Death, Grief and Poverty in Britain, 1870–1914Cambridge University Press, 2005 M07 25 - 294 pages With high mortality rates, it has been assumed that the poor in Victorian and Edwardian Britain did not mourn their dead. Contesting this approach, Julie-Marie Strange studies the expression of grief among the working class, demonstrating that poverty increased - rather than deadened - it. She illustrates the mourning practices of the working classes through chapters addressing care of the corpse, the funeral, the cemetery, commemoration, and high infant mortality rates. The book draws on a broad range of sources to analyse the feelings and behaviours of the labouring poor, using not only personal testimony but also fiction, journalism, and official reports. It concludes that poor people did not only use spoken or written words to express their grief, but also complex symbols, actions and, significantly, silence. This book will be an invaluable contribution to an important and neglected area of social and cultural history. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 28
Page 4
... reflected social 12 13 J. Morgan , ' The Burial Question in Leeds in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries ' in R. Houlbrooke ( ed . ) , Death , Ritual and Bereavement ( London : Routledge , 1989 ) , 95-104 , S. Rawnsley and J ...
... reflected social 12 13 J. Morgan , ' The Burial Question in Leeds in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries ' in R. Houlbrooke ( ed . ) , Death , Ritual and Bereavement ( London : Routledge , 1989 ) , 95-104 , S. Rawnsley and J ...
Page 7
... reflection of growing consumer markets.29 To a point , this is a convincing thesis . It is worth noting , however , that the Anatomy Act only 28 27 28 29 E. Ross , " Not the Sort that Would Sit on the Doorstep " : Respectability in Pre ...
... reflection of growing consumer markets.29 To a point , this is a convincing thesis . It is worth noting , however , that the Anatomy Act only 28 27 28 29 E. Ross , " Not the Sort that Would Sit on the Doorstep " : Respectability in Pre ...
Page 8
... reflected that the omission of grief from explorations of the material culture of death was startling given that most contemporaries assume death and grief are inseparable.30 Where grief has been the sub- ject of analysis, it has been ...
... reflected that the omission of grief from explorations of the material culture of death was startling given that most contemporaries assume death and grief are inseparable.30 Where grief has been the sub- ject of analysis, it has been ...
Page 9
... reflection of an innermost life , as the inner life is only accessible when mediated through multiple linguistic and symbolic representations . Indeed , Jalland is concerned with the ways in which the external customs asso- ciated with ...
... reflection of an innermost life , as the inner life is only accessible when mediated through multiple linguistic and symbolic representations . Indeed , Jalland is concerned with the ways in which the external customs asso- ciated with ...
Page 13
... reflects the humanity of Jane Snowden and her idealistic grandfather . Jane partakes in the modest rituals which signify the passing of life but is unable to articulate her loss or her hopes for the 44 43 Ibid . , 40-3 ( 41 ) . Ibid ...
... reflects the humanity of Jane Snowden and her idealistic grandfather . Jane partakes in the modest rituals which signify the passing of life but is unable to articulate her loss or her hopes for the 44 43 Ibid . , 40-3 ( 41 ) . Ibid ...
Contents
1 | |
2 Life sickness and death | 27 |
3 Caring for the corpse | 66 |
4 The funeral | 98 |
reassessing the pauper burial | 131 |
the cemetery as a landscape for grief | 163 |
7 Loss memory and the management of feeling | 194 |
8 Grieving for dead children | 230 |
death grief and the Great War | 263 |
Bibliography | 274 |
Index | 290 |
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Common terms and phrases
Anfield Cemetery argued Asylum babies BALS ABZ belief bereaved body BOHT Bolton Bolton Burial Board burial ground burial insurance burial service burial space cadaver Cambridge Catholic cemetery child Childhood classes coffin commemoration common grave concerning context corpse culture of death customs Cwmardy D. H. Lawrence dead deceased died dying Edwardian emotional emphasised exhumation expression father funeral Gissing grave deeds grave owners grave space grief guardians Haslingden headstone highlights History Ibid identity implied infant interment Jalland Jones Lancashire Lancet Liverpool Daily Post living London loss LVRO 352 HEA Manchester Maud Pember Reeves memory mortality mother mourning neighbours noted notions OH Transcript Oxford parents parish pauper burial pauper grave perceived perceptions post-mortem poverty private grave public grave Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Reeves relatives represented respectability rites rituals sense sick significance social spiritual stillbirth story suggests Tape University Press Victorian whilst widow woman women workhouse working-class culture