The importance of being punctual : time, trust, and virtue in Britain, c.1700-1900
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: History, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Corbett, Kenneth Joseph Robert
issued: 2020-05-14T17:34:22Z
issued: 2020
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This dissertation examines the history of punctuality in Britain during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Exploring punctuality as an instance of time discipline, I challenge the historical narratives which have explained the proliferation of clock-time discipline in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century as a result of the appearance of the factory system, religion, or the advent of steam-powered railways. Following the use of the word in newspapers, magazines, and books, I trace how punctuality came to refer to being “on time” within the context of the payment of debts. Contextualizing the meaning of the word I demonstrate how the discourse of punctuality since this transformation between the end of the seventeenth century and through the nineteenth century was intimately connected with questions about the trustworthiness and honesty of others. The dissertation explores how punctuality, and its absence, was problematized in discussions of commerce, domestic management, the railway journey, and in efforts to create networks of electrically coordinated clocks. In these contexts, punctuality came to symbolize everything from honesty, piety, reliability, good management, and railway safety. In examining these meanings, I argue that punctuality was a middle-class value. It was promoted by middle-class writers for middle-class readers. Being punctual demonstrated that a person, a business, a home, a railway, or even an observatory was well-managed, disciplined, and could be relied upon. Unpunctuality and irregularity raised doubts about whether a person could pay their debts, whether a clock told the right time, and whether a train would deliver you safely to your destination.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/74442
note: The Importance of Being Punctual: Time, Trust, and Virtue in Britain, c.1700-1900 by Kenneth Joseph Robert Corbett B.A., Brock University, 2009 M.A., Dalhousie University, 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (History) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2020 © Kenneth Joseph Robert Corbett, 2020 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: The Importance of Being Punctual: Time, Trust, and Virtue in Britain, c.1700-1900 submitted by Kenneth Joseph Robert Corbett in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Examining Committee: Robert Brain, Associate Professor, Department of History, UBC Co-supervisor Alexei Kojevnikov, Associate Professor, Department of History, UBC Co-supervisor Joy Dixon, Associate Professor, Department of History, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Margaret Schabas, Professor, Department of Philosophy, UBC University Examiner Eagle Glassheim, Professor, Department of History, UBC University Examiner William Ashworth, Reader in History, Department of History, University of Liverpool External Examiner iii Abstract This dissertation examines the history of punctuality in Britain during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Exploring punctuality as an instance of time discipline, I challenge the historical narratives which have explained the proliferation of clock-time discipline in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century as a result of the appearance of the factory system, religion, or the advent of steam-powered railways. Following the use of the word in newspapers, magazines, and books, I trace how punctuality came to refer to being “on time” within the context of the payment of debts. Contextualizing the meaning of the word I demonstrate …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2020-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0390676
language: eng
degree discipline: History
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74442