Women, Real Property, Movables and Business in the 19th Century

Beatrice Moring, University of Helsinki

While recent studies have illuminated the fact that women in the past were engaged in a multitude of economic pursuits, the idea cannot be avoided that their place has been viewed to have been within the economy of makeshifts or petty trade. We also still suffer from remnants of the idea that women in the past were restricted by the family rather than supported by it and suffered from lack of economic power. The intention of the presentation is to explore the economic position and agency of women, particularly widows in 19th century Helsinki, their engagement in crafts and trade and ownership of property. The question will also be raised who they lived and collaborated with. The main sources for the study are tax records, parish registers, guild records, town council minutes, property and trade registers.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 60. Women and Property, - Inheriting, Using, Distributing