Religion, Family and Community in Victorian Canada: The Colbys of Carrollcroft (review)

Marguerite Van Die's study of the Victorian family in Canada examines what has been seen as a shift from institutional to domestic religiosity. In the early industrial world, because the marketplace was increasingly indifferent to religious precepts, the home became the repository of religious values. Van Die argues that despite this, 'mainline Protestant denominations retained significant cultural authority well into the first half of the twentieth century.' She asks the question, 'To what extent did the family that Victorian rhetoric constructed as ideal accurately represent the experience of real people?' Van Die proposes to undertake a 'preliminary probe' into answering this question through a 'micro-history' of the evangelical middle-class Colby family. She describes her book as 'a search for meaning, a probing into the dynamic relationship of religion with everyday life in order to understand how the two influenced and changed one another.'

Moses and Lemira Colby, both of Puritan descent, moved to Canada from Vermont in 1832, settling in the village of Stanstead in Quebec's Eastern Townships. Moses was a physician, and the family struggled with financial uncertainty. Van Die describes the 'moral imperative' felt by the Colbys to establish themselves successfully within the context of a rapidly changing economy. The importance of proper education consistent with the principles of moral philosophy and the growing emphasis on the partnership of a companionate marriage was continued into the next generation. Most of the book focuses on the eldest son, Charles Carroll, who married Vermont native and Stanstead schoolteacher Hattie Child in 1858. Educated at Dartmouth College and apprenticed as a lawyer, Charles engaged in business with mixed success. His role as a community leader culminated in his election as member of the new Canadian parliament for the Conservatives from 1867 to 1891. The physical representation of the family fortunes was the building of the great stone house which came to be known as 'Carrollcroft,' begun by Moses and completed in grand style by Charles. Charles was forced to sell it in a period of financial misfortune, but later repurchased it when circumstances improved.

Although Charles had a conversion experience just prior to his marriage, his religion was less that of a devoted church member than that of a 'Christian businessman' who struggled to do the right thing in the world. Hattie, in keeping with the Victorian ideals of womanhood, sought to create a home environment ruled by religious precepts. They worked together in their complementary roles to establish a meaningful and prosperous life based on evangelical Christian principles. They demonstrated this in their close family life, in their attendance at the religious services of numerous churches (often two or three on a Sabbath), and in their roles in the community. Aside from an active social life, Hattie and her daughters engaged in charitable work outside of the home and Charles had a leading role in local church government. He even brought his religious values into his work as a parliamentarian, as evidenced through his role in denying the 1872 Martin appeal for divorce, participation in debates for temperance and in support of Sabbath observance, and his actions in resolving the religious tensions of the New Brunswick school question.

In the end, this book is not really a micro-history, but rather uses the Colby family story as a springboard for discussion of the times they lived in and the moral and religious philosophy of the day. Although there is a voluminous family correspondence, we rarely hear the voices of those writing the letters. This makes it difficult to get caught up in their story. In a volume replete with so many scholarly references – fully one third of the book consists of notes – the absence of much of the Canadian scholarship on the development of the middle class, social reform movements, and women's history is marked. More of a social history sensibility might have enhanced Van Die's narrative.

Van Die demonstrates...