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The Hilda Neatby Prize French Article
Jean-Philippe Garneau, « La tutelle des enfants mineurs au Bas-Canada : autorité domestique, traditions juridiques et masculinités », Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française, volume 74, No. 4, Printemps 2021, p. 11-35.
Based on an examination of hundreds of early nineteenth century guardianship election files from the district of Montreal, Jean-Philippe Garneau’s article focuses on the guardianship of minor children, and proposes a reflection on the gendered and culturally differentiated use of this judicial procedure. While recognizing the limits of the information collected by the lawmen of the time, the study reveals a very strong link between law and origin, but above all, the importance of gender in this delineation. It is clear that the lawmen often reduced the rights of widows to their simplest expression, using accounting operations contrary to the interests of the latter. Another noteworthy observation is that, for Canadian fathers, the death of a wife initiated a negotiation which often includes the family of the deceased, whereas for British fathers (but not mothers), the refusal of the Parisian guardianship is almost generalized, which avoided them the hassle gathering relatives and friends.