areas. Improved market conditions involved women more and more in production for the market in the primary sector. However, women's increasing involvement in the market in the primary sector was mostly as members of a family farm unit. Paid labour in the primary sector remained almost exclusively male, and the increased accessibility of women to markets in this sector did not change that fact. The significant change for women's paid labour occurred with increasing industrialization. Both the reorganization of production in the manufacturing sector and the increase in the size of domestic manufacturing expanded the demand for labour in this sector. In addition, the labour demands of the service sector increased to meet the needs of the expanding primary and secondary sectors. While these changes in the economy indicate the increasing need for labour, there were other changes in the economy which made female labour more available. Most important were the changes in the nature of the agricultural sector. Population growth had restricted the availability of land in Ontario, and as the agricultural frontier moved farther west, so did a substantial proportion of the male population of marriageable age. The female population could no longer be sustained in the agricultural sector to the extent that it had been. The tendency for females to migrate to cities rather than farther west was conditioned by the rise in the possibilities for paid labour, a situation which simply did not exist in frontier agricultural communities.

128 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development The Family Wage Economy and Women's Work The changes associated with an economy which was increasingly oriented toward waged labour affected different groups of women in different ways. While some groups, particularly single women, widows, and married women in poor families, were drawn into the labour force, others continued to contribute to the family economy through labour in the household. The transition to waged labour was not smooth and for most working-class families the income received by a male wage-earner was insufficient to maintain the family.40 The amount which could be added to the family's earnings through the waged work of wives and children was very small. The Annual Report of the Bureau of Industries for Ontario reported in 1884 that of workers surveyed in nineteen Ontario cities, the incomes from wives and children amounted to 2.3 per cent of the total earnings of families.41 The low wages paid to male workers plus the irregularity and uncertainty of employment (rather than drunkenness of husbands or fathers, as was frequently believed) were the reasons usually cited by reports from throughout the province for women's waged employment. The following reports from various cities and towns in 1888 indicate the insufficiency of the male wage to maintain the family.42 Gait: A good many girls between fourteen and eighteen years of age are employed, but the greater number of the female workers are over eighteen. Girls are forced to work chiefly on account of their fathers' wages being insufficient to keep the families. Cornwall: There are a large number of girls from fourteen to eighteen years of age and a great many women employed in the factories. Inadequate wages to the heads of families is the chief cause of their employment. Hamilton: Many women work in the factories and shops through widowhood, and in other cases dissipation of the husband or father is given as the cause; in the case of the younger operatives many are compelled to assist their parents, who are unable to provide for the entire family through lack of steady employment. London: The cause of the employment of girls and young women is due on the part of some a desire to assist their parents, but with others it is that they may live. And while in a few cases the cause may be ascribed to the dissipation of parents, in the great majority it is to be ascribed to

129 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911 small wages and the lack of employment of the father, which compels the children to work.

Single women were much more likely to work outside the home than were married women. Labour statistics for the period under consideration do not indicate the marital status of female workers, so the exact proportions of the various groups of women in the labour force are difficult to determine. However, it is clear that unlike in England, where in the nineteenth century a large portion of married women were in the labour force, in Ontario this was unusual.43 In 1892, Jean Scott explained that even for poor women and widows it was more usual for them to try to earn a living from within their households than through wage labour: The employment of married women in factories and stores in Ontario is not general. In a large number of factories and stores there are no married women at all; at most only one or two widows. Married women in Canada do not seem to go out to work as long as their husbands are at all able to support them. In canning factories, during the summer months, numbers of married women may be found; many work in laundries; and in a mill stock factory (preparing rags for shoddy mills) visited by the writer most of the women were married. Market gardening is a means of subsistence to some. Women whose husbands are dead or are not able to support them will not go out as long as they have children at home to care for, but prefer, if they can, to engage in some work which will keep them at home.44

A variety of factors accounted for the fact that most married women did not work outside the home. Most obvious is the fact that it was extremely difficult to combine waged work with domestic duties when household technology was primitive and social services were meagre. But also contributing to the disincentives for married women to work were the relatively underdeveloped nature of the economy, which limited the amount and types of work available to women; the low wages which female labour received; and the necessity for the family to maintain a certain amount of production within the home as a hedge against the instability of waged incomes. The average wage for females over sixteen years old in the 1880s ranged from a low of $177 a year in 1884 to $212 a year in 1888, for working, on average 58 hours a week, 284 days a year. This was

130 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

about 45 per cent of the average income for male workers.45 After paying the cost of clothing, board, and lodging, the average adult female worker would have between $11 and $33 a year as a 'surplus.' For females under sixteen years the wages they received did not cover the costs of their survival in most years. For example, in Toronto in 1888 it was estimated that a girl received about $10.50 less than was necessary for her maintenance.46 For most families it was more rational for women to continue to provide for the family's needs through production of items and services in the household. With the growth of urban areas, many traditional ways in which women contributed to the family economy through household production were slowly eroded. Cloth production had become a much less significant portion of women's household production fairly early (see Chapter 4) and, as urban growth accelerated, women were much less able to provide food for family use. Still, for many families, food production even in urban areas continued to be an important contribution to the family's subsistence. Food production associated with large animals in urban areas declined rather rapidly in the last three decades of the nineteenth century. For example, while about one family in ten kept cows and pigs in Toronto in 1871, these animals were virtually eliminated from the city by the turn of the century (Appendix, Table 18). But other forms of food production were carried on. Particularly important was keeping poultry and growing fruits and vegetables.47 In Toronto, the number of poultry in the city was substantial toward the end of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries: in 1901, the first year egg production was recorded, more than 83,000 dozen eggs were produced in the city (Appendix, Table 18). With the increased availability of home canning materials at reasonable prices in the 1890s,48 canning developed as a new domestic chore and very likely perpetuated the growing of vegetables and fruits in urban areas. On the whole, food-producing activities were more directed toward providing for the family than for the market in urban areas. The income-earning activities women performed within the household took a different form with urban development. City women were much more likely to take in boarders, washing, or home sewing than their rural counterparts. Boarding-house keepers and washerwomen were two occupations listed in the earliest censuses of occupations (Appendix, Table 19), but the figures provided seem to underestimate greatly the total

131 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

numbers of women engaged in these occupations. The census appears to list women as boarding-house keepers only when this type of work was the predominant form of labour a woman performed; that is, if a woman took in boarders in her own home and was considered a housewife, she was not counted as a boardinghouse keeper. So, while the census lists only thirty-two women in this occupation at mid-century in Ontario, Katz has calculated that in Hamilton at this time about 30 per cent of the households had boarders.49 It is not entirely clear what factors effected changes in the tendency for women to take in boarders. Evidence about the extent to which they did so is very sketchy, particularly with regard to changes over time. The presence or absence of boarders in some periods seems to have been related to the severity of economic conditions; when unemployment was particularly high and male outmigration increased, fewer households took in boarders.50 It would appear, then, that the presence or absence of boarders had less to do with the economic conditions of the households themselves than with the demand for this service.51 Between 1891 and 1911, boarding-house keepers and laundresses became numerically more significant in the domestic and personal service class recorded in the census. The laundresses counted in the census increased from 3.9 per cent of this class in 1891 to over 5 per cent in 1911 and boardinghouse keepers increased from 1.8 per cent to 2.6 per cent of workers in this classification.52 But undoubtedly these figures understate the full extent of women's participation in these activities, particularly among women who did not perform this work as a full-time occupation. With increased urbanization more women became involved in household production for the manufacturing sector. The clothing industry, in particular, relied on female production in the home. The Globe, in an article on female labour in Toronto in 1868, explained how female labour was organized: In the large majority of occupations enumerated, the women may be divided into two classes - those who work at establishments and those who work at their homes. Some of the larger retail dry goods houses employ women in all the branches of female industry connected with the trade, such as saleswomen, mantle and bonnet makers, milliners and dressmakers, shirt, cap, coat and trouser makers, on their premises. Others, again, and the wholesale stores equally with those selling at

132 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development retail, give out the work, and then frequently the industrious efforts of a whole family are employed to fill the orders of the employers. Often, in such instances, the child of eight or nine summers is made a source of material help in the construction of the coarser descriptions of men's garments that are now prepared for the ready made clothing market. In the same way the female head of the house, a group of daughters, and, perhaps the male members of the family, if no better occupation is available, turn in to assist the father in adding to their means of support. The work thus done, ostensibly by the head of the house, but as frequently, by all the members jointly, runs up in the busy season to bills of $30 and $35 a week, of which the female members earn no small share.53

A hint of the extent of home work in the clothing industry is given by the numbers of dressmakers and milliners in the occupation listing in the 1871 census. This figure is given as 3,867, while the numbers employed in dressmaking and millinery establishments is given as 2,023 (Appendix, Tables 19, 20). This would indicate that at least 45 per cent of the people working in this branch of the clothing industry did not work in establishments included in the industrial statistics generated for the census.54 Although the rise of factory production of clothing drew some women's work out of the home, this was by no means a uniform process for those working in the industry. Frequently only certain stages, such as cutting material or finishing the garment, were performed on the manufacturer's premises. The intermediate stages were sent to contractors or individual out-workers. Some firms were supplied almost entirely with work done off the premises. For example, evidence given to the Royal Commission on Capital and Labour by the foreman tailor of Messrs Stanford & Company, in Hamilton, reported that the firm employed 2,000 workers who worked outside the shop. An additional 120 to 160 were employed inside preparing the materials for the outside workers. The tailor described how the work was organized: 'A man will get out so many goods and he will employ from 3 or 4 to 20 people/ This individual would make as much as $15 a week, and pay his workers from $2.50 to $7.00 a week. In response to a commissioner's question about the type of women who would take out work, he said: There are a great many widows and a great many who might as well be widows, as they provide for the whole house ... and they are making a decent living too.'55

133 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

While this may have been the case for some women who managed to organize sufficient work so that they could employ others, when they worked for others or by themselves the results were less happy. John Allenby, a tailor in London, Ontario, was particularly scathing about Italian workers: They take the work home, and they run what are known as sweating shops. They make quite a pile of money, and have a few slaves under them, in the shape of women.'56 But even when women worked in their own homes, they were not likely to fare any better. Generally the supply of labourers to perform this type of work was of such magnitude that firms were at liberty to exploit women at will. The mayor of Toronto explained the effect of competition for this type of work: A sewing woman is taking shirts to make, for example, and getting so much for them. She goes into the establishment and says, 'I want you to give me some work.' She is told that they have plenty of workers and that they must keep their own people going; however after some conversation she asks what price they will give and they arrange to send her a lot at such a price - a lower price than they have been paying. It is human nature and business nature for that to be done and it is undoubtedly done and the result is that when the regular worker comes in she has to take that price or she will not get the work.57

The competition among females was seen as damaging to males who worked as contractors as well. A Toronto factory inspector reported that 'Some of the contractors have stated to me that one great evil where the clothing is given out to the wives of the workingmen is that the women will take it at less than the contractors would get for it. That is one of the competitions the contractors have.58 For the most part it was believed that working in a contractor's shop was preferable to taking out-work directly from a wholesaler.59 This was because a woman on her own was more susceptible to being accused of shoddy work and having her pay docked, a practice frequently used by employers as a means of even further reducing women's earnings. Also, in a contractor's own shop the machinery and thread would be supplied. A woman working in her own home frequently would be required to supply thread and would have to be equipped with a sewing machine. It was not unusual for some retail shops to require that workers buy these machines directly from them, and to deduct a portion of the work done to pay for the

134 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

machine.60 The horrors of the system of home work was vividly depicted by a reporter for the Daily Mail and Empire who had investigated conditions in the clothing industry as a response to what he felt had been an inadequate treatment by the Commission on Sweating. He described the position of one worker in Toronto: A woman with a large family, some of whom were sick, was the next person visited. She was about to move to a new residence, and the clothes at which she had been working were lying with a heap of rubbish on the dirty floor. She could hardly speak with a consumptive cough, which is fast taking her life away. She had worked at the garment trade for many years, but had been unable to save enough to permit of her children getting a proper schooling. A little girl, sixteen years of age, who was thin and sickly in appearance, stood by her side and related how she had worked for eight years past for a large wholesale house, most of the time at $2 a week. She now intended to help her mother at the machine. She had a little sister, nine years of age, who also sewed at the machine. Another sister got $3 a week in a large shop for making button-holes in coats, the button-hole contractor had to clear a profit after subcontracting the work. They had made up knickerbockers at five cents a pair. They were now making men's pants at from 12J/2 to 15 cents a pair, and were supplying the thread themselves.61

Home work was attractive to employers for a variety of reasons. Isolated workers were less likely to organize, so low wages were easier to maintain. And, with work being performed off premises, substantial capital costs could be saved and restrictions imposed by the factory acts could be evaded.62 Although the growth of the factory system eventually reduced the numbers of women who could earn an income through home sewing, by 1911 those working outside factories greatly outnumbered factory operatives.63 While available evidence does not provide an accurate picture of the extent of women's home work for the market, it is clear that for many working-class families this type of work was an important source of income for the family. At the same time, the many women who did not earn an income through their work in the home also contributed to the family's support by providing services and items which prevented the family from being totally dependent on the income of the wage-earners.

135 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911 Waged Work Women's work remained overwhelmingly within the household during the first century of Ontario's industrialization. For most women, for the major portion of their lives, labour would not be rewarded with pay: by the end of the period under consideration less than 16 per cent of the adult women in Ontario were in the official labour force (Appendix, Table 21). Only with the vast expansion of the service sector in the twentieth century and the dramatic increase of married women in the labour force after 1950 was there a move toward waged labour as a normal condition for adult females.64 It was a slow process. Yet, even from the very beginnings of industrial development, women's activity in the labour force was important to industrial expansion. For the most part the kinds of waged labour women performed in Ontario conformed to the type of expansion of women's waged labour which was occurring in other industrializing nations. In the manufacturing sector women in Ontario were concentrated in low-wage, labour-intensive industries; they were most heavily represented in the industries providing wearing apparel. This was a typical pattern which had occurred in Britain during the first industrial revolution and in the United States in the nineteenth century. But in other respects, the changes in the importance of certain types of labour were less significant for women here than they had been elsewhere. The most obvious difference is with respect to domestic service. Because of the nature of the Canadian economy and its demand for labour, the expansion of the service sector proceeded along different lines than it had in economies where huge labour surpluses existed. Personal Service The economic expansion associated with industrialization typically brings about the expansion of domestic service. This at least was the experience in the prototypical industrial revolution. In Britain the expansion of the industrial labour force did not keep pace with the huge numbers of workers who were displaced from cottage production and the agricultural sector.65 The result was a substantial increase in domestic work: England's servant population increased from 12.6 per cent of the labour force in 1831 to 15.8 per cent of the labour force in 1891.66

136 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

In Canada, domestic service was also an important way for women to earn a living, remaining throughout the nineteenth century the single most important occupation for females. As late as 1911 it was still the leading occupation for women, and only after World War I did it drop to second place, with clerical work employing only a few hundred more workers.67 But unlike in Britain, domestic service in Ontario did not absorb an increasing share of the labour force. Domestic servants accounted for only a little more than 6 per cent of the labour force in the middle of the nineteenth century, a figure which decreased steadily until 1891 when it increased to almost the mid-century level. But this rise was short-lived; by 1911 domestic servants accounted for only 3.5 per cent of the total labour force (Appendix, Table 22). The changes associated with industrialization in Ontario, rather than decreasing the number of occupations available to women, as occurred in Britain, were slowly expanding them. In addition, the supply of female labour was not of such a magnitude that large surpluses of females, such as had been available to meet the expanding demand for domestic labour in Britain, were available in Canada. Early in the process of increased urbanization and industrialization, women were less inclined to turn to domestic service to earn a living. For example, in Hamilton between the census years 1851 and 1861, the proportion of employed women working as domestic servants dropped from 72 per cent to 59 per cent. By 1871 the proportion had decreased to 47 per cent.68 While some of this decline can be accounted for by the increased school attendance of young girls, the expansion of other occupations available to women was also an important factor. The vast majority of households did not employ domestic servants at any time during the nineteenth century, and only a small proportion of women would have worked as domestics at any point in their lives. Even in cities, where servants were more plentiful than in rural areas, most women performed housework themselves, or with the labour of their children. In Toronto, in 1871 for example, only 11 per cent of the households employed live-in servants and, of these, the vast majority employed only one.69 The decrease in the proportion of working women doing domestic work was not confined to urban centres, for even in rural areas women's paid work was beginning to be more diverse and girls were staying in school longer.70 This caused a shortage of female servants

137 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

in rural areas, which reached crisis levels in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, when domestic help is a luxury of the upper middle class or the truly rich, complaints about the 'servant problem' in earlier times seem somewhat overdramatized.71 But in farm and other rural areas, where a considerable portion of the family's consumption needs were met through household production, the unavailability of female labour created real problems in the production process. It was just as serious for the farm wife to lose female domestic labour as it was for the farmer to lose field hands, for it resulted in a decrease in productivity for the working unit. The Bureau of Industries reported in 1884 that indications from 600 correspondents throughout the province showed that domestic servants were Very scarce.' The reason was clearly that there were alternative types of employment which were more attractive.72 The report acknowledged the decline in domestic service as arising from the 'tendency of girls to resort to towns and cities, and engage in sewing and other like pursuits, and the aversion which farmers' daughters of the poorer class feel to engaging in domestic service from a notion that it is less "respectable" than some other wageearning occupation.'73 The problems the servant shortage presented to farm families were serious. One farmer from Percy, Northumberland, wrote: 'We are in a greater need of domestic servants than anything else. Our wives are worked too hard, and we cannot get help for them.'74 The effect this ultimately could have on farm operations was expressed by D. James, a farmer from Markham: The supply of domestic servants is miserable. A change must take place in this respect, or farmers will have to quit farming unless they have a family of girls.'75 The Bureau of Industry Annual Report for 1885 was particularly concerned about this shortage of domestic labour. The fact of so many young women forsaking the country for the town entails upon farmers' wives overwork and much real hardship, which in obvious ways must seriously impair the condition of the agricultural community unless some effective means are devised for supplying the deficiency so widely complained of. Whether this should be done by increasing the attractiveness of home life on the farm, so as to lessen the tendency of young girls to rush to the towns, or by filling the places of those who leave by female immigration or in some other way, is a subject

138 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development well worth the consideration of our farmers, in their clubs, institutes and associations.76

While the reasons for the female exodus from domestic service were fairly clear, solutions to the problem were more elusive. The general cry was that they could not be had for 'either love or money/ although it was clear to some farmers that either form of payment could be effective. A farmer from Albion noted there were 'scarcely any domestic servants to be had for money - plenty for love/ a sentiment echoed by another farmer who also noted the deficiency of domestic servants, but admitted that 'if you want to marry they are plenty.'77 It is significant that the solutions to the servant shortage proposed for consideration by the Bureau of Industries, quoted above, did not include wage improvements. The low wage of domestic service, considering the hours and conditions of labour, made this form of work particularly unattractive. In 1885 servants earned, on average, $2.83 a week plus board for seventy hours of work.78 While other jobs for women were not well paid, their hours of work were shorter and they offered a measure of independence that was impossible when living with an employer. The most promising solution to the shortage of domestic servants appeared to be through increasing the immigration of women who would work specifically as servants. From early in Ontario's history, single women had immigrated and found work as domestics. Some were destitute young girls sent by charitable societies in Britain to be 'apprenticed' until they were adults.79 Some were brought out by their prospective employers and others came with neighbours. It was not uncommon for a single woman's emigration to be the prelude to a whole family coming to Canada, for the money they earned made this possible.80 But on the whole this immigration was not as organized or as systematic as that which developed in the second half of the century. In Britain, the surplus of single women, who could find neither husbands nor adequate work, appeared to be a happy solution to the female labour shortage in Canada. Many schemes were initiated to reconcile the female imbalances in the two countries. Initially the major impetus for female emigration came from organizations in Britain, but later, women's labour was more actively pursued from the Canadian side, by both governments and charitable organizations. In Britain the effort was aided, from the mid-nineteenth cen-

139 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

tury, by societies81 especially established to encourage and help women emigrate for domestic and similar work.82 By the end of the century the emphasis of the British Women's Emigration Association, the main society, had shifted to promote emigration of women for positions requiring a higher educational background.83 But by and large, the interests of the governments in Canada and charitable societies in Britain and Canada were compatible. From the 1870s domestic servants were actively recruited for work in Ontario by the federal and provincial governments. At the beginning they came from the British Isles, but as time progressed women were recruited from other parts of Europe as well.84 There is no way to gauge accurately how many women came to Ontario to work as servants, but their contribution to the servant population was considerable. Even in 1871, before government efforts to attract servants had had a chance to be effective, immigrants accounted for over 63 per cent of the live-in servant population in Toronto. In Hamilton, Irish immigrants alone accounted for 60 per cent of the servant population.85 In spite of government efforts, the female labour supply was not sufficient to support the demand for domestic servants, in the face of expanding job opportunities for women. The attraction of other occupations was strong, and even immigrants left domestic service if they could. The supply of female labour was limited by the labour requirements of the home. Families were still, to a large extent, critically dependent on a certain level of subsistence production in the home, partially as a hedge against market insecurities and partially because alternative sources for the goods and services supplied by females in the home were not available. Except for the most unfortunate families, married women's labour, even that directed toward the market, was performed within the household. And the supply of single females who could work for wages outside the home was limited. Market forces, then, directed women toward those areas in which it was most advantageous for them to work. While the vast majority of women in the labour force had been servants in 1861, this proportion decreased steadily throughout the nineteenth century. Of the female occupations counted in the censuses, female servants accounted for more than 75 per cent in 1861, about 48 per cent in 1871, and 34 per cent in 1881. There was an increase in the portion of working women employed as servants

140 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

in 1891 (about 37 per cent): this may have been a real increase due to recruitment of immigrants, or it may reflect more accurate statistical methods of counting female workers. By 1911 women specifically employed as servants or chars accounted for only about 20 per cent of the female labour force.86 Those employing domestic servants were increasingly faced with competition for female labour, a situation which simply had not existed before. Manufacturing The rise in industrial activity in Ontario from the mid-nineteenth century increased the amount of female waged labour in the manufacturing sector. In some industries where women had traditionally worked, this was a result of the increased volume of production which accompanied expanded domestic markets. In other industries the mechanization of production meant a deskilling of occupations which had been typically male, resulting in an expansion of jobs for women in some industries and branches of industries from which their labour traditionally had been excluded. The 1871 census was the first in which labourers in industrial establishments were listed by sex. In this year women accounted for less than 13 per cent of Ontario's industrial labour force. By 1891 this figure had increased to over 21 per cent. While the changes in the proportion of females employed in industrial establishments give some indication of the increased importance of female labour in this area, they do not indicate the full extent that women were involved in the labour force of the manufacturing sector. In the first census which listed occupations by gender, in 1891, females accounted for 27 per cent of the manufacturing labour force in Ontario (Appendix, Table 24). The discrepancy between this figure and that indicated by the census of industrial establishments (Appendix, Table 23) is because a fairly large proportion of females worked as dressmakers and milliners in their own homes and were not included in the industrial count. Not only were women becoming more heavily represented in the manufacturing sector, but there also was a tendency for the proportion of young girls to decrease; whereas almost 12 per cent of female industrial workers were under sixteen years in 1871, young girls accounted for only 7 per cent twenty years later (Appendix, Table 23).

141 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

As industrialization advanced, it was commonly understood that women's opportunities for paid work were expanding and in some areas were encroaching on the territory of male labour.87 Criticism of the effects of this change was certainly more widespread in England than in Canada, undoubtedly because the displacement of male labour and the scale of unemployment were of a much greater magnitude there. Nevertheless, the industrializing process changed the nature of labour requirements for a number of industries and brought about changes in the nature of the traditional division of labour in these industries. The most significant changes occurred in industries where new technology and methods of organization required labour with less training, but in significantly large amounts in relation to the capital used. In these industries, women would supplant men as artisanal methods of production declined. In other industries the improved capital equipment meant less labour was required with increased production. In these areas male labour was likely to displace female labour as certain industries moved out of the household. So, for example, while the rise of cheese and butter factories pushed women out of the dairy industry, the labour requirements of the footwear and cigarmaking industries drew women into production. While new methods in dairying required relatively little labour in the processing stages (most dairy factories employed only one or two people), boot and shoe factory production required a fairly large labour force. In the boot and shoe industry changes in technology which facilitated the rise of factory production increased women's work.88 Before the widespread use of sewing machines, shoemaking was almost exclusively a male occupation. As mechanization gradually reduced the training necessary to perform this labour, the use of female and child labour became more widespread.89 But the uneven nature of changes in this industry meant that the gender composition of the labour force in the industry did not change immediately. While the mechanization of production began from about the midnineteenth century, the proportion of women in the industry remained fairly low, at about 10 per cent, until the end of the century (Appendix, Table 20). But the significance of factory production in increasing women's labour in this area is evident when we compare the industry's employment figures for the province as a whole with

142 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

those of cities where artisanal production was being phased out. In 1871, for example, women accounted for 11 per cent of the labour force in footwear establishments in the province, but in Toronto they comprised 38 per cent of this industry's labour force.90 By the turn of the century factory production was more widespread and women made up almost a third of the industry's labour force in the province.91 Expansion of women's paid work in clothing production increased dramatically after mid-century. While the numbers of women working as domestic servants did not quite double from 1851 to 1891, the numbers working in the needle trades increased more than sevenfold. These calculations are, admittedly, based on the very imperfect information about women's occupations provided by censuses in these years (Appendix, Table 20). However, while the numbers in a specific occupation for any given year are probably considerably understated, the changes in the relative importance of occupations may be more accurately presented. As Catharine Hakim has pointed out, what and how census-takers count is as much a reflection of changing conditions as the numbers they generate.92 The fact, for example, that occupational tables were provided with information about the gender of the workers for the first time in 1891 is a fairly good indication of the increasing diversity of female occupations. Of course, the reason this did not occur in 1881, or earlier, may be more reflective of the slowness of census officials to recognize change than the date when substantial changes occurred. Nevertheless, the interest the census has in seeing that specific workers are counted is indicative of public awareness of the significance of the labour. Throughout the nineteenth century the most important industries, with regard to the numbers of labourers employed, did not vary much. As noted in the first part of this chapter, primary manufacturing, that is, manufacturing which employed few females, was most important. Even in 1891, sawmilling was the leading industrial employer, with foundries and machine-working in third place and blacksmithing fourth.93 But cloth and clothing production were rapidly becoming the leading employers of labour in urban areas. In Toronto, clothing was the most important manufacturing industry in terms of both the numbers it employed and the value of its products. This is particularly significant considering that the

143 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

workers in the industry were mostly women. In 1871 women and children together accounted for almost 75 per cent of the clothing workers in Toronto.94 For the province as a whole women employed in industrial establishments in the same year accounted for 61 per cent of all tailors and clothiers, 95 per cent of the dressmakers and milliners, 42 per cent of those in wool- and clothmaking, and 61 per cent of the labourers in cotton mills. Ten years later these industries employed an even larger proportion of women (Appendix, Table 20). The tendency for the proportions of female workers to increase in the clothing industry partially resulted from introduction of the sewing machine. At first, male workers resisted its use: in 1852 a Toronto tailoring firm brought a female operator from New York to initiate the use of the sewing machine in its firm. The male workers successfully struck in protest and the woman returned to New York, but the victory was short-lived, for both the sewing machine and women's labour became permanent features of the industry.95 An example of the sewing machine's impact is evident in changes which took place in the largest tailoring firm in Canada. Lawson's, a Hamilton firm which employed 100 men in 1853 when it was using only two sewing machines, employed only 29 in 1861 when the number of sewing machines increased to ten. Although the total number of workers employed did not decrease substantially, because 69 women were taken on, the composition of the work force had changed considerably. Skilled tailors, males who had been trained in the craft, were no longer essential to the operation.96 In Hamilton, the proportion of employed women working in the clothing industry increased from 14 per cent in 1861 to about 25 per cent in 1871.97 During the second half of the nineteenth century the development of the textile industry was also important for increasing women's work in factories. Both cotton and woollen factory production had begun before 1850, but the real growth in factory production of textiles was stimulated by the effects of the Civil War in the United States and the protective policies instituted by the National Policy.98 In 1871, of the nine cotton mills in Canada, six were located in Ontario, and ten years later, a full 48 per cent of the country's cotton workers were in this province.99 During the same period, female employment in the industry increased more than threefold and the industry rose from being the eighth leading industrial employer of women to the fourth (Appendix, Table 20).

144 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

The woollen industry was also expanding considerably; about 1,500 women were employed in woollen factories in 1871; by 1891 this figure had almost doubled. The growth of this industry resulted in females making up a great proportion of the labour force, increasing from 42 per cent in 1871 to 50 per cent in 1891. By contrast, in the cotton industry while the proportion of females employed was high, at over 60 per cent of the labour force in 1871, as the growth of the industry slowed down after the 1880s , female labour as a proportion of the total labour force declined to less than half.100 Intensive development of the textile industry as a result of the encouraging effects of the National Policy could not be sustained and by the 1880s the cotton industry in particular had grown too large to be supported by the domestic economy.101 The result was that Ontario's importance in the industry declined. Initially, cheaper labour conditions in Quebec favoured that province over Ontario for cotton production. Gradually, also, the replacement of steam and turbine engines by hydroelectricity at the turn of the century, and Quebec's advantage in producing electricity, made the cotton industry prosper there at the expense of Ontario.102 While the latter had claimed the greatest proportion of Canada's cotton workers in the nineteenth century, by 1911 Quebec employed more than 63 per cent of the industry's workers.103 In the first decade of the twentieth century, cotton and woollen factories employed only a small portion of the female labour force in industrial establishments in Ontario: cottons accounted for 2 per cent of this labour force, and woollens about 3 per cent.104 Throughout the period under consideration, the clothing industry continued to be the major employer of females in the manufacturing sector. Men and women's clothing alone employed about 30 per cent of the female industrial labour force in 1901 and 1911.105 On the whole, the types of industries which employed significant numbers of women did not change dramatically, although some changes are evident. With the growth of urban areas and the increase in population, the food industries expanded and increasingly employed women. Fruit and vegetable canning was not listed in the 1881 census, but ten years later it was the fifth leading employer of women in manufacturing. By the turn of the century it was the second most important single industry for women, after clothing (Appendix, Table 25). Women's employment in bakeries also increased significantly. Whereas women were only 17 per cent of the labour

145 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

force of this industry in 1881, by the turn of the century they comprised 37 per cent of the workers and the industry had risen to sixth place in the list of leading industries for women. However, it must be noted that although more women were employed in the foodprocessing industries, these industries accounted for only a small portion of the women working in manufacturing. Fruit and vegetable canning, for example, employed only 8 per cent of the females in the manufacturing sector in 1901 and 6 per cent in 19H.106

The manufacturing jobs women took were becoming somewhat more varied. As one factory inspector noted, the changes were perceptible: 'I observe that the number of occupations in which females are employed is gradually being enlarged, and it is now not at all uncommon to find them doing work that fifteen or even ten years ago would have been considered as out of harmony with public opinion ... such work at that time being considered proper for males only.107 Overall, manufacturing as an area of employment for women was being affected both by the changes within this sector itself, and by the increased need for labour in the service sector. The increased mechanization of production meant that the smaller workshops which employed dressmakers and milliners were giving way to factory production. Over 18,500 women had been employed in men's and women's clothing establishments in 1891; twenty years later this figure had dropped to about 12,000. The significance of custom-made goods declined substantially in the first decade of the twentieth century. Custom-made clothing had accounted for the labour of about two-thirds of the clothing workers in 1901, but by 1911 it accounted for only about one-fourth of the workers.108 The shift toward ready-made clothing affected female employment because women were overrepresented in the custom-made trade.109 The manufacturing industries where women worked were among the most exploitative and poorly paid, but with the increasing availability of employment in other areas, the growing female labour force was less confined to these areas of work. Women's proportion of the manufacturing labour force reached a peak in the last decade of the nineteenth century, and remained relatively stable throughout the period up to World War I (Appendix, Table 24). After this period, female labour as a proportion of this sector's labour force began to decline. However, even in the 1890s the proportion of females in the labour force who worked in manufacturing had

146 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

begun to decline. It must be stressed that this reflected not a decline in women's proportion of the manufacturing labour force, but an increase in women's participation in the labour force and the expansion of occupations in the tertiary sector (Appendix, Tables 21, 26). Ultimately, as the economy became more mature industrially in the twentieth century, the industries where women worked accounted for a smaller portion of the manufacturing sector as other industries grew. The result was that both the proportion of women in the labour force working in the manufacturing sector declined, and women workers made up a smaller proportion of workers in this sector. Sometimes this failure of women to maintain their initial employment levels in manufacturing is seen as indicative of the failure of industrial capitalism's ability, after the initial growth in factory production, to integrate women's labour into the production process.110 In Ontario, at least, it would appear that the shift in women's work away from the manufacturing sector reflected shifts in the demand for labour from the secondary to the tertiary sector and the tendency for industries to remain sex-typed, rather than stagnation in female employment. The Tertiary Sector From the last decade of the nineteenth century the proportion of working women in the primary and secondary sectors began to decline slowly as employment in the tertiary sector increased (Appendix, Table 26). Within the tertiary sector also, important changes were occurring which reflected the expansion of occupational opportunities for women. Most notably, personal service accounted for a decreasing proportion of the female labour force, while trade, transportation, clerical work, and the professions employed a larger proportion. Domestic and other forms of personal service remained the most important occupational grouping for women until well into the twentieth century. But this category was employing a smaller portion of the labour force. While the numbers working in this category grew by 25 per cent from 1891 to 1911, the growth in female employment in other areas was faster. Employment in manufacturing grew by over 40 per cent and in professional service by almost 90 per cent. But the most spectacular growth occurred in the clerical,

147 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

transportation, and trade categories. Female employment in clerical occupations increased by 765 per cent, in transportation by 364 per cent, and in trade and finance by 280 per cent. Of course, the numbers employed in these categories in the 1891 census were small, and even by the turn of the century manufacturing and personal service together still accounted for almost 75 per cent of female employment. This figure dropped to 63 per cent by 1911 because of the trend toward increased employment for women in the service sector. This change was significant, for the service sector would be where the major proportion of women's paid work would be concentrated as the twentieth century developed. Women, of course, had always been part of the service sector of the economy, both by providing unpaid labour in the home and as domestic servants. But with economic growth and industrial advancement, the nature of the paid work women performed in the service sector changed.111 Teaching was one profession which rapidly became feminized with the movement of elementary instruction of children outside the home. Women's proportion of the profession increased from 22 per cent to 50 per cent from 1851 to 1871, although in some Ontario counties women had predominated in the profession from as early as the 1850s.112 The rise of the public school system, which demanded more teachers, along with attempts to raise the status and salaries of male teachers, made female labour particularly attractive to school administrators, who were able to pay these teachers considerably less than their male counterparts.113 As with many occupations which were to develop with population and economic growth, the pressure on employers to pay as little as possible, and the general custom of using lower pay scales for women, resulted in increased employment for women. The potential for conflict between male and female workers would have been great had females directly replaced male labour. For the most part, though, competition was minimized. In some areas the occupations opening to women were competely new, and while males had performed the same class of work, the specific jobs available to women were different.114 In other areas where the tasks performed by the sexes were essentially the same, a hierarchy was created, with women segregated in the lower-paying and lower-status jobs. In teaching, women generally taught small children or females at the higher levels. By 1891 more than 58 per cent of Ontario's teachers

148 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

were women, and by 1911 they truly dominated the profession numerically, comprising 79 per cent of all teachers.115 Teaching was far and away the most important professional occupation for women throughout the period being considered. In the occupational censuses women were also strongly represented in the arts, but this was primarily as teachers of music.116 The second most important professional occupation for women was nursing. With the increasing institutionalization of health care, a demand for medical workers was created. Before the beginning of programs specifically designed to train nurses, official statistics reported few women employed in the medical profession. A surprisingly small number of women were listed as midwives in the early censuses (Appendix, Table 19),117 but after the first training school for nurses in Canada was opened in St. Catharines in 1874, women became more prevalent in the health fields as paid workers.118 At first the vast majority of qualified nurses were employed in private homes because hospitals were able to have much of the work performed by student nurses.119 This private work was unattractive because it paid less than qualified nurses in hospitals received and the conditions were often more unpleasant. Nevertheless, the nursing profession expanded considerably, and over time became recognized as a true 'profession' for women.120 In other areas of the health profession women were slowly gaining ground. While in 1891 less than 2 per cent of the province's dentists had been women, they constituted 10 per cent in 1911. However, the progress of female doctors was considerably slower, even though they were a larger group than the dentists. In 1891 there were only 37 women doctors in Ontario (1.6 per cent of all doctors) and while the figure increased to 106 in 1911, this still remained a negligible proportion (less than 3 per cent) of all doctors.121 These professions were unusual ones for women and accounted for only a very small proportion of female professionals and a minuscule portion of the working female population. As noted earlier, the areas of female employment which were growing fastest were clerical work, trade and finance, and transportation. While female employment in clerical work would grow most rapidly after World War I, the expanding need for office help beginning in the last decade of the nineteenth century increased both the proportion of women in the clerical work force and the proportion of the female labour force working in clerical positions.122

149 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

Clerical work was overwhelmingly male work in the nineteenth century, although it accounted for a very small proportion of the male labour force. Economic expansion saw large increases in this occupation while it was still almost exclusively male. For example, there was a sharp increase in the recorded number of clerks between the 1861 and 1871 censuses: while the population in this tenyear period grew by about 16 per cent, the number of clerks almost doubled.123 The increased demand for clerical labour, and the increased specialization of occupations, slowly drew women into the field but, for the most part, female labour was moving into new categories of office work. As early as 1881 stenographers were listed in the census of occupations.124 By the 1890s stenography and typing were being taught at the high school level and business schools proliferated.125 These skills were considered female at an early stage and as the demand for workers to perform them increased, they became even more sex-typed. In the 1890 occupational census women accounted for 76 per cent of all typists and stenographers, and they were holding 85 per cent of these jobs twenty years later.126 In these years the clerical labour force was still predominantly male, but the trend toward the feminization of this sector is evident. Whereas females were about one-sixth of the clerical labour force in 1891, they made up almost two-fifths of the workers in this sector by 1911 (Appendix, Table 27). As with some forms of factory work, it was the rapid growth in the demand for workers along with the increased mechanization of the work which made female labour attractive to employers, who were able to hire middle-class, educated women for less money than they would have had to pay males with comparable qualifications.127 The mechanization of the office, particularly with the introduction of the typewriter, made it increasingly possible to rationalize the office in such a way that routine, lower-paid jobs would be performed by females.128 Females initially were attracted to these occupations because they were more highly paid than other occupations available to women, working conditions were better, and office jobs carried greater status. Over time the wage advantage of clerical work became less significant, but this did not reverse the trend for women to look to these occupations for employment.129 With the growth in urban areas and the increased availability of consumer goods, women also became more prevalent among the sales labour force. Although the conditions of work were often

150 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

miserable and wages low, selling was considered preferable to domestic work.130 The higher status of the occupation was frequently cited as the reason for this preference, but it was also recognized that definite hours of work, clearly defined duties, and personal privacy made this occupation much more attractive to young women.131 With the rise of the department store in urban centres, and the corresponding need for a larger labour force, women constituted a greater portion of the workers. In 1891 about 16 per cent of the retail sales employees in Ontario were women, but the impact of the large retail store on women's employment was evident by this time.132 For example, Timothy Eaton testified before the Royal Commission on the Relations of Capital and Labour that about half of his sales staff was female.133 By 1911 there were almost five times as many females working as saleswomen as there had been twenty years earlier; their proportion of the sales labour force had increased to 27 per cent.134 In the transportation category of the occupational census, the growth in women's employment was almost entirely due to the increase in the number of telephone operators employed. The proportion of females in the total labour force in the transportation category was very small throughout the period being considered, but women's proportion of telegraph and telephone operators increased from 21 per cent in 1891, the first year telephone operators were included in the census, to about 45 per cent by 1911.135 Initially males were employed as telephone operators, but in a fairly short period of time this work came to be a female occupation. Even as late as 1911 men made up about 40 per cent of the operators in Toronto, but after World War I the occupation became truly feminized.136 As with other occupations which became feminized, the rapid growth in the labour force, coupled with the convenient assumption that the young girls who could be hired to do this work did not need a salary sufficient to cover the entire cost of their maintenance because they lived at home, made females increasingly attractive employees.137 This assumption, of course, was not left unchallenged by working women. Through strike action and through testimony to various commissions investigating conditions of women's labour in the last quarter of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries, the inadequacy of women's wages was made evident. Of particular interest here is the testimony given to the royal commission established to investigate the strike of .

151 Women's Paid Work 1850-1911

female telephone operators at the Bell Telephone Company in 1907. The report of this commission indicated that even though most of the operators were between seventeen and twenty-two years old, between 30 and 40 per cent did not live at home, and many were forced to supplement their income by 'some additional employment, such as assisting in housework, or the making of clothes, or other service which taxed their energies.'138 This was one occupation where the hours of labour were relatively short and outside employment was possible, but in other occupations women worked long hours for low wages, making it impossible to increase total income through extra work.139

7

Conclusion

At the close of the nineteenth century the Reverend B.F. Austin edited a study of woman's 'worth and work/ In the preface to Woman: Maiden, Wife and Mother, he indicated the rather commonly held perception that the century had witnessed extraordinary changes for women: The century will pass into history particularly distinguished by the enlargement of women's sphere and the multiplication of her advantage.' Not only had women been brought into almost every field of human activity, but there had also been 'an almost complete revolution in the ideas once entertained as to woman's ability on one hand, and her rights and duties on the other.'1 In contrast, the tendency today is to view the changes for women somewhat more critically and to stress patterns in the continuity of experience over time. The optimism generated by increased paid employment for women and the faith in progress in general is criticized for the failure to understand the nature of the change; it was not a change in the relative position between men and women which took place, but a modernization of inequality. Considering that inequality between the sexes continues to be one of the distinctive features of life in our society, this view has substance, although it needs to be qualified. It cannot be assumed that the process of industrial capitalist development affected women in a uniform way in economies where the points of departure were vastly different. This book has examined the changes in women's orientation toward subsistence activities and the market in an economy transformed from one whose market activities were dominated by staple exports to one considerably changed by industrial capitalism.

153 Conclusion

Because of the nature of the staple-exporting economy, economic development affected women's work in ways distinct from those which occurred in older, more populous, and more integrated economies. More specifically, because of the underdeveloped nature of the economy and reliance on the export market, the pre-industrial stage in Ontario was very different from that of Europe, and since the starting-point for transformation of the Ontario economy was so different, for women the whole transformation process did not proceed in the same way. The main difference is that economic development in Ontario did not result in the U-shaped pattern of market participation identified in Europe. Rather, economic growth has steadily brought women's productive efforts more directly into the market's sphere. This process was not without contradictions and distortions in certain sectors, and did not affect all groups of women the same way, but essentially, the perceptions that important changes had occurred were correct. The growth of markets and industrial activity began to integrate women's labour into the public sphere of production in a way not possible when staple and subsistence production were the dominant forms of production. The early staple-exporting economy in Ontario was characterized by two sectors - one in which production was oriented toward the market, and the other in which production was oriented toward the household. In the market sector the dominant form of activity, around which social and economic growth and market activity was centred, was the export-led sector based on staple production. The subordinate market sector was the economic activity which supported the dominant sector, and was oriented toward local markets. Because of the dominance of the staple-exporting market sector, there was a relatively low degree of economic integration, with internal markets being particularly underdeveloped. This extroverted thrust of the economy made it highly vulnerable to changes in international markets, with economic units being exposed to dramatic fluctuations in income. While family units were drawn to staple production for export because of the need to acquire cash for articles which they could not produce and to import articles which were not provided internally, this type of production was risky because of its unstable nature. For families, the necessity of protecting themselves against the uncertainty of the market, together with the equally pressing need to avail

154 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

themselves of the market, resulted in the economic organization and rationalization of labour so that production both for the family's consumption and for the market could occur. These forms of production were usually quite different, and decisions about the type of work which would be performed by males and females were based on traditional ideas about the appropriate division of labour between males and females. The significance of female labour to the development process in Canada has been neglected largely as a result of a preoccupation with those aspects of the market economy that have most directly shaped its direction and growth. The importance of resource extraction and foreign markets to Canadian development has tended to focus analyses on productive relations in the staple-exporting sector, and only when capitalist industrial relations begin to emerge does the focus shift away from staple-exporting sectors. In both cases the productive relations which have been considered significant are those related directly to market activity. However, this preoccupation with market activity has obscured the most prevalent type of productive relations in the staple-exporting economy, that is, the patriarchal relations of production within the family economy. The result is that neither the significance of female labour in the development process nor the labour organization of the staple-exporting economy has been understood. Understanding patriarchal relations of production is important in order to show how male ownership of the means of production and the division of labour by gender were an integral part of the process of capital accumulation in the staple-exporting economy. The critical division of labour was that between males and females, with men's labour oriented toward the market and women's centred on production for household use. In an economy which experienced severe labour and capital shortages, women's labour in the subsistence sector was critical to the process of capital accumulation. In the areas characterized by capitalistic productive relations, the existence of family subsistence production prevented wages from rising too rapidly. In the family economy women's subsistence production reduced the need to provide for the family with income from market activities and thus permitted capital to accumulate at a higher rate. Farm women's market activities grew out of their work in producing for family consumption. The extent to which they were able to

155 Conclusion

engage in market-oriented activities was highly dependent both on the nature of local markets and transportation and on the labour requirements within the family economy. During periods when cash was scarce, transportation primitive, and local markets confined largely to barter activities, women's work for the market had a relatively small impact on the family economy. As these conditions changed, as a result of growth in the economy and greater integration of domestic markets, the market activity of women became significant for its contribution both to the family income and to the growth of specific industries. But this process was by no means uniform, for the labour requirements of individual family units would often militate against women's market activity. Because the primary productive role for women was care and maintenance of the family, women often were not able to produce surpluses for market exchange. This was particularly true when there were few labourers within the household unit, or when the family was still highly dependent on subsistence activities. With increased industrial activity in the mid-nineteenth century, women's market activity, both from within the household and as waged labour, slowly began to increase. For farm women, improved outlets for their farm surpluses, higher farm incomes, smaller families, and the availability of more manufactured goods meant less time was necessary for subsistence production. During this period many areas of production dominated by women experienced substantial growth. Poultry, garden produce, and dairy products in particular became significant items in market development. But, paradoxically, while these industries expanded in the pre-industrial stage when women were the primary producers, women did not retain control of these industries when they became the primary focus of the productive unit. In the dairy industry, discussed in Chapter 5, the patriarchal structure of the household and cultural assumptions about the nature of the division of labour by gender led to male control as market conditions made it increasingly important. Of particular importance were growing differentials in the labour productivity of males and females as investment increased. Male access to new machinery and farming techniques placed female labour at a disadvantage as capital investment became a more important aspect of production. Male control of capital and the primary responsibility of women to maintain the family unit together influenced the direc-

156 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

tion of investment decisions. As dairying became more profitable it ceased to be an occupation that could be carried on by farm women in conjunction with other household and farming tasks, but became the speciality of the farm and was consequently controlled by men. In areas of production where ownership of the means of production and increased capital investment were crucial for continued participation in production, women tended to be displaced by men. But this did not diminish the tendency for women's labour to be increasingly market-oriented. The economic changes which expanded women's production for the market in rural areas included increased integration and growth in demand for goods and services, factors which also stimulated urban growth. For women, this meant increased availability of wage employment and a shift in the kinds of market-oriented production some women would perform within the home. Orientation of the economy toward staple exports in the preindustrial period meant that the conditions did not exist for the extensive development of cottage industries in rural areas. Transportation difficulties and shortages of female labour in rural areas meant that a domestic system of industrial production could not develop to any great extent before the rise of the factory system. While textile production tended to be organized on a small-scale artisanal basis before it became established in factories, a largescale 'putting-out' system was not feasible. This is a marked contrast to the 'proto-industrial' stage in Britain where rural families laboured together in cottage production. There, the large population, integrated domestic markets, and surplus agricultural labour made this type of manufacturing rational. However, in Ontario, with the growth in urban populations and increasing reliance of families on incomes from wages, there were new ways in which women could engage in market-oriented production within the household. Of particular importance for working-class women was the ability to contribute to the family income through domestic manufacturing or through taking in boarders and laundry. But ultimately, the most significant change for women would be the growth of paid labour outside the home. The absence of large surpluses of labour affected the pattern of female employment outside the household in Ontario as the economy developed. New forms of production required fairly large quantities of cheap labour at a time when demographic changes

157 Conclusion

increased the numbers of single women available for work. But the lag in time between the decline in the amount of female labour necessary in the household economy and the demand for their waged labour resulted in a more pronounced shift in the type of wage work women performed here than was typical of industrial expansion elsewhere. Where industrialization typically results in a greater portion of the female labour force being engaged as servants, the demand for female labour in the expanding sectors of the economy in Ontario shifted their employment away from this type of work and toward work in manufacturing and other areas of the service sector. This does not imply that domestic work was not important for women - it remained the single most important form of paid employment for women until after World War I - but, rather, that women's employment in other areas was expanding more rapidly. At the beginning of this book I identified the tendency to see the effect of industrialization on women's labour as initially, and for a considerable length of time, restricting women's productive efforts in relation to the market. In particular, industrialization is often seen to have initiated the separation of the household from production for the market, to have intensified the division of labour between men and women, and to have created a sharper division between the public and private world of work. While this paradigm may model the British case, it does not accurately describe the experience of the transformation of a staple-exporting economy. In the pre-industrial stage in Ontario, production for the household was distinct from production for the market, even when both were performed by members of a single household. The division of labour between males and females was well defined, with females responsible for production for family maintenance and males responsible for market-oriented activities. As the economy developed and markets expanded, women's access to markets improved both as producers within the household and as wage labourers. As a result, their labour became less confined to the private sphere. Eventually, farm women's access to the market through production within the household was usurped by males. However, by the time this process was complete, wage labour was a more common condition for females/With the increase in female market-oriented activity, the division of labour between males and females remained distinct, but it cannot be seen to have intensified. The contemporary percep-

158 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development

tion that female labour had diversified was correct: women were increasingly engaged in paid work of various kinds. While in some industries they initially replaced some male labour, for the most part the expanded opportunities came about because of new forms of work which demanded large amounts of cheap labour, and male and female labour tended to remain separate. The transition to industrial capitalism took the specific forms it did in Ontario because of the nature of patriarchal productive relations in the pre-capitalist era. Not only did new forms of production grow out of old ones, but the very way in which productive relations changed over time were integrally bound to gendered responses to change. Therefore, ideas about the nature of economic development must focus on the gendered nature of the productive process and the class configuration of the basic productive unit of the family. An understanding of the labour of women, both in the household economy and in waged labour, is critical for a more complete view of the nature of capitalist development.

Appendix

TABLE 7 Bequests to wives in wills by males,1 Wellington County, Ontario 1858-60 Percentage of wills Wife inherits outright Wife granted usufruct for life Children inherit major portion (a) son to support mother (b) wife inherits portion (c) wife receives usufruct on portion No mention of wife Wife disinherits upon remarriage

17 29 37 17 9 11

17 22

1 Two women died with wills during this period. Sample size: 54 wills SOURCE: Public Archives of Ontario, Wills Collection, GS 1-487 TABLE 8 Bequests to daughters in wills by males,1 Wellington County, Ontario 1858-60 Percentage of wills Daughters not mentioned Daughters left all Daughters inherit equally Daughters given lesser portion of land Daughters paid small sum; given chattels, personal property, furniture, or to be maintained by brother

22 3.7 18.5 3.7 52

1 Two women died with wills during this period. Sample size: 54 wills SOURCE: Public Archives of Ontario, Wills Collection, GS 1-487

160 Appendix Comment on Tables 7 and 8 The treatment of daughters in wills by males in Wellington County during this three-year period is strikingly similar to daughters' inheritance patterns in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County at mid-century (see Table 2). Daughters were slightly more likely to inherit equally with other children in Wellington County, but for both counties the vast majority of wills either did not mention daughters or indicated only small bequests. Inheritance patterns for wives in Wellington County was somewhat different from those in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry (see Table 1). While a greater proportion of women inherited the entire estate in Wellington County (17% as opposed to 6% in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry), a much smaller proportion inherited a portion of the estate (9% vs 35%). So while about 40 per cent of wives in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County inherited something, only about 25 per cent of the wives in Wellington County did. It was more common, however, for husbands in Wellington County to grant usufruct rights to their wives than was the practice in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County. Also, Wellington County males were somewhat less likely to disinherit their wives should they remarry. The proportion of wills directing sons to support their mothers was about the same in both counties.

TABLE 9

Bequests to wives in wills by males,1 Wellington County, Ontario 1890 Percentage of wills Wife inherits one-half or more outright Wife granted usufruct of major portion or all of estate for life Children inherit major portion (a) son to support mother (b) wife inherits small portion outright (c) wife receives usufruct on portion No mention of wife Wife disinherits upon remarriage

13

11 8 6

25 25

36 11

1 Nineteen women died with wills during this year. Sample size: 83 SOURCE: Public Archives of Ontario, Wills Collection, csl-511, csl-512, csl-513

161 Appendix TABLE 10 Bequests to daughters in wills by males,1 Wellington County, Ontario 1890 Percentage of wills Daughters not mentioned Daughters left all Daughters inherit equally Daughters given lesser portion but inherit some land Daughters paid lesser amount, or receive chattels, furniture, personal property, furniture, or to be maintained by brother

33 11 19 8 29

1 Nineteen women died with wills during this year. Sample size: 83 wills SOURCE: Public Archives of Ontario, Wills Collection, Gsl-511, csl-512, csl-513

Comment on Tables 9 and 10 One striking feature about wills by males in Wellington County later in the century, as compared with those in mid-century, is the increasing proportion of wills that make no provision for either wives or daughters. At midcentury, 17 per cent of the wills made no provision for wives and 22 per cent made no provision for daughters (see Tables 7 and 8). By 1890 these figures were 36 per cent and 33 per cent respectively. In one will it was expressly stated that arrangements for the wife had been made previously, but in the rest the exclusion of wives and daughters is not explained. Wives' position with regard to inheritance seems to have deteriorated by the end of the century. They were slightly less likely to inherit something outright (ie, either all or a portion of the estate) in 1890 than at mid-century and the proportion who were granted usufruct rights on all or a portion of the estate for life dropped from about 40 per cent to about 30 per cent. Also, fewer sons were directed in their father's wills to maintain their mothers. The only marked improvement appears to have been in the proportion of wills by which women disinherited upon remarriage: this dropped from 22 per cent of the wills at mid-century to 11 per cent in 1890. The changes in property laws to allow married women to own and control their own property may well have influenced men's more liberal treatment of their wives in this matter. Aside from the fact that daughters were more likely not to be mentioned at all in their fathers' wills, if they were mentioned, their position, as op-

162 Appendix posed to that of wives, appears to have improved from mid-century to 1890. The percentage who were left all or equal portions of the estate, or substantial percentages of land, increased from about a quarter to almost 40 per cent of all wills. However, they were less likely to receive bequests of very small amounts of money, livestock, and furniture, or the right to receive support from a brothers, the most characteristic features of earlier wills. This fact may well reflect the relative affluence of householders toward the end of the century and the declining importance in transference of these less valuable items. It may also reflect single women's increased ability to earn an income from waged labour, a factor which would have made dependence on a male relative less important. TABLE 11 Population and sex ratio, Ontario 1824-1911 Year

Total

Males

Females

Ratio1

1824 1831 1836 1842 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911

150,066 236,702 374,099 487,053 952,004 1,396,091 1,620,851 1,926,922 2,114,321 2,182,947 2,523,274

79,517 124,281 197,488 259,914 499,067 725,575 828,590 979,955 1,069,487 1,096,640 1,299,290

70,549 112,421 176,611 227,139 452,937 670,516 792,261 946,967 1,044,834 1,086,307 1,223,984

112.7 110.5 111.8 114.4 110.2 108.2 104.6 103.5 102.4 101.0 106.2

1 Number of males per 100 females SOURCES: Census, 1861, i; 1871, iv; 1921, n

163 Appendix TABLE 12 Population and sex ratio for largest cities 1851-1901 * Toronto

Hamilton

Kingston

Ottawa

London

5 cities total

1851 Males Females Ratio

15,176 15,599 97.3

7,059 7,053 100.1

5,854 5,843 100.2

3,862 3,898 99.1

3,616 3,419 105.8

35,567 35,812 99.3

1861 Males Females Ratio

21,677 23,144 93.7

9,727 9,389 103.6

6,653 7,090 93.8

7,258 7,411 97.9

5,738 5,817 98.6

51,053 52,851 96.6

1871 Males Females Ratio

27,539 28,553 96.4

13,096 13,620 96.2

5,930 6,477 91.6

10,351 11,194 92.5

7,934 7,892 100.5

64,850 67,736 95.7

1881 Males Females Ratio

41,917 44,498 94.2

17,319 18,642 92.9

6,668 7,423 89.8

12,968 14,444 89.8

9,701 10,045 96.5

88,573 95,052 93.2

1891 Males Females Ratio

69,521 74,502 93.3

22,726 24,519 92.7

9,061 10,202 88.8

17,602 19,667 89.5

10,560 11,721 90.0

129,470 140,611 92.1

1901 Males Females Ratio

72,864 83,234 87.5

24,925 27,709 90.0

8,223 9,738 84.4

27,442 30,198 90.9

11,068 13,150 84.2

144,522 164,029 88.1

1 Number of males per 100 females SOURCES: Census, 1861, i; 1871, i, iv; 1881, n; 1891, n; 1901, iv

164 Appendix TABLE 13 Sex ratios by age group, Toronto (number of males per 100 females) Years 15-20

1851 1861 18711 1881 1891 1901

83.6 92.5 87.0 87.9 87.3 87.9

20-30

30-40

40-50

89.1 80.7 86.2 81.9 82.9 76.1

104.8 102.0 97.5 97.2 96.7 85.4

121.0 109.8 100.0 97.0 99.2 89.8

1 Age groups 16-20, 21-31, 31-41, 41-51 SOURCES: Census 1861, i; 1871, i, iv; 1881, n; 1891, n; 1901, iv TABLE 14 General fertility rates, Ontario and Canada 1851-1911 (annual number of births per 1,000 women aged 15-49 years) Year

Ontario

Canada

1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911

212 204 191 149 121 108 112

203 193 189 160 144 145 144

SOURCE: Jacques Henripin, Trends and Factors of Fertility in Canada (Ottawa: Statistics Canada 1972), Table 2.1 TABLE 15 Sex ratio at marriageable age and average age at first marriage, Ontario 1851-91 Average age at marriage Year

Males

Females

i XT l» Number orr males per 100 females !

1851 1861 1871 1881 1891

26.7 27.2 28.4 28.0 29.3

22.4 23.9 25.0 25.3 26.6

103.7 97.5 92.5 91.4 91.9

1 Number of males aged 20-49 per 100 females aged 17.5r47.5 SOURCE: Ellen M. Tomas Gee, 'Marriage in Nineteenth-Century Canada/ Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 19, 3 (August 1982), Table 4

165 Appendix TABLE 16 Per cent of females married by age group, Ontario 1851, 1871, 1891, 1911 Age group

1851

1871

1891

1911

15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49

10.8 49.7 84.6 85.9 84.6 87.2 83.9

6.0 35.1 68.3 81.6 86.1 88.4 82.0

3.4 29.1 60.4 74.4 80.3 80.0 80.4

6.2 34.8 61.3 72.9 77.1 78.1 76.3

SOURCE: Henripin, Trends and Factors of Fertility, Table D.3 TABLE 17 Occupational distribution, Ontario 1851-91 Percentage distribution Occupational group

1851

1861

1871

1881

1891

Agricultural Commercial! Domestic Industrial Professional Not classified2

35.1 3.8 7.3 18.2 2.8 32.8

39.5 4.3 6.4 17.8 2.8 29.2

49.4 6.3 5.8 20.2 3.6 14.7

48.3 7.1 5.3 20.6 3.7 15.0

46.0 11.6 14.6 21.2 4.0 2.7

1 Trade and transportation in 1891 2 Non-productive in 1891. Many male labourers in this class were shifted to the domestic class. SOURCE: Pentland, Labour and Capital, Table 4

166 Appendix TABLE 18 Number of families, food animal population, and food production, Toronto 1871-1901

Families Cows Pigs Sheep Wool (Ib) Butter (Ib) Root vegetables (bu) Fruit (bu) Grapes (Ib) Poultry Eggs (dozen)

1871

1881

1891

1901

10,671 1,237 1,014 300 1,094 6,172 18,116 3,405 9,922 n/a n/a

17,967 1,071 164 209 100 2,200 25,674 5,030 23,788 n/a n/a

27,211 500 269 150 624 2,538 n/a 3,564 120,153 18,183 n/a

30,572 152 3 15 0 100 n/a 7,070 59,273 17,194 83,462

SOURCES: Census 1871, i, m; 1881, i, m; 1891, i, iv; 1901, i, n TABLE 19 Number of females in occupations listed in early censuses, Ontario 1851-81

1851

1861

1871

1881

21 453 16,715 2,616

3591 971 21,635 3,180 4,634

Occupations specifically female Midwives Nuns Servants Seamstresses Teachers Tailoresses Washerwomen/ laundresses Farmers

17

18

12,274 331 302 171 1 86

13,778 959 1,119 237 215

298

551

2,822

Occupations probably female: sex not stated Dressmakers and milliners Boarding-house keepers Housekeepers Spinners Stenographers

1,231

1,353

32

126

3,867

9,747

181 29 38

1 Midwives and nurses SOURCES: Census 1851, i, Table 4; Census 1861, i, Table 8; Census 1871, n, Table 13; Census 1881, n, Table 14

167 Appendix TABLE 20 Leading industrial establishments employing females, Ontario 1871-91 (numbers employed and per cent of industry's labour force)

1871

1881

1891

Industry

Females %

Females %

Females

o/o

Tailors and clothiers Dressmaking and millinery Wool and cloth Boots and shoes Furriers and hatters Cheese factories Straw works Cotton factories Bookbinding Tobacco working Hosiery manufacturing Fruit and vegetable canning

3,803 2,023

61 95

5,476 4,574

64 98

8,160 10,438

64 98

1,535 704 356 332 325 303 215 176 174 -

42 11 65 37 87 61 59 25 71

2,441 589 421 287 105 1,094 381 244 928 -

47 10 64 18 76 59 59 21 71

2,963 410 694 175 29 1,230 380 216 367 1,320

50 10 66 9 71 49 48 38 69 73

SOURCES: Census 1871, m, Tables 28-52; Census 1881, m, Tables 29-54; Census 1891, in, Table 1 TABLE 21 Female population and labour force,1 Ontario 1891-1921

Population Labour force % females employed Total labour force (males and females) Females as % of total labour force

1891

1901

1911

1921

805,431 95,612 11.8 731,578

861,886 108,625 12.6 754,202

974,632 154,878 15.9 991,013

1,151,115 195,106 16.9 1,118,519

13.1

14.4

15.6

17.4

1 Ten years of age and over SOURCES: Census 1921, v, Tables 1, 4; Canada Year Book 1939, p 778

168 Appendix TABLE 22 Female domestic servants and labour force, Ontario 1842-1911

Year

Total servants

Female servants

Females Total as % of labour all servants force

1842 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1911

8,209 15,454 17,561 21,184 27,059 43,043 34,4241

5,181 12,274 13,778 16,715 21,635 35,781 32,0621

63 79 78 79 80 85 93

n/a 246,500 340,200 463,400 630,800 750,300 991,013

Servants as % of l.f.

Female servants % of l.f.

n/a 6.3 5.2 4.6 4.3 5.7 3.5

n/a 5.0 4.0 3.6 3.4 4.8 3.3

1 Servants and chars SOURCES: Census, 1851, i, Table 4; 1861, i, Table 8; 1871, n, Table 13, iv, Table 6; 1881, n, Table 14; 1891, n, Table 12; 1911, iv, Table 5; Pentland, Labour and Capital, Table 4, p 133

TABLE 23 Female employment in industrial establishments, Ontario 1871-91

No. 16 Total females < 16 as % of total Total industrial labour force Females as % of total

1871

1881

1891

1,286 9,862 11,148 11.5 87,281 12.8

2,010 17,746 19,756 10.2 118,308 16.7

2,482 32,835 35,317 7.0 166,716 21.2

SOURCES: calculated from Census 1871, HI, Tables 28-55; Census 1881, HI, Tables 29-54; Annie Marion MacLean, 'Factory Legislation for Women in Canada,' American Journal of Sociology 5, 2 (Sept. 1899), 174

169 Appendix TABLE 24 Employment in manufacturing, Ontario 1891-1921 Year

Females

Males

Total

Females as % of total

1891 19011 1911 1921

32,241 33,763 45,515 40,089

88,736 145,249 129,289 150,226

120,977 179,012 174,804 190,315

26.7 18.9 26.0 21.0

1 The figures for 1901 do not reflect the accurate proportion of females in manufacturing because the total for males includes those employed in construction as well. Separate figures for manufacturing and construction are not available by province for this year. SOURCE: Canada Year Book 1939, pp 777-8

TABLE 25 Leading industrial establishments employing females, Ontario 1901-11 (numbers employed and per cent of industry's labour force)1

1901

1911

Industry

Females

%

Females

%

Clothing (men's and women's)2 Fruit and vegetable canning Hosiery and knit goods Woollen goods Printing, publishing, bookbinding Bread, biscuits, confectionery Men's furnishings Cottons Hats, caps, furs Tobacco, cigars, cigarettes Boots and shoes

8,532 2,367 1,916 1,772 1,344 1,169 1,050 981 905 665 674

75 66 67 47 37 37 80 47 67 33 30

11,927 2,379 3,042 1,157 2,117 2,114 1,323 993 736 883 1,437

63 50 50 40 27 39 72 49 44 33 33

1 Includes workers over 16. Out-workers are not included. 2 7,524 outside piece workers and 218 children of unspecified sex also worked in this industry in 1901. In 1911 the numbers in both groups dropped: 1,149 males and 355 females were employed in outside piecework and 186 children were employed in establishments. SOURCES: Census 1901, m, Table 2; 1911, m, Table 3

170 Appendix TABLE 26 Female employment by occupational group, Ontario 1891-1911 (number and per cent of females in the labour force)

%

No.

Agriculture Manufacturing Transportation Trade and Finance Professional Personal service Clerical

1911

1901

1891

5,512 5.8 32,241 33.7 523 0.5 3,649 3.8 9,016 9.4 41,664 43.6 2,015 2.1

No.

%

No.

%

5,690 45,515 2,428 13,953 17,066 52,070 17,442

3,898 3.6 33,763 31.3 5,0261 4.51

n/a2 47,221 43.5 7,604 7.0

3.7 29.4 1.6 9.8 11.8 33.6 11.3

1 Separate figures for transportation and trade and finance not available by province in 1901 2 Figures for professional not available by province in 1901 SOURCE: Canada Year Book 1939, p 778

TABLE 27 Clerical labour force, Ontario 1891-1921

Clerical workers as % of total labour force Females as % of clerical labour force Female clerical workers as % of female labour force

1891

1901

1911

1921

1.6

3.7

4.5

8.5

16.6

27.9

38.8

46.1

2.1

7.0

11.3

22.4

SOURCE: calculated from Canada Year Book 1939, pp 776-8

Notes

Chapter 1 1 For a critique of the economists' approach to women's labour see Martha MacDonald, 'Economics and Feminism: The Dismal Science?' Studies in Political Economy 15 (Fall 1984) 151-78; Isabel V. Sawhill, 'Economic Perspectives on the Family/ in The Economics of Women and Work, ed. Alice Amsden (New York: Penguin 1980), 125-39; Francine D. Blau and Carol L. Jusenius, 'Economists' Approaches to Sex Segregation in the Labour Market: An Appraisal,' in Women and the Workplace, ed. Martha Blaxall and Barbara Reagan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1976), 181-99; Marjorie Cohen, The Problem of Studying "Economic Man"/ in Feminism in Canada, ed. Angela Miles and Geraldine Finn (Montreal: Black Rose 1982), 89-101. 2 Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, I (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1971), 831 3 See, for example, Gary S. Becker, 'A Theory of Marriage: Part I/ Journal of Political Economy 81 (July/Aug. 1973) 813-46; Gary Becker, 'A Theory of the Allocation of Time/ The Economic Journal 80, 200 (Sept. 1965), 493-517; Theodore Schultz, Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children and Human Capital (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1974); Jacob Mincer and Solomon Polachek, 'Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women/ Journal of Political Economy 82, 2 (Mar./Apr. 1974), s76-s!08 4 Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press 1957 [1944]) 5 H. Clare Pentland, Labour and Capital in Canada 1540-1860 (Toronto: James Lorimer 1981), xlv

172 Notes to pp 14-15 Chapter 2 1 For examples of early perspectives on industrialization and women see J.F.C. Harrison, The Early Victorians 1832-51 (New York: Praeger 1971), 74-7; Neil J. Smelser, Social Change in the Industrial Revolution: An Application of Theory to the British Cotton Industry (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1959), 281ff.; Ivy Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution 1750-1850 (London: Virago Press 1981 [1930]), 196-201. 2 Lord Ashley, Answer to the Address of the Central Short-Time Committee, cited in Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 197 3 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, in The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W.W. Norton 1972), 341 4 For information on the significance of the textile industry in the industrialization process see Phyllis Deane, The First Industrial Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1967), 84; David S. Landes, The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present (New York: Macmillan 1955), 42, 89; Smelser, Social Change in the Industrial Revolution, 202; Frances Collier, The Family Economy of the Working Classes in the Cotton Industry 1784-1833 (Manchester: Manchester University Press 1964), 3. Pinchbeck, for example, shows that in 1844 women represented 56 per cent of the workers in cotton mills, 69 per cent of workers in woollen mills, and 70 per cent of workers in silk and flax mills (Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution 197). 5 Estimates for the percentage of married women working in cotton factories by mid-century range from 25 to 30 per cent (Harrison, The Early Victorians 75; Catherine Hall, The Home Turned Upside Down?: The Working-Class Family in Cotton Textiles 1780-1850,' in The Changing Experience of Women, ed. Elizabeth Whitelegg et al. [Oxford: Martin Robinson 1982], 25.) The census of 1851 indicated that 25 per cent of all married women and two-thirds of all widows had an 'extraneous occupation' (Viola Klein, Britain's Married Women Workers [London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1965], 12). 6 Friedrich Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (New York: International Publishers 1942), 148

173 Notes to pp 15-17 7 Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England (Moscow: Progress Publishers 1973), 182 8 Ibid., 184 9 Ibid., 186 10 Ibid., 184 11 Clara C. Collete, Women in Industry, pamphlet, C1900, 9, cited in Eric Richards, 'Women in the British Economy since about 1700: An Interpretation/ History 59 (1974), 351 12 Olive Schreiner, Women and Labour (Toronto: Henry Frowde 1911), 50 13 Some see the rise of the capitalist market economy as dramatically reducing women's position in society. See, for example, Alice Clark, Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1982 [1919]) and Roberta Hamilton, The Liberation of Women: A Study of Patriarchy and Capitalism (London: George Allen & Unwin 1978). Others stress that the transition to industrial capitalism did little to improve women's status (Louise Tilly and Joan Scott, Women, Work, & Family [New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1978]), or that it improved women's position only in the very long run (Richards, 'Women in the British Economy'; Ann Oakley, Women's Work: The Housewife Past and Present [New York: Vintage 1976]). For examples of various positions which hold that industrialization improved women's position in society see: John Burnett, Useful Toil: Autobiographies of Working People from the 1820s to the 1930s (London: Allen Lane 1974), 135; Harrison, The Early Victorians, 77-8; Klein, Britain's Married Women Workers, 2; Wanda F. Neff, Victorian Working Women (London: Frank Cass & Co. 1966 [1929]), 248, 252; Pinchbeck, Women Workers in the Industrial Revolution, 306, 313; Edward Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family (New York: Basic Books 1975), passim; Harold Perkin, The Origins of Modern English Society 1780-1880 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1969), 157-8. 14 Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 228; Oakley, Woman's Work, 33; Rowbotham, Hidden from History: 300 Years of Women's Oppression and the Fight against It (London: Pluto, 3rd ed. 1977), Ch. 5; Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 306; Catherine Hall, The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestickmaker: The Shop and the Family in the Industrial Revolution,' in The Changing Experience of Women, ed. Whitelegg et al., 5; Wally Seccombe,

174 Notes to pp 17-18

15

16

17

18

19

20 21

'Domestic Labour and the Working-Class Household,' in Hidden in the Household: Women's Domestic Labour under Capitalism, ed. Bonnie Fox (London: Women's Press 1980), 76-7; Lee Holcombe, Victorian Ladies at Work; Middle-Class Working Women in England and Wales 1850-1914 (Hamden, CT: Archon 1973), 4 Oakley, Woman's Work 11; Lawrence Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 (Middlesex: Penguin 1979), 139; Seccombe, 'Domestic Labour and the Working-Class Household,' 77; Tilley and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 43 Oakley, Woman's Work, 27; Hans Medick, The Proto-Industrial Family Economy: The Structural Function of Household and Family during the Transition from Peasant Society to Industrial Capitalism,' Social History 3 (Oct. 1976), 313 See, for example, Chayton and Lewis, introduction to Clark, Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century, xxxv; Sally Alexander, 'Women's Work in Nineteenth-Century London: A Study of the Years 1820-50,' in The Rights and Wrongs of Women, ed. Juliet Mitchell and Ann Oakley (New York: Penguin 1976), 78; Peter Lastlett, The World We Have Lost, 2nd ed. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1973), 2; Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family 67. Alexander, 'Women's Work in Nineteenth-Century London,' 75; Rowbotham, Hidden from History, 2; Lise Vogel, The Contested Domain: A Note on the Family in the Transition to Capitalism,' Marxist Perspectives 1 (1978), 66; Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family, 264; Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 231; Oakley, Woman's Work, 34 Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 112, 312-13; Clark, Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century, 12-13. For discussions of the issues surrounding the concept of the individual male providing the income for the entire family, see Michele Barrett and Mary Mcintosh, The "Family Wage",' in The Changing Experience of Women, ed. Whitelegg et al., 71-87; Wally Seccombe, 'Patriarchy Stabilized: The Construction of the Male Breadwinner Wage Norm in Nineteenth-Century Britain,' Social History (Jan. 1986), 53-76. filly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 58-9; Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family, 264; Oakley, Woman's Work, Ch. 2 Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 74; Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 28; Klein, Britain's Married Women Workers, 9; Burnett, Useful Toil, 165; Clark, Working Life of

175 Notes topp 18-19

22 23 24

25

Women in the Seventeenth Century, 38; Holcombe, Victorian Ladies at Work, 4. The fact that servants were increasingly hired by the wealthy farming or middle-class households is seen as evidence that the females of this class were becoming leisured ladies. But recently this reasoning has been challenged. Chris Middleton claims that 'if prosperous yeomen employed several women servants ... it was not so that their wives and daughters could enjoy more ease and leisure; it was rather because there was too much work for them to cope alone' (Chris Middleton, 'Patriarchal Exploitation and the Rise of English Capitalism,' in Gender, Class & Work, ed. Eva Gamarnikow, David Morgan, June Purvis, Daphne Taylorson [London: Heinemann 1983], 21). Patricia Branca points out that the increased time devoted to child care did not leave the middle-class woman idle time during the nineteenth century. What is more, though domestic help was common in middle-class households, most hired only one worker and, with the increased demands on household labour, having only one servant meant that the housewife continued to exert considerable labour within the household (Patricia Branca, Silent Sisterhood: Middle Class Women in the Victorian Home [London: Croom Helm 1975], 53-7). Oakley, Woman's Work, 32. See also Eli Zaretsky, Capitalism, the Family, and Personal Life (New York: Harper & Row 1976), 64; Clark, Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century, 11 Richards, 'Women in the British Economy' 356; Oakley, Woman's Work, 59; Clark, Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 312-13; Bruce Curtis, 'Capital, the State and the Origins of the Working-Class Household,' in Hidden in the Household, ed. Fox, 131; Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family, xiii, 264; Branca, Silent Sisterhood, passim The extent of the increase in women's wage work is inconclusive. Pinchbeck maintains that with industrialization, wage-earning occupations for women became more numerous (Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 1) and Tilly and Scott claim that as a daughter a woman would usually be a wage-earner (Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 228). However, Richards maintains that the possibility that waged labour increased in the early transitional decades is a bare possibility, but that it most certainly decreased after 1820 (Richards, 'Women in the British Economy,' 346).

176 Notes to pp 19-21 26 Ibid., 345. Pinchbeck also maintains that 'women were relegated to certain occupations, the number of which tended to be reduced as capitalist organization developed/ and although factory work was an expanding field of employment for women, all other opportunities for wage work had declined (Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 121, 306). 27 Richards, 'Women in the British Economy/ 349. For an examination of the changes in the employment conditions of women in agriculture during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, see Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, Part I. Patricia Branca points out that agriculture labour remained the major type of employment for women up until 1850 (Branca, Women In Europe since 1750, 25). 28 Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 124. See also Richards, 'Women in the British Economy/ 345. 29 McBride, The Domestic Revolution, passim; Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 68-9; Burnett, Useful Toil, 137 30 Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 4; B.L. Hutchins, Women in Modern Industry (East Ardsley: EP Publishing 1978 [1915], 73 31 McBride, The Domestic Revolution, Table 2.2. The author says the pattern is similar in Europe, the United States, and Latin American countries. 32 For an example of the perspective that considers expanding work for servants as a function of the increased leisure of women in the home see Burnett, Useful Toil, 144. He maintains that 'domestic help was necessary to the Victorian middle and upper classes partly because wives and daughters had become virtually functionless ...' and because people accumulated more things. 33 Alexander, 'Women's Work in Nineteenth-Century London/ 110; Patricia Hollis, 'Working Women/ History 62 (Oct. 1977), 443; Tilly and Scott, Women, Work & Family, 124-5 34 For information on the impact of demographic changes, especially the effect of a surplus female population on labour opportunities, see Richards, 'Women in the British Economy; 349; Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, Ch. 5; Louise A. Tilly, Joan W. Scott, and Miriam Cohen, 'Women's Work and European Fertility Patterns/ Journal of Interdisciplinary History VI (Winter 1976), 447-76. 35 Richards, 'Women in the British Economy/ 337; Ester Boserup, Woman's Role in Economic Development (London: George Allen and

177 Notes to pp 21-5

36

37

38 39

40

41 42 43

Unwin 1970), passim; Barbara Rogers, The Domestication of Women (London: Tavistock 1980) passim Richards, 'Women in the British Economy,' 337; Oakley, Woman's Work, 34ff.; Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 229; Scott and Tilly, 'Woman's Work and the Family in Nineteenth Century Europe,' in The Family in History, ed. Charles E. Rosenberg (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1975), 147; Thompson, 'Women and Nineteenth-Century Radical Politics,' 115; Sheila Lewenhak, Women and Work (Glasgow: Fontana 1980), 172 Melissa Clark, The Status of Women in Relation to Transitions in the Mode of Production,' in Occasional Papers of the McMaster University Sociology of Women Programme 1 (Spring 1977), 152; Hall, The Shop and the Family in the Industrial Revolution,' 15; Seecombe, 'Domestic Labour and the Working Class Household,' 80-1; Alice Clark, Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century, 286; Oakley, Woman's Work, 59 Barrett and Mcintosh, The "Family Wage",' 74; Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 312-13; Oakley, Woman and Work, 43-56 For examples of those who think there is a universal pattern to the capitalist process of industrialization, see Oakley, Women's Work, x, 13; Klein, Britain's Married Women Workers, 19; Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family, 14; Patricia Branca, Women in Europe since 1750 (London: Croom Helm 1978), 217; Theresa M. McBride, The Domestic Revolution (London: Croom Helm 1976), 14. This transformation in England occurred over a long period so there is some disagreement about whether the major changes for women occurred with the early rise of market capitalism (i.e., Clark, Hamilton) or occurred primarily as a result of the rise of the factory system (i.e., Pinchbeck, Oakley). But regardless of the time period seen as most significant, women in the pre-industrial capitalist economy were seen as active participants in the income-earning activities of the family, and it was this activity which was restricted as the economy developed. Medick, The Proto-Industrial Family Economy,' 293 Sonya O. Rose, ' "Gender at Work": Sex, Class and Industrial Capitalism,' History Workshop Journal 21 (Spring 1986), 113-31 Canadian scholars have made important contributions to this analysis. See especially Margaret Benston, The Political Economy of Women's Liberation,' Monthly Review 21 (Sept. 1969), 13-27; Meg

178 Notes to pp 25-9

44

45 46 47 48

49 50 51 52

Luxton, More Than a Labour of Love: Three Generations of Women's Work in the Home (Toronto: Women's Press 1980); and the contributors to Hidden in the Household, ed. Fox. Alexander Szalai, 'Women's Time/ Futures, 1, 5 (Oct. 1975), 385-99; Luxton, More Than a Labour of Love; Ruth Schwartz Cowan, More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave (New York: Basic 1983); Monique Proulx, Five Million Women: A Study of the Canadian Housewife (Ottawa: Advisory Council on the Status of Women 1978); Joann Vanek, Time Spent in Housework/ in The Economics of Women and Work, ed. Alice H. Amsden (New York: Penguin 1980), 82-90; Oakley, Woman's Work Robert E. Johnson, The Origins of Industrial Homework/ in The Seam Allowance: Industrial Home Sewing in Canada, ed. Laura Johnson (Toronto: Women's Educational Press 1982), 29-57 Susannah Wilson, Women, the Family & the Economy: The Sociology of Women in Canada (Toronto: McGraw-Hill 1982), 53 Margaret Benston, 'Introduction/ Last Hired, First Fired: Women and the Canadian Work Force, by Patricia Connelly (Toronto: Women's Press 1978), 3 Benston alludes to the retreat of women also in The Political Economy of Women's Liberation' (p 20), where she maintains that women's labour-force participation is higher during early periods of industrialization when labour is scarce. Penny Kome, Somebody Has to Do It: Whose Work Is Housework? (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1982) 64 Leo Johnson, The Political Economy of Ontario Women/ in Women at Work: Ontario 1850-1930, ed. Janice Acton et al. (Toronto: The Canadian Women's Educational Press 1974), 24 Connelly, Last Hired, First Fired, 41 Pat Armstrong and Hugh Armstrong, The Double Ghetto: Canadian Women and Their Segregated Work (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1978), 58 Chapter 3

1 The preoccupation of historians with the history of males and the distortions this has caused in historical methodology has been a subject of considerable interest to feminist historians in recent years. Of particular note are the following: Nancy Schrom Dye, 'Clio's

179 Notes to p 29 American Daughters: Male History, Female Reality/ and Jane Tibbets Schulenburg, 'Clio's European Daughters: Myopic Modes of Perception/ in The Prism of Sex: Essays in the Sociology of Knowledge, ed. Julia A. Sherman and Evelyn Torton Beck (Madison, wi: University of Wisconsin Press 1979); Natalie Zemon Davis, ' "Women's History" in Transition: The European Case/ Feminist Studies 3 (Spring/Summer 1976), 809-23; Gerda Lerner, 'Placing Women in History: Definitions and Challenges/ Feminist Studies 3 (Fall 1975), 5-13; Ruth Pierson and Alison Prentice, 'Feminism and the Writing and Teaching of History/ Atlantis 7 (Spring 1982), 37-46. 2 For a discussion of the inadequacy of using concepts designed to explain market behaviour to explain non-market behaviour, see Marjorie Cohen, The Problem of Studying "Economic Man"/ in Feminism in Canada, ed. Angela Miles and Geraldine Finn (Montreal: Black Rose Book 1982), 89-101; Marjorie Cohen, The Razor's Edge Invisible: Feminism's Effect on Economics/ International Journal of Women's Studies 8, 2 (May/June 1985), 286-98; Bonnie Fox, 'Women's Domestic Labour and Their Involvement in Wage Work: Twentieth Century Changes in the Reproduction of Daily Life/ PHD Dissertation, University of Alberta 1980), 160. 3 Some economists, most notably Mel Watkins, Daniel Drache, and Richard Caves and Richard Holton find the significance of export staples to the economy important in explaining Canada's economic dependence and its chronic economic problems even in the twentieth century. See H.M. Watkins, 'A Staple Theory of Economic Growth/ Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science xxix (May 1963), 141-8; Richard E. Caves and Richard H. Holton, The Canadian Economy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1961); Daniel Drache, 'Staple-ization: A Theory of Capitalist Development/ in Imperialism, Nationalism and Canada, ed. Craig Heron (Toronto: New Hogtown Press 1977), 15-33. 4 Carl Berger, The Writing of Canadian History (2nd ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1986), 98; H. Clare Pentland, Labour and Capital in Canada 1650-1860 (Toronto: James Lorimer 1981); Gregory S. Kealey, Toronto Workers Respond to Industrial Capitalism 1867-1914 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1980); Bryan D. Palmer, Working-Class Experience: The Rise and Reconstitution of Canadian Labour 1800-1980 (Toronto: Butterworths 1983); David McNally, 'Staple Theory as Commodity Fetishism: Marx, Innis and Canadian Political Economy/ Studies in Political Economy (Autumn 1980), 35-63

180 Notes topp 30-2 5 Louise Dechene, Habitants et marchands de Montreal au XVHe siecle (Montreal: Plon 1974); Jean Hamelin, Economie et societe en NouvelleFranee (Quebec: Universite Laval 1961) 6 Kenneth Buckley, The Role of Staple Industries in Canada's Economic Development/ Journal of Economic History (Dec. 1958), 439-50 7 Douglas McCalla, The Wheat Staple and Upper Canadian Development/ Historical Papers (1978), 34-46 8 See especially Douglas McCalla, The Internal Economy of Upper Canada: Some Evidence on Patterns of Agricultural Marketing (to 1850)/ paper presented to the Thirteenth Conference on Quantitative Methods in Canadian Economic History, March 1984; John McCallum, Unequal Beginnings: Agriculture and Economic Development in Quebec and Ontario until 1870 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1980). 9 McCalla, for example, wants to correct the picture of Ontario as solely reliant on wheat exports and shows that it was, 'in some sense a mixed-farming economy/ but still, wheat was critical for, as he says, the more complex economy was 'founded in most areas on wheat as the central crop for market purposes' (McCalla, The Internal Economy of Upper Canada/ 19). 10 McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, especially Ch. 8 11 For a thorough discussion of the distinctions between the approaches of Mackintosh and Innis, see Daniel Drache, 'Rediscovering Canadian Political Economy/ in A Practical Guide to Canadian Political Economy, by Wallace Clement and Daniel Drache (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company 1978). 12 W.A. Mackintosh, 'Economic Factors in Canadian History/ in Approaches to Canadian Economic History, ed. W.T. Easterbrook and M.H. Watkins (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1967), 1-15; W.A. Mackintosh, The Economic Background of Dominion-Provincial Relations (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1964) 13 The problems inherent in staple development are discussed throughout Innis's work. Of particular importance are the following: Problems of Staple Production in Canada (Toronto: Ryerson Press 1933); 'Unused Capacity as a Factor in Canadian Economic History' and 'Significant Factors in Canadian Economic Development/ in Essays in Canadian Economic History, ed. Mary Q. Innis (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1956). 14 Richard E. Caves, ' "Vent for Surplus" Models of Trade and Growth/ in Trade, Growth and the Balance of Payments: Essays in Honor of

181 Notes topp 32-5

15 16 17 18

19 20 21

22

23 24 25

26

Gottfried Haberler, ed. R.E. Baldwin et al. (Chicago: Rand-McNally 1965), 95-115 William L. Marr and Donald G. Paterson, Canada: An Economic History (Toronto: Gage 1980), 11 Harold Innis, The Fur Trade in Canada, rev. ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1956), 187 Richard Caves, in ' "Vent for Surplus" ' presents an abstract model of factor movements in a staple model of economic growth and international trade. Rapport de I'Archiviste de la province de Quebec, 1933-34 (Quebec 1934), 214, cited in Documents in Canadian History: New France 1713-1760, ed. Virginia R. Robeson (Toronto: OISE 1977), 39-40; A.W. Currie, Canadian Economic Development, rev. ed. (Toronto: Thomas Nelson 1951), 36 Watkins, 'A Staple Theory/ 153-4 Caves, ' "Vent for Surplus," ' 101 For a comprehensive discussion of the way in which Innis sees developmental linkages turn into permanent rigidities, see Daniel Drache, 'Harold Innis and Canadian Capitalist Development,' Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory 6 (Winter/Spring 1981), 35-60. The problems presented by dramatic fluctuations in the staple trades are frequently raised by Canadian economic historians. See especially A.R.M. Lower, The Lumber Trade between Canada and the U.S./ in The North American Assault on the Canadian Forest, ed. Harold Innis (Toronto: Ryerson Press 1938), xx; A.R.M. Lower and H.A. Innis, Settlement and the Forest and Mining Frontiers (Toronto: Macmillan 1936), 33; Innis, Problems, 7; Marr and Paterson, Canada, 24-5; Pentland, Labour and Capital, 111. Harold A. Innis, 'Government Ownership and the Canadian Scene/ in Essays in Canadian Economic History, ed. Mary Q. Innis, 79-80; Innis, Problems, 8 Pentland, Labour and Capital, 11 For a discussion of the various labour requirements and methods of labour organization characteristic of each type of staple production, see Daniel Drache, The Formation and Fragmentation of the Canadian Working Class: 1820-1920/ Studies in Political Economy (Fall 1984), 43-89. Canadian feminist historians, however, have begun to examine the significance of female labour to the staple trades. See especially Sylvia Van Kirk, 'Many Tender Ties': Women in Fur-Trade Society

182 Notes topp 35-8

27 28 29 30 31

32

33

34

1670-1870 (Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer 1980); Jan Noel, 'Les Femmes favorisees," in The Neglected Majority, H, ed. Alison Prentice and Susan Mann Trofimenkoff (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1985), 18-40; Marilyn Porter, ' "Women and Old Boats": The Sexual Division of Labour in a Newfoundland Outport/ in The Public and the Private ed. Eva Gamarnikow et al.; Marilyn Porter, 'She Was Skipper of the Shore-Crew: Notes on the History of the Sexual Division of Labour in Newfoundland,' Labour/Le Travail 15 (Spring 1985), 105-23. Allan Greer, 'Wage Labour and the Transition to Capitalism: A Critique of Pentland,' Labour/Le Travail 15 (Spring 1985), 21 Allan Greer, Peasant, Lord, and Merchant: Rural Society in Three Quebec Parishes 1740-1840 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1985) Arthur Lewis, 'Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour,' Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies II (May 1957), 149 Marr and Paterson, Canada, Ch. 4 This was true in all forms of staple development where wage labour occurred. See, for example, Fernand Ouellet, 'Dualite economique et changement technologique au Quebec (1760-1790),' Histoire sociale/Social History, 257; Lower and Innis, Settlement and the Forest, 32; Sacouman, 'Semi-Proletarianization and Rural Underdevelopment in the Maritimes,' Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 17 (1980); Pentland, Labour and Capital, 29; Allan Greer, 'Fur-Trade Labour and Lower Canadian Agrarian Structures,' Canadian Historical Association, Historical Papers (1981), 197-214. In Women, Work, & Family, for example, Louise Tilly and Joan Scott explain the basic division of labour between men and women in the family economy. While there was considerable diversity of roles and frequent overlapping of tasks, women's work centred on the household. Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, especially Ch. 3. Naomi Griffiths points out that while certain industries in Canada encouraged a division of labour strictly according to age and gender, such as lumbering and fishing, in small settlements 'the personality of the individual and the immediate challenge of the day were more important than social conventions about gender-roles.' Naomi Griffiths, Penelope's Web (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1976), 124-5 There is an extensive literature on this subject which is now known as 'the domestic labour debate.' An excellent overview of the literature is provided by Eve Kaluzynska, 'Wiping the Floor with

183 Notes to pp 38-9

35

36

37

38

Theory: A Survey of Writings on Housework/ Feminist Review 6 (1980). Carmen D. Deere, 'Rural Women's Subsistence Production in the Capitalist Periphery/ in Peasants and Proletarians, ed. Robin Cohen, Peter C.W. Gutkind, and Phylis Brazier (New York: Monthly Review Press 1979), 133-48. R. James Sacouman, in his work on the Maritimes, discusses how subsistence farming has been an integral part of capitalist accumulation in the staple trades of that region: 'Subsistence farming has provided and still provides the principal base for the "superexploitation" ... of the petty inshore fishermen and woodlot cutter. The money value of fish and of logs can be lowered below the value of labour power replacement since subsistence production does, even in its most truncated form, provide material sustenance directly, without the intermediary of cash/ R. James Sacouman, 'Semi-Proletarianization and Rural Underdevelopment in the Maritimes/ 235-7 This analysis follows a Marxian explanation of capital accumulation where surplus value is extracted from labour when labour is not paid a wage equal to the total value it produces, but is paid a wage which reflects the socially necessary labour time expended in production. Deere argues that since the value of labour reflects socially necessary labour, it is possible to reduce the value of labour when some of the goods and services required to maintain and reproduce labour are produced by non-waged labour. Deere, 'Rural Women/ 137-8 Generally the prevalence of female subsistence agricultural labour is most directly associated with underdeveloped Third World countries. See, for example, Esther Boserup, Economic Development (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd 1970), 77-8. While there are important similarities in the function of female pre-industrial labour in Canada and that of women in Third World countries today, there are also significant differences. The critical distinction between conditions in Third World economies with large resource-exporting sectors and Canada's early staple development is that Third World countries typically have an abundant labour supply whereas Canada experienced labour shortages. Also, in Third World countries there often existed well-developed agricultural and market traditions which continued to have an impact after colonial domination. In Canada agricultural and market development did not precede resource development. Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations, Book I, 27,

184 Notes topp 39-43

39 40

41

42 43

44 45 46 47 48 49

50

cited in Vernon Fowke, The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Pioneer/ Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada 56 (1962), 26 Greer, Peasant, Lord and Merchant, 205 Fowke, The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Pioneer,' 27. For a recent evaluation of Fowke's thesis see Leo A. Johnson, 'New Thoughts on an Old Problem: Self-Sufficient Agriculture in Ontario," paper presented to Canadian Historical Association, June 1984. Marr and Paterson, Canada, 80; Vernon C. Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy: The Historical Pattern (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1978 [1946]), 45, 48; Robert Leslie Jones, History of Agriculture in Ontario 1613-1880 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1946), 307 For an excellent discussion of the misconceived dichotomy between subsistence and market activity, see Greer, Peasant, Lord and Merchant, 202-5. It is used frequently in this sense in Canada. Particularly important are the following: Max Hedley, 'Domestic Commodity Production: Small Farms in Alberta,' in Challenging Anthropology, ed. David H. Turner and Gavin A. Smith (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1979), 280-98; Max Hedley, 'Independent Commodity Production," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 13 (1976), 413-21; Leo Johnson, 'Independent Commodity Production: Mode of Production or Capitalist Class Formation?" Studies in Political Economy 6 (1981), 93-112; Sacouman, 'Semi-Proletarianization and Rural Underdevelopment in the Maritimes.' For a discussion of the necessity of a capitalist labour market for the term 'commodity production' to be appropriate, see Michael Merrill, 'Cash Is Good to Eat: Self-Sufficiency and Exchange in the Rural Economy of the United States,' Radical History Review (Winter 1977), 42-71. A.V. Chayanov, The Theory of the Peasant Economy (Urbana: University of Illinois Press 1966) Oakley, Woman's Work, 16 Pentland, Labour and Capital, 24 Paul Phillips, 'Introduction,' in Pentland, Labour and Capital, xxvi Pentland, Labour and Capital, Ch. 2 D. Roberts, Paternalism in Early Victorian England (London: Croom Helm 1979), cited in Judy Lowen, 'Not So Much a Factory, More a Form of Patriarchy: Gender and Class during Industrialization,' in Gender, Class & Work, ed. Gamarnikow et al. In the major study on labour in Canadian agriculture there is a brief reference to the labour of unpaid family workers, but for the most

185 Notes to pp 44-7

51 52 53

54

55 56 57 58 59 60 61

part the author chooses to see farm units which did not hire labour as being 'owner-operated/ and refers only to the labour performed by the male owner. George Haythorne, Labour in Canadian Agriculture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1960) Oscar Lange, Political Economy, I, trans. A.H. Walker (Oxford: Pergamon Press 1963), 16-17 James A. Henretta, 'Families and Farms: Mentalite in Pre-Industrial America,' William and Mary Quarterly 35 (Jan. 1978), 21 Max Hedley, in his studies of family farms in twentieth-century western Canada, points to the inequalities in productive relations which are concealed by the term 'family farm.' He says: 'we need to recognize that while there is private ownership of the means of production by an individual who applies his own labour to the productive process, there is also a considerable amount of labour by non-owners of the means of production. The commodities produced by this labour do not belong to the actual producer but to the owners of the means of production; therefore, any surplus labour embodied in them is in effect expropriated.' Max Hedley, 'Relations of Production of the "Family Farm": Canadian Prairies,' Journal of Peasant Studies 9 (1981), 74 Redmond v Redmond (1868), 1 Upper Canada Queen's Bench Reports 220, cited by Paul Craven, The Law of Master and Servant in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Ontario,' in Essays in the History of Canadian Law, ed. David H. Flaherty, I (Toronto: Osgoode Society 1981), 177 Margaret E. MacLellan, 'History of Women's Rights in Canada,' in Cultural Tradition and Political History of Women in Canada, Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, No. 8, p 1 Linda Silver Dranoff, Women In Canadian Life: Law (Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside 1977), 26 Constance B. Backhouse, 'Shifting Patterns in Nineteenth-Century Canadian Custody Law,' in Essays in the History of Canadian Law, ed. David H. Flaherty, 212-48 Ibid., 213 Constance B. Backhouse, 'Married Women's Property Law in Nineteenth-Century Canada,' unpublished paper, April 1987 Sheila Kieran, The Family Matters: Two Centuries of Family Law and Life in Ontario (Toronto: Key Porter 1986), 51 For a full discussion of the specifics of the law and how it was subsequently interpreted by the courts, see Backhouse, 'Married Women's Property Law in Nineteenth-Century Canada.'

186 Notes to pp 47-53 62 Similar acts permitting married women to own and control property were passed by other provinces in the following years: British Columbia 1873; Manitoba 1875; Newfoundland 1876; Nova Scotia 1884; Northwest Territories 1886; New Brunswick 1896; Prince Edward Island 1896; Saskatchewan 1907; Alberta 1922. MacLellan, 'Women's Rights,' 4 63 National Council of Women of Canada, Women of Canada: Their Life and Work, ed. Isabel Aberdeen (Ottawa: Queen's Printer 1900), 39 64 Bruce S. Elliott correctly points out the dangers in looking only at wills for inheritance patterns. They tend to be more representative of the wealthy than the poor, the old rather than the young, and the sick rather than the healthy. 'Sources of Bias in Nineteenth-Century Ontario Wills,' Histoire sociale/Social History 17, 35 (May 1985) 65 See Appendix, Tables 7-10, for evidence of changes in some inheritance practices regarding women toward the end of the century when their ability to own and control property changed. 66 For information on the significance of this area as a supplier of waged labour in the timber camps on the Ottawa see Arthur R.M. Lower, Great Britain's Woodyard: British America and the Timber Trade, 1763-1867 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press 1973), 188; also, for the effect of increased immigration to more westerly points of province on income generating activities in Dundas, see James Croil, Dundas, or A Sketch of Canadian History (Montreal: B. Dawson & Son 1861), 152. 67 Public Archives of Ontario [hereafter PAO], Wills Collection, [hereafter we], csl-1251, Mary Links 1801 68 PAO, we, GSl-1253, William Cassidy 1853 69 See Appendix, Tables 7 and 9; also David Gagan, Hopeful Travellers: Families, Land, and Social Change in Mid-Victorian Peel County, Canada West (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1981), 55. 70 PAO, we, GSl-1253, Hugh Shaw 1853 71 The right of married women to guardianship of their children was introduced in provincial statutes from 1910 to 1923. McClellan, 'Women's Rights,' 5 72 PAO, we, GS 1-1251, George Grites 1804 73 PAO, we, GSl-1253, Donald Fraser 1853 74 PAO, we, GSl-1253, Alexander McGruner 1857 75 PAO, we, GSl-1251, John Saver 1811 76 PAO, we, GSl-1253, Adam Cockburnl854; PAO we, csl-1264, Robert Valance 1890 77 Gagan, Hopeful Travellers, Ch. 3

187 Notes to pp 53-6 78 E.P. Dunlop, ed., Our Forest Home: Being Extracts from the Correspondence of the Late Frances Stewart (Toronto 1889), 80-1 79 Susannah Moodie, Life in the Clearings vs the Bush (New York: DeWitt & Davenport 1855), 291-2 80 Moodie seemed to see this as a matter of will more than of necessity, saying 'they submit with great apparent cheerfulness, and seem to think it necessary to work for the shelter of a child's roof, and the bread they eat.' Ibid., 292 81 PAO, we, GS1-1251, John Munro 1800 82 Women were given the right to dispose of property by testament in Ontario in 1801. Susan Altschul and Christine Caron, 'Chronology of Legal Landmarks in the History of Canadian Women,' McGill Law Journal 21 (Winter 1975), 476 83 Gagan, Hopeful Travellers, 44; Folbre, 'Patriarchy,' 6; see also Lawrence Stone, The Rise of the Nuclear Family in Early Modern England: The Patriarchal State,' in The Family in History, ed. Charles E. Rosenberg (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1975), 13-57, for a discussion of inheritance as a means of strengthening patriarchy. 84 Herbert J. Mays, in a study of the settlement of Gore near Toronto, has shown that acquiring land through inheritance, rather than direct sales, became increasingly significant for males by midcentury as land became more scarce and the population aged. ' "A Place to Stand": Families, Land and Permanence in Toronto Gore Township, 1820-1890,' Historical Papers (1980), 185-211 85 Gagan, Hopeful Travellers, 50 86 A.R.M. Lower, Canadians in the Making: A Social History of Canada (Toronto: Longmans, Green & Company 1958), 336 87 See also Appendix, Tables 8, 10. 88 PAO, we, GS 1-1251, Adam Johnston 1803 89 From 1800 to 1811 in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County, 38 per cent of the wills filed did not leave a bequest to daughters. In some of these families there may have been no daughters, but still the percentage is high. By 1850-58 the proportion had dropped to 25 per cent. 90 PAO, we, GS 1-1264, John McKercher 1890 91 In the early part of the century this accounted for more than twothirds of all wills. By mid-century almost four-fifths of the wills either neglected daughters altogether or gave them only very small bequests. 92 PAO, we, GSl-1253, Duncan McDonald 1850

188 Notes topp 57-62 93 Sprague and Wife v Nickerson (1844), 1 Upper Canada Queen's Bench Reports 284, cited by Craven, The Law of Master and Servant/ 177 94 Moodie, Life in the Clearings, 138 95 Rosemary R. Ball, ' "A Perfect Farmer's Wife": Women in 19th Century Rural Ontario,' Canada: An Historical Magazine 3 (December 1975), 16; Gagan, Hopeful Travellers, 50-1 Chapter 4 1 The uneven nature of capitalist development is a recurring theme in economic literature. See, for example, Raphael Samuel, 'Workshop of the World: Steam Power and Hand Technology in Mid-Victorian Britain,' History Workshop 3 (1977), 57; Phyllis Deane, The First Industrial Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1967), 115-53; Gregory S. Kealey, Workers Respond, 27-30. 2 Cole R. Harris and John Warkentin, Canada Before Confederation: A Study in Historical Geography (New York: Oxford University Press 1974), 35; McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 9 3 Jacob Spelt, Urban Development in South-Central Ontario (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1972), 72 4 Fowke, 'The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Pioneer,' 23-37 5 McCalla, The Internal Economy of Upper Canada,' unpublished paper presented at the Thirteenth Conference on Quantitative Methods in Canadian Economic History, March 1984; The Loyalist' Economy of Upper Canada, 1784-1806,' Histoire Sociale/Social History 16, 31 (May 1983), 279-304; The Wheat Staple and Upper Canadian Development,' Historical Papers (1978), 34-46 6 McCalla, The ''Loyalist" Economy of Upper Canada,' 299 7 Johnson, 'New Thoughts of an Old Problem,' 1 8 The imports from Britain were considerable. According to one observer writing in the 1830s it amounted to over $40 per person annually. William Dunlop, Tiger Dunlop's Upper Canada (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1967 [1832]), 68. For an analysis of immigrants' desire to settle on land specifically suitable for wheat production see Kenneth Kelly, The Evaluation of Land for Wheat Cultivation in Early Nineteenth Century Ontario,' Ontario History 62, 1 (Mar. 1970), 57-64. 9 Jones, History of Agriculture, 9 10 Brian S. Osborne, Trading on a Frontier: The Function of Peddlers, Markets, and Fairs in Nineteenth Century Ontario,' in Canadian

189 Notes to pp 62-4

11 12

13

14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21

22

Papers in Rural History, ed. Donald H. Akenson (Gananoque, Ont.: Langdale Press 1980), 69-71. Edwin Guillet gives a thorough description of Ontario's roads in the first half of the nineteenth century in Pioneer Travel in Upper Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1933). For an example of the difficulties of getting produce to market despite living relatively close to an urban centre see The Journals of Mary O'Brien, 1828-1838, ed. Audrey S. Miller (Toronto: Macmillan 1968), 80-2. McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 1-10 Easterbrook and Aitken, Canadian Economic History, 157. This claim does not include the value of fur exports. See McCalla, The ''Loyalist" Economy of Upper Canada/ 294. The uncertainty of income from wheat production is a common theme in the early literature on the economy. For example, see PAO, 'First Report from the Committee appointed to inquire into the state of the Trade and Commerce of the Province of Upper Canada/ Appendix, Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada. First Session of the Twelfth Provincial Parliament, Session 1835. Reproduced in Documents in Canadian History: Upper Canada in the 1830s, ed. Virginia R. Robeson (Toronto: OISE 1977), 40-3 McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 12 McCalla, 'The Internal Economy of Upper Canada/ 2 McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 4 McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, Table S.4; calculations are my own. McCallum asserts that three-fourths of farm incomes was from wheat (ibid.). However, McCalla argues that one-half is a more accurate figure (McCalla, The Internal Economy of Upper Canada/ 32). McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, Table S.4 Johnson, 'New Thoughts on an Old Problem' Lower, Great Britain's Woodyard, 249-50; McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 68 Parliamentary Papers, 1854, XLVI, reproduced by Helen I. Cowan, British Emigration to British North America: The First Hundred Years (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1961, rev. ed.), 285 William Dunlop, Statistical Sketches of Upper Canada for the Benefit of Emigrants: By a Backwoodsman in Tiger Dunlop's Upper Canada 120; Innis, 'Unused Capacity/ 146; for information on the conditions of timber ships converted for passenger transport, see Cowan, British Emigration, 146-7.

190 Notes to pp 65-9 23 Fowke, The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Pioneer/ 27. Helen I. Cowan discusses the factors influencing immigration from Britain in British Emigration to British North America 1783-1837 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1927); see also B.C. Corbett, Immigration and Economic Development,' Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 18 (Aug. 1951), 360-8. 24 Marr and Paterson, Canada, 73; Spelt, Urban Development, 74 25 Michael S. Cross, The Lumber Community of Upper Canada, 1815-1867,' Ontario History 52 (Dec. 1960), 215; Jones, History of Agriculture, 120 26 Lower and Innis, Settlement and the Forest Frontier, 42-3; Esterbrook and Aitken, Canadian Economic History, 198-9. In the eastern counties of Ontario, however, combining lumbering and farming created problems for the development of agriculture (Jones, History of Agriculture, 115). For an account of the rise of capitalist logging, see Cross, The Lumber Community of Upper Canada/ 216ff. 27 For a detailed analysis of how families whose primary commitment was to agriculture were influenced by the lumber industry see Chad Gaffield, 'Canadian Families in Cultural Context: Hypotheses from the Mid-Nineteenth Century/ Historical Papers (1979), 48-70. 28 Cowan, British Emigration to British North America, 285 29 Cross, The Lumber Community of Upper Canada/ 228; Lower, Great Britain's Woodyard, 188; Jones, History of Agriculture, 115 30 Jones states explicitly that the farmer pursuing an income from the timber trade 'made money when there was nothing to do on the farm except chores ...' (ibid., 116). 31 Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy, 47. For a discussion of the wide fluctuations in the timber trade in the first part of the nineteenth century, see Lower and Innis, Settlement and the Forest. 32 Hedley, Independent Commodity Production/ 413-21 33 Johnson, 'New Thoughts on an Old Problem/ 17ff. 34 John Howison, Sketches of Upper Canada (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd 1925, 3rd ed.), 83 35 PAO, Diaries Collection, Diary of Ann Powell, reproduced in Pioneer and Gentlewomen in British North America 1713-1867, ed. Beth Light and Alison Prentice (Toronto: New Hogtown Press 1980), 118 36 See especially H.H. Langton, ed., A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada: The Journals of Anne Langton (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin 1950); Susannah Moodie, Roughing It in the Bush (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1962 [1852]): Miller, The Journals of Mary O'Brien 1828-1838;

191 Notes to pp 69-72

37 38

39 40 41 42 43 44 45

46 47 48

49

Catharine Parr Traill, The Canadian Settler's Guide (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1969 [1855]). Rebecca Schecter, 'Canadian Pioneer Cookery: A Structural Analysis,' Journal of Canadian Studies 12 (1977), 5; Edwin C. Guillet, Pioneer Arts and Crafts (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1968 [1940]), 51 Jane Kitteringham, 'Country Work Girls in Nineteenth-Century England/ in Village Life and Labour, ed. Raphael Samuel (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1975), 73-138; Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, Part l; Rudolf Braun, The Impact of Cottage Industry on an Agricultural Population/ in Rise of Capitalism, ed. David S. Landes (New York: Macmillan 1955), 53-64; Hans Medick, The Proto-Industrial Family Economy/ 291-315 Harris and Warkentin, Canada before Confederation, 135 Samuel Thompson, Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the Last Fifty Years (1833-1883) (McClelland & Stewart 1968 [1884]), 41 Leo A. Johnson, History of the County of Ontario 1615-1875 (Whitby: County of Ontario 1973), 52 Langton, A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada, 49 James Croil, Dundas, 217 Howison, Sketches of Upper Canada, 239 Light and Prentice, Pioneer and Gentlewomen, 96-9; Leo Johnson, The Political Economy of Ontario Women in the Nineteenth Century/ 17; Andrew Hay don, Pioneer Sketches in the District of Bathurst (Toronto 1925), 206; Gerald E. Boyce, Hutton of Hastings: The Life and Letters of William Hutton, 1801-64 (Belleville: Hastings County Council 1972), 115; Howison, Sketches, 245-6 David Gagan, 'Land, Population, and Social Change: The "Critical Years" in Rural Canada West/ Canadian Historical Review 59, 3 (Sept. 1978), 293-318 John MacGregor, British America (Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1833), reproduced in Upper Canada in the 1830s, ed. Robeson, 63 R.M. Mclnnis, 'Childbearing and Land Availability: Some Evidence from Individual Household Data/ in Population Patterns in the Past, ed. Ronald Demos Lee (New York: Academic Press 1977) 202. Mclnnis shows that the lower birth rates in older regions is not a reflection of age differences in the population between old and new settlements (ibid., 216). Gagan, 'Land, Population, and Social Change/ 297. The five districts which listed the number of families and total population in the 1842 census would indicate that the average family size ranged from 5.3

192 Notes to pp 73-8

50

51 52

53 54 55 56 57 58 59

60 61 62

63 64 65

persons to 6.3 persons. Calculated from Census 1871, iv, 134. However, as Mclnnis noted, early records on family size tend to have a downward bias: 'completion of childbearing occurred at a relatively late age, by which time older children would have begun to leave home; (Mclnnis, 'Childbearing and Land Availability/ 215). See especially, Louise Tivy, ed., Your Loving Anna: Letters from the Ontario Frontier (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1972); Miller, The Journals of Mary O'Brien-, Susannah Moodie, Roughing It in the Bush', Haydon, Pioneer Sketches, 206. Johnson, County of Ontario, 53; Fowke, The Myth of the SelfSufficient Pioneer' 32; Howison, Sketches, 245 Statement by R.B. Sullivan and R. Baldwin, June 1840, Upper Canada State Papers, Vol. 24, PAC, cited by Leo A. Johnson, 'Wages and Prices in Upper Canada, 1840,' unpublished paper, Montreal Conference on Class and Culture, 1980, p 23 Haydon, Pioneer Sketches, 205 Moodie, Roughing It in the Bush, 130, 154; Light and Prentice, Pioneer and Gentlewomen, 150; Miller, The Journals of Mary O'Brien, 135, 166ff., 198 Haydon, Pioneer Sketches, 206 Boyce, Hutton of Hastings, 61 W.H. Graham, The Tiger of Canada West (Toronto: n.p. 1962), 92-3; cited in Johnson, 'Independent Commodity Production,' 106 Cannif Haight, Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago (Toronto: Hunter & Ross 1885), 81-2; William Canniff, The Settlement of Upper Canada (Toronto: Dudley & Burns 1869), 212 Gourlay, Statistical Account, 170; Jones, History of Agriculture, 23; PAC, Personal Diaries, MS475, John Tidey Diary, 1839, reproduced in Light and Prentice, Pioneer and Gentlewomen, 121; Ronald T.F. Thompson, ed., Life from Old Letters, 1794-1886 (Victoria, BC: n.p. 1969), 33; Gourlay, Statistical Account, 362; Boyce, Hutton of Hastings, 96 Cited by Guillet, Pioneer Arts and Crafts, 24 Canniff, Settlement of Upper Canada, 214 Guillet, Pioneer Arts and Crafts, 35; see also Haight, Country Life in Canada, 57; Harold B. Burnham and Dorothy K. Burnham, 'Keep Me Warm One Night': Early Hand-leaving in Eastern Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1972), 16. Canniff, Settlement of Upper Canada, 213 Dorothy Burnham, The Comfortable Arts: Traditional Spinning and Weaving in Canada (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada 1981), 98 The production of linen in Quebec continued to be an important

193 Notes to pp 78-83

66 67 68 69 70 71

72 73

74 75 76 77

78 79 80 81

82 83

household task. In 1861, when production in Ontario amounted to about 37,000 yards, Quebec households produced over one million yards. Census 1861 Light and Prentice, Pioneer and Gentlewomen, 121 Ibid., 122 Traill, Settler's Guide, 177-8 Boyce, Button of Hastings, 102 Ibid., 131 Burnham and Burnham, 'Keep Me Warm,' 18. Catharine Parr Traill reported that men's socks were sold for Is. 6p. to 2s. 3p. One settler's daughter knitted seventy-five pairs in one year to provide clothes for her marriage. Settler's Guide, 184 William Thompson, A Tradesman's Travels in the U.S. and Canada (Edinburgh 1842), 145 Audrey Spencer, Spinning and Weaving at Upper Canada Village (Toronto: Ryerson Press 1964), 6-7. For information on the types of cloth imported into Ontario between 1791 and 1840, see Pearl Wilson, 'Consumer Buying in Upper Canada 1791-1840,' in Historical Essays on Upper Canada, ed. J.K. Johnson (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1975). Burnham, The Comfortable Arts, 110 The 1851 census listed 1738 weavers in Ontario. These were rather unevenly distributed with 128 in the Waterloo district and 318 in the Lanark district. Census 1851, I, 525 Burnham and Burnham, 'Keep Me Warm,' 11 For examples of women's skill, see Katherine Brett, Ontario Hand'woven Textiles: An Introduction to Handweaving in Ontario in the Nineteenth Century (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum 1956), 7, for the work of Rosanna and Hester Young. Spencer, Spinning and Weaving, 32; Census 1851, n, 262 A small cloth mill was built at Belleville in 1809. Spencer, Spinning and Weaving, 33 Census 1851, H, 263. There was a slight increase in production during the American Civil War, but this was short-lived. McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 88. The decline in farm-produced cloth in Ontario is a sharp contrast to the conditions in Quebec, where from 1850 to 1870 its production increased by more than 50 per cent. Gourlay, Statistical Account of Upper Canada, I (London: Simpkin & Marshall 1822), 439 Harris and Warkentin, Canada before Confederation, 125

194 Notes to pp 83-6 84 Cannif, Settlement of Upper Canada, 173-5; Spelt, Urban Development, 57; Leo Johnson, 'Land Policy, Population Growth and Social Structure in the Home District, 1793-1851,' Ontario History 68 (1979), 41-60 85 Female isolation was particularly extreme in some sections. Frances Stewart, for example, wrote of spending more than a year without seeing a female other than her sister. Cowan, British Emigration, 81; also, Anna Brownell Jameson, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1965 [1838]), 79 86 Britain's supplies of hemp from Russia had been jeopardized by the unstable political situation in Europe. Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy, 74 87 Dunlop, Statistical Sketches, 129 88 Report of the State of the Government of Quebec in Canada, cited in Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy, 68 89 Ibid., 68-9 90 Gourlay, Statistical Account, 155-6, 126; Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy, 75. Joseph Bouchette discusses the difficulties of finding markets for unprocessed hemp. The British Dominion in North America I (London: Longman 1831), 470-8 91 The idleness of women and children in rural areas is frequently cited as the reason for industrial underdevelopment. See, for example, Canadian Economist, 8 Aug. 1846, reproduced in Harold Innis and A.R.M. Lower, Select Documents in Canadian Economic History 1783-1885 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1933), 302-3. 92 For a description of women's labour in potashmaking, see Isabel Skelton, The Backwoodswoman: A Chronicle of Pioneer Home Life in Upper and Lower Canada (Toronto: Ryerson Press 1924), 227-31; Jones, History of Agriculture, 250. 93 Basil Hall, Travels in North America in the Years 1827, 1828, and 1829 (Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and Carey 1829), 156-7 94 Mary Ann was indentured 'with the consent of Robert and Ann Thompson, Her Father and Mother, and of her own free will.' PAO, Nelles Family Papers, 1825, reproduced in Light and Prentice, Pioneers and Gentlewomen, 18-19. The practice of sending young girls out for only room and board continued throughout the nineteenth century. See also Tivy, Your Loving Anna, 42. 95 Langton, A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada, 71; John MacGregor, British America II Edinburgh: William Blackwood 1833), reproduced in Robeson, Documents, 63

195 Notes to pp 86-90 96 Gagan calculates that the marriage age for women increased between 1840 and 1870 from about 21 years to slightly over 23 years (Gagan, Hopeful Travellers, 176). School attendance for girls increased dramatically from about mid-century. While in 1842 only about 23 per cent of school-age girls in Ontario were in school, by 1881 this figure had risen to over 75 per cent. But before 1850, secondary schooling was almost exclusively for boys. Ball, 'A Perfect Farmer's Wife/ 7. For expressions of common objections to higher education for women in the 1860s, see 'Report of the Grammar School Inspector for 1865,' Documentary History of Education xix, 96-8, reproduced in Family, School and Society in 19th Century Canada, ed. Alison Prentice and Susan Houston (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1975), 252-5. 97 Langton, A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada 105; Moodie, Roughing It in the Bush, 163 98 Miller, The Journals of Mary O'Brien, 201 99 'Immigration Questionnaire, 1840-1841,' Public Archives of Canada, Record Group 5, B.21, Vol. I. Cited by Leo A. Johnson, 'Wages and Prices in Upper Canada, 1840,' 7-8 100 Croil, Dundas, 211 101 Peter A. Russell, 'Wage Labour Rates in Upper Canada, 1818-1840,' Histoire sociale/Social History 16, 31 (May 1983), 71 102 Calculated from township reports. Gourlay, Statistical Accounts, I 252-5 103 Dunlop, Statistical Sketches, 133 104 Boyce, Hut ton of Hastings, 102 105 Traill, Settler's Guide, 1 106 Russell, 'Wage Labour Rates in Upper Canada,' 73 107 Major Strickland, quoted in Traill, Settler's Guide, 148 108 Boyce, Button of Hastings, 97, 105 109 James Taylor, Narrative of a Voyage, cited in Edwin C. Guillet, The Pioneer Farmer and Backwoodsman I (Toronto: Ontario Publishing Co. 1963), 131-2 110 Haight, Country Life in Canada, 66 111 Silas Farmer, The History of Detroit and Michigan I (Detroit 1884), 793 112 Kenneth Kelly, The Development of Farm Produce Marketing Agencies and Competition between Market Centres in Eastern Simcoe County, 1850-1875,' in Akenson, Rural History, 59-81 113 Jones, History of Agriculture, 286

196 Notes to pp 90-5 114 John Isbister, 'Agriculture, Balanced Growth, and Social Change in Central Canada since 1850: An Interpretation/ Economic Development and Social Change 25 (July 1977), 673-99 115 William J. Paterson, Home and Foreign Trade of the Dominion of Canada: Also, Annual Report of the Commerce of Montreal (Montreal: Gazette Printing 1876, 1883-5), 1876, p 38; 1883-5, p 113 116 William Hutton, writing in 1843, discussed his wife's ability to trade small amounts of currants, raspberries, and plums in exchange for sugar, but points out that the cherry produce so far exceeded demand that a neighbour gave away 300 gallons. Boyce, Hutton of Hastings 109. See also Jones, History of Agriculture, 321. 117 Patricia Hart, Pioneering in North York (Toronto: General Publishing 1968), 120. See also G.M. Grant, Picturesque Canada: The Country as It Was and Is (Toronto 1882) 118 Johnson, 'Independent Commodity Production/ 107; Margaret Conrad, Recording Angels: The Private Chronicles of Women from the Maritime Provinces of Canada: 1750-1950 (Ottawa: CRIAW 1982), 16 119 Isbister, "Agriculture, Balanced Growth, and Social Change/ 685-6; George Elmore Reaman, A History of Agriculture in Ontario I (Toronto: Saunders 1970), 90-5, 144-6 120 Bill Reimer, 'Farm Mechanization: The Impact on Labour at the Level of the Farm Household," Canadian Journal of Sociology 9, 4 (Fall 1984), 429-43 Chapter 5 1 J.A. Ruddick, The Development of the Dairy Industry in Canada/ in The Dairy Industry in Canada, ed. H.A. Innis (Toronto: Ryerson Press 1937), 44 2 Jones, History of Agriculture, 102; Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy, 213 3 This invisibility of women in accounts of Canadian dairying has been noted by feminist historians. See Beth Light and Veronica StrongBoag, True Daughters of the North (Toronto: OISE Press 1980), 2; Susan Mann Trofimenkoff and Alison Prentice, The Neglected Majority: Essays in Canadian Women's History (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1977), 153. 4 W.J. Eccles, Canadian Society during the French Regime (Montreal: Harvest House 1968), 74

197 Notes to pp 95-8 5 Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle, 23 May 1776, reprinted in Pioneer and Gentlewomen, ed. Light and Prentice, 42 6 John Young, The Letters of Agricola (Halifax 1822), ix 7 By 1871 Nova Scotia had a substantial dairy industry. It produced about 10 per cent of Canada's butter and about 18 per cent of the country's home-made cheese. Census 1871, m, 20 8 Croil, Dundas, 211 9 Ibid. 10 Georgina Binnie-Clark, Wheat & Women (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1979 [1914]), 128 11 Georgina Binnie-Clark, 'Address Given to Members of the Royal Colonial Institute/ 8 Apr. 1913, reproduced in A Flannel Shirt & Liberty: British Emigrant Gentlewomen in the Canadian West, 1880-1914, ed. Susan Jackel (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1982), 184 12 For discussions of the instability of staple production, see Pentland, Labour and Capital, 177-8; Innis, 'Unused Capacity/ 141-55; Drache, 'Harold Innis and Canadian Capitalist Development/ 36-8. 13 For a discussion of the importance of diversity in farm production in the Canadian west, see Max Hedley, 'Independent Commodity Production/ In particular, he says, 'the diversity of operations, in conjunction with virtual self-sufficiency in domestic consumption, offered some protection against unpredictable price fluctuations and the vulnerability of a single commodity to the effects of natural hazards' (p 417). 14 In 1861 only one farmer in Dundas County specialized in dairying (see Croil, Dundas, 202). Earlier, Anna Jameson had remarked that in many parts of Upper Canada a dairy farm was so rare it was a curiosity (cited in Jones, History of Agriculture, 250). 15 See Innis, The Dairy Industry in Canada, 4, for a discussion of the effect of staple production on the slow growth of dairying in Canada. 16 Eric E. Lampard, The Rise of the Dairy Industry in Wisconsin: A Study in Agricultural Change, 1820-1920 (Madison, wi: State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1962), 23 17 While little is known about the organization of women's farm dairying in the United States, it is clear that early markets in northeastern states were more integrated and larger than in more sparsely settled areas. Joan M. Jensen shows that by 1840 from 14 per cent to 23 per cent of the agricultural income of New England came from dairy production. The effect this had on the structure of women's labour is

198 Notes to pp 98-9

18

19

20 21

22 23 24 25 26

still to be discovered. Joan M. Jensen, 'Cloth, Butter and Boarders: Women's Household Production for the Market,' Review of Radical Political Economics 12 (Summer 1980), 17. Many books on U.S. dairying refer to women as the producers of cheese and butter on farms, but do not examine the nature of the work specifically. See, for example, Edward Wiest, The Butter Industry in the United States (New York: AMS Press 1968 [1916]), 16; Robert Leslie Jones, History of Agriculture in Ohio to 1880 (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press 1983), Ch. 9; Lampard, The Dairy Industry in Wisconsin, passim. For accounts of women's work in dairying in England from the Middle Ages to the end of the nineteenth century, see Eileen Power, Medieval Women, ed. M.M. Postan (London: Cambridge University Press 1975); Alice Clark, Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century, Ivy Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution 1750-1850', Kitteringham, 'Country Work Girls,' 73-138. Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, lOff. Pinchbeck noted, however, that as dairy farms became larger and the principal work of the farm, women's labour was more restricted to butter- and cheesemaking (42). Nevertheless, she explained women's disappearance from outdoor work on dairy farms as a result of competition for their labour in more attractive occupations (110). Kitteringham, 'Country Work Girls,' 95-6 Ella Sykes pointed out the differences between English and Canadian domestic servants: 'British servants are usually specialists, and do not grasp that in Canada they must turn their hands to anything, and be cook, house-parlourmaid, washerwoman, and perhaps baker and dairymaid all in one.' Ella C. Sykes, A Home-Help in Canada (London: Smith, Elder 1912), 24-5. In 1886 Henrietta McGill wrote of the high demand for the labour of 'young girls that understand milking and doing general housework.' What Women Say of the Canadian Northwest (London: H. Blacklock 1886), 34 Canada, Department of Agriculture, First Annual Report of the Dairy Commissioner of Canada for 1890 (Ottawa 1891), 138 Steward St John, 'Mrs St John's Diary, January 2, 1903 to March 30, 1904,' Saskatchewan History II (Autumn 1949), 25-30 Cited by Virginia Watson Rouslin, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Pioneering in Canada/ Dalhousie Review 56 (Summer 1976), 328 Moodie, Roughing It in the Bush, 128-9 Skelton, The Backwoodswoman, 221

199 Notes to pp 99-102 27 W.M. Drummond, 'Problems of the Canadian Dairy Industry/ in The Dairy Industry in Canada, ed. Innis, 139 28 Laura Rose, Farm Dairying (London: T. Werner Laurie 1911), 143 29 See J.A. Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry,' 26, for a description of the difficulty in churning butter when temperature conditions are not exactly right. 30 First Annual Report of the Dairy Commissioner of Canada, 138 31 Ibid. Unfortunately, the Dairy Commissioner felt compelled to make his argument stronger by conjuring up the trivial and competitive nature of the female: 1 believe if one woman gets a nice, attractive, cheap dress, 20 more women want to get the same or something better; and if one women gets a nice new milk house and churn, 20 more women give their husbands no peace, day or night, until they get that new milk house and churn also. This would bring very much good to the dairy business' (p 138). 32 Eliza M. Jones, Laiterie payante ou la vache du pauvre (Trois-Rivieres 1894), 40 33 The term 'family farm' obscures the ownership issue of the farm and its technology. For an interesting discussion of this problem, see Max J. Hedley, ' "Normal Expectations": Rural Women without Property,' Resources for Feminist Research 11 (March 1982), 15-17. 34 John Macdougall, Rural Life in Canada: Its Trends and Tasks (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1973 [1917]), 128 35 Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry,' 26; Binnie-Clark, Wheat & Woman, 128; St John, 'Mrs St John's Diary,' 26 36 For example, Ann Leveridge, writing of her experiences in Ontario in the 1880s, describes how she took in her neighbour's washing in exchange for milk and butter. Tivy, Your Loving Anna, 72-3 37 Henry H. Dean, Canadian Dairying (Toronto: William Briggs 1903), 64-5 38 Binnie-Clark, Wheat & Women, 128; Jensen, 'Cloth, Butter and Boarders,' 18. It is clear from the comments of women about their dairying that many regard the income they received from it as theirs, though the proceeds were to be applied to the family's keep. See, for example, What Women Say of the Canadian Northwest', St John, 'Mrs St John's Diary,' 26. 39 For an illustration of the amount of work involved in clothmaking in a family whose primary income came from butter, see Susan Dunlap's diary written in Nova Scotia in the mid-nineteenth century.

200 Notes to pp 102-4

40 41

42 43

44 45 46

47 48 49 50 51

52

53

G.G. Campbell, 'Susan Dunlap: Her Diary/ Dalhousie Review 46 (Summer 1966), 218 Jones, History of Agriculture, 286 See Hilda Murray, The Traditional Role of Women in a Newfoundland Fishing Community/ MA thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland 1972, for a description of women's work in fishing and family subsistence activities in Newfoundland. Mrs George Cran, A Woman in Canada (London: John Milne 1910), 118-19 'Good Cooking/ The Grain Growers' Guide 4 (8 Apr. 1910), reprinted in The Proper Sphere: Woman's Place in Canadian Society, ed. Ramsay Cook and Wendy Mitchinson (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1976), 189-91 Sykes, A Home-Help, 34 Cran, A Woman in Canada, 101 Ibid., 135. The problem of finding farm servants was serious, particularly in western parts of the country. According to an article in a Manitoba newspaper early in the twentieth century, 'One of the most urgent problems before the farming community in Manitoba is the securing of help in the house and in such branches of the industry as dairying and poultry raising, so essentially feminine ... Many men have to abandon farming as a profession because their wives are unequal to the physical strain which the endless duties of a farmhouse imposes on them/ The Manitoba Women's Burden/ The Virden Advance, 4 July 1904, cited by Genevieve Leslie, 'Domestic Service in Canada, 1880-1920,' in Women at Work, ed. Acton, Goldsmith, and Shepard, 109 Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry/ 25 Jones, History of Agriculture, 252 Innis and Lower, Select Documents, 558 Skelton, The Backwoods woman, 222 Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry/ 25. (This remark, which stresses the suffering of males rather than females, is particularly interesting because it comes from one of the few dairy historians who recognizes the feminine nature of farm dairying.) For an excellent description of the complexities of making farm butter, see Rose, Farm Dairying Ch. 33. Skelton, The Backwoodswoman, 223. For a description of later methods of farm cheesemaking, see Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry/ 57 and Rose, Farm Dairying Ch. 42. McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 37; Jones, History of Agriculture, 253

201 Notes to pp 105-7 54 Early in the nineteenth century the prohibition of free trade and its effect on women received particularly scathing comments from Harriet Martineau. She wrote of meeting a woman in Canada who gave an account of how it was necessary to smuggle butter and eggs into Buffalo from her neighbourhood. Harriet Martineau, Retrospect of Western Travel I (London: Saunders and Otles 1838), 142 55 The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854-66 established free trade between Canada and the United States in all raw materials. Foodstuffs were included in this classification. For the effects of reciprocity see Robert E. Ankli, The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854/ Canadian Journal of Economics 4, 1 (1971), 1-20; L. Officer and L. Smith, The Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty of 1855-1866,' Journal of Economic History (1968), 598-623. 56 Calculated from Paterson, Home and Foreign Trade of the Dominion of Canada, 1871, 89 57 Jones, History of Agriculture, 253 58 Innis, The Dairy Industry in Canada, 5 59 Paterson, Home and Foreign Trade of the Dominion of Canada, 1876, 3 60 Ibid., 113 61 Early cheese factories were generally small local operations, employing one to two people, which did not operate either full-time or the whole year. The production methods and technology used were not much different from those used in farm dairies. Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry,' 57. Usually the cheese factories consisted of two buildings, one a 'make' room and the other a curing room. According to the first head of the dairy school at Guelph, Ontario, in 1888, the cost of establishing a cheese factory with the capacity to handle milk from 200 cows was about $1,000. PAO, Ace. 10058, 'History of Cheesemaking in Ontario/ Annual meeting of Western Ontario Cheesemakers Association, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, 12 Mar. 1964, mimeo. 62 Paterson, Home and Foreign Trade of the Dominion of Canada, 1876, 38 63 First Annual Report of the Dairy Commissioner of Canada, 6. By this time there were 1,565 cheese factories in Canada, with 892 in Ontario and 618 in Quebec. Census 1891, Bulletin No. 8 64 Butter factories were commonly called creameries. 65 Ball, 'A Perfect Farmer's Wife/ 11. Nellie McClung wrote of a wealthy farmer who owned three farms and left one to each of his three sons. To his daughter Martha, a woman of forty years of age,

202 Notes to pp 107-9

66 67 68

69 70

71

the eldest of the family, who had always stayed at home, and worked for the whole family - he left a cow and one hundred dollars. The wording of the will ran: "To my dear daughter, Martha, I leave the sum of one hundred dollars, and one cow named 'Bella'." ' Nellie McClung, In Times Like These (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1972 [1915]), 91 Elizabeth Lewthwaite, 'Women's Work in Western Canada/ Forthnightly Review (Oct. 1901), reprinted in A Flannel Shirt & Liberty, ed. Jackel, 119 Rose, Farm Dairying, 121-2 Milking continued to be done by hand for a long time after factory production of cheese was commonplace. Although milking machines were available, most farmers found the milk yield was likely to be greater with hand milking. By the time Laura Rose wrote her textbook in 1911, the use of milking machines was clearly the way of the future. However, even then their use tended to be restricted to farms with herds of fifty or more. Ibid., 132-3 Jones, History of Agriculture, 251 By 1911 home-made cheese accounted for less than 1 per cent of total cheese production in Canada. Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Dairy Factories 1920, iv. Women's rapid exit from cheesemaking in Canada was probably accentuated because of adoption of the English, rather than the French, taste for cheese. Where local, regional differences in cheese are important to consumers (as in France) farm production and women's work as cheesemakers tend to remain longer than where the product has a more homogeneous nature. I am grateful to Griff Cunningham for pointing this out to me. In the nineteenth century there was a trend toward producing particularly large cheeses. The biggest, The Canadian Mite,' was made for the Chicago World Fair in 1893. It weighed 22,000 pounds, was 28 feet in circumference, 6 feet high, and was made from 207,000 pounds of milk. Virginia McCormick, A Hundred Years in the Dairy Industry (Ottawa: Dairy Farmers of Canada 1968), 72-3. One woman, Lydia Chase Ranney, was particularly skilled at making large cheeses. She frequently made cheeses of up to 1,000 pounds for display at local fairs and taught her craft to male 'big cheese' makers. (She also was considered responsible for introducing cheddar cheesemaking in Canada.) See Sarah Kolasiewicz, 'Outstanding Women of Oxford County,' Canadian Women's Studies 3, 1 (1981), 50-1.

203 Notes to pp 109-12 72 Dean, Canadian Dairying, 97 73 Census 1921, v, vii 74 Dairy Factories 1920. The first successful creamery in Ontario was begun by two storekeepers in Teeswater in 1876. But very little butter was made in factories before 1880. Jones, History of Agriculture, 263. By 1890 there were 112 creameries in Quebec and 45 in Ontario. Census 1891, Bulletin No. 8, pp 30, 36 75 It is important to note that farm production was probably considerably higher than statistics indicated. The census of 1911 in particular noted that farmers rarely kept adequate records 'and as a consequence are apt either to ignore altogether or greatly underestimate the quantities of vegetables, fruit, milk, cream, butter, cheese, eggs and honey consumed on the farm during the seasons when these are produced in greatest abundance.' Census 1911, iv, vi 76 Wiest, The Butter Industry, 40 77 Calculated from Census 1891, Bulletin No. 8, pp 19-39; Census 1901, II, liii 78 Jones, History of Agriculture, 263-4 79 Rose, Farm Dairying, 144 80 Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry/ 27 81 First Annual Report of the Dairy Commissioner of Canada, 12 82 Dean, Canadian Dairying, 64; Jones, History of Agriculture, 261; Mrs Edward Copleston, Canada: Why We Live in It and Why We Like It (London: Parker, Son and Bourn 1861), 73 83 Innis and Lower, Select Documents, 558-9 84 Canada, Journal of the House of Commons, Vol. 11, 1877, p 162. The problem of poor-quality dairy products was not peculiar to Canada. Early in the twentieth century an English dairying analyst referred to 'ill-made and evil-flavoured' cheese in Britain. John Prince Sheldon, Dairying (Toronto: Cassel and Co. 1912), v. See also G. Sutherland Thomson, British and Colonial Dairying (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son 1913), 150. 85 Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry,' 33 86 Skelton, The Backwoodswoman, 221-2; Paterson, Home and Foreign Trade of the Dominion of Canada, 1877, 119 87 Paterson, Home and Foreign Trade of the Dominion of Canada, 1877, 120 88 Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry,' 42 89 Dairy Factories 1920, 1 90 Rose, Farm Dairying, 148 91 Dean, Canadian Dairying, 65

204 Notes to pp 112-14 92 Separators were often a luxury many farm households could not afford. A separator for a farm dairy with a herd of four to eight cows could cost between $55 and $75 (Rose, Farm Dairying, 174). Considering that the produce from a cow could be expected to bring in from $30 to $60 a year, the relative cost of a separator was high (ibid. 45). A price list of dairy supplies at the turn of the century shows Danish hand- and foot-powered separators selling for $120 to $135, while power separators cost from $200 to $500. PAO, Pamphlet Collection, 1890 no. 70, John S. Pearce & Co., Price List of Dairy Supplies (London, Ont. 1900), 12-13 93 Unless otherwise noted, the information on government assistance to the dairy industry comes from Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry/ and Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy, 215-18. 94 For an excellent study of how development planners deal with women today, see Barbara Rogers, The Domestication of Women: Discrimination in Developing Societies (London: Tavistock Publications 1980). 95 Jones, History of Agriculture, 260-3; Fowke, Canadian Agricultural Policy, 213-14 96 Ruddick, 'Development of the Dairy Industry/ 98 97 For example, in Prince Edward Island in 1893, eleven new cheese factories were started with government agents as managers. By 1895 twenty-eight cheese and two butter factories in the province were operated for farmers by the government. In some parts of the country government management of operations lasted for a long time. In Saskatchewan individual co-operative creameries continued 'under what was practically general management by the government until the end of 1917.' Ibid., 113-14 98 See Boserup, Woman's Role in Economic Development, for a discussion of the adverse effect of male-centred education programs in agricultural societies. Because of the discriminatory education policies of most colonial administrators, a productivity gap between male and female farmers is created, a gap which subsequently seems to justify their prejudice against women in agriculture. 99 Laura Rose is one of the few well-known women's names in Canadian dairying. In addition to her travelling dairy she also lectured at the Farm Dairy School of the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph and for the Ontario Department of Agriculture. In BC and Ontario she was an active organizer of the Women's Institutes. For information on Laura Rose, see Alexander Zacharias, 'British Columbia Women's Institute in the Early Years: Time to Remember/ in In Her Own

205 Notes to pp 114-18

100 101 102 103 104 105 106

107

108

109

Right: Selected Essays on Women's History in B.C., ed. Barbara Latham and Cathy Kess (Victoria: Camosun College 1980), 57; also see The Canadians: Men and Women of the Time, ed. James Morgan (Toronto: William Briggs 1912), for a short biography and reference to Rose's much-admired address on The Womanly Sphere of Women.' National Council of Women, Women of Canada, 87 Sheldon, Dairying, 330-1 Rose, Farm Dairying, 15-16 Elizabeth B. Mitchell, In Western Canada before the War: Impressions of Early Twentieth Century Prairie Communities (Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books 1981 [1915]), 160 Ibid., 117-18 Labour Gazette (Dec. 1904), 651; Mitchell, In Western Canada before the War, 161; Zacharias, 'British Columbia Women's Institute/ 60 Many farm women were exasperated by the nature of the programs of the Women's Institutes. Mary Nicolaeff complained about the narrowness of their programs: 'Always suggestions about housework, knitting, and the main woman's destination: "preparing of dainty side-dishes and salads." Kitchen, kitchen, and again kitchen!' The reply to her letter pointed out that the program also included a study of parliamentary procedure, the history of great women, and social settlement work in great cities. Mary Nicolaeff, Grain Growers' Guide, 6 Sept. 1915, reprinted in A Harvest Yet to Reap: A History of Prairie Women, ed. Linda Rasmussen, Lorna Rasmussen, Candace Savage, and Anne Wheeler (Toronto: Women's Press 1976), 132 By 1911 there were no cheese factories and only 8 creameries in BC. Of the more than 2,000 people employed in creameries in Canada, less than one-tenth were west of Ontario. And of more than 2,000 cheese factories in Canada, only 17 were in the western provinces. Census 1911, ill Linda Graff, The Changing Nature of Farm Women's Work Roles under the Industrialization of Agricultural Production,' MA thesis, McMaster University 1979, 184 Ibid., 149-53

Chapter 6 1 Census 1971, m, Part I, Table 24; Census 1981,1, National Series, Population: Labour Force Activities, Table 1. In most provinces, more women still work in the home than in the labour force.

206 Notes to pp 118-22 2 Jones, History of Agriculture in Ontario, 286, 318, 323; National Council of Women, Women in Canada, 93 3 Census 1931, VII, Table 27, p 37. These figures are for those 'gainfully employed,' a term which includes wage-earners, employers, and the self-employed. 4 Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1982), esp. Ch. 2; Barbara Ehrenreich and Dierdre English, For Her Own Good (Garden City, NY: Anchor 1979); Johnson, The Political Economy of Ontario Women'; Rose, 'Gender at Work,' 124 5 Johnson, The Political Economy of Ontario Women'; Bettina Bradbury, 'Women and Wage Labour in a Period of Transition: Montreal, 1861-1881,' Histoire sociale/Social History, 17, 33 (May 1984), 125 6 Canada, Census 1871, iv, 120 7 Gagan, 'Land, Population, and Social Change,' 299; Michael Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West: Family and Class in a MidNineteenth-Century City (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1975), 171 8 Katz, The People of Hamilton, 58 9 This was characteristic of Montreal and Quebec City in the nineteenth century as well. Suzanne D. Cross, The Neglected Majority: The Changing Role of Women in 19th Century Montreal,' in The Neglected Majority, 66-86 10 Mclnnis, 'Childbearing and Land Availability/ 202 11 Angus McLaren, 'Birth Control and Abortion in Canada, 1870-1920, Canadian Historical Review 59, 3 (September 1978), 319-40 12 Kenneth Buckley, 'Historical Estimates of Internal Migration in Canada,' in Canadian Political Science Association Conference on Statistics 1960, Papers, ed. E.F. Beach and J.C. Weldon (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1962), Table 3. Keyfitz places net migration for the total population of the province at -84,000 in the 1881-91 decade, increasing to -144,000 in the 1891-1901 decade. However, he calculates a net gain of 74,000 in the 1901-11 period. Nathan Keyfitz, The Growth of Canadian Population,' Population Studies 4 (1950), Table 5 13 Cited in Marr and Paterson, Canada, 181 14 That the population change in favour of females was not primarily due to natural increase is evident from the fact that the number of males born each year and the numbers represented in each age group under 10 years of age exceeded those of females. Census 1861, i; 1871, II, Table 7 1881, n, Table 8; 1891, IV, Table G

207 Notes to pp 122-6 15 Calculated from Census 1851, I, 308-13; Census 1881, I, Tables 8, 9, 10; Census 1891, iv, Tables G, H, I 16 Urban areas are those which are densely settled with populations of more than 1,000 people. Marr and Paterson, Canada, 186 17 Ibid,, Table 6:12 18 OJ. Firestone, 'Development of Canada's Economy, 1850-1900,' in Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century (Princeton: National Bureau of Economic Research 1960), 245 19 McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 139 20 Pentland, Labour and Capital, 134 21 Pentland hypothesizes that this was a result of bulges in birth rates in some years, which in census years showed as exceptionally large numbers of young men who had passed their sixteenth birthday and were counted as part of the agricultural labour force (ibid., 134). 22 Paul Bairoch, 'Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution 1700-1914,' in The Industrial Revolution ill, The Fontana Economic History of Europe, ed. Carlo M> Cipolla (London: Collins/Fontana 1973), 452-506 23 Stephen Peitchinis, The Canadian Labour Market (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1975), 53-5 24 Haythorne, Labour in Canadian Agriculture, 26-7 25 Gagan, 'Land, Population and Social Change' 26 Gordon W. Bertram, 'Historical Statistics on Growth and Structure of Manufacturing in Canada, 1870-1957,' in Canadian Political Science Association Conference on Statistics 1962 and 1963, Papers, ed. J. Henripin and A. Asimakopulos (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1964), 94 27 Calculated from Spelt, Urban Development, Table 1. 28 Pentland, Labour and Capital, 134 29 Spelt, Urban Development, 125 30 Ibid., 75 31 Kealey, Workers Respond, 4 32 Marr and Paterson, Canada, Table 6:12 33 Spelt, Urban Development, 182 34 Bertram, 'Historical Statistics/ 117 35 Kealey, Workers Respond, 22-4; Spelt, Urban Development, 124; Marr and Paterson, Canada, 385 36 Spelt, Urban Development, 166-7; Innis and Lower, Select Documents, 607-13 37 McCallum, Unequal Beginnings, 88 38 R.M. Hartwell, 'The Service Revolution: The Growth of Services in

208 Notes to pp 126-30

39 40

41

42 43

44 45 46 47

48

the Modern Economy,' in The Industrial Revolution, ed. Cipolla, 358-6 Calculated from Census 1871, v, Table 1; Census 1881, m, Table J; Census 1891, iv, Table P Michael J. Piva, The Condition of the Working Class in Toronto 1900-1921 (Ottawa: University of Ottawa 1979), 38; Irving Abella and David Millar, eds, The Canadian Worker in the Twentieth Century (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1978), 76; Edward J. Chambers, 'New Evidence on the Living Standards of Toronto Blue Collar Workers in the Pre-1914 Era,' Histoire sociale/Social History 18, 36 (Nov. 1985), 285-314 Calculated from The Annual Report of the Bureau of Industries: Labour and Wages in the Province of Ontario, 1884 (Toronto 1884), Table 5, p 36 Ibid. (1888), 11-12 In England in 1851 one-fourth of all married women and two-thirds of all widows were in the labour force. By 1911 the proportion of married women employed had dropped to one-tenth (Klein, Britain's Married Women Workers, 12; Oakley, Women's Work, 44). In the textile industry married women and widows accounted for one-third of all female employees in 1870 (Tilly and Scott, Women, Work, & Family, 124). Jean Thompson Scott, The Condition of Female Labour in Ontario,' Toronto University Studies in Political Science, 1st series, No. Hi (1892), 25 Labour and Wages (1885), 68; (1888), 49 Ibid. (1888), 49 Unfortunately, the amount of vegetables produced in cities was not recorded in the census, though it was one way urban families provided some food through household production. See, for example, Light and Parr, Canadian Women on the Move (Toronto: New Hogtown Press and OISE 1983), 4, 152; J.V. McAvee, Cabbagetown Diary, reproduced in The Canadian Worker in the Twentieth Century, ed. Abella and Millar, 78. For an excellent study of the significance of household food production to working-class families in the city during the second half of the nineteenth century see Bettina Bradbury, Tigs, Cows, and Boarders: Non-Wage Forms of Survival among Montreal Families, 1861-96,' Labour/Le Travail 14 (Fall 1984), 9-46. Margaret Conrad, * "Sundays Always Make Me Think of Home": Time & Place in Canadian Women's History,' in Not Just Pin Money, ed.

209 Notes to pp 131-4

49 50

51

52 53 54

55 56 57 58 59 60 61

62

Barbara K. Latham and Roberta J. Pazdro (Victoria, BC: Camosun College 1984), 6; Light and Parr, Canadian Women on the Move, 172 Katz, The People of Hamilton, Table 2.9, p 76 Sheva Medjuck, 'Family and Household Composition in the Nineteenth Century Case of Moncton, N.B., 1851-71,' Canadian Journal of Sociology 4, 3 (Summer 1979), 275-86; Katz, The People of Hamilton, 60,77 Bettina Bradbury found that in Montreal the presence of boarders in a household was more correlated with dwelling size and the availability of space than with low family income. Bettina Bradbury, Tigs, Cows, and Boarders'; arid The Family Economy and Work in an Industrializing City: Montreal in the 1870s/ Historical Papers (1979), 71-96 Census 1891, n, Table 12; Census 1911, HI, Table 5 'Female Labour in Toronto: Its Nature - Its Extent - Its Reward,' The Globe, 28 Oct. 1868 In addition, the census noted the tendency to undercount females because it did not include in occupational categories those women who were 'engaged in attendance on their own family, and having no other specific occupation.' Census 1871, H, vi. Canada, Royal Commission on the Relations of Capital and Labour (Ottawa: Queen's Printer 1889), Ontario Evidence, 830-1 Ibid., 628 Ibid., 167 Canada, House of Commons, Report upon the Sweating System in Canada, Sessional Paper No. 61, 1896, p 21 Ibid., 38. Both a Trade unionist and a contractor agreed that this was the case. Canada, Royal Commission on Capital and Labour, Ontario Evidence, 883; Daily Mail and Empire, 9 Oct. 1891, p 10; Labour Gazette (May 1901), 466 Toronto and the Sweating System,' The Daily Mail and Empire, 9 Oct. 1897, reproduced in The Workingman in the Nineteenth Century, ed. Michael S. Cross (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1974), 129-35. See also K[nights]. of L[labour]., 'Where Labour Is Not Prayer,' Walsh's Magazine (Toronto 1895-6), 111-16, reproduced in The Canadian Worker in the Twentieth Century, ed. Abella and Millar, 153-8. The factory acts were not particularly restrictive in their demands on employers, in that they only regulated a minimum age for child labour and maximum hours of labour for women and children, nor

210 Notes topp 134-6

63

64

65 66 67 68 69 70

were they enforced to any significant extent. Still, these minimum requirements could be completely avoided when the employer was able to evade entire responsibility for how the work was accomplished. With the contracting-out system, the manufacturers could disclaim responsibility for poor working conditions. As one factory inspector noted, the lack of contact between the manufacturer and the place where the work was actually done meant that 'People work for them for years and bosses and foremen know nothing of them beyond the street and the number of the house in which they reside' (Report on Sweating, 22). For a description of early factory legislation in Ontario, see Annie Marion Mac Lean, 'Factory Legislation for Women in Canada,' The American Journal of Sociology 5, 2 (Sept. 1899), 172-81; Linda S. Bohen, 'Women Workers in Ontario: A SocioLegal History,' University of Toronto Faculty Law Review 31 (1973), 45-74. Piva cites the ratio in Toronto at 3.58 home workers to one in the factory, although he points out that by 1921 factory operatives had become the majority (Piva, The Condition of the Working Class in Toronto, 18). The participation of married women in the labour force increased dramatically after World War II. Married women in Canada accounted for less than 13 per cent of the female labour force before the war, but were more than 50 per cent by 1961. In the 1981 census, married women in Ontario were 65 per cent of the total female labour force. Calculated form Census 1981, I, National Series, Population: Labour Force Activities, Table 1. Tilly and Scott, Women, Work & Family, 68-9. In France domestic service was much less important because the decline of female employment in the agricultural sector was very slow, (ibid., 69). Theresa M. McBride, The Domestic Revolution, Table 2.2 Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, 'Women during the Great War,' in Women at Work, ed. Acton et al., Table B Michael B. Katz, Michael J. Doucet, and Mark J. Stern, The Social Organization of Early Industrial Capitalism (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1982), 97 Claudette Lacelle, Employers and Domestic Servants in Urban Centres: The 1871 Census (Ottawa: Parks Canada 1983), Research Bulletin No. 166, Tables 12, 14 See, for example, Chad Gaffield, 'Schooling, the Economy and Rural Society in Nineteenth-Century Ontario,' in Childhood and Family in

211 Notes topp 137-9

71

72 73

74 75

76 77 78 79 80 81

Canadian History, ed. Joy Parr (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1982), 69^-92. Claudette Lacelle points out that historically there has always been a servant problem: 'D'une generation a 1'autre ... on s'est considere moins bien servi qu'on ne 1'etait "autrefois," les domestiques d'antan etant pergus comme plus fideles, plus perseverants, plus nombreux et constituant, par consequent, 1'apanage d'une plus grande, proportion des families d'alors. Chaque generation a done decrit ses domestiques comme instables, peu fiables, peu nombreux, enclins au crime et dans un urgent besoin d'etre reformes ou, tout au moins, controles. Claudette Lacelle, 'Les Domestiques dans les villes canadiennes au xixe siecle: Effectifs et conditions de vie,' Histoire sociale/Social History 15, 29 (May 1982), 181-2 Genevieve Leslie gives a good description of the disadvantages of domestic service in Canada in 'Domestic service in Canada, 1880-1920,' in Women at Work, ed. Acton et al., 71-125. Labour and Wages (1884), 3-4. For an account of the continued exodus of women from rural areas, see Alan A. Brookes and Catharine A. Wilson, 'Working away from the Farm: The Young Women of North Huron, 1910-30,' Ontario History 77, 4 (Dec. 1985), 281-300. Ibid. (1885), 17 Ibid. (1884), 7. In evidence given to the Royal Commission on the Relations of Capital and Labour in 1886, one farmer from Kingston reported that this was already occurring. When asked by a commissioner if there was a scarcity of domestic labour, he responded, There is a great want. It is one of the reasons why farmers sell their farms and leave, because the female portion of the house cannot do the work and keep the house going, which is owing to the fact that they cannot get hired help.' Royal Commission on Capital and Labour, Ontario Evidence, 992 Labour and Wages (1885), 10 Ibid. (1886), 7 Ibid. (1885), 16 Cowan, British Emigration: The First Hundred Years, 221-2 Skelton, The Backwoodswoman, 133-4 Recent articles on female emigration societies deal with those active in the latter part of the nineteenth century, but several existed earlier. The following is a list, with dates, of female immigration societies as recorded in the manuscript collection of Women's

212 Notes t o p 139 Emigration Societies, Sadd Brown Library on Women in the Commonwealth, Fawcett Library, London Polytechnic, England: British Female Emigrant Society 1849-88 Female Middle Class Emigration Society 1862-86 Women's Emigration Society 1880-90 United Women's Emigration Register 1884-5 United Englishwomen's Association 1885-6 (later renamed United British Women's Emigration Assocation 1886-1901, then British Women's Emigration Association 1901-19) South African Colonization Society 1903-19 Colonial Intelligence League 1910-19 Joint Council of Women's Emigration Societies 1917-19 Society for the Overseas Settlement of British Women 1917-61 Women's Migration and Overseas Appointment Society 1962-4 82 Even Maria Rye's Female Middle Class Emigration Society, established specifically to help professional men's daughters find 'suitable' positions in the colonies as governesses, sent women for domestic employment. Una Monk, New Horizons: A Hundred Years of Women's Migration (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1963), Ch. 1 83 Manuscript Collection of the Female Emigration Societies, Fawcett Library. One reason for the change may have been related to the wrath such societies incurred from British matrons, who feared experienced servants were being lured away from Britain, where there was considered to be a shortage of well-trained servants. Susan Buckley, 'British Female Emigration and Imperial Development: Experiments in Canada, 1885-1931,' Hectate: Women's Interdisciplinary Journal (Jan. 1977), 29. The imperialist factor was significant too, as the need to populate Canada with respectable British women who could carry the work of the empire forward became more a motivational force of the societies. Barbara Roberts, ' "A Work of Empire": Canadian Reformers and British Female Immigration,' in A Not Unreasonable Claim: Women and Reform in Canada 1880-1920s, ed. Linda Kealey (Toronto: Women's Press 1979), 185-201. 84 Marilyn Barber, The Women Ontario Welcomes: Immigrant Domestics for Ontario Homes 1870-1930,' Ontario History 72 (Sept. 1980), 148; Joan Sangster, 'Finnish Women in Ontario, 1890-1930,' Polyphony 3, 2 (1981), 46-51; Isabel Kaprielian, 'Women and Work: The Case of Finnish Domestics and Armenian Boarding-House Operators,' Resources for Feminist Research 12, 4 (Dec./Jan. 1983/4), 51-4; Leslie, 'Domestic Service in Canada/ 98

213 Notes to pp 139-42 85 Lacelle, 'Employers and Domestic Servants,' Table 4; Katz, The People of Hamilton, 27 86 Calculated from Census 1861,1, Table 8; 1871, n, Table 13; II, Tables 28-52; 1881, II, Table 14; ill, Table 1; 1891, n, Table 12; Canada Year Book (1939), 778; Census 1911, IV, Table 5; Canada Year Book (1939), 778 87 This was particularly evident in the hearings of the Royal Commission of the Relations of Capital and Labour. The commissioners were intent on discovering areas of work where women or children were replacing men. See also Jean Scott, The Condition of Female Labour in Ontario.' 88 Edith Abott gives an excellent account of changes in the shoe industry in the nineteenth century and how these changes affected female labour in Women in Industry (New York: D. Appleton 1916), Ch. 8. For a discussion of women's subservient position in the shoe industry in Canada see Nicole Thivierge, 'La Condition sociale des ouvriers de 1'industrie de la chaussure a Quebec, 1900-1940,' MA thesis, Laval University 1979. 89 The Daily Globe of 18 Nov. 1870 gives a good description of the methods of production and the division of labour by gender in one factory in Toronto. Female workers were segregated from male workers and performed the lighter sewing tasks. 90 Census 1871, ill, Table 28; Kealey, Workers Respond, Table 1.20. See Kealey also for accounts of attempts to organize female shoemakers in Toronto. 91 Census 1901, ill, Table 2. By the end of the century the shoe industry in Toronto was declining rapidly. By the 1890s Montreal was the major centre of factory shoe production in Canada and Toronto had become more of a distribution than a production centre. Kealey, Workers Respond, 51-2. The effect this had on female labour in shoe production in Toronto was startling. Where women had accounted for as much as 38 per cent of the industry's labour force in 1871, as the industry declined, so did the proportion of females employed. By 1911 women comprised only 14 per cent of the labour in Toronto's shoe industry. Census 1911, II, Table 6. For information about changes in the Canadian shoe industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, see S. Roy Weaver, The Boot and Shoe Industry in Canada (Toronto: Canadian Reconstruction Association 1920). 92 Catherine Hakim, 'Census Reports as Documentary Evidence: The Census Commentaries 1800-1951, Sociological Review 28, 3 (1980), 551-80

214 Notes to pp 142-7 93 Census 1891, Bulletin No. 8, pp 29-32 94 Kealey, Toronto Workers Respond, Tables I.I, 1.13,1.14 95 Palmer, Working-Class Experience, 67-8; Kealey, Toronto Workers Respond, 39-40 96 Palmer, Working-Class Experience, 68 97 Katz, Doucet, and Stern, Social Organization of Early Industrial Capitalism, 97-8 98 Canada, Report of the Royal Commission on the Textile Industry (Ottawa 1938), Ch. 2; Cotton Institute of Canada, The Story of Cotton (Montreal 1948), Ch. 4 99 Royal Commission on Textiles, 33 100 Gail Brandt in ' "Weaving It Together": Life Cycle and the Industrial Experience of Female Cotton Workers in Quebec, 1910-1950,' Labour/Le Travailleur 7 (Spring 1981), 113-25, shows how changes in technology in the twentieth century increasingly relegated women to unskilled positions in the industry and documents women's continued decline as a proportion of the labour force. 101 Peter DeLottinville, The St Croix Cotton Manufacturing Company and Its Influence on the St Croix Community, 1880-1892,' MA thesis, Dalhousie University 1979, p 46 102 Jacques Rouillard, Les Travailleurs du colon au Quebec, 1900-1915 (Montreal: Les Presses de 1'universite du Quebec 1974), 45 103 Brandt, ' "Weaving It Together," '114 104 Calculated from Census 1911, m, Table 3 105 Calculated from Census 1901, III, Table 2; 1911, m, Table 3 106 In fact, the ten most important manufacturing industries, after clothing, which employed females accounted for only 43 per cent of the numbers of females working in the manufacturing establishments, and of these six industries were associated with wearing apparel (calculated from Census 1901, m, Table 2; 1911, in, Table 3). 170 Report of Inspectors of Factories 1891, 1 108 Calculated from Census 1901, m, Table 2; 1911, m, Table 3 109 Women were 75 per cent of the custom-made labour force in 1901 and 63 per cent in 1911 (ibid.). 110 Eric Richards, 'Women in the British Economy'; Heleieth I.B. Saffioti, Women in Class Society (New York: Monthly Review Press 1978) 111 Figures in this paragraph were calculated from The Canada Year Book, 1939, 778. 112 Alison Prentice, The Feminization of Teaching/ in The Neglected Majority, ed. Trofimenkoff and Prentice, Table 1; Marta Danylewycz,

215 Notes to pp 147-8

113

114 115 116

117

118 119 120

121

122

Beth Light, and Alison Prentice, The Evolution of the Sexual Division of Labour in Teaching: A Nineteenth-Century Ontario and Quebec Case Study,' Histoire sociale/Social History XVI 31 (May 1983), 89 Prentice, 'Feminization of Teaching/ 51. Elizabeth Graham gives pay schedules for teachers in 'Schoolmarms and Early Teaching in Ontario/ in Women at Work, ed. Acton et al., 154-209. See also Scott, The Conditions of Female Labour/ 24. Examples of new jobs were those as typists, stenographers, and nurses. Calculated from Census 1891, II, Table 12; 1911, m, Table 5 In 1911 women represented 41 per cent of all workers in the category of art, music, and drama, but almost 80 per cent of these women were listed as musicians and teachers of music (calculated from Census 1911, m, Table 5). There undoubtedly were many more women than listed who performed work as midwives. These statistics probably represent only women entirely supported by this profession. For an account of the decline of midwifery in Ontario, see C. Lesley Biggs, The Case of the Missing Midwives: A History of Midwifery in Ontario from 1795-1900/ Ontario History 65, 1 (Mar. 1985), 21-35. Judi Coburn, ' "I See and Am Silent": A Short History of Nursing in Ontario/ in Women at Work, ed. Acton et al., 136 It is estimated that 85 per cent of all nursing graduates in 1909 were in private nursing (ibid., 145). One indication of its changed status is the way it was represented in the censuses. In 1891 nursing and midwifery were listed under the occupation group 'Domestic and Personal Service/ but by 1911 most nurses were listed as professionals. By 1911 there were about four times as many nurses as there had been twenty years earlier. Calculated from Census 1891, n, Table 12; 1911, n, Table 5 Ibid. Several studies have documented the difficulties women experienced as doctors. See Carlotta Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin 1974); Victoria Strong-Boag, 'Canadian Women Doctors: Feminism Constrained/ in A Not Unreasonable Claim, ed. Kealey, 109-29. Graham S. Lowe identifies the period between 1911 and 1921 as the time when an 'administrative revolution' occurred in Canadian offices in The Administrative Revolution in the Canadian Office: An Overview/ in Essays in Canadian Business History, ed. Tom Traves (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1984), 114-33. See also Graham S. Lowe, 'Women, Work and the Office: The Feminization of Clerical

216 Notes topp 149-51

123 124 125

126 127

128

129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137

138 139

Occupations in Canada, 1901-1931/ Canadian Journal of Sociology, 5, 4(1980), 361-81. Census 1861,I, Table 8; 1871, n, Table 13 Census 1881, II, Table 14 David Grosvenor Coombs, The Emergence of the White Collar Workforce in Toronto 1895-1911,' PHD thesis, York University 1978, 84; Graham S. Lowe, 'Class, Job & Gender,' Labour/Le Travailleur 10 (Autumn 1982), 27 Calculated from Census 1891, n, Table 12; 1911, m, Table 5 In Coombs's study of white collar workers in Toronto he shows that the fathers of these workers in the period from 1895 to 1911 worked in the professions, government, and trade and commerce (Coombs, The Emergence of the White Collar Workforce,' 69). Margery Davis gives a history of the introduction of the typewriter in the office in 'Woman's Place Is at the Typewriter: The Feminization of the Clerical Labour Force,' Radical America 8, 4 (July-Aug. 1974). For an analysis of the stages of office mechanization, see Janine Morgall, Typing Our Way to Freedom: Is It True that New Office Technology Can Liberate Women?' in The Changing Experience of Women, ed. Whitelegg et al., 121-35 Coombs, The Emergence of the White Collar Workforce,' 112 Royal Commission on Capital and Labour, Ontario Evidence, 167; Scott, 'Conditions of Female labour,' 14-15 Report of the Royal Commission on Industrial Training and Technical Education (Ottawa 1913), Ch. 41, Section I, Miss C. Derick, 'General Report on Women's Work,' 1976-7 Calculated from Census 1891, II, Table 12 Commission on Capital and Labour, Ontario Evidence, 293 Calculated from Census 1911, m, Table 5 Ibid.' Census 1891, II, Table 12 Michael J. Piva, The Condition of the Working Class in Toronto 1900-1921, 23 Report of the Royal Commission on a Dispute Respecting Hours of Employment between the Bell Telephone of Canada, Ltd. and Operators at Toronto, Ontario (Ottawa: Department of Labour 1907), passim Ibid., 14, 6 The Bell strike of 1907 was in response to management's attempt to increase the hours of work from five to eight per day without an increase in wages. For a discussion of the issues of the strike, which

217 Notes to pp 151-2 ultimately was unsuccessful, see Joan Sangster, The 1907 Bell Telephone Strike: Organizing Women Workers/ Labour/Le Travailleur 3 (1978), 109-30 Chapter 7 1 Rev. B.F. Austin, ed., Woman: Maiden, Wife and Mother. A Study of Woman's Worth and Work in All Departments of Her Manifold Life, Education, Business, Society, Housekeeping, Health, Physical Culture, Marriage, and Kindred Matters (Toronto: Linscott 1898), 23

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220 Bibliography Binnie-Clark, Georgina Wheat & Women [1914] Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1979 Boserup, Ester Woman's Role in Economic Development London: George Allen and Unwin 1970 Bouchette, Joseph The British Dominion in North America I London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green 1831 Boyce, Gerald E. Mutton of Hastings: The Life and Letters of William Mutton, 1801-64 Belleville, Ont.: Hastings County Council 1972 Branca, Patricia. Silent Sisterhood: Middle Class Women in the Victorian Home London: Croom Helm 1975 - Women In Europe since 1750 London: Croom Helm 1978 Brett, Katherine Ontario Handwoven Textiles: An Introduction to Handweaving in Ontario in the Nineteenth Century Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum 1956 Burnett, John Useful Toil: Autobiographies of Working People from the 1820s to the 1930s London: Allen Lane 1974 Burnham, Dorothy The Comfortable Arts: Traditional Spinning and Weaving in Canada Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada 1981 Burnham, Harold B. Handweaving in Pioneer Canada Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum 1971 Burnham, Harold B., and Burnham, Dorothy K. 'Keep Me Warm One Night': Early Handweaving in Eastern Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1972 Canada's Wool and Woollens Toronto: Biggar-Wilson 1908 Canniff, William The Settlement of Upper Canada Toronto: Dudley Burns 1869 Caves, Richard E., and Holton, Richard H. The Canadian Economy Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1961 Chayanov, A.V. The Theory of the Peasant Economy Urbana: University of Illinois Press 1966 Cipolla, Carlo M., ed. The Fontana Economic History of Europe in The Industrial Revolution London: Collins/Fontana 1973 Clark, Alice. Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century [1919] London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1982 Clark, S.D. The Social Development of Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1942 Clement, Wallace, and Drache, Daniel. A Practical Guide to Canadian Political Economy Toronto: James Lorimer, 1978 Cohen, Robin, Gutkind, Peter, and Brazier, Phylis, eds Peasants and Proletarians New York: Monthly Review Press 1979

221 Bibliography Collier, Frances The Family Economy of the Working Classes in the Cotton Industry 1874-1833 Manchester: Manchester University Press 1964 Connelly, Patricia Last Hired, First Fired: Women in the Canadian Work Force Toronto: Women's Press 1978 Conrad, Margaret Recording Angels: The Private Chronicels of Women from the Maritime Provinces of Canada 1750-1950 Ottawa: Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women 1982 Cook, Ramsay, and Mitchinson, Wendy, eds The Proper Sphere: Woman's Place in Canadian Society Toronto: Oxford University Press 1976 Copleston, Mrs Edward Canada: Why We Live in It and Why We Like It London: Parker, Son and Brown 1861 Cotton Institute, The The Primary Cotton Textile Industry in Canada Montreal: Cotton Institute 1935 - The Story of Cotton in Canada Montreal: Cotton Institute 1948 Cowan, Helen I. British Emigration to British North America 1873-1837 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1927 - British Emigration to British North America: The First Hundred Years Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1961 Cowan, Ruth Schwartz More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave New York: Basic 1983 Cran, Mrs George A Woman in Canada London: John Milne 1910 Croil, James Dundas; or, A Sketch of Canadian History Montreal: B. Dawson& Son 1861 Cross, Michael S., ed. The Workingman in the Nineteenth Century Toronto: Oxford University Press 1974 Currie, A.W. Canadian Economic Development Toronto: Thomas Nelson 1951 Dean, Henry H. Canadian Dairying Toronto: William Briggs 1903 Deane, Phyllis The First Industrial Revolution Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1967 Dechene, Louise Habitants et marchands de Montreal au xviie siecle Montreal: Plon 1974 Dranoff, Linda Silver Women in Canadian Life: Law Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside 1977 Dunlop, E.P., ed. Our Forest Home: Being Extracts from the Correspondence of the Late Frances Stewart Toronto 1889 Dunlop, William Statistical Sketches of Upper Canada for the Benefit of Emigrants: By a Backwoodsman London: John Murray 1832, reprinted in Tiger Dunlop's Upper Canada Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1967

222 Bibliography Easterbrook, W.T., and Aitken, Hugh G.J. Canadian Economic History [1956] Toronto: Gage Publishing 1980 Easterbrook, W.T., and Watkins, M.H., eds Approaches to Canadian Economic History: A Selection of Essays. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1967 Eccles, W.J. Canadian Society during the French Regime Montreal: Harvest House 1968 Ehrenreich, Barbara, and English, Dierdre For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women Garden City, NY: Anchor Books 1979 Engels, Friedrich The Condition of the Working-Class in England [1845] Moscow: Progress Publishers 1973 - The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State [1884] New York: International Publishers 1942 Farmer, Silas The History of Detroit and Michigan 2 vols. Detroit 1884 Flaherty, David H., ed. Essays in the History of Canadian Law I. Toronto: Osgoode Society 1981 Fowke, Vernon C. Canadian Agricultural Policy: The Historical Pattern [1946] Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1978 Fox, Bonnie, ed. Hidden in the Household: Women's Domestic Labour under Capitalism Toronto: Women's Press 1980 Gagan, David Hopeful Travellers: Families, Land, and Social Change in Mid-Victorian Peel County, Canada West Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1981 Gamarnikow, Eva, Morgan, David, Purvis, June and Taylorson, Daphne, eds Gender, Class & Work London: Heinemann 1983 Glass, D.V., and Revelle, Roger Population and Social Change. London: Edward Arnold 1972 Goheen, Peter Victorian Toronto 1850 to 1900 Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1970 Gough, Barry M. In Search of the Visible Past Waterloo: WLU Press 1976 Gourlay, Robert Statistical Account of Upper Canada, General introduction & Vol. I London: Simpkin & Marshall 1822 Greer, Allan Peasant, Lord, and Merchant: Rural Society in Three Quebec Parishes 1740-1840 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1985 Griffiths, N.E.S. Penelope's Web: Some Perceptions of Women in European and Canadian Society Toronto: Oxford University Press 1976 Guillet, Edwin C. Pioneer Arts and Crafts Toronto: University of Toronto [1940] 1968 - Pioneer Travel in Upper Canada Toronto: University of Toronto 1933

223 Bibliography - The Pioneer Farmer and Backwoodsman I Toronto: Ontario Publishing Co. 1963 Hacker, Carlotta The Indomitable Lady Doctors Toronto: Clarke Irwin 1974 Haight, Canniff Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago Toronto: Hunter &Rose 1885 [reprint 1971] Hall, Basil Travels in North America in the Years 1827, 1828, and 1829 Philadelphia: Carey, Len and Carey 1829 Hamelin, Jean Economie et societe en Nouvelle-France Quebec: Les Presses de 1'universite Laval 1961 Hamilton, Roberta The Liberation of Women: A Study of Patriarchy and Capitalism London: George Allen & Unwin 1978 Harris, R. Cole, and Warkentin, John Canada before Confederation: A Study in Historical Geography New York: Oxford University Press 1974 Harrison, J.F.C. The Early Victorians 1832-51 New York: Praeger 1971 Hart, Patricia Pioneering in North York Toronto: General Publishing 1968 Hathaway, Ann Muskoka Memories: Sketches from Real Life Toronto: William Briggs 1904 Hay don, Andrew Pioneer Sketches in the District of Bathurst Toronto: 1925 Haythorne, George V. Labour in Canadian Agriculture Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1960 Henripin, Jacques Trends and Factors of Fertility in Canada Ottawa: Statistics Canada 1972 Henripin, J., and Asimakopulos, A., eds Canadian Political Science Association Conferences on Statistics 1962 and 1963 Papers Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1964 Heron, Craig, ed. Imperialism, Nationalism and Canada Toronto: New Hogtown Press 1977 Herrington, Walter S. History of the County of Lennox and Addington [1913] Toronto: Macmillan 1972 Hewitt, Margaret Wives and Mothers in Victorian Industry London: Rickliff 1958 Hoiberg, Anne Women and the World of Work New York: Plenum 1982 Holcombe, Lee Victorian Ladies at Work: Middle-Class Working Women in England and Wales 1850-1914 Hamden, CT: Archon 1973 Howison, John Sketches of Upper Canada 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd 1925 Hutchins, B.L. Women in Modern Industry East Ardsley: EP Publishing [1915] 1978

224 Bibliography Innis, Harold A. Essays in Canadian Economic History edited by Mary Q. Innis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1956 - Problems of Staple Production in Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1933 - The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History rev. ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1970 - The Dairy Industry in Canada Toronto: Ryerson Press 1937 - The North American Assault on the Canadian Forest Toronto: Ryerson Press 1938 Innis, H.A., and Lower, A.R.M., eds Select Documents in Canadian Economic History 1783-1885 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1933 Jackel, Susan, ed. A Flannel Shirt & Liberty: British Emigrant Gentlewomen in the Canadian West, 1880-1914 Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1982 Jameson, Anna Brownell Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada [1838] Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1965 Jensen, Joan With These Hands: Women Working on the Land New York: McGraw-Hill 1981 Johnson, J.K. Historical Essays on Upper Canada Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1975 Johnson, Laura C., with Johnson, Robert. The Seam Allowance: Industrial Home Sewing in Canada Toronto: Women's Educational Press 1982 Johnson, Leo A. History of the County of Ontario 1615-1875 Whitby: County of Ontario 1973 Jones, Eliza M. Laiterie payante ou la vache du pauvre Trois-Rivieres 1894 Jones, Robert Leslie History of Agriculture in Ontario 1613-1880 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1946 - History of Agriculture in Ohio to 1880 Kent, OH: Kent State University Press 1983 Katz, Michael B. The People of Hamilton, Canada West: Family and Class in a Mid-Nineteenth-Century City Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1975 Katz, Michael; Doucet, Michael; and Stern, Mark J. Social Organization of Early Industrial Capitalism Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1982 Kealey, Gregory S. Toronto Workers Respond to Industrial Capitalism 1867-1892 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1980 - ed. Canada Investigates Industrialism Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1973 Kealey, Gregory S., and Warrian, Peter, eds Essays in Canadian Working Class History Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1976

225 Bibliography Kealey, Linda, ed. A Not Unreasonable Claim: Women and Reform in Canada 1880-1920s Toronto: Women's Press 1979 Kerr, D.G. Historical Atlas of Canada 3rd rev. ed. Toronto: Nelson 1975 Kessler-Harris, Alice Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the U.S. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982 Kieran, Sheila The Family Matters: Two Centuries of Family Law and Life in Ontario Toronto: Key Porter 1986 Klein, Viola Britain's Married Women Workers London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1965 Kome, Penny Somebody Has to Do It: Whose Work Is Housework? Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1982 Lacelle, Claudette Employees and Domestic Servants in Urban Centres: The 1871 Census Ottawa: National Historic Parks & Sites Branch, Department of the Environment 1981 Lahne, HJ. The Cotton Mill Worker Toronto: Farrar and Rinehart 1944 Lampard, Eric E. The Rise of the Dairy Industry in Wisconsin: A Study in Agricultural Change, 1820-1920 Madison, wi: State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1963 Landes, David S. The Rise of Capitalism New York: Macmillan 1955 - The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change 1750 to Present Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press 1969 Lange, Oskar Political Economy I: General Problems trans. A.H. Walker Oxford: Pergamon Press 1973 Langton, H.H., ed. A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada: The Journals of Anne Langton Toronto: Clarke, Irwin 1950 Laslett, Peter The World We Have Lost 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1973 Laslett, Peter, and Wall, Richard Household and Family in Past Time Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1972 Latham, Barbara, and Kess, Cathy, eds In Her Own Right: Selected Essays on Women's History in BC Victoria: Camosun College 1980 Latham, Barbara K., and Pazdro, Roberta J. Not Just Pin Money: Selected Essays on the History of Women's Work in British Columbia Victoria: Camosun College 1984 Lee, Ronald Demos, ed. Population Patterns in the Past New York: Academia 1977 L'esperance, Jeanne The Widening Sphere: Women in Canada 1870-1940 Ottawa: Public Archives of Canada 1982 Lewenhak, Sheila Women and Work Glasgow: Fontana 1980 Light, Beth, and Parr, Joy, eds Documents in Canadian Women's History II: Canadian Women on the Move 1867-1920 Toronto: New Hogtown

226 Bibliography Press and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 1983 Light, Beth, and Prentice, Alison, eds Documents in Canadian Women's History i: Pioneer and Gentlewomen of British North America 1713-1867 Toronto: New Hogtown Press 1980 Light, Beth, and Strong-Boag, Veronica True Daughters of the North: Canadian Women's History: An Annotated Bibliography Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 1980 Lower, Arthur R.M. Canadians in the Making: A Social History of Canada Toronto: Longmans, Green & Company 1958 - Colony to Nation Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co. 1946 - Great Britain's Woodyard: British America and the Timber Trade, 1763-1867 Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press 1973 Lower, A.R.M., and Innis, H.A. Settlement and the Forest and Mining Frontiers Toronto: Macmillan 1936 Luxton, Meg More Than a Labour of Love: Three Generations of Women's Work in the Home Toronto: Women's Press 1980 McBride, Theresa M. The Domestic Revolution London: Croom Helm 1976 McCalla, Douglas Perspectives on Canadian Economic History Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman 1987 - The Upper Canada Trade 1834-1872: A Study of the Buchanans' Business Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1979 McCallum, John Unequal Beginnings: Agriculture and Economic Development in Quebec and Ontario until 1870 Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1980 McClung, Nellie In Times Like These [1915] Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1972 McCormick, Virginia A Hundred Years in the Dairy Industry Ottawa: Dairy Farmers of Canada 1968 Macdougall, John Rural Life in Canada: Its Trends and Tasks [1917] Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1973 Mackintosh, W.A. Economic Background of Dominion-Provincial Relations [1939] Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1964 Marr, William L., and Paterson, Donald G. Canada: An Economic History Toronto: Gage 1980 Martineau, Harriet Retrospect of Western Travel 3 vols. London: Saunders and Otlers 1838 Marx, Karl, and Engels, Friedrich The Communist Manifesto in The MarxEngels Reader edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York: W.W. Norton 1972

227 Bibliography Massey, Alice Vincent Occupations for Trained Women in Canada London: Dent 1920 Matthaei, Julie A. An Economic History of Women in America: Women's Work, the Sexual Division of Labour, and the Development of Capitalism New York: Schocken Books 1982 Miles, Angela, and Finn, Geraldine, eds Feminism in Canada Montreal: Black Rose Books 1982 Miller, A.S., ed. The Journals of Mary O'Brien 1828-1838 Toronto: Macmillan 1968 Mitchell, Elizabeth B. In Western Canada before the War: Impressions of Early Twentieth Century Prairie Communities [1915] Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books 1981 Mitchell, Juliet, and Oakley, Ann, eds The Rights and Wrongs of Women New York: Penguin 1976 Moodie, Susannah Life in the Clearings vs. the Bush New York: DeWitt and Davenport 1855 - Roughing It in the Bush [1852] Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1962 Monk, Una New Horizons: A Hundred Years of Women's Migration London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1963 Morgan, James, ed. The Canadians: Men and Women of the Time Toronto: William Briggs 1912 National Council of Women of Canada Women of Canada: Their Life and Work Ottawa: National Council of Women 1900 [reprint ed. 1975] Neff, Wanda F. Victorian Working Women [1929] London: Frank Cass & Co. 1966 Oakley, Ann Woman's Work: The Housewife, Past and Present New York: Vintage Books 1976 Palmer, Bryan Working-Class Experience: The Rise and Reconstitution of Canadian Labour, 1800-1980 Toronto: Butterworths 1983 Parr, Joy, ed. Childhood and Family in Canadian History Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1982 - Labouring Children: British Immigrant Apprentices to Canada, 1869-1929 London: Croom Helm 1980 Paterson, William J. Home and Foreign Trade of the Dominion of Canada: Also, Annual Report of the Commerce of Montreal for years 1871, 1876-85. Montreal: Gazette Printing 1872, 1877-86 Peitchinis, Stephen The Canadian Labour Market Toronto: Oxford University Press 1975 Pentland, H. Clare Labour and Capital in Canada 1650-1860 edited by Paul Phillips. Toronto: James Lorimer 1981

228 Bibliography Perkin, Harold The Origins of Modern English Society 1780-1880 London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1969 Pinchbeck, Ivy Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution 1750-1850 [1930] London: Virago 1981 Piva, Michael J. The Condition of the Working Class in Toronto 1900-1921 Ottawa: University of Ottawa 1979 Polanyi, Karl The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time [1944] Boston: Beacon Press 1957 Power, Eileen Medieval Women edited by M.M. Postan. London: Cambridge University Press 1975 Prentice, A.L., and Huston, S.E., eds Family, School and Society in 19th Century Canada Toronto: Oxford University Press 1975 Prentice, Alison, and Trofimenkoff, Susan Mann, eds The Neglected Majority: Essays in Canadian Women's History II Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1985 Rasmussen, Linda; Rasmussen, Lorna; Savage, Candace; and Wheeler, Anne, eds A Harvest Yet to Reap: A History of Prairie Women Toronto: Women's Press 1976 Reaman, George Elmore A History of Agriculture in Ontario I, II Toronto: Saunders 1970 Robertson, Norman The History of the County of Bruce Toronto: William Briggs 1906 Robeson, Virginia R., ed. Documents in Canadian History: New France 1713-1760 Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 1977 - Documents in Canadian History: Upper Canada in the 1830s Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 1977 Rogers, Barbara The Domestication of Women London: Tavistock Publications 1980 Rose, Laura Farm Dairying London: T. Werner Laurie 1911 Rosenberg, Charles E., ed. The Family in History Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1975 Rouillard, Jacques Les Travailleurs du colon au Quebec, 1900-1915 Montreal: Les Presses de 1'universite du Quebec 1974 Rowbotham, Sheila Hidden from History: 300 Years of Women's Oppression and the Fight against It 3rd ed. London: Pluto 1977 Saffioti, Heleieth I.B. Women in Class Society New York: Monthly Review, 1978 Samuel, Raphael, ed. Village Life and Labour London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1975

229 Bibliography Schreiner, Olive Woman and Labour Toronto: Henry Frowde 1911 Schultz, Theodore Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children and Human Capital Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1974 Sheldon, John Prince Dairying Toronto: Cassell and Company 1912 Sherman, Julia A., and Beck, Evelyn Torton, eds The Prism of Sex: Essays in the Sociology of Knowledge Madison, wi: University of Wisconsin Press 1979 Shorter, Edward The Making of the Modern Family New York: Basic Books 1975 Skelton, Isabel The Backwoodswoman: A Chronicle of Pioneer Home Life in Upper and Lower Canada Toronto: Ryerson Press 1924 Smelser, Neil J. Social Change in the Industrial Revolution: An Application of Theory to the British Cotton Industry Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1959 Sparling, M. A Guide to Some Domestic Pioneer Skills Halifax: Nova Scotia Museum 1972 Spelt, Jacob Urban Development in South-Central Ontario Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1972 Spencer, Audrey Spinning and Weaving at Upper Canada Village Toronto: Ryerson Press 1964 Stone, Lawrence The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 abridged ed. Middlesex: Penguin 1979 Sykes, Ella C. A Home-Help in Canada London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1912 Thompson, Ronald T.F., ed. Life from Old Letters 1794-1886 Victoria, BC: n.p. 1959 Thompson, Samuel Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the Last Fifty Years (1833-1883) [1884] Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1968 Thompson, William A Tradesman's Travels in the U.S. and Canada Edinburgh 1842 Thomson, G. Sutherland British and Colonial Dairying London: Crosbylockwood and Son 1913 Tilly, Louise A., and Scott, Joan W. Women, Work and Family New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1978 Tivy, Louise, ed. Your Loving Anna: Letters from the Ontario Frontier Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1972 Traill, Catharine Parr The Canadian Settler's Guide [1855] Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1969 Traves, Tom, ed. Essays in Canadian Business History Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1984

230 Bibliography Trofimenkoff, Susan Mann, and Prentice, Alison, eds The Neglected Majority: Essays in Canadian Women's History Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1977 Turner, David H., and Smith, Gavin H., eds Challenging Anthropology Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1979 Van Kirk, Sylvia 'Many Tender Ties': Women in Fur-Trade Society, 1670-1870 Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer 1980 Weaver, S. Roy The Book and Shoe Industry in Canada Toronto: Canadian Reconstruction Association 1920 What Women Say of the Canadian Northwest: A Simple Statement of the Experiences of Women Settled in all Parts of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories London: H. Blacklock 1886 Whitelegg, Elizabeth, Arnot, Madeleine, Bartels, Else, Beechey, Veronica, Birke, Lynda, Himmelweit, Susan, Leonard, Diana, Ruehl, Sonja, and Speakman, Mary Jane The Changing Experience of Women Oxford: Martin Robertson 1982 Wiest, Edward The Butter Industry in the United States [1916] New York: AMS Press 1968 Wilson, Susannah Jane Foster Women, the Family and the Economy: The Sociology of Women in Canada Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1982 Wood, Ron The Agrarian Myth in Canada Toronto: McCelland & Stewart 1975 Young, John The Letters of Agricola Halifax 1822 Young, Kate, Wolkowitz, Carol, and McCullagh, Roslyn Of Marriage and the Market: Women's Subordination in International Perspective London: CSE Books 1981 Young, Michael, and Willmott, Peter The Symmetrical Family London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1973 Zaretsky, Eli Capitalism, the Family and Personal Life New York: Harper & Row 1976

Articles and Pamphlets The Agricultural Industry in Canada' The Labour Gazette June 1901, pp 555-67 Alexander, Sally 'Women's Work in the Nineteenth-Century London: A Study of the Years 1820-50' in The Rights and Wrongs of Women ed. Juliet Mitchell and Ann Oakley, 59-111. New York: Penguin 1976

231 Bibliography Altschul, Susan, and Carron, Christine 'Chronology of Some Legal Landmarks in the History of Canadian Women' McGill Law Journal 21,3 (Winter 1975), 476-94 Anderson, Michael 'Family and Class in Nineteenth-Century Cities' Journal of Family History 2, 2 (June 1977) 139-49 Ankli, Robert E. The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854' Canadian Journal of Economics 4, 1 (1971), 1-10 'Anti-Sweating Regulations in Government Contracts' The Labour Gazette (September 1900), 5-13 Backhouse, Constance 'Pure Patriarchy: Nineteenth-Century Canadian Marriage' McGill Law Journal 31, 2 (March 1986), 264-312 - 'Shifting Patterns in Nineteenth-Century Canadian Custody Law' in Essays in the History of Canadian Law ed. David H. Flaherty, II, 212-48. Toronto: Osgoode Society 1983 Bairoch, Paul 'Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution 1700-1914' in The Fontana Economic History of Europe ill The Industrial Revolution ed. Carlo M. Cipolla, 452-506. London: Collins/Fontana 1973 Ball, Rosemary R. ' "A Perfect Farmer's Wife": Women in 19th Century Rural Ontario' Canada: An Historical Magazine 3, 2 (December 1975), 2-21 Barber, Marilyn The Women Ontario Welcomed: Immigrant Domestics for Ontario Homes 1870-1930' Ontario History 72 (September 1980), 148-72 Barrett, Michele, and Mclntosh, Mary The "Family Wage" ' in The Changing Experience of Women ed. Elizabeth Whitelegg et al., 71-87. Oxford: Martin Robertson 1982 Baster, Nancy "The Measurement of Women's Participation in Development: The Use of Census Data' [pamphlet] Brighton, Eng.: Institute of Development Studies 1981 Becker, Gary S. 'A Theory of the Allocation of Time' The Economic Journal 80, 200 (September 1965), 493-517 - 'A Theory of Marriage: Part l' Journal of Political Economy 81 (July/ August 1973), 813-46 Bennholdt-Thomsen, Varonika 'Subsistence Production and Extended Reproduction' in Of Marriage and the Market: Women's Subordination in International Perspective ed. Kate Young, Carol Wolkowitz, and Roslyn McCullagh, 16-29. London: CSE Books 1981 Benston, Margaret 'Introduction' in Last Hired, First Fired: Women in the Canadian Work Force by Patricia Connelly. Toronto: Women's Press 1978

232 Bibliography - The Political Economy of Women's Liberation' Monthly Review 21 (September 1969), 13-27 Bertram, G.W. 'Economic Growth in Canadian Industry 1870-1915: The Staple Model and the Take-Off Hypothesis' Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 29, 2 (1963), 162-84 - 'Historical Statistics on Growth and Structure of Manufacturing in Canada, 1870-1957' in Canadian Political Science Association Conference on Statistics 1962 & 1963 Papers ed. J. Henripin and A. Asimakopulos, 93-146. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1964 Biggs, Lesley C. The Case of the Missing Midwives: A History of Midwifery in Ontario from 1795-1900' Ontario History 65, 1 (March 1985), 21-35 Binnie-Clark, Georgina 'Address Given to Members of the Royal Colonial Institute' 8 April 1913, in A Flannel Shirt and Liberty: British Emigrant Gentlewomen in the Canadian West, 1880-1914 ed. Susan Jackel, 178-86. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1982 Blau, Francine, and Jusenius, Carol L. 'Economists' Approaches to Sex Segregation in the Labour Market: An Appraisal' in Women and the Workplace ed. Martha Blaxall and Barbara Reagan, 181-99. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1976 Bohnen, Linda S. 'Women Workers in Ontario: A Socio-Legal History' University of Toronto Faculty Law Review 31 (1973), 45-74 Bradbury, Bettina 'Pigs, Cows and Boarders: Non-Wage Forms of Survival among Montreal Families, 1861-91' Labour/Le Travail 14 (Fall 1984), 9-46 - The Family Economy and Work in an Industrializing City: Montreal in the 1870's' Historical Papers (1979), 71-96 - 'Women and Wage Labour in a Period of Transition: Montreal 1861-1881' Histoire sociale/Social History 17, 33 (May 1984), 115-31 Brandt, Gail Cuthbert ' "Weaving It Together": Life Cycle and the Industrial Experience of Female Cotton Workers in Quebec, 1910-1950' Labour/Le Travailleur 1 (Spring 1981), 113-25 Braun, Rudolf The Impact of Cottage Industry on an Agricultural Population' in Rise of Capitalism ed. David S. Landes, 53-64. New York: Macmillan 1966 Brookes, Alan A., and Wilson, Catharine A. 'Working away from the Farm: The Young Women of North Huron, 1910-30' Ontario History 77, 4 (December 1985), 281-300 Buckley, Kenneth 'Historical Estimates of Internal Migration in Canada'

233 Bibliography in Canadian Political Science Association Conference on Statistics 1960 Papers ed. E.F. Beach and J.C. Weldon, 1-37. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1962 - The Role of Staple Industries in Canada's Economic Development' Journal of Economic History 18, 4 (December 1958), 439-50 Buckley, Susan 'British Female Immigration and Imperial Development: Experiments in Canada, 1885-1931' Hectate: Women's Interdisciplinary Journal (January 1977), 26-40 Burgess, Joanne 'L'Industrie de la chaussure a Montreal 1840-1870: Le passage de 1'artisanat a la fabrique' Revue d'histoire de Vamerique frangaise 31, 2 (septembre 1977), 187-210 Campbell, G.G. 'Susan Dunlap: Her Diary' Dalhousie Review XLVI, 2 (Summer 1966), 215-22 Caves, Richard E. ' "Vent for Surplus" Models of Trade and Growth' in Trade, Growth and the Balance of Payments, ed. R.D. Baldwin et al., 95-115. Chicago: Rand-McNally 1965 Chambers, Edward J. 'New Evidence on the Living Standards of Toronto Blue Collar Workers in the Pre-1914 Era' Histoire sociale/Social History 18, 36 (November 1985), 285-314 Chayton, Miranda, and Lewis, Jane 'Introduction' in Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century by Alice Clark [1919] London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1982 Clark, Christopher, 'Household Economy, Market Exchange and the Rise of Capitalism in the Connecticut Valley, 1800-1860, Journal of Social History 13, 2 (Winter 1979), 169-89 Clark, Melissa The Status of Women in Relation to Transitions in the Mode of Production' Occasional Papers of the McMaster University Sociology of Women Programme 1 (Spring 1977), 128-63 Coburn, Judi ' "I See and Am Silent": A Short History of Nursing in Ontario' in Women at Work: Ontario 1850-1930 ed. Janice Acton et al. Toronto: Canadian Women's Educational Press 1974 Cohen, Marjorie The Problem of Studying "Economic Man" ' in Feminism in Canada: From Pressure to Politics, ed. Angela Miles and Geraldine Finn, 89-101. Montreal: Black Rose Books 1982 - The Razor's Edge Invisible: Feminism's Effect on Economies' International Journal of Women's Studies 8, 2 (May/June 1985), 286-98 Connelly, M. Patricia 'Women Workers and the Family Wage in Canada' in Women and the World of Work ed. by Anne Hoiberg, 223-37. New York: Plenum 1982

234 Bibliography Conrad, Margaret ' "Sundays Always Make Me Think of Home": Time and Place in Canadian Women's History' in Not Just Pin Money ed. Barbara K. Latham and Roberta J. Pazdro, 1-16. Victoria: Camosen College 1984 Corbett, D.C. Immigration and Economic Development' Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 18, 3 (August 1951), 360-8 'Cost of Living Schedules' The Labour Gazette (November 1901), 277-81 Craven, Paul The Law of Master and Servant in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Ontario' in Essays in the History of Canadian Law ed. David M. Flaherty, I 175-211. Toronto: Osgoode Society 1981 Cross, Michael S. The Lumber Community of Upper Canada, 1815-1867' Ontario History LII (December 1960), 213-33 Cross, Suzanne D. The Neglected Majority: The Changing Role of Women in Nineteenth Century Montreal' in The Neglected Majority ed. Susan Mann Trofimenkoff and Alison Prentice, 66-86. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1977 Curtis, Bruce 'Capital, the State and the Origins of the Working-Class Household' in Hidden in the Household ed. Bonnie Fox, 101-34. Toronto: Women's Press 1980 Danylewycz, Marta, Light, Beth, and Prentice, Alison The Evolution of the Sexual Division of Labour in Teaching: A Nineteenth-Century Ontario and Quebec Case Study' Histoire sociale/Social History 16, 31 (May 1983), 81-109 Davey, Ian E. Trends in Female School Attendance in Mid-Nineteenth Century Ontario' Histoire sociale/Social History vn (1975), 238-54 Davies, Margery 'Woman's Place Is at the Typewriter: The Feminization of the Clerical Labor Force' Pamphlet reprint from Radical America 8, 4 (July-August 1974) Davis, Natlie Zemon ' "Women's History" in Transition: The European Case' Feminist Studies 3, 3/4 (Spring/Summer 1976), 83-104 Deere, Carmen D. 'Rural Women's Subsistence Production in the Capitalist Periphery' in Peasants and Proletarians ed. Robin Cohen, Peter C.W. Gutkind, and Phyllis Brazier, 133-48. New York: Monthly Review Press 1979 Denton, Frank, and George, Peter The Influence of Socio-Economic Variability on Family Size in Wentworth County, Ontario, 1871' Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 10 (1973), 334-45 Drache, Daniel 'Harold Innis and Canadian Capitalist Development' Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory 6, 1/2 (Winter/Spring 1982), 35-60

235 Bibliography - 'Rediscovering Canadian Political Economy' in A Practical Guide to Canadian Political Economy by Wallace Clement and Daniel Drache, 1-53. Toronto: James Lorimer 1978 - 'Staple-ization: A Theory of Canadian Capitalist Development' in Imperialism, Nationalism, and Canada ed. by Craig Heron, 15-33. Toronto: New Hogtown Press 1977 - The Formation and Fragmentation of the Canadian Working Class: 1820-1920' Studies in Political Economy 15 (Fall 1984), 43-89 Drummond, W.M. Troblems of the Canadian Dairy Industry' in The Dairy Industry in Canada ed. H.A. Innis, 127-210. Toronto: Ryerson Press 1937 Dye, Nancy Schrom 'Clio's American Daughters: Male History, Female Reality' in The Prism of Sex ed. Julia A. Sherman and Evelyn Torton Beck, 9-31. Madison, wi: University of Wisconsin Press 1979 Elliott, Bruce S. 'Sources of Bias in Nineteenth-Century Ontario Wills' Histoire sociale/Social History 18, 35 (May 1985), 125-32 'Factory Inspection in Ontario' The Labour Gazette (July 1903), 90-1 'Female Labor in Toronto. Its Nature - Its Extent - Its Reward' The Globe 28 October 1868 Firestone, O.J. 'Development of Canada's Economy, 1850-1900' in Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century 217-46. Princeton: National Bureau of Economic Research 1960 Folbre, Nancy 'Patriarchy in Colonial New England' Review of Radical Political Economics 12, 2 (Summer 1980), 4-13 Fowke, V.C. The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Pioneer' Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada Series ill 56 (1962), Section 2, 23-37 Gaffield, Chad M. 'Canadian Families in Cultural Context: Hypotheses from the Mid-Nineteenth Century' Historical Papers (1979), 48-70 - 'Schooling, the Economy and Rural Society in Nineteenth-Century Ontario' in Childhood and Family in Canadian History ed. Joy Parr, 69-92. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1982 Gaffield, Chad, and Levine, David 'Dependency and Adolescence on the Canadian Frontier: Orillia, Ontario in the Mid-Nineteenth Century' History of Education Quarterly 18, 1 (Spring 1978), 35-48 Gagan, David 'Geographical and Social Mobility in Nineteenth Century Ontario: A Microstudy' Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 13 (June 1976) - 'Land, Population and Social Change: The "Critical Years" in Rural Canada West' Canadian Historical Review 59, 3 (September 1978), 293-318

236 Bibliography Gee, Ellen M. 'Early Canadian Fertility Transition: A Components Analysis of Census Data' Canadian Studies in Population 6 (1979), 23-32 - 'Marriage in Nineteenth-Century Canada' The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 19, 3 (August 1982), 311-25 Graham, Elizabeth 'Schoolmarms and Early Teaching in Ontario' in Women at Work: Ontario 1850-1930 ed. Janice Acton et al., 154-1930. Toronto: Canadian Women's Educational Press 1974 Greer, Allan Tur-Trade Labour and Lower Canadian Agrarian Structures' Canadian Historical Association Historical Papers (1981), 197-214 - 'Wage Labour and the Transition to Capitalism: A Critique of Pentland' Labour/Le Travail 15 (Spring 1985), 7-22 Hakim, Catherine 'Census Reports as Documentary Evidence: The Census Commentaries 1800-1951' Sociological Review 28, 3 (1980), 551-80 Hall, Catherine The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestickmaker: The Shop and the Family in the Industrial Revolution' in The Changing Experience of Women ed. Elizabeth Whitelegg et al., 2-16. London: Martin Robinson and Co. 1982 - The Home Turned Upside Down?: The Working-Class Family in Cotton Textiles 1780-1850' in The Changing Experience of Women ed. Elizabeth Whitelegg et al., 17-29. London: Martin Robinson and Co 1982 Harris, Olivia 'Households as Natural Units' in Of Marriage and the Market ed. Kate Young et al., 49-68. London: CSE Books 1981 Hartwell, R.M. The Service Revolution: The Growth of Services in Modern Economy' in The Fontana Economic History of Europe, HI The Industrial Revolution ed. Carlo M. Cipolla, 358-96. London: Collins/ Fontana 1973 Hedley, Max 'Domestic Commodity Production: Small Farmers in Alberta' in Challenging Anthropology ed. David H. Turner and Gavin A. Smith, 280-98. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1979 - 'Independent Commodity Production and the Dynamics of Tradition' Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 13, 4 (1976), 413-21 - ' "Normal Expectations": Rural Women without Property' Resources for Feminist Research 11, 1 (March 1982), 15-17 - 'Relations of Production of the "Family Farm": Canadian Prairies' Journal of Peasant Studies 9, 1 (1981), 71-85 - 'Reproduction and Evolving Patterns of Cooperation and Resource Transfer Among Domestic Producers' Canadian Journal of Anthropology 1, 2 (1980), 141-7 Heer, David M. 'Economic Development and the Fertility Transition' in

237 Bibliography Population and Social Change ed. D.V. Glass and Roger Revelle, 99-113. London: Edward Arnold 1972 Henretta, James A. 'Families and Farms: Mentalite in Pre-Industrial America' William and Mary Quarterly 3rd series, xxxv 1 (January 1978), 3-32 Heyzer, Noeleen 'Women, Subsistence and the Informal Sector: Towards a Framework of Analysis. Discussion Paper' (pamphlet) Brighton: Institute of Development Studies 1981 'History of Cheesemaking in Ontario' (mimeograph) Annual Meeting of Western Ontario Cheesemakers Association, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, 12 March 1964. Public Archives of Ontario, Pamphlet Collection, Ace. 10058 Hollis, Patricia 'Working Women' History 62 (October 1977), 439-45 The Immigration and Colonization Movement' The Labour Gazette (November 1904), 503-5 Innis, H.A. 'Significant Factors in Canadian Economic Development' in Essays in Canadian Economic History ed. Mary Q. Innis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1956 - 'Unused Capacity as a Factor in Canadian Economic History' in Essays in Canadian Economic History ed. Mary Q. Innis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1956 Isbister, John 'Agricultural Balanced Growth and Social Change in Central Canada since 1850: An Interpretation' Economic Development and Cultural Change 25 (July 1977), 673-97 Jensen, Joan 'Cloth, Butter and Boarders: Women's Household Production for the Market' Review of Radical Political Economics 12, 2 (Summer 1980), 14-24 Johnson, Leo 'Independent Commodity Production: Mode of Production or Capitalist Class Formation?' Studies in Political Economy: A Socialist Review 6 (1981), 93-112 - 'Land Policy, Population Growth and Social Structures in the Home District, 1793-1851' Ontario History 67 (1971), 41-60 - The Political Economy of Ontario Women in the Nineteenth Century' in Women at Work: Ontario 1850-1930 ed. Janice Acton et al, 13-31. Toronto: Canadian Women's Educational Press 1974 Johnson, Robert The Origins of Industrial Homework' in The Seam Allowance by Laura C. Johnson with Robert E. Johnson, 29-57. Toronto: Women's Educational Press 1982 Kaluzynska, Eve 'Wiping the Floor with Theory: A Survey of Writings on Housework' Feminist Review 6 (1980), 27-54

238 Bibliography Kaprielian, Isabel 'Women and Work: The Case of Finnish Domestics and Armenian Boarding-House Operators' Resources for Feminist Research/ Documentation sur la Recherche Feministe 12, 4 (December/January 1983/4), 51-4 Kealey, Gregory S. Hogtown: Working Class Toronto at the Turn of the Century (pamphlet) Toronto: New Hogtown Press 1974 Kelly, Kenneth The Development of Farm Produce Marketing Agencies and Competition between Market Centres in Eastern Simcoe County, 1850-1875' in Canadian Papers in Rural History ed. Donald H. Akenson, I 59-81. Gananoque, Ont.: Langdale Press 1978 - The Evaluation of Land for Wheat Cultivation in Early Nineteenth Century Ontario' Ontario History 62, 1 (March 1970), 57-64 Kelly-Gadol, Joan The Social Relation of the Sexes: Methodological Implications of Women's History' Signs 1, 4 (Summer 1976), 809-23 Keyfitz, Nathan The Growth of Canadian Population' Population Studies 4 (1950), 47-63 Kitteringham, Jane 'Country Work Girls in Nineteenth-Century England' in Village Life and Labour ed. Raphael Samuel, 73-138. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1975 Kohl, S. 'Women's Participation in the North American Family Farm' Women's Studies International Quarterly 1 (1978), 47-54 Kolasiewicz, Sarah 'Outstanding Women of Oxford County' Canadian Women's Studies III (1981), 50-1 Lacelle, Claudette 'Les Domestiques dans les villes canadiennes au xixe siecle: Effectifs et conditions de vie' Histoire sociale/Social History 15, 29 (mai 1982), 181-207 Laslett, Peter 'Characteristics of the Western Family Considered over Time' Journal of Family History 2, 2 (June 1977), 89-115 Lavigne, Marie, and Stoddard, Jennifer 'Women's Work in Montreal at the Beginning of the Century' in Women in Canada ed. Marylee Stephenson, 129-47. Rev. ed. Don Mills, Ont.: General Publishing 1977 'Legislation with Regard to Child and Female Labour in Canada' The Labour Gazette (March 1908), 1100-20 Lerner, Gerda 'Placing Women in History: Definitions and Challenges' Feminist Studies 3, 1/2 (Fall 1975), 5-14 Leslie, Genevieve 'Domestic Service in Canada, 1880-1920' in Women at Work: Ontario, 1850-1930 ed. Janice Acton et al., 71-125. Toronto: Canadian Women's Educational Press 1974 Lewis, Arthur 'Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labor' Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies XXII (May 1954), 139-91

239 Bibliography Lewthwait, Elizabeth 'Women's Work in Western Canada' Fortnightly Review, October 1901. Reprinted in A Flannel Shirt & Liberty ed. Susan Jackel, 111-20. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1982 Lowe, Graham S. The Administrative Revolution in the Canadian Office: An Overview' in Essays in Canadian Business History ed. Tom Traves, 114-33. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1984 - 'Class, Job and Gender in the Canadian Office' Labour/Le Travailleur 10 (Autumn 1982), 11-37 - 'Women, Work and the Office: The Feminization of Clerical Occupations in Canada, 1901-1931' Canadian Journal of Sociology 5, 4 (1980), 361-81 Lowen, Judy 'Not So Much A Factory, More a Form of Patriarchy: Gender and Class during Industrialization' in Gender, Class and Work ed. Eva Gamarnikow, David Morgan, June Purvis, and Daphne Taylorson, 28-45. London: Heinemann 1983 Lower, A.R.M. The Lumber Trade between Canada and the U.S.' in The North American Assault on the Canadian Forest ed. H.A. Innis, 1-226. Toronto: Ryerson Press 1938 McCalla, Douglas The "Loyalist" Economy of Upper Canada, 1784-1806 Histoire sociale/Social History 16, 31 (May 1983), 279-304 - The Wheat Staple and Upper Canadian Development' Historical Papers (1978) 34-46 MacDonald, Martha 'Economics and Feminism: This Dismal Science?' Studies in Political Economy 15 (Fall 1984), 151-78 McDougall, Duncan M. 'Immigration into Canada, 1851-1920' Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 27, 2 (May 1961), 162-75 Mclnnis, R.M. 'Childbearing and Land Availability: Some Evidence from Individual Household Data' in Population Patterns in the Past ed. Ronald Demos Lee, 201-27. New York: Academic Press 1977 Mackintosh, Maureen 'Gender and Economics: The Sexual Division of Labour and the Subordination of Women' in Of Marriage and the Market ed. Kate Young et al, 1-15. London: CSE Books 1981 Mackintosh, W.A. 'Economic Factors in Canadian History' in Approaches to Canadian Economic History ed. W.T. Easterbrook and M.H. Watkins, 1-15. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1967 Mac Lean, Annie Marion 'Factory Legislation for Women in Canada' The American Journal of Sociology 5, 2 (1899), 172-81 McLaren, Angus 'Birth Control and Abortion in Canada, 1870-1920' Canadian Historical Review 59, 3 (September 1978), 319-40 MacLellan, Margaret E. 'History of Women's Rights in Canada' in Studies of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada No. 8

240 Bibliography Cultural Tradition and Political History of Women in Canada Ottawa: Information Canada 1971 McNally, David 'Staple Theory as Commodity Fetishism: Marx, Innis and Canadian Political Economy' Studies in Political Economy (Autumn 1981), 35-63 Mays, Herbert J. ' "A Place to Stand": Families, Land and Permanance in Toronto Gore Township, 1820-1890' Historical Papers (1980), 185-211 Medick, Hans The Proto-Industrial Family Economy: The Structural Function of Household and Family during the Transition from Peasant Society to Industrial Capitalism' Social History 3 (October 1976), 291-315 Medjuck, Sheva Tamily and Household Composition in the Nineteenth Century Case of Moncton, N.B. 1851-71' Canadian Journal of Sociology 4, 3 (Summer 1979), 275-86 - The Importance of Boarding for the Structure of the Household in the Nineteenth Century, Moncton, New Brunswick and Hamilton, Canada West' Histoire sociale/Social History 8, 25 (May 1980), 207-14 Merrill, Michael 'Cash Is Good to Eat: Self-Sufficiency and Exchange in the Rural Economy of the United States' Radical History Review (Winter 1977), 42-71 Middleton, Chris 'Patriarchal Exploitation and the Rise of English Capitalism' in Gender, Class and Work ed. Eva Gamarnikow et al., 11-27. London: Heinemann 1983 Mincer, Jacob, and Polachek, Solomon 'Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women' Journal of Political Economy 82, 2 (March/April 1974), S76-S108 Morgall, Janine Typing Our Way to Freedom: Is It True that New Office Technology Can Liberate Women?' in The Changing Experience of Women ed. Elizabeth Whitelegg et al., 121-35. Oxford: Martin Robertson 1982 Noel, Jan 'New France: Les femmes favorisees' in The Neglected Majority: Essays in Canadian Women's History II ed. Alison Prentice and Susan Mann Trofimenkoff, 18-40. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1985 Officer, L., and Smith, L. The Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty of 1855-1866' Journal of Economic History 28, 4 (1968), 598-623 Osborne, Brian S. Trading on a Frontier: The Function of Peddlers, Markets, and Fairs in Nineteenth-Century Ontario' in Canadian Papers in Rural History ed. Donald H. Akenson, 59-81. Gananoque, Ont.: Langdale Press 1980 Ouellet, Fernand 'Dualite economique et changement technologique au Quebec (1760-1790)' Histoire sociale/Social History (1976), 256-96

241 Bibliography Pearce, John S. Price List of Dairy Supplies London, Ont. 1900. Public Archives of Ontario, Pamphlet Collection 1890, no. 70 Phillips, Paul Introduction' in Labour and Capital in Canada 1650-1860 by H. Clare Pentland. Toronto: James Lorimer 1981 Pierson, Ruth, and Prentice, Alison 'Feminism and the Writing and Teaching of History' Atlantis 7, 2 (Spring 1982), 37-46 Porter, Marilyn ' "Women and Old Boats": The Sexual Division of Labour in a Newfoundland Outport' in The Public and the Private ed. Eva Gamarnikow et al. London: Heinemann 1983 - 'She Was Skipper of the Shore-Crew: Notes on the History of the Sexual Division of Labour in Newfoundland' Labour/Le Travail 15 (Spring 1985), 105-23 Prentice, Alison The Feminization of Teaching' in The Neglected Majority ed. Susan Mann Trofimenkoff and Alison Prentice, 49-65. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1977 Ramkhalawansingh, Ceta 'Women during the Great War' in Women at Work: Ontario 1850-1903 ed. Janice Acton et al., 261-307. Toronto: Canadian Women's Educational Press 1974 Reimer, Bill 'Farm Mechanization: The Impact on Labour at the Level of the Farm Household' Canadian Journal of Sociology 9, 4 (Fall 1984), 429-43 Richards, Eric 'Women in the British Economy since about 1700: An Interpretation' History 59 (1974), 337-57 Roberts, Barbara. ' "A Work of Empire': Canadian Reformers and British Female Immigration' in A Not Unreasonable Claim ed. Linda Kealey, 185-201. Toronto: Women's Press 1979 Roberts, Wayne 'Honest Womanhood: Feminism, Femininity and Class Consciousness among Toronto Working Women 1893 to 1914' (pamphlet) Toronto: New Hogtown Press 1976 Rose, Sonya O. 'Gender at Work: Sex, Class and Industrial Capitalism' History Workshop Journal 21 (Spring 1986), 113-31 Rouslin, Virginia Watson 'The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Pioneering in Canada' Dalhousie Review 56, 2 (Summer 1976), 319-35 Ruddick, J.A. 'The Development of the Dairy Industry in Canada' in The Dairy Industry in Canada ed. H.A. Innis, 15-123. Toronto: Ryerson Press 1937 Russell, Peter A. 'Wage Labour Rates in Upper Canada, 1818-1840' Histoire sociale/Social History 16, 31 (May 1983), 61-80 Sacouman, James R. 'Semi-Proletarianization and Rural Underdevelopment in the Maritimes' Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 17 (1980), 232-45

242 Bibliography Samuel, Raphael 'Workshop of the World: Steam Power and Hand Technology in Mid-Victorian Britain' History Workshop 3 (1977), 6-72 Sangster, Joan 'Finnish Women in Ontario, 1890-1930' Polyphony 3, 2 (1981), 46-51 - The 1907 Bell Telephone Strike: Organizing Women Workers' Labour/Le Travailleur 3 (1978), 109-30 Saunders, S.A. 'A Note on the Dairy Industry in the Maritime Provinces' in The Dairy Industry in Canada ed. H.A. Innis, 283-4. Toronto: Ryerson Press 1937 Sawhill, Isabel V. 'Economic Perspectives on the Family' in The Economics of Women and Work ed. Alice Amsden, 125-39. New York: Penguin 1980 Schecter, Rebecca 'Canadian Pioneer Cookery: A Structural Analysis' Journal of Canadian Studies XII (1977), 3-11 Schulenburg, Jane Tibbets 'Clio's European Daughters: Myopic Modes of Perception' in The Prism of Sex ed. Julia A. Sherman and Evelyn Tort on Beck, 33-53. Madison, wi: University of Wisconsin Press 1979 Scott, Jean Thompson The Conditions of Female Labour in Ontario' Toronto University Studies in Political Science, 1st series, ill (1892) Scott, Joan W., and Tilly, Louise A. 'Women's Work and the Family in Nineteenth-Century Europe' in The Family in History ed. Charles E. Rosenberg, 145-78. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1975 Seccombe, Wally 'Domestic Labour and the Working-Class Household' in Hidden in the Household ed. Bonnie Fox, 25-99. Toronto: Women's Press 1980 - 'Patriarchy Stabilized: The Construction of the Male Breadwinner Wage Norm in Nineteenth-Century Britain' Social History 11, 1 (January 1986), 53-76 'Sessions, Turner & Cooper's Boot and Shoe Establishment' The Daily Globe, 18 November 1870 St. John, Stewart T. 'Mrs St John's Diary: January 2, 1903 to March 30, 1904' Saskatchewan History 2, 3 (Autumn 1949), 25-30 Stone, Lawrence The Rise of the Nuclear Family in Early Modern England: The Patriarchal Stage' in The Family in History ed. Charles E. Rosenberg, 13-57. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1975 Strong-Boag, Veronica 'Canada's Women Doctors: Feminism Constrained' in A Not Unreasonable Claim: Women and Reform in Canada 1880s-1920s ed. Linda Kealey, 109-29. Toronto: Women's Press 1979 Szalai, Alezander 'Women's Time' Futures 7, 5 (October 1975), 385-99

243 Bibliography Thompson, Dorothy 'Women and Nineteenth-Century Radical Politics: A Lost Dimension' in The Rights and Wrongs of Women ed. Juliet Mitchell and Ann Oakley, 112-38. New York: Penguin 1976 Tilly, Louise A., Scott, Joan W., and Cohen, Miriam 'Women's Work and European Fertility Patterns' Journal of Interdisciplinary History 6, 3 (Winter 1976), 447-76 Trofimenkoff, Susan Mann 'One Hundred and Two Muffled Voices: Canada's Industrial Women in the 1880s' (pamphlet, GROW Paper #10) Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, n.d. Vanek, Joann Time Spent in Housework' in The Economics of Women and Work ed. Alice H. Amsden, 82-90. New York: Penguin 1980 Vogel, Lise The Contested Domain: A Note on the Family in the Transition to Capitalism' Marxist Perspectives 1 (1978), 50-73 Watkins, Melville H. 'A Staple Theory of Economic Growth' The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 29, 2 (May 1963), 141-58 White, Catherine 'Reminiscences of Mrs White, of White's Mills, Near Cobourg, Upper Canada, Formerly Miss Catherine Chrysler of Sydney, Near Belleville, Aged 79' Ontario History 1 (1906), 153-7 Wilson, Pearl 'Consumer Buying in Upper Canada 1791-1840' in Historical Essays on Upper Canada ed. J.K. Johnson. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1975 Wilson, Roland 'Migration Movements in Canada, 1868-1925' The Canadian Historical Review 13 (June 1932), 157-82 Women's Study Group 'Loom, Broom and Womb: Producers, Maintainers and Reproducers' Radical America 10, 2 (March/April 1976), 26-45 Zacharias, Alexandra 'British Columbia Women's Institute in the Early Years: Time to Remember' in In Her Own Right: Selected Essays on Women's History in B.C. ed. Barbara Latham and Cathy Kess, 55-78. Victoria: Camosun College 1980

Unpublished Theses and Papers Backhouse, Constance B. 'Married Women's Property Law in NineteenthCentury Canada' Unpublished paper, April 1987 Bullen, John 'Hidden Workers: Child Labour and the Household Economy in Early Industrial Ontario' Paper prepared for the Canadian Historical Association 1983 Coombs, David Grosvenor The Emergence of a White Collar Workforce in Toronto 1895-1911' PHD thesis, York University 1978

244 Bibliography DeLottinville, Peter The St Croix Cotton Manufacturing Company and Its Influence on the St Croix Community 1880-1892' MA thesis, Dalhousie University 1979 Folbre, Nancy Russel 'Patriarchy and Capitalism in New England, 1620-1900' PHD thesis, University of Massachusetts 1979 Fox, Bonnie 'Women's Domestic Labour and Their Involvement in Wage Work: Twentieth Century Changes in the Reproduction of Daily Life' PHD thesis, University of Alberta 1980 Graff, Linda The Changing Nature of Farm Women's Work Roles under the Industrialization of Agricultural Production' MA thesis, McMaster University 1979 Johnson, Leo A. 'New Thoughts on an Old Problem: Self-Sufficiency Agriculture in Upper Canada' Paper presented at the Canadian Historical Association, Guelph, Ontario, June 1984 - 'Wages and Prices in Upper Canada 1840' Paper presented at the Conference on Class and Culture, Montreal, Quebec, 1980 Langdon, Steven William The Political Economy of Capitalist Transformation: Central Canada from the 1840's to the 1870's MA thesis, Carleton University 1972 Lautard, E. Hugh 'Occupational Segregation and Industrialization in Canada 1891-1971' PHD thesis, University of British Columbia 1978 McCalla, Douglas The Internal Economy of Upper Canada: Some Evidence on Patterns of Agricultural Marketing (to 1850)' Paper for the Thirteenth Conference on Quantitative Methods in Canadian Economic History, March 1984 Murray, Hilda Emily Louise The Traditional Role of Women in a Newfoundland Fishing Community' MA thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland 1972 Thivierge, Nicole 'La Condition sociale des ouvriers de 1 Industrie de la chaussure a Quebec, 1900-1940' MA thesis, Laval University 1979

Government Documents Canada Censuses of Canada 1665 to 1870 in Census 1870-1, Vol. iv Ottawa 1876 - Census of the Canadas 1851-2 Quebec - Census of the Canadas 1860-61 Ottawa - First Census of the Canadas 1870-71 Ottawa - Second Census of Canada 1880-81 Ottawa - Third Census of Canada 1890-92 Ottawa

245 Bibliography -

Fourth Census of Canada 1901 Ottawa Fifth Census of Canada 1911 Ottawa Sixth Census of Canada 1921 Ottawa Seventh Census of Canada 1931 Ottawa Census of Canada 1971 Ottawa Census of Canada 1981 Ottawa Journals of the House of Commons n 1877 Report of the Royal Commission on a Dispute Respecting House of Employment between the Bell Telephone Company of Canada Ltd. and Operators at Toronto Ontario Ottawa: Department of Labour 1907 - Report of the Royal Commission on Industrial Training and Technical Education Ottawa 1913 - Report of the Royal Commission on the Relations of Capital and Labour Ottawa 1889 - Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada Ottawa 1970 - Report of the Royal Commission on the Textile Industry Ottawa 1938 - Sessional Papers 1882, No. 42 Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Enquire into the Working of Mills and Factories of the Dominion, and the Labour Employed Therein Ottawa - Sessional Papers 1885, No. 37 Report of A.H. Blackely on the State of the Manufacturing Industries of Ontario and Quebec Ottawa - Sessional Papers 1896, Vol. 29, No. 61 Report upon the Sweating System in Canada Ottawa 1897 Canada, Advisory Council on the Status of Women Five Million Women: A Study of the Canadian Housewife by Monique Proulx. Ottawa 1978 Canada, Department of Agriculture First Annual Report of the Dairy Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada for 1890 Ottawa 1891 Canada, Department of Labour Wages and Hours of Labour in Canada, 1901-1920 Ottawa 1921 Canada, Department of Trade and Commerce, Dominion Bureau of Statistics The Textile Industries of Canada in the Decade 1917-26 Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics The Canada Year Book, 1910-1939. Ottawa 1911-40 - Dairy Factories, 1917-1920 Ottawa 1918-21 - Monthly Dairy Review of Canada, Statistical Supplement 1948 Ottawa 1949 - Statistics of Dairy Factories, 1928, 1931. Ottawa 1929, 1932 Ontario. Annual Report of the Bureau of Industries 1884-1911 - Report of the Committee on Child Labour, 1907 Toronto 1907

246 Bibliography - Report of the Milk Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Production, Care and Distribution of Milk, 1909 Toronto 1910 Ontario, Department of Agriculture Report of Factory Inspectors, 1888-1911

Archival Collections British Library, London. Canadian Government Documents Collection City of Toronto. Records and Archives Division Fawcett Library, London Polytechnic, England. Sadd Brown Library on Women in the Commonwealth. Manuscript Collection of Women's Emigration Societies Metropolitan Toronto Library. Photographic Collection National Archives of Canada. Photographic Collection Ontario Agricultural Museum, Milton Public Archives of Ontario, Toronto. Wills Collection Public Archives of Ontario, Toronto. Pamphlet Collection Public Archives of Ontario, Toronto. Photographic Collection

Index

'Agricola' 95 agricultural sector 6-7, 19, 43, 92, 123-4, 127, 207 n21 agriculture: women's market production in 82, 88-91, 118, 155. See also dairy production; market-gardening; fruit Alberta: dairy production in 104, 114; property laws in 186 n62 apprenticeship. See indenture Armstrong, Hugh 27 Armstrong, Pat 27 artisan class 27, 125 artisanal production 89, 91, 141-2, 156 Austin, Rev. B.F. 152 Backhouse, Constance 47, 185 n61 barter 40, 61, 155; in dairying 101, 199 n36 Bell Telephone Company 151, 216 nl39 Belleville 193 n79 Benston, Margaret 26, 178 n48 Berlin, Ontario 100 Binnie-Clark, Georgina 96-7 blacksmithing 125, 142

boarding-house keepers 130-1, 156, 166, 209 n51 bookbinding 167, 169 Branca, Patricia 174-5 n21, 176 n27 Brandt, Gail 214 n100 Britain: dairy production in 98, 203 n84; domestic service in 20, 135-6; effect of industrialization on women's work in 3, 9, 14-24, 26, 28, 135-6, 157, 172 nn4, 5; export of dairy products to 106, 111-12; export of eggs to 91; export of staples to 29, 33, 60, 62-3, 65; immigrants from 68-9, 71, 80-1; immigration from 64-5, 69, 80, 138-9, 190 n23, 212 nn82, 83; imports from 33, 80, 82, 84, 188 n8; textile industry in 15, 20, 75-6, 80, 82, 156, 172 nn4, 5, 208 n43; women in labour force 129, 135-6, 141, 172 nn4, 5 British Columbia: dairy production in 104, 114; property laws in 186 n62; Women's Institutes 204 n99 Brockville 74 Buckley, Kenneth 30 Bureau of Industries 137-8

248 Index Burnett, John 176 n32 butter: export of 90, 105-6, 110-12; factory production of 106, 109-10, 112-14, 141, 203 n74, 204 n97, 205 n107; household production of 94, 96, 98-100, 103-6, 109-12, 118, 166, 203 n75 Canniff, William 77 capital accumulation: in capitalist sector 10, 36, 38, 41; in dairy production 93-4, 103; in family economy 11, 36, 38, 41, 44, 61, 67-8, 154; and family productive relations 5-8, 36, 44, 154; and subsistence production 183 nn35, 36; and women's household production 6-8, 10-13, 36, 38, 41, 61, 68, 154 Capital and Labour, Royal Commission on Relations of 132, 150, 211 n75, 213 n87 capitalist productive relations 6, 36, 40, 42, 154; control of labour 7, 10, 43, 57; and patriarchal productive relations 120; property in 44 carding 76, 78, 81-2; mills 81 Caves, Richard 179 n3, 181 n17 Chayanov, A.V. 41 cheese: export of 105-6, 110-11; factory production of 93, 104-10, 113-15, 141, 167,201 nn61, 63, 204 n97, 205 n107; household production of 93-4, 98-9, 103-9, 115, 118, 202 nn70, 71, 203 n75 child care: economic value of 25; effect of industrialization on women's role in 18-19, 22, 26, 174 n21; in pre-industrial family economy 17-18, 21, 70-2, 79, 82-3; and women's dairy production 101

childbearing: age of 72, 122, 191 n49. See also reproduction children: custody of 46-7, 51, 186 n71; inheritance by 47, 50-8; mortality 16 children's labour: in clothing industry 132, 134, 143; in factories 141, 168-9, 209 n62; and family income 128-9; in the farm economy 66, 68, 71-3, 86, 92; as field hands 86-7; in hemp production 84; in housework 136; and male labour 213 n87; in market-gardening 90; patriarchal ownership of 43-5, 54; as servants 85-7; in sugar production 88; in textile industry in Britain 15, 20 class: issues in economic development 5-6, 29, 158; relations 44 clergy 83; clerical occupations 146-9, 166, 170, 215 n122, 216 n127 cloth, imported 76-7, 80, 193 n73 cloth production, household: in Britain 20, 75-6, 80, 82, 156; for the family 75-82, 102, 130, 199 n39; for the market 67, 78-83, 88, 156, 193 nn80, 81; by professional weavers 80-1; in Quebec 192 n65, 193 n81. See also textile industry clothing, household production of 73-80, 102 clothing industry: women in 135, 166, 214 nn106, 109; women's factory work in 132, 142-5, 167, 169, 210 n63; women's home work in 131-4, 140, 209 n63, 210 n63 colonial economy 9-10, 23, 31 colonial manufacturing 33, 40 colonization 32, 183 n37

249 Index commercial occupations 126-7; female employment in 146-50, 170 commodity production 8, 10, 27, 30; independent 36, 38, 40-1, 44, 184 n43; women's labour in 28, 41 common law, English 46-7 communication networks 31, 34 Connelly, Patricia 27 Conrad, Margaret 91 construction 169 co-operatives 115-16, 204 n97 Corn Laws 62-3 Cornwall, female employment in 128 cottage production: in Britain 14, 17-18, 19-20, 23, 75-6, 80, 82, 135, 156; in Europe 26; in Ontario 83-4, 156 cotton: availability of 78; factory production of 143-4, 167, 169, 214 nl00; industry in Britain 172 nn4, 5 courts 45-7, 49, 56-7 Cowan, Helen I. 190 n23 craft production 17-19, 23, 125-6 Craven, Paul 45, 56 creameries. See butter Croil, James 70, 95 cultural factors 8, 68, 82, 94, 155 dairies, travelling 114, 204 n99 dairy commissioners 100, 106, 199 n31 dairy production 11, 94, 104, 110, 197 n14; in Alberta 104, 114; barter in 101, 199 n36; in Britain 98, 198 nn18, 19; in British Columbia 104, 114; conditions of 97-105; and export markets 85, 90-1, 97, 103, 105-6, 110-13, 201 n54; in the factory 11, 93-4,

97-8, 101, 103, 105-10, 112-17, 167, 201 nn61, 63, 203 n74, 204 n97, 205 n107; in the family economy 11, 93, 95-7, 99, 101, 107, 109, 199 n38; government promotion of 112-16, 204 n97; hired labour in 98, 103, 107, 198 n21; for household consumption 11, 75, 95-7, 203 n75; male control of 92-4, 105-8, 112-13, 115-17, 141, 155-6; in Manitoba 104, 114; in the Maritimes 95, 102, 104, 106, 114, 197 n7, 204 n97; markets for 90, 94-5, 97-8, 101, 103-6, 111, 115-16; in Ontario economy 11, 90, 92-3, 97, 101, 103-6, 109-10, 155; production process in 11, 93, 98-101, 103-16, 199 n29, 200 nn51, 52, 201 n61, 202 n68, 204 n92; in Quebec 94-5, 100, 103-4, 106, 108-10, 201 n63, 203 n74; in Saskatchewan 104, 114, 204 n97; and staple production 97-8, 197 n15: in United States 98, 105, 113, 197 n17; and wheat farming 96, 102, 105; women's labour in 11, 75, 85, 92-109, 111, 11518, 155, 196 n3, 202 nn70, 71; as women's work 75, 93-100, 102, 105-9, 117 dairy schools 107, 114, 201 n61, 204 n99 dairymen's associations 113, 116 daughters: and domestic cloth production 76, 79; economic dependency of 44-5, 56-7, 162; as hired spinners 80; inheritance by 54-8, 159-62, 187 nn89, 91, 201 n65; labour of in farm family economy 68, 79, 95; and paid work 19, 175 n25; as professional weavers 81; value of labour

250 Index of 55; waged labour of in family economy 128, 132, 134 Dean, Henry 101 Dechene, Louise 30 Deere, Carmen 38, 183 n36 Denmark: butter from 113; dairy technology from 112 dentists 148 department stores 150 dependency theory 5 division of labour, by gender: in dairy production 94, 106, 155; effect of industrialization on 9-10, 18-19, 21, 24, 27, 157; in family economy 22-4, 28, 37-8, 54, 66-71, 83, 154, 157, 182 n32; and female employment 121; in industrial employment 126, 141, 213 n89; and staple production 10, 24, 28, 36-9, 153-4, 157, 182 n33; and women's market activity 59 division of market and non-market labour 67-8, 154, 157, 184 n42 doctors 148, 215 n121 domestic labour 147, 205 nl, 209 n54; economic value of 25, 54-5, 119, 129-30, 139, 177 n43, 182 n34; effect of industrialization on 18-19, 22, 25-7, 119, 135; in pre-industrial family economy 17-18, 21-3, 27, 38, 70-2, 79; wages for 45-6; and women's dairy production 101-2; and women's paid work 15-16, 18, 20, 119, 129 domestic servants 198 n21, 211 n71; in the farm family economy 85-8, 137; scarcity of 72, 85-8, 136-9, 200 n46, 211 n75; as spinners 80; wage rates of 87-8, 138; and women's household production for the market 68, 85, 103;

working in dairying 96, 98, 103; workload of 102-3 domestic service 211 n72; in Britain 20, 135-6, 174 n21, 176 n32; female employment in 136, 139-40, 142, 146-7, 166, 168; in France 210 n65; immigrants in 138-40; and industrialization 12, 20, 121, 135-6, 157, 176 n31 dower rights 51-4 dowry 56, 107 Drache, Daniel 179 n3, 180 n11, 181 nn21, 25 Dundas 87, 186 n66, 197 n14 Dunlop, William 84, 87 Eaton, Timothy 150 economy: colonial 9-10, 23, 31; dual 8, 35, 61, 153; peasant 38, 41, 75; pioneer 39, 59, 61, 64, 68, 71 egg production 90-1, 118, 203 n75 electricity 144 Elliott, Bruce S. 186 n64 emigration. See immigration emigration societies, female 139, 211 n81, 212 nn82, 83 Engels, Friedrich 14-16 Europe: cultural values in 38, 68; dairy production in 98; immigrants from 68, 139; industrialization in 76, 153; markets in 29 factory system: in Britain 14-16, 20, 75, 80; in Ontario 76, 126, 134, 156 family economy 3; children's labour in 72; inequality of women's labour in 18, 44, 54-5, 56-7; position of women in 16; productive relations in 3, 5-8, 10, 23, 28, 41, 43-5, 57, 93, 116,

251 Index 154, 158, 185 n53; sexual division of labour in 22-4, 28, 37-8, 54, 66-71, 83, 154, 157, 182 n32; and staple production 62-3, 66-7, 153; and subsistence production 8, 10-11, 40, 57, 59, 67, 119, 139, 153-5; and women's household production for the market 11-12, 79, 85, 155; women's labour in 9-11, 15, 17-18, 23, 28, 38, 59, 71-5, 85, 89, 119, 154, 157-8. See also cloth production, household; dairy production family size 72, 83, 121-2, 155, 191 n49 family wage economy: and women's household production 128, 130-4, 139, 156; and women's work outside the home 128-9, 139, 156 female labour: displacement of male labour by 14-15, 141, 158, 213 n87; shortages of 72, 85, 137-8, 156; supply of 136, 139 fertility rates: in Canada 164; in Ontario 72, 120-2, 164, 191 n48, 207 n21; in Quebec 72 Firestone, OJ. 123 fishing industry 29; and markets 32; women's labour in 41, 102, 200 n41 flannel, household production of 77-9 flax 76-7; preparation of 77-9, 84; production of in Britain 172 n4 foundries 142 Fowke, Vernon 39, 61, 94, 184 n40 France: cheese production in 202 n70; domestic service in 210 n65; mercantile interests of 33 free trade 105, 201 nn54, 55 fruit: household production of 75, 98, 102, 203 n75; for the

market 89-91, 102, 118, 196 nl16; in urban areas 130, 166 fulling 81-2; mills 77, 81 fur trade 29, 33, 39, 189 n12; labour of Indian women in 41; and markets 32; and population growth 32; productive relations in 42 Gagan, David 72, 124, 195 n96 Gait, female employment in 128 Glengarry 66 Gore 187 n84 Gourlay, Robert 87 government: inspection of butter 111; investment in transportation 34; promotion of dairy industry 94, 112-16; promotion of hemp production 84-5; promotion of immigration 86, 138-40 Graff, Linda 117 Greer, Allan 36, 39 Griffiths, Naomi 182 n33 Grimsby 78, 82 gristmills 124 Guelph, Ontario Agricultural College in 114, 201 n61, 204 n99 Guillet, Edwin 189 n10 Hakim, Catharine 142 Hall, Basil 85 Hamelin, Jean 30 Hamilton: female employment in 128, 131-2, 136, 139, 143; population of 163; sex ratios in population of 121, 163 Hay don, Andrew 73 Haythorne, George 184 n50 Hedley, Max 185 n53 hemp 194 n86; production of 83-5, 194 n90 history: women in 3, 29, 178 nl; of women's labour 25-6, 181 n26

252 Index Holton, Richard 179 n3 household production for family consumption. See cloth production, household; dairy production; subsistence production household production for the market, women's: of agricultural goods 82, 88-91, 118, 155; of cloth 67, 78-9, 82-3, 88, 156, 193 nn80, 81; effect of industrialization on 10-12, 22, 24-8, 90-2, 118, 155-7; and export markets 84-5, 90-1; in the family economy 11-12, 79, 85, 155; of hemp 83-5; and labour requirements 83-5, 92, 155; and local markets 11, 59-60, 68, 71, 83, 85, 88-91, 155; and patriarchal productive relations 12, 93-4, 118, 155-6; and subsistence production 10-11, 24, 41, 59, 68, 71, 82-3, 85, 88-9, 154-5; in the wage economy 130-4, 140, 156. See also dairy production; marketgardening housewives 19, 26-7, 130. See also domestic labour Howe, Margaret 73 Howison, John 67-71 Hutton, William 79, 87-8, 196 n116 immigrants: from Britain 80-1; and domestic cloth production 80-1; from Germany 81 immigrants, female 86; from Britain 68-9, 71, 80, 99, 107, 138-9, 212 n82; as servants 137-40, 212 n82 immigration: from Britain 64-5, 69, 80, 138-9, 190 n23, 212 n83; effect of on the economy 65, 67; effect of on social development 38, 68; government promotion of

138-40; and staple production 60, 64, 188 n8; of women 137-9, 211 n81, 212 n83 imports: from Britain 33, 80, 82, 84, 188 n8; cloth 76-7, 80, 193 n73; need for 37, 62, 153 indenture 85, 138, 194 n94 Industrial Revolution 33, 80, 135 inheritance: by daughters 54-8, 159-62, 187 nn89, 91, 201 n65; and patriarchy 45, 48, 54, 187 n83; practices 45, 48-58, 160-2, 186 nn64, 65; by wives 49-54, 58, 159-62 Innis, Harold 31-4, 180 nn11, 13, 181 n21 Ireland: textile production in 80; immigrants from 65, 80-1, 121 Isbister, John 90 Jameson, Anna 197 n14 Jensen, Joan M. 197 n17 Johnson, Leo 27, 61, 64, 91 Johnson, Robert 26 Jones, Eliza 100 Jones, Robert 94, 190 n30 Kaluzynska, Eve 182 n34 Katz, Michael 131 Keyfitz, Nathan 206 nl2 Kingston: dairy school in 114; population of 163; scarcity of servants in 211 n75; sex ratios in population of 163 knitting 75, 80, 193 n71 Kome, Penny 26 labour: seasonal 35, 37, 66, 87; shortages 10, 38, 42, 67, 82-3, 98, 154, 183 n37; undifferentiated 6, 40-1. See also division of labour Lacelle, Claudette 211 n71 land: availability of 48, 53, 55,

253 Index 60-1, 81, 124, 127; clearing of 60, 65, 67-70, 72; transfer of 54-5, 187 n84 Lange, Oscar 43 Langton, Ann 70 laundresses 130-1, 156, 166 Leslie, Genevieve 211 n72 Leveridge, Ann 199 n36 linen, household production of 76-8, 192 n65; in Quebec 192 n65 London, Ontario: female employment in 128-9, 133; population of 163; sex ratios in population of 163 Long Point District, Ontario 77 looms, in Ontario households 76-80 Lowe, Graham S. 215 n122 McCalla, Douglas 30, 61, 63, 180 n9, 189 n17 McClung, Nellie 201 n65 McCullum, John 30, 63, 123, 189 n17 Mclnnis, R.M. 191 n48 machine-working 142 Mackintosh, W. A. 31, 180 n11 male absence 73-4, 107 male domination, and women's paid work 120 Manitoba: dairy production in 104, 114, 200 n46; property laws in 186 n62; scarcity of servants in 200 n46 manufacturing sector 33, 124-7; female employment in 19, 124, 126-7, 140-7, 167-70; household production for 131-4, 140 market-gardening 89-90, 93, 118, 129, 155 markets: export and women's household production 84-5, 90-1; international staple 11,

32-4, 39, 60-4, 66-7, 97, 153, 181 n22, 197 nn12, 13; local and women's household production 11, 59-60, 68, 71, 83, 85, 88-91, 155 Markham 137 marriage: age of 86, 122, 164, 195 n96; contracts 47 Martineau, Harriet 201 n54 Marx, Karl 14; theory of capital accumulation 183 n36 Mays, Herbert J. 187 n84 means of production, male ownership of 7, 10-11, 40-1, 43-5, 57, 154, 156, 185 n53, 199 n33 middle class: and dependent widows 53; and women's role 119 middle class women: in clerical occupations 149; and domestic servants 137, 174 n21, 176 n32; as domestic servants 212 n82; effect of industrialization on labour of 18, 27; and farm labour 69 Middleton, Chris 174-5 n21 midwives 148, 166, 215 nn117, 120 migration: of capital and labour 33; of men 120, 122, 124, 127, 131; from Ontario 206 n12; of women 101, 120-1, 127, 137, 211 n73 military: employment 37; service 73 milk production 98-9, 106, 107, 202 n68, 203 n75 Mitchell, Elizabeth 116 mixed farming 90, 105, 120, 180 n9 Montreal 85, 111, 206 n9; boardinghouses in 209 n51; shoe industry in 213 n91 Moodie, Susannah 53, 57-8, 99, 187 n80

254 Index National Council of Women 114 National Policy 143-4 natural resources 31-4, 60, 154 New Brunswick: cheese factories in 106; dairy production in 104; property laws in 186 n62 Newfoundland: dairy production in 102; property laws in 186 n62; women's work in fishing in 102, 200 n41 Niagara Peninsula 72 North York 91 Northumberland 137; and Durham Agricultural Society 86 Northwest Territories: property laws in 186 n62 Nova Scotia: cheese factories in 106; dairy production in 95, 104, 114, 197 n7; property laws in 186 n62 nuns 166 nurses 148, 166, 215 nnl14, 119, 120 Oakley, Ann 26, 41 occupational distribution 123-7, 165; female 130-2, 135-6, 139_40, 142-50, 157, 166, 170 occupational segregation by gender 9, 18, 21-2, 146-7, 213 n89 Ontario Agricultural College 114, 201 n61, 204 n99 organizing 134, 213 n90 Ottawa: population of 163; sex ratios in population of 163 Ottawa Valley: timber production in 35, 65-6, 186 n66 patriarchal productive relations 7, 42-5, 57, 120, 154, 158; and women's production for the market 12, 93 Peel County 72, 124

Pentland, H. Clare 5-6, 35, 42, 123, 207 n21 Perth 74 Pinchbeck, Ivy 20, 172 n4, 175 n25, 176 n26, 198 n19 pioneer: economy 39, 59, 61, 64, 68, 71; female labour 76, 83 Piva, Michael J. 210 n63 Polanyi, Karl 5 population: and industry 125-6, 144; and land 127; and markets 11, 60, 89, 126; sex ratios in 120-2, 162-4, 206 n14; size 120, 149, 162-3, 167; and staple production 32-3, 64; and women's work 8, 11-12, 22, 89, 118, 120-3, 144, 147, 156-7 Port Dover 77 potash production 65; women's labour in 75, 85, 194 n92 poultry-raising 56, 75, 93, 98, 107; for the market 90, 102, 118, 155; in urban areas 130,166 primary manufacturing sector 124, 146; female employment in 127, 142, 146; as male sphere 124, 126-7; and service sector 127 Prince Edward Island: dairy production in 104, 204 n97; property laws in 186 n62 printing 169 privatization of women's work 10, 19, 22, 24, 26-8 production, methods of in industry and women's work 125-7, 140-2, 145, 149 productive relations, paternalistic 6, 42 productivity differentials 91, 155, 204 n98 professional occupations 126-7; female employment in 146-8, 166, 170

255 Index property relations 27, 43-5, 57 property rights 43; of married women 44-8, 54, 161, 185 n61, 186 n62; of single women 45-6; of widows 45, 49-54 protoindustrialization 23, 75, 156 public/private distinction 9-10, 22, 24, 26-8, 157 Quebec: birth rates in 72; cotton industry in 144; dairy production in 94-5, 100, 103-4, 106, 108-10, 201 n63, 203 n74; domestic cloth production in 192 n65, 193 n81; labour force in 30 Quebec City 206 n9 Reciprocity Treaty (1854) 90, 105, 201 n55 Reimer, Bill 92 reproduction 22, 72, 101; of labour 30, 35, 42, 101; social 13, 34 Richards, Eric 175 n25 Rose, Laura 110, 114, 202 n68, 204 n99 Rowell-Sirois Commission 39 Riddick, J.A. 94, 200 n51 Sacouman, James 38, 183 n35 St Catharines 148 St Lawrence region: fertility rates in 72; hemp-growing in 84; lumbering in 66 Saskatchewan: dairy production in 104, 114, 204 n97; property laws in 186 n62; wheat production in 63 sawmills 124-5, 142 school attendance 136, 147, 195 n96 Schreiner, Olive 17 Scotland, immigrants from 65, 80-1

Scott, Jean 129 Scott, Joan 175 n25, 182 n32 secondary manufacturing sector 124; female employment in 124, 146; and service sector 127. See also manufacturing sector self-sufficiency 7, 39, 61, 64, 74. See also subsistence production separation of home and workplace 9, 16-18, 21-2, 119, 157 service sector: expansion of 121, 123-4, 126-7, 135; and female employment 121, 123, 127, 131, 135, 145-51, 157. See also domestic service sewing machine 133-4, 141, 143 sex ratios in population 120-2, 162-4, 206 n14 sexual division of labour. See division of labour, by gender shoe industry, female labour in 141-2, 167, 169, 213 nn88-91 silk mills 172 n4 slaves 95 social services 129 Spelt, Jacob 125 spinning 75-80, 82; as paid work 80, 166 staple-exporting economy: and internal markets 7, 30, 60-1, 97; and productive relations 6, 10, 23-4, 29-30, 32-3, 35, 42, 60, 154, 181 n25; and division of labour by gender 10, 24, 28, 36-9, 153-4, 157, 182 n33 staple production: and economic development 7, 31-5, 37, 60, 153, 156, 179 n3, 180 n13, 181 nn17, 21; and the family economy 62-3, 66-7, 153; female labour in 181 n26; and labour supply 34-7, 40; and market fluctuations 32-4, 39, 60, 97, 153, 181 n22, 197

256 Index nn12, 13; and subsistence production 7-8, 10, 24, 36-40, 59-61, 97, 153-4, 197 n13; and women's dairy production 97-8, 197 n15. See also timber production; wheat production staple theory of development 5-7, 29-31, 35 stenographers 149, 166, 215 nl14 Stewart, Frances 194 n85 Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County 48-51, 55, 160, 186 n66, 187n89 Stratford 111 straw works 167 strikes 100, 143, 150, 216 n139 subsistence production 4; and capital accumulation 7-8, 10, 36, 38, 41, 61, 154, 183 n35; and the family economy 8, 10-11, 40, 57, 59, 67, 119, 139, 153-5; and independent commodity production 40-1; male labour in 67, 74; and staple production 7-8, 10, 24, 36-40, 59-61, 97, 183 n35, 197 n13; in the Third World 183 n37; and wage rates 36, 38-9, 154; and women's labour 10, 24, 36, 38, 59, 67-8, 71, 74-5, 85, 88, 96, 137, 152-5, 157, 183 n37. See also cloth production, household; dairy production sugar production 88, 102 sweating 133; commission on 134 Sykes, Ella 198 n21 tariffs, 32, 94, 105, 126 Taylor, James 89 teachers 147-8, 166, 215 nl16 telephone operators 150-1, 216 n139 temporary employment 20, 22, 38

textile industry 76, 81-2, 126, 143-4, 156, 193 n79; in Britain 75-6, 80, 82, 156, 172 n4; in Europe 26; in Quebec 144; women's factory labour in 143_4; 167, 169, 214 nl00; and women's labour in Britain 15, 20, 82, 172 nn4, 5, 208 n43. See also cloth production Thompson, Samuel 70 Tilly, Louise 175 n25, 182 n32 timber production: and agriculture 65-7, 190 nn26, 27, 30; labour force in 65-6; and markets 33, 60, 64-6, 190 n31; in Ontario economy 60, 64-5; in Ottawa Valley 35, 65-6, 186 n66; in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry County 48 tobacco: culture 86; industry 126, 167, 169 Toronto: clothing industry in 131-4, 142-3, 210 n63; farmers' market in 89; household production of food in 130, 166; industrial establishments in 125; population of 163; servants in 136, 139; sex ratios in population of 120-1, 163-4; shoe industry in 213 nn89-91; wage rates in 130 Traill, Catharine Parr 79, 87, 193 n71 transportation 94; from Britain 64-5, 189 n22; of dairy products 105, 111-14; female employment in 146-8, 150-1, 170; improvements in 11, 34, 88-91, 105, 125-6; inadequacy of 59-62, 64-5, 83, 101, 155-6, 188 n10; and internal markets 11, 60-2, 83, 88-91, 97, 101, 126, 188 nl0 typists 149, 215 nl14, 216 n128

257 Index unemployment 131, 141 United States: Civil War in 78, 105, 126, 143, 193 n80; dairy production in 98, 105, 113, 197 n17; exports to 90-1, 105-6, 201 n54; fertility rates in 72; imports from 62, 78, 80, 126; Reciprocity Treaty with 90, 105, 201 n55; women in labour force in 135 Upper Canada 13, 84, 87, 197 n14 urbanization 123, 125; and the agricultural sector 123-5; and industrialization 125, 127; and markets 90-1, 98; and wheat production 64; and women's waged labour 118, 144, 149, 156 usufruct 50, 159-61 Van Kirk, Sylvia 181 n26 vegetable production, for household use 75, 130, 166, 203 n75, 208 n47. See also marketgardening wage differential 87, 129-30, 147, 149 wage rates 36, 126; for female labour 129-30, 147, 149-51; for female labour in clothing industry 132-4; for female servants 87-8, 138; for males 87, 128-9; and subsistence production 38-9, 154, 183 nn35, 36; for teachers 215 n113 Watkins, Mel 179 n3 weaving 76-80, 82, 193 n77; professional weavers 80-1, 193 n75 Wellington County 48, 159-61 Wheat - markets 11, 61-4, 66-7 - production for household consumption 64 - staple production 65, 69, 83-4,

90, 188 n8; and dairy production 96, 102, 105; income from 63, 79, 189 nn13, 17; in Ontario economy 60, 62-4, 120, 180 n9; and subsistence production 11, 60-1, 63, 66-7, 96-7 widows: economic dependency of 52-3, 57-8, 187 n80; in labour force 118, 128-9; in labour force in Britain 172 n5, 208 n43; as professional weavers 81; property rights of 45, 49-54; working in clothing industry 132 wills 186 n64; by females 50, 54-5, 159-61, 187 n82; by males 48-56, 58, 159-62, 187 nn89, 91, 201 n65 Wilson, Susannah 26 Winnipeg, government dairy school in 114 women, married: economic dependency of 19, 44-5, 57; inheritance by 49-54, 58, 159-62; in labour force 20-1, 119, 128-9, 135, 210 n64; in labour force in Britain 129, 172 n5, 208 n43; property rights of 44-8, 54, 161, 185 n61, 186 n62; proportion of 122, 165; and restriction to the home 18-19, 22, 119, 129, 139 women, single: effect of industrialization on labour of 20, 22; emigration of 138; in labour force 118-20, 123, 128-9, 139, 157, 162; property rights of 45-6; proportion of 122; waged work of in family economy 85 Women's Institutes 116, 204 n99, 205 n106 women's labour, male control of 7, 11, 43-4, 46-7, 57 wool cloth, household production of: for household use 75, 77, 79-80, 166; for trade 79, 88

258 Index woollen industry 81, 143-4, 167, 169; in Britain 172 n4 working class 15, 119; families 128, 134, 208 n47; women 18, 156

World War I 9, 116, 145, 148, 150, 157 World War II 118, 210 n64 York County 81

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T H E S T A T E A N D E C O N O M I C LIFE Editors: Mel Watkins, University of Toronto; Leo Panitch, York University This series, begun in 1978, includes original studies in the general area of Canadian political economy and economic history, with particular emphasis on the part played by the government in shaping the economy. Collections of shorter studies, as well as theoretical or internationally comparative works, may also be included. 1 The State and Enterprise: Canadian manufacturers and the federal government 1917-1931 TOM TRAVES 2 Unequal Beginnings: Agricultural and economic development in Quebec and Ontario until 1870 JOHN McCALLUM 3 An Impartial Umpire': Industrial relations and the Canadian state 1900-1911 PAUL CRAVEN 4 Scholars and Dollars: Politics, economics, and the universities of Ontario 1945-1980 PAUL AXELROD 5 'Remember Kirkland Lake': The history and effects of the Kirkland Lake gold miners' strike 1941-42 LAUREL SEFTON MacDOWELL 6 No Fault of Their Own: Unemployment and the Canadian Welfare State 1914-1941 JAMES STRUTHERS 7 The Politics of Industrial Restructuring: Canadian textiles RIANNE MAHON 8 A Conjunction of Interests: Business, politics, and tariffs 1825-1879 BEN FORSTER 9 The Politics of Canada's Airlines from Diefenbaker to Mulroney GARTH STEVENSON 10 A Staple State: Canadian industrial resources in cold war MELISSA C L A R K - J O N E S 11 Women's Work, Markets, and Economic Development in NineteenthCentury Ontario MARJORIE GRIFFIN COHEN