“Mrs. Tilley had a very hasty wedding!”: The Class-Based Response to Marriages in the Grenfell Mission of Newfoundland and Labrador

• DOI: 10.3138/cbmh.27.1.123
• Publication Date: 2016-12-13T16:10:05Z
• Authors: Heidi Coombs-Thorne
• Keywords: Ambivalence

The International Grenfell Association (IGA) attracted hundreds of single young women for nursing in northern Newfoundland and Labrador between 1939 1981. Under contract with the Mission, nurse was expected to behave a non-sexual manner uphold strict moral code behaviour. However, experience provided nurses unique opportunity socializing men who ranged social spectrum, from fishermen labourers medical professionals. This paper highlights relationships marriages that developed during or immediately after their tenure IGA evaluates Mission’s class-based responses those relationships. administration responded either positively negatively nurses’ marriages, depending on socioeconomic background husband question. Marriages physicians dentists were almost always celebrated while local usually questioned treated ambivalence. From perspective IGA, status could be raised lowered her marriage partner.