Tenants in Time: Family Strategies, Land, and Liberalism in Upper Canada, 1799–1871 (review)

Reviewed by: Tenants in Time: Family Strategies, Land, and Liberalism in Upper Canada, 1799–1871 Michel Ducharme Tenants in Time: Family Strategies, Land, and Liberalism in Upper Canada, 1799–1871. Catharine Anne Wilson. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009. Pp. 375, $95.00 cloth, $29.95 paper In her book Tenants in Time, Catharine Anne Wilson investigates the 'cultural attitudes toward property' (4) in Upper Canada from the end of the eighteenth century to the first Canadian census taken in 1871. More specifically, she explores the nature and importance of tenancy and tenants' experience in the colony. Even though tenants accounted for a large portion of the colonial population until the mid-nineteenth century, contemporary commentators and historians of Upper Canada have paid little attention to them. According to Wilson, this lack of interest is explained by the dominance of the liberal ideal of private property in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Canada. This ideal [End Page 769] encouraged contemporary colonists and historians alike to consider tenancy as an anomaly in colonial society. Reacting to this oversight, Wilson 'move[s] behind and beyond the dominant ideology of landholding' (214) and sheds new light on an important aspect of Upper Canadian society. Focusing on the Cramahe Township, between Cobourg and Brighton on Lake Ontario, the author skilfully uses the sources available to investigate the tenants' experience. She analyzes these sources from an interdisciplinary perspective based on historical geography, economics, law, micro-history, and family history. Framing her discussion within the emergence of a Canadian liberal state and a social order based on the primacy of private property, she demonstrates that 'while tenants were not included as part of the liberal vision of a capitalist political economy, they were very much a part of its working reality' (9). Not only did these tenants participate in the advent and development of the Canadian liberal project, but they were in fact essential to its realization and success, as they 'contributed to economic growth, the land market, the growing formality and regulation of property relations, and the spirit of improvement' (217). According to Wilson, tenancy was not synonymous with failure in Upper Canada, the official discourse notwithstanding. The choice of becoming or remaining a tenant was generally part of family strategy and influenced by factors such as intergenerational relationship and social mobility. Studying the tenants of Cramahe Township, Wilson comes to the conclusion that they were generally poorer and younger than neighbouring landowners, and many were newcomers in the colony. For these young settlers, renting was advantageous as it allowed them to start a family before inheriting their parents' property or buying a piece of land of their own; they could also learn how to manage a farm and acquire moveable goods and livestock. Tenancy provided them with some stability and security, allowed them to wait for a good buying opportunity, and helped new immigrants to adapt to Upper Canada. For most such people, renting was ultimately the first step towards the acquisition of property. The relationship between the tenants and their landlords varied greatly, depending on the nature of the landlord. The Upper Canadian government, private corporations, British aristocrats, bankers, speculators, and local farmers all offered different terms to their tenants. Some leases lasted many years, offering more stability and security to the tenants, while others lasted only a few months. Some leases were revocable; others were not. Contrary to the reformers' claims, the best leases could be obtained from the government on Crown or Clergy [End Page 770] Reserves, while the least advantageous ones were generally granted by local farmers who could keep an eye on their tenants. Despite the hierarchical nature of the system, the relationship between tenants and landowners was more egalitarian than in Europe, which helps to explain why there were no riots or revolts against the landlords. Tenants in Time is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding nineteenth-century Upper Canadian society. It is well researched, well organized, well argued, and convincing. It is also a welcome addition to the debate surrounding the emergence of a Canadian liberal state and order in the nineteenth century, even if the author's premises concerning liberalism could have been...

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