Strolling the Romantic City: Gardens, Panoramas, and Middle-Class Elites in Early Nineteenth-Century Prague

2016 ◽  
pp. 57-85
Author(s):  
Chad Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century

Literary Experimentation in Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues: Transcending "Critical Attitudes" in the Face of Societal Ruination

2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Adrian J. Wallbank
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
British Society ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Class Culture ◽  
The Face ◽  
Literary Techniques

Adrian J. Wallbank, "Literary Experimentation in Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues: Transcending 'Critical Attitudes' in the Face of Societal Ruination" (pp. 1–36) In the aftermath of the French "Revolution Controversy," middle-class evangelical writers made a concerted effort to rehabilitate the moral fabric of British society. Hannah More's Cheap Repository Tracts (1795–98) are recognized as pivotal within this program, but in this essay I question whether they were really as influential as has been supposed. I argue that autobiographical evidence from the period demonstrates an increasing skepticism toward overt didacticism, and that despite their significant and undeniable penetration within working-class culture, the Cheap Repository Tracts, if not all "received ideologies," were increasingly being rejected by their readers. This essay examines the important contribution that Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues (1801) made to this arena. Hill, like many of his contemporaries, felt that British society was facing ruination, but he also recognized that overt moralizing and didacticism was no longer palatable or effective. I argue that Hill thus experimented with an array of literary techniques—many of which closely intersect with developments occurring within the novel and sometimes appear to contradict or undermine the avowed seriousness of evangelicalism—that not only attempt to circumvent what Jonathan Rose has described as the "critical attitudes" of early-nineteenth-century readers, but also effectively map the "transitional" nature of the shifting literary and social terrains of the period. In so doing, Hill contributed signally to the evolution of the dialogue form (which is often synonymous with mentoring and didacticism), since his use of conversational mimesis and satire predated the colloquialism of John Wilson's Noctes Ambrosianae (1822–35) and Walter Savage Landor's Imaginary Conversations (1824–29).

Charity, Finance, and Legitimacy: Exploring Stateless-Capital Status in Early Nineteenth-Century Dublin and Edinburgh

2019 ◽  
pp. 009614421987786
Author(s):  
Joe Curran
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Social Conflict ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Sharp Contrast ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Central State ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Urban Functions

Nineteenth-century Dublin and Edinburgh were “stateless capitals”; they were no longer home to parliaments but still had many of the characteristics of a capital city. This article begins to explore the idea that the stateless capital constitutes a particular type of city. It analyses philanthropic activity to assess how middle-class life in each city was affected by their positions as stateless capitals. In particular, it examines the significance of the close interactions between central state and philanthropy that helped to shape stateless-capital status in early nineteenth-century Dublin but not Edinburgh. It argues that central state intervention in Dublin did not dampen the vibrancy of associational culture, but it did politicize philanthropy, reducing voluntary organizations’ ability to mediate social conflict. More seriously, the provision of parliamentary grants to Dublin’s charities damaged the city’s image, making it appear unable to perform basic urban functions. This was in sharp contrast to Edinburgh’s image as Scottish metropolis.

scholarly journals From specimens to commodities: the London nursery trade and the introduction of exotic plants in the early nineteenth century*

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (262) ◽  
pp. 715-733
Author(s):  
Keith Alcorn
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Exotic Plants ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century

Abstract Nursery owners played a critical role in transforming imported plants and trees from scientific specimens into commodities that became widespread in British gardens in the first half of the nineteenth century. This article uses rare surviving business records of London nurserymen to investigate the scale and structure of the nursery trade and its business practices between 1800 and 1850 and how nursery businesses innovated to meet the needs of an emerging middle class.

Thomas Chalmers, David Nasmith, and the Origins of the City Mission Movement

2004 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-46
Author(s):  
Ian J. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Lay Leadership ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Urban Mission ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Mission Movement ◽  
The City

The development of important models for urban mission took place in early nineteenth-century Glasgow. Thomas Chalmers’ work is widely known, but that of David Nasmith has been the subject of less study. This article explores the ideas shared by Chalmers and Nasmith, and their influence on the development of the city mission movement. Areas of common ground included the need for extensive domestic visitation, the mobilisation of the laity including a middle- class lay leadership, efficient organisation, emphasis on education, and discerning provision of charity. In the long term Chalmers struggled to recruit and retain sufficient volunteers to sustain his parochial urban mission scheme. However, Nasmith’s pan-evangelical scheme succeeded in attracting a steady stream of lay recruits to work as city missioners, as well as mission directors. Through their agency a significant attempt was made to reach those amongst the urban masses who had little or no church connection.

scholarly journals Accounting for the male domination through legislative empowerment of upper-middle class women in the early nineteenth century Spain

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1174-1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Dolores Capelo Bernal ◽  
Pedro Araújo Pinzón ◽  
Warwick Funnell
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Male Domination ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Spanish Law ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Upper Middle Class

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address both the neglect of non-Anglo-centric accounting gendered practices beyond the predominant professional setting and the controversial roles of women and accounting in power relationships inside the household. Analyzing a Spanish upper-middle class Catholic family in the early nineteenth century, the research focuses on the reciprocal interaction of accounting with practices and processes of daily life in a rigid patriarchal socio-cultural and juridical context. Design/methodology/approach This microhistory draws upon several archives, including in Spain the Archivo Histórico Provincial de Cádiz. In England, the Bath Record Office has preserved documents and correspondence, both personal and business related, and the Worcester Record Office preserved notarial documents concerning the family. The large number of letters which have survived has facilitated an in-depth study of the people who were affected by accounting calculations. Findings In a juridical context where women were conceived as merely the means for the circulation of property between two families, the evidence shows that accounting provided the proof of women’s patrimony value and the means to facilitate their recovery in this cosification process. Although women had a little involvement in the household’s accounting and management, they demonstrated confidence in accounting, fulfilling a stewardship function for the resources received. Also, evidence shows that by using accounting practices to shield supposedly defenseless women, this reinforced male domination over women and promoted the view that the role of women was as an ornament and in need of a good husband. Originality/value Contrasting with the Anglo-Saxon contemporary context, the Spanish law preserved a woman’s property rights, guaranteeing recovery of properties owned by her before marriage should the marriage be legally annulled or be dissolved because one of the spouses’ death. This required a detailed accounting of the wife’s properties brought to her marriage, most especially regarding the dowry provided by her family.

Philhellenism Joins with American Benevolence

2020 ◽  
pp. 83-115
Author(s):  
Maureen Connors Santelli
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Lord Byron ◽  
Local Churches ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Southern States ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Christian Population ◽  
The U.S

This chapter explores the evolution of the American philhellenic movement and its emergence as distinct from the European movement. An important aspect of this transition concerns the way the American philhellenic movement became an extension of benevolent organizations directed toward assisting Greek women and children instead of Greek soldiers. Benevolent societies and community charity groups frequently centered around local churches were popular especially among elite and middle-class Protestant women in both the Northern and Southern states by the early nineteenth century. The chapter traces popular support for the Greek cause and illustrates how this support became more solidified through the activism of Lord Byron and the lack of official support from the U.S. government. Ultimately, while early Americans donated time, money, and supplies to aid the Greek cause, the goal was to provide relief to a Christian population and effect an independent Greek republic.

The English Middle Class and the Ideological Significance of Radicalism, 1760–1886

1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nicholls
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
The Political ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
Reform Movements ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Walter Scott ◽  
Political Spectrum

The noun “radical” as applied to reformers who held advanced views came into general use in the early nineteenth century. It was at first used in a derogatory sense, denoting, as Walter Scott wrote in 1819, “a set of blackguards.” However, it was taken up by the subjects of the intended abuse and quickly acquired a certain respectability—so much so that by 1830 one middle-class radical was recording that “the term Radical once employed as a name of low reproach, has found its way into high places, and is gone forth as the title of a class who glory in their designation.” Reformers from across the political spectrum were soon being designated “radical,” as can be seen from the application of the term to individuals as diverse in outlook as Lord Durham, Richard Oastler, and Bronterre O'Brien.This eclecticism has led historians to pronounce the concept useless as a tool of historical analysis. If any tradition at all emerges from studies of English radicalism, then it is a tradition of liberal humanitarianism, a pattern of reform that is nonclass and nonideological. At best “radical” retains its original adjectival power of describing a root-and-branch reformer, an individual who worked to change quite substantially existing economic, political, or social structures by word or deed. But the evident contradictions and discontinuities in the so-called “radical tradition” have made historians balk at making further claims than these. This essay, however, is a provisional attempt to shift the focus away from the personalities and the specificities of reform movements in their peculiar conjunctural moments to the operation of radicalism as a powerful ideology that, far from being nonclass and nonideological and despite (or even possibly because of) its internal contradictions, has profoundly influenced class development and class relations.

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