POVERTY & SOCIETAL PUNISHMENT Nova Scotia, then and now BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Editor’s note: The content and the language of this piece describe poverty, sex work and violence in ways that may be triggering for some readers. This story was produced in partnership with the Nova Scotia Advocate, an online publication that focuses on stories and voices too often overlooked by news media. Visit nsadvocate.org for more stories about poverty, racism, workers’ rights, the environment, and other issues affecting the day-to-day lives of Nova Scotians.
These stories are true. The first two stories are based on research I did while writing my book about the history of poor houses and poor farms in Nova Scotia. The last three are from my own circle of friends.
Mary Ann Clements Mary Ann Clements felt the baby kick for the first time and cried. She knew she would soon show. She was not the first woman to have a baby and not be married, but she was the first in her family. They would not tolerate her unwed pregnancy by a married man in her community. When Mary Ann’s family found out, they banished her from the home. No one would help her, as Mary Ann’s father was considered a community leader and no one wanted to cross him. Mary Ann moved to a small Black community of Perotte, several miles away in the woods. There she gave birth to her son, William Henry, and stayed until food became scarce. Mary Ann felt she had no choice but to go to the local poor farm. Black people were put into a building that was in bad shape, dark with little heat, and were made to do more menial tasks. William Henry was to be apprenticed out as soon as he was five years old, but he caught dysentery and died at age two. Mary Ann stayed at the poor farm for the rest of her life, dying there at the age of 90 in 1900.
SOURCES http://annapolisheritagesociety.com/genealogy/familyhistories/the-clements Unpublished burial records of the Bridgetown County Poor House
28 Connection | Winter 2019
The Bridgetown County Poor House, Annapolis County. White paupers lived in the front building; Black paupers lived in the older, brick building in the back. Photo courtesy of Annapolis Heritage Society.
