Family Life and Sociability in Upper and Lower Canada, 1780-1870

"Drawing from diaries, family correspondence, and other archival sources, Family Life and Sociability in Upper and Lower Canada, 1780-1870 is an intimate look at everyday life, relationships, and community in early Canada. Noel illuminates the lives of anglophone and francophone couples of different religious backgrounds during courtships and marriage, childbirth and the parent-child relationship, aging and death. From Jewish merchant Abraham Joseph and his extended family in Quebec city, to patriote Amedee Papineau and his new wife Mary Wescott in Montreal, to Chatham lawyer William Douglas's unorthodox meeting with Jane Hudson and their courtship by correspondence, this book highlights the rituals, celebrations, kinship, and community at large that influenced family dynamics, giving us a much better understanding of nineteenth-century family life in the Canadas."--Jacket.