Spontaneous communities: boarding and lodging in Victoria, British Columbia, 1881-1901
Date
2000
Authors
Mattys, Sean William
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Abstract
This thesis is concerned with the great throng of individuals who lived, either by choice or circumstance, as boarders or lodgers during the late-nineteenth century. Although the presence of boarders and lodgers in North America's towns and cities is well known, the exact social and cultural organization of tenancy arrangements during this period is not completely understood. And although we know a great deal about tenancy arrangements with private families, there is little research that examines the full breadth of available tenancy living arrangements, including residency in hotels, rooming houses, and housekeeping rooms.
This thesis provides a detailed case study based on patterns of boarding and lodging in a single city, Victoria, British Columbia, during a twenty-year period that spans three census years, 1881, 1891 and 1901. What this thesis intimates is that the practice of boarding and lodging was extremely selective. Both heads of households and prospective boarders engaged in a careful screening process in order to designate compatibility. Likewise, boarders and lodgers also took extreme interest in assuring compatibility with existing tenants as well. There were a number of ways in which compatibility could be assessed. Age, marital status, gender, occupation and birthplaces were important criteria used to designate compatibility with heads of households, as well as other tenants. However, it would appear that religious denomination, based on findings in this thesis, was the most important arbiter of household selection.