Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Widowers – history'

This thesis is presented in part fulfilment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Huddersfield. This thesis aims to explore the lives of seventeenth century noble widows in the north of England. The issues investigated include the demographics of widowhood, economics of widowhood, charitable activities, noble widows and the law, social networks surrounding widows and widows' political interests. Each of these subjects forms a chapter, where widows' contribution to each sphere through the seventeenth century is explored and assessed. The work also covers wider issues which affected women prior to and during marriage as they were also relevant to widowhood. Therefore it has been necessary to widen the scope of research from analyzing women's lives after the deaths of their husbands. Similarly, the geographical scope of the research, whilst basically entrenched in the north of England, extends in response to the variety of widows' experiences. The research has required examination of primary source material generated by widows such as letters, diaries, estate records and account books from institutions such as the British Library and private libraries such as that at Chatsworth. The second aim of this thesis is to examine more recent attitudes towards seventeenth century noble widows, encompassing the writings of nineteenth century historians and contemporary authors. The subject of this study is an under researched area and the thesis highlights the importance of the only part of a noblewoman's life that was lived as an independent individual. By scrutinising the secondary source material, challenging and criticizing general arguments proposed by other writers, debate upon the subject should be increased and new ideas expressed. Despite the social, legal, economic and political changes which took place throughout the seventeenth century, noble widows remained influential figures within the contexts of family, household and society as they exploited legal loopholes or accepted conventions in order to further their individual aims. This study advances the understanding of women's history by focussing on a neglected aspect of the subject, provides a new viewpoint for regional history and stimulates ideas for further academic debate.

This thesis comprises an organisational history of the War Widow' Guild Australia WA Inc., and an essay about the research and writing process I undertook to construct such a history. The history outlines the development, struggles and achievements of the War Widows’ Guild in Western Australia from 1946 to 1975. While many were celebrating the end of the war in 1945, thousands of war widows faced an uncertain future without their husbands. Although Prime Minister John Curtin addressed the issue of war widows' pensions as part of his Post War Reconstruction initiatives, the pension was well below the basic wage. Many war widows, especially those with small children to support, now lived in near poverty. It was under these circumstances, that Mrs Jessie Mary Vasey, the widow of Major-General George Alan Vasey, established the War Widows' Craft Guild, first in Victoria in November 1945, and then in other states. In Western Australia, the Guild held its first meeting on 29 November 1946. During the early years, members undertook training in weaving and various crafts to supplement their meagre pensions. The Guild also opened tearooms on the Esplanade in Perth, as a form of income and as a central meeting place. For many war widows it was in meeting together that they found support from others who understood their own experiences of grief and loss. At a state and national level, the Guild became a powerful lobby group on behalf of all war widows influencing the government on issues such as accrued recreation leave, pensions, educational benefits and health care. Many of the pensions and benefits war widows receive today are largely due to the work of the early members of this organisation. These women fought for public recognition and expression of their loss. They fought to have war widows' pensions seen as compensation for their husband's lives rather a government handout. They persevered when the organisation faced hurdles, and fought for their rights at a time when men had the louder voices and determined the rules. The essay outlines the research and writing journey that has produced the history. It outlines the wide-ranging research I undertook for each narrative thread. This includes the writing of organisational histories; experiential research in the form of a trip to Gallipoli; archival sources such as newsletters, minutes, correspondence and photographs; contextual history such as war literature, Western Australian history and post-war history; and oral history. I describe some of the difficulties I encountered when searching for particular kinds of information. I also discuss some of the decisions underpinning the selection and shaping of information, particularly in relation to the war widows' stories and embedding an historical context, and some of the tensions at play in that process.

Widows as individuals and as a social group held fundamental importance to both the family and civic life of early modern Castile. Archival sources indicate that widows' influence throughout all levels of Castilian society was magnified by their relative degree of legal autonomy, combined with a tacit acceptance of women's activities in many areas of familial and municipal life. The use of documents more closely reflecting women's daily activities allows for contextualization of the complex impact of moral and legal rhetoric on the social construction of widowhood, providing concrete examples of widows' practical and often highly tactical employment, evasion, and/or manipulation of patriarchal and moral norms. The experience of widowhood both forces a re-examination of gender boundaries by questioning current theories of female enclosure and demands a re-evaluation of gendered patterns in expressions of patronage and parentage. Marital status and social class become more important that the gendered moral and legal strictures of an apparently patriarchal society in terms of early modern women's ability to take part in a wide range of activities normally not considered possible for their sex. Toledo's widows challenge public/private spheres models by giving evidence of the public nature of private lives and the private ends of public acts. Examining widows' lives provides insight into the complex mechanisms lying behind the formulation of gender boundaries in the early modern world and the pragmatic politics of everyday life at the nexus of family and community.

This thesis employs critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995) to unpick the discourses surrounding British widows of men who died as a result of the First World War. The war widows’ pension scheme, as implemented under the Royal Warrant of 1916, was the first (financially) non-contributory pension, and the first specifically directed towards women in Britain. Implemented against a backdrop of the first mass, industrialised war of the modern era, the discourses and ideologies underpinning it are firmly rooted in those of the previous century. At a time when the State was intervening in the life of its citizens in more extensive way than at any previous time, it also sought to distance itself from these citizens through the use of an impersonal style of communication. This was used to present war widows’ pension legislation that was framed around discourses of morality and nationalism that masks underlying parsimony and patriarchy. This thesis draws on a wide range of resources such as charitable records, media sources and Hansard reports, concentrating on a selection of 200 individual case files relating to claims for a war widow’s pension, held in the National Archive, Kew. Two case files are analysed in detail using discourse-historical analysis (Wodak, 2001) as a framework for a linguistic analysis. The two case files chosen represent widows whose experiences are typical of those found in the corpus. One widow is representative of the sizeable group of women who had their pensions stopped because of ‘improper’ behaviour, the correspondence in her file revealing how discourses of morality, social welfare and national identity are employed interdiscursively to deny her State funds. The second case study is more diachronic, showing how one widow, in common with thousands of others, was denied a pension on grounds on ineligibility. She employs discourses of social welfare and nationalism to support her claim over a period of nearly 40 years. Over the course of the 20th century, the relationship between the State and the public altered, and this case file offers an opportunity to explore this in some detail.

This thesis explores the extent to which elite women of the eighteenth century commissioned architectural works and the extent to which the type and scale of their projects was dictated by their marital status. Traditionally, architectural historians have advocated that eighteenth-century architecture was purely the pursuit of men. Women, of course, were not absent during this period, but their involvement with architecture has been largely obscured and largely overlooked. This doctoral research has redressed this oversight through the scrutinising of known sources and the unearthing of new archival material. This thesis begins with an exploration of the legal and financial statuses of elite women, as encapsulated by the eighteenth-century marriage settlement. This encompasses brides’ portions or dowries, wives’ annuities or ‘pin-money’, widows’ dower or jointure, and provisions made for daughters and younger children. Following this, the thesis is divided into three main sections which each look at the ways in which women, depending upon their marital status, could engage in architecture. The first of these sections discusses unmarried women, where the patronage of the following patroness is examined: Anne Robinson; Lady Isabella Finch; Lady Elizabeth Hastings; Sophia Baddeley; George Anne Bellamy and Teresa Cornelys. The second section explores the patronage of married women, namely Jemima Yorke, Marchioness Grey; Amabel Hume-Campbell, Lady Polwarth; Mary Robinson, Baroness Grantham; Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; Frances Boscawen; Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery; Henrietta Knight, Baroness Luxborough and Lady Sarah Bunbury. The third and final section discusses the architectural patronage of widowed women, including Susanna Montgomery, Countess of Eglinton; Georgianna Spencer, Countess Spencer; Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort; Elizabeth Home, Countess of Home; Elizabeth Montagu; Mary Hervey, Lady Hervey; Henrietta Fermor, Countess of Pomfret; the Hon. Charlotte Digby; the Hon. Charlotte Boyle Walsingham; the Hon. Agneta Yorke and Albinia Brodrick, Viscountess Midleton. Collectively, all three sections advocate that elite women were at the heart of the architectural patronage system and exerted more influence and agency over architecture than has previously been recognised by architectural historians.

This essay is about women in ancient Egypt and their relation to aging and why they are rarely depicted other than beautiful and young, when it was a possibility for men to be depicted old in ancient Egypt. Looking at the examples in existence of depictions of aging in women, following questions will be discussed. How is a woman with signs of aging depicted and what does these characteristics convey to the viewer? By looking at tomb paintings and statues showing signs of age, these questions will be discussed and put in context in hope of gaining a better understanding of how female age was perceived in ancient Egypt. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that signs of aging in ancient Egypt had a pronounced symbolic value. In addition to this, there is no direct answer why the signs of aging on women were depicted as they were, but there are some speculations why a woman is portrayed older and why she is not.

張天慧.
"2005年6月".
論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2005.
參考文獻(leaves 214-228).
"2005 nian 6 yue".
Abstracts in Chinese and English.
Zhang Tianhui.
Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2005.
Can kao wen xian (leaves 214-228).
摘要 --- p.i
Abstract --- p.ii-iii
緒論 --- p.1-4
Chapter 第一章 --- 研究評述´ؤ´ؤ回顧秦漢魏晉寡婦的相關研究 --- p.5-14
Chapter 第二章 --- 釋「寡」´ؤ´ؤ文獻及出土材料所見的「寡婦」 --- p.15-23
Chapter 第三章 --- 秦漢魏晉時期的寡婦 --- p.24-29
Chapter 第四章 --- 法律制度提供的生活保障 --- p.30-61
Chapter 第一節 --- 法律保障
Chapter 第二節 --- 法令獎勵
Chapter 第五章 --- 人文環境提供的選擇空間 --- p.62-91
Chapter 第一節 --- 「孝」的提倡
Chapter 第二節 --- 社會經濟條件配合
結論 --- p.92-97
附錄及圖片 --- p.98-213
附表一：秦漢魏晉寡婦列表
附表二：兩漢「賜女子百戶牛酒」詔令列表
附表三：嘉禾四年、五年長沙郡臨湘侯國（縣）「大女」統計表
附表四：長沙走馬樓三國吳簡女戶統計表
附表五：「事母至孝」列表
圖一：四川新都縣《採桑圖》
圖二：山東滕州市龍陽店《狩獵紡織圖》
圖三：徐州銅山泉《紡織圖》
圖四：甘肅嘉峪關新城墓《播種圖》
圖五：山東黃家嶺《鋤地圖》
圖六：四川成都西郊羊子山《狩獵收穫圖》
圖七：江蘇泗洪重崗《婦女加工糧食圖》
圖八：四川新都縣《釀酒圖》
參考書目 --- p.214-228

It is ironic that while the nineteenth-century middle class was so concerned with respectability and security, their lives were fraught with uncertainty and change. For the majority of middle-class Victorians, the delicate balance between inadequate incomes and the cost of living precluded any significant investment for the future. The shift in wealth away from land toward earned income meant that family finances were much more precarious than in the past. If the breadwinner died, so did the family's income. The historical view of widows has been narrowly skewed by a focus on the relatively small number of wealthy upper middle-class families; the average middle-class income, including the professional 'middle' group and the lower middle-class composed of clerks and small shopkeepers, was more modest by far than is often assumed. When a modest income was combined with the high costs of living demanded by middle-class status, the majority of middle-class widows were left with inadequate inheritances By the 1880s, significant changes had begun to help widows, but for most of the nineteenth century finances were a serious problem, the family and kin network was unreliable and often selfish, community support through charity was inadequate and self-serving, and there was no official governmental policy toward widows and orphans. The ones who were able to construct multiple strategies, who were able to find piecemeal jobs and combine this with appeals to family and charities, were the women who managed to survive. Perhaps the image we have of middle-class domesticity was something that was constantly aspired to, achieved only with unremitting struggle, and retained precariously
acase@tulane.edu

The genocide of April 1994 left the Rwandan society completely ruined and the survivors totally disoriented with numerous problems ranging from material deprivation to bodily and psychological injuries. As in other conflicts, especially in Africa, women and children were the most affected by the Rwandan genocide; consequently Rwanda has a sizeable number of widows and orphans. After the genocide, Rwanda witnessed an influx of many non-governmental organizations, which came with the aim to help the Rwandans in general, and genocide survivors in particular, as part of a program to put the Rwandan society back on its feet. Rwanda claims to be overwhelmingly a Christian nation, which theoretically gives the Christian community in Rwanda a prominent hand in all efforts of rebuilding the Rwandan society. This work therefore, is a Case Study, which seeks to investigate the role of Christian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in responding to the needs of genocide widows residing in Kigali-Ville province-Rwanda. The study thus aims to assess efforts of the above-cited Christian NGOs and highlights their success and shortcomings in the light of a Christian model of understanding and responding to human needs. The investigation also surveys the background to the genocide. It focuses on the interpretation of the history of the people of Rwanda, the role impact of the colonial rule and Christian missionaries, and the role of the civil war of early 1990s. The study also investigates the plight of genocide widows from fives angles: economic loss, personal and social relationships, bodily injuries, psychological damage and spiritual welfare. The assessment was carried out through the analysis of the data collected mainly from selected Christian NGOs, genocide widows, churches, and written materials. The paradigm used to critically analyze the response of Christian NGOs has stemmed out of a body of literature that focuses on Christian response to human need, with particular emphasis on the distinctiveness of the Rwandan context. The findings, conclusion, recommendations of this study are of cardinal significance not only to Christian NGOs operating in Kigali-Ville province but also to other groups involved in the ministry to the needy in other parts of Rwanda and beyond her boundaries.
Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Bibliography: leaves105-117
Summaries followed the Bibliography
The study investigates the abuse of husbands’ property by widows in the two selected isiZulu novels Ifa ngukufa and Ifa lenkululeko, which is found to have a huge impact on children and family members. The study presents the causes of the abuse of husbands’ property, the course of action of abusing husbands’ property and the consequences thereof. The content analytical approach has been used to analyse the two novels. The analysis reveals that some of the causes of the abuse of husbands’ property by widows are the widows’ carelessness, weakness, lack of respect, stress and laziness. In both literary texts, widows abuse their husbands’ property with their new lovers. As persons living in modern times, they do not respect the African cultural practices. They refuse to wear mourning clothes for their late husbands, as required by the African culture. Instead, they find new lovers within a few days of their husbands’ death, and invite them to stay in their husbands’ houses. The study highlights how easily some people, including widows, can be influenced by other peoples’ cultures. They do not respect their parents, children and the in-laws; and do not pay attention to the wellbeing of their children. When the money is depleted, the new lovers go back to their families. The study further reveals that, after the departure of the new lovers, the widows realise that they (new lovers) were not in love with them, but were after their properties. The presence of the new lovers in the widows’ lives has a negative effect on family members. Consequently, the relationship between the widows and the in-laws, parents and children suffers. The investigation is concluded by presenting recommendations that will help widows to avoid tricksters from robbing them of their property. The study is of great value to children who become the victims of circumstance.
Ucwaningo luphenya ngokuhlukunyezwa kwempahla yabayeni ngabafelokazi kumanoveli amabili akhethiwe esiZulu ethi Ifa ngukufa nethi Ifa lenkululeko, okutholakala ukuthi kunomthelela omkhulu ezinganeni nakumalungu omndeni. Ucwaningo luveza izimbangela zokuhlukunyezwa kwempahla yabayeni, isenzo sokwenza kabi impahla yabayeni nemiphumela yakhona. Indlela yokuhlaziya okuqukethwe isetshenziselwe ukuhlaziya lamanoveli amabili. Ukuhlaziywa kuveza ukuthi ezinye zezimbangela zokuhlukunyezwa kwempahla yabayeni ngabafelokazi ukunganaki kwabafelokazi, ubuthakathaka, ukungabi nenhlonipho, ingcindezi nobuvila. Kuyo yomibili imibhalo ebhaliwe, abafelokazi bahlukumeza impahla yabayeni babo namashende abo amasha. Njengabantu abaphila ezikhathini zanamuhla, abayihloniphi imikhuba yamasiko ase-Afrika. Bayenqaba ukugqoka izingubo zokuzila zabayeni babo abangasekho, njengoba kudingeka ngokwesiko lase-Afrika. Esikhundleni salokho, bathola amashende amasha ezinsukwini ezimbalwa ngemuva nje kokushona kwabayeni babo, futhi bagcine behlala nabo ezindlini zabayeni babo. Ucwaningo luqhakambisa ukuthi kulula kanjani ukuthi abanye abantu, kufaka phakathi nabafelokazi, bathonywe ngamasiko abanye abantu. Abahloniphi abazali babo, izingane kanye nabasemzini lapho bendele khona; futhi abanaki ngisho nenhlalakahle yezingane zabo. Lapho imali isiphelile, amashende abo amasha abuyela emindenini yabo. Ucwaningo luqhubeka ngokuveza ukuthi, ngemuva kokuhamba kwamashende abo amasha, abafelokazi bayabona ukuthi wona (amashende amasha) abengabathandi, kepha babelandela impahla yabo. Ukuba khona kwamashende amasha ezimpilweni zabafelokazi kunomthelela omubi kumalungu omndeni. Ngenxa yalokho, ubudlelwano phakathi kwabafelokazi nabasemzini, abazali nezingane buyaphazamiseka. Uphenyo luphethwa ngokwethula izincomo ezizosiza abafelokazi ukuthi bagweme abakhohlisi ekubaphuceni impahla yabo. Ucwaningo lubaluleke kakhulu ezinganeni eziba yizisulu zalezi zezimo.
Phuputso e batlisisa tshebediso e mpe ya thepa ya banna ke bahlolohadi dibukeng tse pedi tsa dipale tse kgethilweng tsa Sezulu Ifa ngukufa le Ifa lenkululeko, e eleng taba e fumanwang e na le tshusumetso e kgolo ho bana le ditho tsa malapa. Phuputso e hlahisa disosa tsa tshebediso e mpe ya thepa ya banna, mokgwa wa ho sebedisa ka tsela e mpe thepa ya banna le ditlamorao tsa teng. Mokgwa wa katamelo ya manollo ya dikateng o sebedisitswe ho manolla dipale tse pedi. Manollo e senola hore tse ding tsa disosa tsa tshebediso e mpe ya thepa ya banna ke bahlolohadi ke ho se tsotelle, bofokodi, ho hloka tlhompho, kgatello ya maikutlo le botswa. Ditemaneng tsa bongodi ka bobedi, bahlolohadi ba hlekefetsa thepa ya banna ba bona le baratuwa ba bona ba batjha. Jwalo ka batho ba phelang mehleng ya kajeno, ha ba hlomphe ditlwaelo tsa setso sa Maafrika. Ba hana ho apara diaparo tsa bofifi bakeng sa banna ba bona ba seng ba hlokahetse, jwalo ka ha moetlo wa Maafrika o hloka hore ho be jwalo. Ho ena le moo, ba fumana baratuwa ba batjha matsatsi a mmalwa kamora lefu la banna ba bona, ebe ba ba memela ho dula ka matlung a banna ba bona. Phuputso e bontsha hore na batho ba bang, ho kenyeletswa le bahlolohadi, ba ka susumetswa habonolo jwang ke ditso tsa batho ba bang. Ha ba hlomphe batswadi ba bona, bana le ba bohading; mme ha ba tsotelle boiketlo ba bana ba bona. Ha tjhelete e fedile, baratuwa ba batjha ba kgutlela malapeng a bona. Phuputso e tswela pele ho senola hore, kamora hore baratuwa ba batjha ba tsamaye, bahlolohadi ba hlokomela hore (baratuwa ba batjha) ba ne ba sa ba rate, empa ba ne ba le kamora thepa ya bona. Boteng ba baratuwa ba batjha bophelong ba bahlolohadi bo na le phello e mpe ho ditho tsa lelapa. Ka hona, kamano dipakeng tsa bahlolohadi le ba bohading, batswadi le bana e ya senyeha. Phuputso e phethelwa ka ho hlahisa dikgothaletso tse tla thusa bahlolohadi ho qoba hore baqhekelli ba ba utswetse thepa ya bona. Phuputso ena e bohlokwa haholo ho bana ba fetohang diphofu tsa maemo a tjena.
African Languages
M.A. (African Languages)