Deserted and destitute : motherhood, wife desertion and colonial welfare / Christina Twomey.

Includes index.

Bibliography: p.179-193.

Machine derived contents note: Part I -- 1 The Culture of Colonial Marriages -- Single mothers at court -- Husbands as defendants 17 -- Criticising male behaviours 20 -- 2 Colonial Women's Labours: Family and Community -- Networks in a New Society 27 -- Family economies 35 -- Illness 43 -- Pregnancy 44 -- 3 The 'Niggard Hand'? Poor Mothers and the Negotiation -- of Relief 47 -- Outdoor relief 49 -- Indoor relief 55 -- Women as inmates 65 -- 4 Courting Men: Destitute Mothers, Magistrates and Police 74 -- The colonial courthouse 75 -- Vagrants and prostitutes 81 -- Part II 89 -- 5 Public Voice, Private Charities 91 -- Female charity workers 91 -- Proposing change 103 -- 6 Absent Fathers and Criminal Children: Deserted Wives -- and the Development of Welfare Policy 109 -- The colonial magistracy 109 -- Criminal children 117 -- SReuniting the Family on the Land 128 -- Deserted wives, the city and social order 131 -- Resolving contradiction 134.