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The Victorian Family by Anthony S. Wohl Review by: David Vincent Social History, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Oct.

, 1979), pp. 541-543 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4284929 . Accessed: 14/11/2012 13:58
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OctoberI979

Reviews

541

MichaelRose looks at one occasion- the Staleybridge of I863 - when workmenrebelled riot and againstthe agenciesof charityand control. He examinesthe compromises conflictsamongst those who had the task of saving men from pauperismand demoralization duringthe Cotton Famine.JudithFidodoesa similarjobon the Charity Organization Societybetweeni869 and I900. on and She concentrates its character-forming case-work, seeksto establishthe unitarynatureof its theoryand practice.Viewsof povertymaychange,she says, but the attitudesof socialworkers of and the practicalresponseto povertycontinuedto reflectthe severe individualism the early The final contribution by VictorBailey, is C.O.S. We are back to educatingthe professionals. Britain.These and is one of the best. His subjectis the SalvationArmy riots of late-Victorian affectedat least sixty small and medium-sizedsoutherntowns in the years I878-9I, and were of provoked the determination the Armyto seeka 'permanent by lodgment'intoughworking-class One of the more communities,and were sanctionedin some areasby publicansand magistrates. of fascinating aspectsof the chapteris Bailey'sexamination the tensionswhichthe Armycreated withinworking-class culture. In the finalanalysis,this bookhasthe virtuesandfaultsof almostall collections essays.There of is much to interest, informand excite, and a few chaptersare very good indeed, but one leaves the bookwith a sense of frustration. Questionsandghostsstalkthe book;we neverreallyconfront the middle class, ministersand the police, nor for that matterGarethStedmanJones! Certain issues, such as the role of the state and privatecharity,the legal systemand social control,and the fearsof rebellionand/ordemoralization raisedand then left in the air. And we havevery are little indeedon ruralsociety. Even so, it is a bookto be welcomed. David Jones University College,Swansea Anthony S. Wohl (ed.), The Victorian Famiy (1978), 224 (Croom Helm, ?7.95). It is more than forty yearssince G. M. Young, in his classicessay on Victorian England,drew attentionto the centralimportance the Victorian of family.Herewe havea volumewhichappears to be a majorcontribution the processof remedying long neglectof the topic. Unfortunately to the the contentsof this bookareless thanits title promises.Whatwe have,in fact, arethe proceedings of a symposiumon the Victorian familyheld by the (American)Northeastern VictorianStudies Associationin the spring of I975. Like most conferences,the papersdeliveredvariedin both contentand qualityand whilst it is doubtlessusefulto have a recordof the event, there is small justification attachingsuch a sweepingtitle to the resultingbook. The nine essaysdeal only for with isolatedaspectsof this huge topic, and there is little coherencein the questionsposed by the variousscholars,in the methodsusedto answer questions,or in the answers arefound. the that It is, of course, unreasonable expect a single argumentor conclusionto emerge from a to symposium this sort, but it mightbe hopedthatthe contributors of wouldgivea greater indication of havingat least listenedto or readeach other'spapers.In his introduction, AnthonyWohlhas to resortto ever broader generalizations he attemptsto findsome pattern his material. as in There is not much meaningin the assertionthat, 'unifyingthe separate contributions a concernwith is the relationship betweenthe innerdynamicsor structure the familyand society', and even less of substancein his ingenuousdefence of the diversityof his material:'Much of the evidenceis but contradictory, it has now almostbecomea truismto talkof Victorian societyas an amalgam of contradictory forces, of self-confidence innerdoubts. . . The Victorian and Familymaysuggest some of the domesticrootsof these contradictions stresses.' and

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542

Social History

VOL

4: NO 3

Individually, some of the essays,such as TheresaMcBride's detailed discussion the Victorian of nanny,and MichaelBrooks' intelligent pieceon the Ruskinhousehold,areof considerable quality and the volume as a whole does containmuch fascinating material manystimulating and ideas. On the other hand the contributions cannot be said to constitutea majoradvancein technique or subjectmatter;McBride already has published widelyon the Victorian servant, the Ruskins, and togetherwith most of the other topics of the essays, the Brontes,women'snovels, the cottonspinningfamily,the paterfamilias, childbirthhaveall receivedattention and elsewhere.Onlytwo of the essaysintroduce newperspective the studyof the family,DeborahGorham's a to interesting study of the connectionbetweenthe familyand publiclife of the Hill dynastyof publicservants - the field of the familyand politicshas yet to be openedup - and Wohl'sessayon working-class incest which successfully demonstratesboth the necessity of studying the topic and the of near-impossibility findingout very much aboutit. Howeverthereis a sense in whichthe sheervarietyof the material doesfulfilthe hopeof Wohl's introduction,that, 'the breadthof topics and treatments will provokediscussionand point the way to futureexploration'. numberof procedural A pointscan be drawnfromthis volume.The firstis that with a subjectso largeand relatively unexplored the Victorian as family,it is still much too early for any sort of satisfactory this synthesisto emerge. Despite its shortcomings volume is probably morevaluable thanShorter's recentover-ambitious attempt a general at survey.Second, Wohl is surely correctto stress the need for a catholicityof approach the subject. The one to disciplinewhich remainsunder suspicionis that which in some ways seems to havethe closest naturalaffinitywith family history, that of psychology.In his study of the Ruskins,Brooks his sensiblyeschewsthe temptationto pschyoanalyse subjecton the groundsthat even with so
well-documented a case, too much speculation is involved, and that it is extremely difficult to make

useful generalizations from the psycho-history one individual.Elsewhere of there is a tendency abouthumanbehaviour to borrowassumptions fromauthorities suchas Erikson Riesman and and wield them as if they were objectivetruths, to the detrimentof both historyand psychology. Cross-fertilization must be possible,but it will haveto be undertaken with extremecaution,and the exampleof DeMauseis not encouraging. Third, whateverthe discipline involved, absolute care must be taken with chronological of and development with the problemof socialclass. In a sense, all historyis a matter chronology, but familyhistoryposesparticular as problems manyaspectsof the familychangeextremely slowly and do so withoutclearlydefinedwatersheds turningpoints. In this case the very conceptof or the 'VictorianFamily' is not helpful. The only essay which reallyfits the book'stitle is John of Miller'son childbirth,which is in fact largelyaboutthe personal experiences QueenVictoria. For the rest there is no firmconsensusaboutthe preciseperiodunderdiscussion,and this is no of of merequibble,for periodization dependson an analysis the character a society,andthe forces the whicharechanging one of the failingsof this bookis a lackof rigourin approaching problem it: and of the interrelationship between industrialization the family. The great virtueof Theresa McBride's essay is that she situatesher analysisin a preciseperiodand at a particular point in the development the middle-class of economy.Not all the essaysin this collectionare as careful in their treatmentof the natureand cause of change, and as a resultwe are left in some doubt
as to what exactly is 'Victorian' about the Victorian family. Connected with this problem is that

of socialclass. AgainTheresaMcBrideexemplifies correctapproach, the usingsuch statisticsas beforegoingon to she are available carefullyto definethe sectionof the population is discussing to exploit more literarysources. Elsewherethere are references the 'Victorian'idea of this and of that, yet the centralquestionmust be whetherthereis anysense at all in talking the 'Victorian'

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October 1979

Reviews

543

Familyas distinctfrom the 'workingclass' familyor the 'middle class' familyin the industrial society. A fourthpoint is raisedby Wohl'sessayon incest. To study the familyis to study the private lives of, in most cases, privatepeople. It is becomingincreasingly clearthat as with, for instance, wantsto ask manymore questionsthan the available ancient history,the historian evidencewill ever allow him to answer.The nineteenth-century middle class knew that incestoccurredwith distressingfrequencyamongthe workingclass, but they did not knowpreciselyto what extent, between which membersof which families, and with what consequencesfor the individuals involved, and in the end Wohlcan do little morethan restatetheir ignorance.Autobiographical materialmay help the family historiana little, but that has its limitationsas David Roberts illustrates his investigation the light shed by the memoirsof whathe looselycallsthe 'ruling in of It class', on the notionof the paterfamilias. turnsout that most of the autobiographers the used prevailingconventionsto discusstheir privatelives, and consequentlyRoberts's attemptto use the works to get beneaththe conventionstends to go roundin circles. This book raisesmore questionsthan it answers. David Vincent University Keeke of M. J. Daunton, Coal Metropolis Cardiff z870-z9z4 (z177), 260 (Leicester University Press, Leicester, ?12.00). The studyof localhistoryhas moveda long way since the examination St Helensand Sheffield, of I workswhichin theirowntime madea dramatic in impacton research economic socialhistory. and The shift from macroeconomic studies of the Britisheconomy and society in the nineteenth century,to moredetailedinvestigations the localareahavetended, however,to staywithinthe of of parameters traditional economichistory,and merelygive empirical substantiation widerand to more generaltheses. In consequencemuch debate has arisenas to the valueof the local study. Increasing interestin the phenomenon urbanization, of housingconditionsandzoningeffectshas given new impetusto the local study, some of the most fruitfulworkto appear comingfromthe discipline of historical geography, which attempts to point the way towards a theoretical assessmentof the processof urbanization, withinwhich the local study must be placed.As Asa Briggshas commented,urbanization 'a societalprocess,whichnotonly precedes formation is, the of particular cities, but also shapes their role as agenciesin a developingsociF!ty'.2Dr M. J. Daunton's bookon Cardiff must be placedwithinthis context,and makesa valuable contribution to the existingliterature. Dr Dauntonhas chosenfor his periodof study I870-I914, a periodin whichhe arguesCardiff operatedas 'Coal Metropolis'for South Wales. Locationtheoryhas often been used to explain urbangrowth, but in the case of CardiffDauntonclaimsit has no validity,growthbeing rather the resultof the provisionof harbourfacilitiesearlier,and on a largerscale than anywhere else on the South Walescoastline(23). This initiativewas taken by the Second Marquisof Bute, a large land and mineralowner in South Wales. The rationalefor this provision is examined extensivelyby Daunton, and the theme continues throughoutthe book, Bute's monopolistic
1 T. C. Barker, Merseyside A Townin theIndustrial '959). 2 H. J. Dyos and M. Wolff (eds), The Victorian Revolution: Helensi75o-igoo (Liverpool, St 1954); S. Pollard,A History Labour Sheffield of in (Liverpool, CitY, vol.1 ( 3), 9.

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