Middle-class women, civic virtue and identity : Leeds and the West Riding of Yorkshire, c1830-c.1860
This thesis analyses women's contribution to the development of a progressive middle-class identity in the period 1830 to 1860. Using Leeds as a case study, it argues that the ideals of civic virtue, service and the 'civilising mission' lying at the heart of this identity played an important role in the lives of women as well as men. The study begins by summarising the historiographical debates over women and the middle class, and the importance of gender in the construction of the 'public sphere'. Chapter Two sets out the historical background within the town of Leeds itself, concentrating on the emergence of 'middle-class' institutions and identifying the particular groups who were the driving force behind them. The remaining chapters systematically explore the activities of middle-class women in the public life of their town, concentrating on the subjects of education, philanthropy, politics and civic culture. Chapter Three looks at the idealisation of women's social and public roles in educational literature, before considering women's relationship to educational and cultural institutions. Chapters Four and Five reconsider philanthropy as an arena in which class and gender identities were constructed and
Morgan, Simon James
Nineteenth century; Gender history; Women's
Middle-class women, civic virtue and identity : Leeds and the West Riding of Yorkshire, c1830-c.1860. This thesis analyses women's contribution to the development of a progressive middle-class identity in the period 1830 to 1860. Using Leeds as a case study, it argues that the ideals of civic virtue, service and the 'civilising mission' lying at the heart of this identity played an important role in the lives of women as well as men. The study begins by summarising the historiographical debates over women and the middle class, and the importance of gender in the construction of the 'public sphere'. Chapter Two sets out the historical background within the town of Leeds itself, concentrating on the emergence of 'middle-class' institutions and identifying the particular groups who were the driving force behind them. The remaining chapters systematically explore the activities of middle-class women in the public life of their town, concentrating on the subjects of education, philanthropy, politics and civic culture. Chapter Three looks at the idealisation of women's social and public roles in educational literature, before considering women's relationship to educational and cultural institutions. Chapters Four and Five reconsider philanthropy as an arena in which class and gender identities were constructed and
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