New volume on Married Women's Property and Coverture from MQUP

Married Women and the Law: Coverture and the Common Law World, edited by Tim Stretton and Krista J. Kesselring has just been announced by McGill-Queen's University Press.

Here's the publisher's blurb:

Explaining the curious legal doctrine of "coverture," William Blackstone famously declared that "by marriage, husband and wife are one person at law." This "covering" of a wife's legal identity by her husband meant that the greatest subordination of women to men developed within marriage. In England and its colonies, generations of judges, legislators, and husbands invoked coverture to limit married women's rights and property, but there was no monolithic concept of coverture and their justifications shifted to fit changing times: Were husband and wife lord and subject? Master and servant? Guardian and ward? Or one person at law?

The essays in Married Women and the Law offer new insights into the legal effects of marriage for women from medieval to modern times. Focusing on the years prior to the passage of the Divorce Acts and Married Women's Property Acts in the late nineteenth century, contributors examine a variety of jurisdictions in the common law world, from civil courts to ecclesiastical and criminal courts. By bringing together studies of several common law jurisdictions over a span of centuries, they show how similar legal rules persisted and developed in different environments. This volume reveals not only legal changes and the women who creatively used or subverted coverture, but also astonishing continuities. - See more at: http://www.mqup.ca/married-women-and-the-law-products-9780773542921.php#sthash.G60ImDEt.dpuf

Accessibly written and coherently presented, Married Women and the Law is an important look at the persistence of one of the longest lived ideas in British legal history.

Contributors include Sara M. Butler (Loyola), Marisha Caswell (Queen’s), Mary Beth Combs (Fordham), Angela Fernandez (Toronto), Margaret Hunt (Amherst), Kim Kippen (Toronto), Natasha Korda (Wesleyan), Lindsay Moore (Boston), Barbara J. Todd (Toronto), and Danaya C. Wright (Florida). - See more at: http://www.mqup.ca/married-women-and-the-law-products-9780773542921.php#sthash.G60ImDEt.dpuf

And the table of contents:

1 Introduction: Coverture and Continuity 3
Tim Stretton and Krista J. Kesselring
2 Discourse on the Nature of Coverture in the Later Medieval Courtroom 24
Sara M. Butler
3 Coverture and Its Discontents: Legal Fictions on and off the Early Modern English Stage 45
Natasha Korda
4 Poor Law, Coverture, and Maintaining Relations in King’s Bench, 1601-1834 64
Kim Kippen
5 Coverture and the Criminal Law in England, 1640-1760 88
Marisha Caswell
6 Women and Property Litigation in Seventeenth-Century England and North America 113
Lindsay Moore
7 The Sailor’s Wife, War Finance, and Coverture in Late Seventeenth-Century London 139
Margaret R. Hunt
8 Written in Her Heart: Married Women’s Separate Allegiance in English Law 163
Barbara J. Todd
9 Tapping Reeve, Nathan Dane, and James Kent: Three Fading Federalists on Marital Unity 192
Angela Fernandez
10 “Concealing Him from Creditors”: How Couples Contributed to the Passage of the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act 217
Mary Beth Combs
11 Coverture and Women’s Agency: Informal Modes of Resistance to Legal Patriarchy 240
Danaya C. Wright
- See more at: http://www.mqup.ca/married-women-and-the-law-products-9780773542921.php#!prettyPhoto

Legal History Group change of venue

Due to the renovations planned for Flavelle House, the Osgoode Society Legal History Group is re-locating for the rest of the academic year. Sessions will be held in Room 20 of the Birge-Carnegie Library, Victoria University (U of T.) The Birge Carnegie Library (not to be confused with the E.J.Pratt Library, which is the main library for Victoria College) is just across the street from Flavelle House, on the east side of Queen's Park Ave, right at the east exit from the Museum subway stop.

Click here to access a map, a photo of the building and directions.

The first session is next week, Wednesday the 15th at the usual time, 6:30. We will be hearing Maynard Maidman, York University discuss "The Practice of Law in Ancient Mesopotamia: Two Cases from ca. 1400-1350 B.C." To receive a copy of the paper, please email Jim Phillips (j.phillips@utoronto.ca).

FWIW, I think this will be a fascinating session. I know some of us prefer to attend only papers which relate to their own area of research, jurisdiction or time period.  Personally, I feel that is a mistake. For anyone who is interested in law and society and its infinite permutations and variations, going outside one's comfort zone--even so far as ancient Mesopotamia--can be truly illuminating.

Warren, Pétitionner au Québec,1991-2011 (Right of Petition)

In the 2013 Winter issue of Bulletin d'Histoire Politique, "Pétitionner au Québec (1991-2011)" by Jean-Philippe Warren of Concordia University.

Here's the English abstract:

The article presents an historical overview of the right of petition in Québec, with a focus on citizen strategies to submit petitions reported by newspapers "Le Devoir" and "La Presse" from 1991 to 2011. It is the author's view that the most successful petitions among citizens are those that denounce corruption and violence. Topics mentioned include a new law on signing petitions through Internet since 2010, petitions as a right-wing strategy, and cycles on signing petitions.

Horrall on Dorothy Cameron 1965 obscenity trial

New in the Journal of Canadian Art History, “Adult Viewing Only": Dorothy Cameron's 1965 Trial for Exhibiting Obscene Pictures" by LAC archivist Andrew Horrall.

The article discusses the 1965 obscenity trial involving the Toronto, Ontario art dealer Dorothy Cameron. The case revolved around the exhibition "Eros 65" held at Cameron's gallery, which featured erotic works of art by various young Canadian artists, including Robert Nelson Markle. Police raided the gallery shortly after the exhibition's opening, removing seven artworks deemed obscene. The author traces the protracted legal battle that ensued, which resulted in Cameron's conviction. The article discusses the importance of the trial in Canadian art history and pays particular focus to the dissenting opinion presented by judge Bora Laskin.

Au début des années 1960, Dorothy Cameron, galeriste à Toronto, défend l'art canadien. Elle s'intéresse aux jeunes artistes torontois et cherche à créer un marché pour l'art contemporain canadien. La scène artistique torontoise est en pleine effervescence : toute une génération de peintres, de sculpteurs et d'artistes en tout genre se laissent inspirer par leur ville natale et décident d'y demeurer pour affirmer leur talent. En compagnie d'aùtres galeristes, Dorothy Cameron met cette esthétique urbaine à l'honneur dans des expositions qui bousculent ceux pour qui l'art canadien se résume essentiellement aux représentations du Bouclier canadien. En mai 1965, la police visite la galerie de la rue Yonge au cours des premiers jours d'une exposition sur l'amour intitulée Eros 65, après avoir reçu une seule plainte d'une personne présente au vernissage. L'escouade des moeurs examine les oeuvres exposées, saisit sept tableaux qu'elle juge obscènes et accuse Cameron d'avoir exposé du matériel obscène en public. L'intervention policière témoigne des tensions qui opposent alors les jeunes artistes et la contre-culture émergente aux groupes conservateurs plus âgés à Toronto. Dans les jours suivant la descente, la police est fortement critiquée et ridiculisée dans la presse et à la télévision par des citoyens incrédules qui n'arrivent pas à imaginer qu'on puisse assimiler des œuvres d'art sérieuses à la pornographie. Les partisans de Cameron sont en grande partie des amateurs d'art avertis, persuadés que l'évaluation objective des tableaux par un juge réfuterait la présomption d'obscénité. La galeriste refuse donc l'offre du procureur de la Couronne d'abandonner les poursuites, préférant se défendre contre ce qu'elle considère comme un acte de censure injustifié qui risque d'ouvrir la voie à d'autres attaques à l'endroit de l'expression artistique. Pendant le procès, la Couronne soutient que les tableaux sont obscènes parce qu'ils illustrent des actes hétérosexuels autant que lesbiens. L'avocat de Cameron fonde sa défense sur celle qui avait réussi en Grande-Bretagne et au Canada à réfuter les accusations d'obscénité portées contre le roman L'Amant de Lady Chatterley de D.H. Lawrence. Il fait appel à cinq experts en art qui expliquent en quoi les tableaux saisis sont des œuvres d'art sérieuses qui s'inscrivent dans la tradition artistique occidentale. Le juge n'est pas convaincu et condamne la galeriste en novembre 1965. Même si l'amende imposée est relativement légère, le jugement choque les partisans de Cameron, qui décide de porter la cause en appel. Sa démarche est appuyée par la toute nouvelle Association canadienne des libertés civiles. La condamnation de Dorothy Cameron suscite une nouvelle vague de moqueries dans la presse et sur les ondes, notamment à l'émission This Hour Has Seven Days, revue d'actualité satirique controversée diffusée à la CBC. Robert Markle (1936-1990), artiste émergent de Toronto et auteur de cinq des tableaux saisis, n'arrive pas à comprendre que ses œuvres puissent être taxées d'obscénité. D'autres craignent que la condamnation ne crée un précédent qui autoriserait la saisie éventuelle d'œuvres d'art légitimes au prétexte qu'elles auraient heurté la sensibilité d'un seul spectateur. Puisqu'ils ne peuvent présenter de nouvelles preuves lors de l'appel, les avocats de Cameron tentent de développer l'argumentaire fondé sur la tradition artistique qui avait été invoqué à propos du procès. En vain. Dans un jugement partagé, la Cour d'appel de l'Ontario rejette l'appel. La majorité des juges statue que les tableaux sont manifestement obscènes et contraires aux normes sociales. Selon eux, le regroupement des œuvres incriminées dans l'exposition Eros 65 en a accentué l'effet d'obscénité. Néanmoins, Bora Laskin, dernier juge nommé à la Cour et cadet de la magistrature, présente une vibrante opinion dissidente soutenant que l'art a pour fonction sociale de remettre en cause les idées et les opinions préconçues. Son opinion ouvre la voie à une éventuelle requête devant la Cour suprême du Canada. Cependant, le stress et la pression de la bataille juridique ont raison de la pugnacité de Dorothy Cameron, qui ferme sa galerie. L'art contemporain canadien perd alors une importante ambassadrice. Sa condamnation n'a toutefois pas eu les conséquences que redoutaient les défenseurs de la galeriste; en effet, on ne l'a jamais invoquée par la suite pour interdire des expositions. Par ailleurs, l'opinion dissidente de Bora Laskin est devenue l'un des arguments les plus cités dans les procès pour obscénité partout dans le monde.

Legal History Workshop 2nd term schedule

The winter 2014 schedule for the Osgoode Society Legal History Workshop:


There have been a coupe of changes to the second term schedule. Please note that we will have the first meeting on January 15th, not January 8th as previously scheduled


Wednesday January 15 - Maynard Maidman, York University: "The Practice of Law in Ancient Mesopotamia: Two Cases from ca. 1400-1350 B.C."

Wednesday January 22 - Eric Adams, University of Alberta: “TBA”

Wednesday February 5 - Philip Girard, Osgoode Hall Law School: “A History of Canadian Law, Chapter 2: 1500-1701"

Wednesday February 12 - Bill Wicken, York University: “Residency on the Six Nations Reserve: Legal and Social issues, 1870-1920.”

Wednesday February 26 - Sally Hadden, Western Michigan University:  “Friends, Colleagues, Competitors: Apprenticeship and Communities of Young Lawyers in Colonial America”

Wednesday March 12 - Tyler Wentzell, University of Toronto: “Not for King nor Country: Canada's Foreign Enlistment Act and the Spanish Civil War”

Wednesday March 26 - Don Fyson, Laval University: “TBA”

Wednesday April 9 - Bettina Bradbury, York University: “‘In the event of my said wife remaining in the colonies … all her interest in my will is to cease’: The widow Kearney contests her husband’s final wishes in colonial Victoria, Australia.”

Mohr, Irish perspective on Statute of Westminster

In the most recent issue of the Law and History Review, Thomas Mohr has an article, "The Statute of Westminster, 1931: An Irish Perspective." The Statute of Westminster looms so large in Canadian constitutional history that I for one often forget the larger imperial context, which Mohr's 'Irish Perspective' does much to illuminate.

Here's the abstract:

The enactment of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 represents one of the most significant events in the history of the British Empire. The very name of this historic piece of legislation, with its medieval antecedents, epitomizes a sense of enduring grandeur and dignity. The Statute of Westminster recognized significant advances in the evolution of the self-governing Dominions into fully sovereign states. The term “Dominion” was initially adopted in relation to Canada, but was extended in 1907 to refer to all self-governing colonies of white settlement that had been evolving in the direction of greater autonomy since the middle of the nineteenth century. By the early 1930s, the Dominions included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free State.

Call for Proposals: ASLH meeting in Denver, November 6-8, 2014.

The 2014 meeting of the American Society for Legal History (ASLH) will take place in Denver, Colorado, November 6-8, 2014. The ASLH invites proposals on any facet or period of legal history, anywhere in the world. We also encourage thematic proposals that range across traditional chronological or geographical fields. In selecting presenters, the Program Committee will give preference to those who did not present at last year's meeting.

Travel grants will be available for presenters in need. These resources will nevertheless be limited, and special priority will be given to presenters traveling from abroad, graduate students, post-docs, and independent scholars.

The Program Committee welcomes proposals for both full panels and individual papers, though please note that individual papers are less likely to be accepted. The Program Committee encourages the submission of a variety of different types of panel proposals, including: traditional 3-paper panels (with a separate chair-commentator); incomplete panels lacking either one paper or a chair-commentator (whether 2-paper panels with a chair-commentator, or 3-paper panels without a chair-commentator), which the Committee will try to complete; author-meets-reader panels; and roundtable discussions.

All panel proposals should include the following:

·       A single page listing the panel title, the titles of each paper, complete contact information for each presenter (including chair-commentator), and any special scheduling requests. (Note that we may not be able to accommodate all scheduling requests.)

·       a 300-word description of the panel

·       a c.v. for each presenter

·       for paper-based panels only: a 300-word abstract of each paper

 Individual paper proposals should include:

·       a c.v. for each presenter (including complete contact information)

·       a 300-word abstract of the paper

Please note that AV equipment/powerpoint capabilities will be unavailable at the Denver 2014 conference.

The deadline for submitting proposals is March 1, 2014. Proposals should be sent as email attachments to proposals@aslh.net.  Substantive questions should be directed to Joanna Grisinger (joanna.grisinger@northwestern.edu) or Mitra Sharafi (sharafi@wisc.edu).

Those unable to send proposals as email attachments may mail hard copies to:

2014 ASLH Program Committee

c/o Mitra Sharafi, UW Law School, 975 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI, 53706-1399, USA