“Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador
The International Grenfell Association (IGA) attracted hundreds of single young women for nursing in northern Newfoundland and Labrador between 1939 and 1981. Under contract with the Mission, the Grenfell nurse was expected to behave in a non-sexual manner and uphold a strict moral code of behaviour...
Published in: | Canadian Bulletin of Medical History |
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University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)
2010
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 |
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crunivtoronpr:10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 2023-12-31T10:18:53+01:00 “Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador Coombs-Thorne, Heidi 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 en eng University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) Canadian Bulletin of Medical History volume 27, issue 1, page 123-138 ISSN 0823-2105 2371-0179 General Medicine journal-article 2010 crunivtoronpr https://doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 2023-12-01T08:18:28Z The International Grenfell Association (IGA) attracted hundreds of single young women for nursing in northern Newfoundland and Labrador between 1939 and 1981. Under contract with the Mission, the Grenfell nurse was expected to behave in a non-sexual manner and uphold a strict moral code of behaviour. However, the Grenfell experience provided nurses with a unique opportunity for socializing with young men who ranged the social spectrum, from fishermen and labourers to medical professionals. This paper highlights the relationships and marriages of the nurses that developed during or immediately after their tenure with the IGA and evaluates the Grenfell Mission’s class-based responses to those relationships. The administration responded either positively or negatively to nurses’ marriages, depending on the socioeconomic background of the husband in question. Marriages to physicians or dentists were almost always celebrated while marriages to local men were usually questioned or treated with ambivalence. From the perspective of the IGA, the social status of the nurse could be raised or lowered depending on the socioeconomic background of her marriage partner. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland University of Toronto Press (U Toronto Press - via Crossref) Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 27 1 123 138 |
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University of Toronto Press (U Toronto Press - via Crossref) |
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crunivtoronpr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Medicine |
spellingShingle |
General Medicine Coombs-Thorne, Heidi “Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador |
topic_facet |
General Medicine |
description |
The International Grenfell Association (IGA) attracted hundreds of single young women for nursing in northern Newfoundland and Labrador between 1939 and 1981. Under contract with the Mission, the Grenfell nurse was expected to behave in a non-sexual manner and uphold a strict moral code of behaviour. However, the Grenfell experience provided nurses with a unique opportunity for socializing with young men who ranged the social spectrum, from fishermen and labourers to medical professionals. This paper highlights the relationships and marriages of the nurses that developed during or immediately after their tenure with the IGA and evaluates the Grenfell Mission’s class-based responses to those relationships. The administration responded either positively or negatively to nurses’ marriages, depending on the socioeconomic background of the husband in question. Marriages to physicians or dentists were almost always celebrated while marriages to local men were usually questioned or treated with ambivalence. From the perspective of the IGA, the social status of the nurse could be raised or lowered depending on the socioeconomic background of her marriage partner. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Coombs-Thorne, Heidi |
author_facet |
Coombs-Thorne, Heidi |
author_sort |
Coombs-Thorne, Heidi |
title |
“Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_short |
“Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_full |
“Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_fullStr |
“Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_full_unstemmed |
“Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador |
title_sort |
“mrs. tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: the class-based response to marriages in the grenfell mission of newfoundland and labrador |
publisher |
University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
Canadian Bulletin of Medical History volume 27, issue 1, page 123-138 ISSN 0823-2105 2371-0179 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123 |
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Canadian Bulletin of Medical History |
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27 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
123 |
op_container_end_page |
138 |
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1786823053983875072 |