Womenâs Property Act, based on the British Act of 1870. By this Act, property which a married woman acquired was designated as her own and could be used independently of her husband. A married woman could now carry on a business, occupation or trade separately from her husband. She could register in a joint stock company; she could sue and be sued; and she was now responsible for debts which she accumulated. Not until this Act was amended in 1883 did married women acquire the legal status of a single woman with respect to owning property. This Act was further amended in 1895 to deal with contracts, court action and wills.
Similar legislation came a little later in the Maritime provinces. The Married Womenâs Property Act was passed in 1884 in Nova Scotia, 1895 in New Brunswick, and 1896 in Prince Edward Island. It was not until 1964 that a similar Act was passed in Quebec. The Civil Code, derived from the old French Law, had operated in Quebec since the sixteenth century, when the territory was known as New France. It is very different from the Common Law of England. The Civil Law is codified as opposed to the largely unwritten Common Law. Marital status, including a womanâs right to own property, was strictly defined under the Quebec Code. Many of a womanâs legal rights were ceded to her husband at the time of marriage, including property rights. While single women and widows held essentially the same legal rights as men in Quebec, married women were discriminated against simply because they were married. There was one saving grace possible for married women under the Civil Code; it was possible to have a legal marriage contract separate from the religious ceremony of marriage, and many women who held property or possessions at the time of marriage entered into such contracts, as is evident in the Quebec ship registers.
In spite of what the law in all the colonies said about married women and restrictions on property ownership, there is clear evidence that married women owned ships and shares in ships well before the Married Womenâs Property Acts were proclaimed into law. We will look at the details later, and a summary of these data will suffice for now. In Newfoundland married women owned shares inships in 1844, 1853, 1854 and 1866, as these ships were registered. That first date, 1844, was 32 years before the Married Womenâs Property Act became law in Newfoundland!
The Conception Bay Plantation Book
of 1805, with antecedents dating well back into the 1640s, demonstrates that married women owned property, boats, fishing premises, and possibly ships, well before 1800.
Nova Scotian married women owned ships in 1877 and 1884; the first date was seven years before the Act was proclaimed into law. In New Brunswick married women owned shares in ships that were registered in 1860, 1870 and 1872; and in 1873 the floodgates opened and many married women began to purchase shares despite the fact that the Married Womenâs Property Act did not come into effect until 1895. In Prince Edward Island a married woman held shares in a ship as early as 1827, and there was not another until 1895. The relevant dates for Quebec married women were from 1827 to 1903; there were so many, in fact, that either they all held civil marriage contracts or they simply ignored the existing law. The number of women holding shares in ships constitutes clear evidence that married women were following a pattern established in the pre-industrial period and did not wait for the law to affirm their right to own property.
Womenâs Occupations in Canadian Ship Registers
It is almost certainly true that occupation was self-designated and that the registrar from earliest times recorded what he was told by the person registering the ship. The registrar was male and most of those who came to register their ships were male. Women were also conditioned by the norms of early society to designate themselves as widows, spinsters or
Similar legislation came a little later in the Maritime provinces. The Married Womenâs Property Act was passed in 1884 in Nova Scotia, 1895 in New Brunswick, and 1896 in Prince Edward Island. It was not until 1964 that a similar Act was passed in Quebec. The Civil Code, derived from the old French Law, had operated in Quebec since the sixteenth century, when the territory was known as New France. It is very different from the Common Law of England. The Civil Law is codified as opposed to the largely unwritten Common Law. Marital status, including a womanâs right to own property, was strictly defined under the Quebec Code. Many of a womanâs legal rights were ceded to her husband at the time of marriage, including property rights. While single women and widows held essentially the same legal rights as men in Quebec, married women were discriminated against simply because they were married. There was one saving grace possible for married women under the Civil Code; it was possible to have a legal marriage contract separate from the religious ceremony of marriage, and many women who held property or possessions at the time of marriage entered into such contracts, as is evident in the Quebec ship registers.
In spite of what the law in all the colonies said about married women and restrictions on property ownership, there is clear evidence that married women owned ships and shares in ships well before the Married Womenâs Property Acts were proclaimed into law. We will look at the details later, and a summary of these data will suffice for now. In Newfoundland married women owned shares inships in 1844, 1853, 1854 and 1866, as these ships were registered. That first date, 1844, was 32 years before the Married Womenâs Property Act became law in Newfoundland!
The Conception Bay Plantation Book
of 1805, with antecedents dating well back into the 1640s, demonstrates that married women owned property, boats, fishing premises, and possibly ships, well before 1800.
Nova Scotian married women owned ships in 1877 and 1884; the first date was seven years before the Act was proclaimed into law. In New Brunswick married women owned shares in ships that were registered in 1860, 1870 and 1872; and in 1873 the floodgates opened and many married women began to purchase shares despite the fact that the Married Womenâs Property Act did not come into effect until 1895. In Prince Edward Island a married woman held shares in a ship as early as 1827, and there was not another until 1895. The relevant dates for Quebec married women were from 1827 to 1903; there were so many, in fact, that either they all held civil marriage contracts or they simply ignored the existing law. The number of women holding shares in ships constitutes clear evidence that married women were following a pattern established in the pre-industrial period and did not wait for the law to affirm their right to own property.
Womenâs Occupations in Canadian Ship Registers
It is almost certainly true that occupation was self-designated and that the registrar from earliest times recorded what he was told by the person registering the ship. The registrar was male and most of those who came to register their ships were male. Women were also conditioned by the norms of early society to designate themselves as widows, spinsters or
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