Leanne Calvert
I am a historian of women, gender and the family, and my work focuses primarily on Presbyterian families in Ulster, Ireland and North America, between the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries. I am interested in the family and its relationships, the life-cycle, sex and sexuality, migration, cultural heritage and religion.
In October 2017, I took up post as a Research Fellow in Intangible Cultural Heritage at the University of Hertfordshire. I plan on expanding my doctoral research on Ulster Presbyterian family life by examining Presbyterian rituals and customs (its intangible cultural heritage) from a transnational perspective.
Before joining the University of Hertfordshire, I worked as a postdoc at Ulster University on an AHRC-funded project entitled 'Bad Bridget: Criminal and Deviant Irish Women in North America, 1838-1918'. This project was managed by Dr Leanne McCormick (UU) and Dr Elaine Farrell (QUB).
I completed each of my degrees at Queen's University, Belfast (2006-15).
You can also follow me on Twitter @DrLeanneCalvert or on my blog : https://leannecalvert.wordpress.com/
In October 2017, I took up post as a Research Fellow in Intangible Cultural Heritage at the University of Hertfordshire. I plan on expanding my doctoral research on Ulster Presbyterian family life by examining Presbyterian rituals and customs (its intangible cultural heritage) from a transnational perspective.
Before joining the University of Hertfordshire, I worked as a postdoc at Ulster University on an AHRC-funded project entitled 'Bad Bridget: Criminal and Deviant Irish Women in North America, 1838-1918'. This project was managed by Dr Leanne McCormick (UU) and Dr Elaine Farrell (QUB).
I completed each of my degrees at Queen's University, Belfast (2006-15).
You can also follow me on Twitter @DrLeanneCalvert or on my blog : https://leannecalvert.wordpress.com/
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Publications by Leanne Calvert
Childbirth is generally viewed as a female activity, which had little participation from men. Drawing largely on the papers of the Crawford family, this article offers an alternative to the traditional picture of childbirth. It argues that men (as husbands, brothers, and fathers) were not only interested in pregnancy and childbirth, but that they also played an active role in these events. It also explores the roles played by men in domestic medicine and argues that the gendered boundaries of the family were not as fixed as they appear.
Conference Presentations by Leanne Calvert
Between 1838 and 1918, over 5.5 million emigrants travelled to North America from Ireland. In the period after the Famine, Irish women left Ireland in greater numbers than their male counterparts. These women were predominately single, of marriageable age, and from rural backgrounds. For many, however, the reality of life in North America did not meet their expectations. Faced with poverty and isolated from their families, some women resorted to crime in order to make a living.
Drawing on the case of Margaret Brown (also known as ‘Old Mother Hubbard’) this paper will examine the experience of Irish female criminals in North America, 1838-1918. Born in Ireland in 1828, Brown earned a reputation as a notorious pick-pocket and thief, and was a member of a high-profile female criminal gang that was active across North America. Using Brown’s story as a case-study, this paper will explore the types of criminal activity in which Irish women were involved, the networks in which they operated, and the punishments they received. In doing so, this paper will shed light on the alternative experience of the female emigrant –the Bad Bridget.
Cases such as this offer an intriguing insight into the practices and behaviours which were associated with courtship and, more specifically, the role which sex played in this process. What role did sex and sexual activity play in courtship? Was it usual for couples to participate in these types of activities? Did sex form part of the normal route to marriage? Using cases drawn from Presbyterian church records, this paper aims to answer these questions, and will shed light on the courtship customs of ordinary members of the Ulster Presbyterian community in Ireland.
Firstly, this paper considers how men understood and reacted to the news of fatherhood, and argues that men in general were aware of the changes pregnancy brought to their wives’ health and needs. It reveals how men showed a lively interest in the events of pregnancy and childbirth, exchanging correspondence among themselves on the progression of pregnancies, confinements, and even breast-feeding habits of female members of their family circles.
Secondly, this paper reassesses the role played by men during labour itself, and challenges the ‘female culture’ which surrounded childbirth. Rather than acting as passive onlookers standing on the periphery of the birthing chamber, fathers actively assisted their wives in times of need and in the days following delivery, suggesting that the gendered boundaries of female and male space were not as fixed as has been imagined.
This paper is largely based on the personal correspondence of the Reverend Alexander Crawford, a Presbyterian minister and missionary in India, England and Ulster, and his wife Anna Gardner for the period 1824-35. Further material is also drawn from the papers of other families who had ties to the Presbyterian community in Ulster.
During the nine year period which this paper covers, the couple travelled extensively in accordance with Alexander’s developing career. Their travelling began in March 1823, when just two months after their marriage, Anna and Alexander sailed from Liverpool to India under the auspices of the Scottish Missionary Society. The couple were stationed in Bankote, India, where they laboured under the direction of the missionary society for six years. While in India, the couple constructed a paradigm of their marriage as a ‘spiritual partnership’ and it was on this basis which both partners understood their respective roles and expressed love for one and another. This phase of their marriage ended in April 1829 when Alexander was discharged from his duties on account of bad health. The couple along with their three children sailed back to England, taking up residence with Anna’s parents in Edinburgh.
In the summer of 1832, Alexander relocated to Brampton Park, Huntingdonshire, England, where he entered the second phase of his career as domestic chaplain to Lady Olivia Sparrow. Anna remained with their children in Edinburgh for fifteen months before joining Alexander in England. During these fifteen months, the ‘spiritual partnership’ paradigm which their marriage had operated under began to crumble. The distance which Alexander’s relocation put between them, alongside the removal of the Anna’s role as Alexander’s ‘spiritual partner’, fostered feelings of neglect and ill-treatment on Anna’s part. Rather than the ministry being the symbol of their marriage, it became a sign of unloving behaviour and led to quarrels. In order to reconcile Anna to this new phase of his career, Alexander was forced to reconstruct the parameters of their marriage, and their roles within it. Anna eventually joined Alexander in September 1833, taking up her new role as the chaplain’s wife.
Blog posts by Leanne Calvert
Talks by Leanne Calvert
Delivered at St. Luke's Symposium, Dublin.
Awards by Leanne Calvert
Papers by Leanne Calvert
Childbirth is generally viewed as a female activity, which had little participation from men. Drawing largely on the papers of the Crawford family, this article offers an alternative to the traditional picture of childbirth. It argues that men (as husbands, brothers, and fathers) were not only interested in pregnancy and childbirth, but that they also played an active role in these events. It also explores the roles played by men in domestic medicine and argues that the gendered boundaries of the family were not as fixed as they appear.
Between 1838 and 1918, over 5.5 million emigrants travelled to North America from Ireland. In the period after the Famine, Irish women left Ireland in greater numbers than their male counterparts. These women were predominately single, of marriageable age, and from rural backgrounds. For many, however, the reality of life in North America did not meet their expectations. Faced with poverty and isolated from their families, some women resorted to crime in order to make a living.
Drawing on the case of Margaret Brown (also known as ‘Old Mother Hubbard’) this paper will examine the experience of Irish female criminals in North America, 1838-1918. Born in Ireland in 1828, Brown earned a reputation as a notorious pick-pocket and thief, and was a member of a high-profile female criminal gang that was active across North America. Using Brown’s story as a case-study, this paper will explore the types of criminal activity in which Irish women were involved, the networks in which they operated, and the punishments they received. In doing so, this paper will shed light on the alternative experience of the female emigrant –the Bad Bridget.
Cases such as this offer an intriguing insight into the practices and behaviours which were associated with courtship and, more specifically, the role which sex played in this process. What role did sex and sexual activity play in courtship? Was it usual for couples to participate in these types of activities? Did sex form part of the normal route to marriage? Using cases drawn from Presbyterian church records, this paper aims to answer these questions, and will shed light on the courtship customs of ordinary members of the Ulster Presbyterian community in Ireland.
Firstly, this paper considers how men understood and reacted to the news of fatherhood, and argues that men in general were aware of the changes pregnancy brought to their wives’ health and needs. It reveals how men showed a lively interest in the events of pregnancy and childbirth, exchanging correspondence among themselves on the progression of pregnancies, confinements, and even breast-feeding habits of female members of their family circles.
Secondly, this paper reassesses the role played by men during labour itself, and challenges the ‘female culture’ which surrounded childbirth. Rather than acting as passive onlookers standing on the periphery of the birthing chamber, fathers actively assisted their wives in times of need and in the days following delivery, suggesting that the gendered boundaries of female and male space were not as fixed as has been imagined.
This paper is largely based on the personal correspondence of the Reverend Alexander Crawford, a Presbyterian minister and missionary in India, England and Ulster, and his wife Anna Gardner for the period 1824-35. Further material is also drawn from the papers of other families who had ties to the Presbyterian community in Ulster.
During the nine year period which this paper covers, the couple travelled extensively in accordance with Alexander’s developing career. Their travelling began in March 1823, when just two months after their marriage, Anna and Alexander sailed from Liverpool to India under the auspices of the Scottish Missionary Society. The couple were stationed in Bankote, India, where they laboured under the direction of the missionary society for six years. While in India, the couple constructed a paradigm of their marriage as a ‘spiritual partnership’ and it was on this basis which both partners understood their respective roles and expressed love for one and another. This phase of their marriage ended in April 1829 when Alexander was discharged from his duties on account of bad health. The couple along with their three children sailed back to England, taking up residence with Anna’s parents in Edinburgh.
In the summer of 1832, Alexander relocated to Brampton Park, Huntingdonshire, England, where he entered the second phase of his career as domestic chaplain to Lady Olivia Sparrow. Anna remained with their children in Edinburgh for fifteen months before joining Alexander in England. During these fifteen months, the ‘spiritual partnership’ paradigm which their marriage had operated under began to crumble. The distance which Alexander’s relocation put between them, alongside the removal of the Anna’s role as Alexander’s ‘spiritual partner’, fostered feelings of neglect and ill-treatment on Anna’s part. Rather than the ministry being the symbol of their marriage, it became a sign of unloving behaviour and led to quarrels. In order to reconcile Anna to this new phase of his career, Alexander was forced to reconstruct the parameters of their marriage, and their roles within it. Anna eventually joined Alexander in September 1833, taking up her new role as the chaplain’s wife.
Delivered at St. Luke's Symposium, Dublin.