A Wholesome Horror

Poor Houses in Nova Scotia – 2nd edition

Just released is Brenda Thompson’s 2^nd edition of A Wholesome Horror: Poor Houses of Nova Scotia. Through her thorough and meticulous research Brenda has expanded on the first edition with new chapters on children in poor houses, women in poor houses, the “harmless insane” and several stories of specific individuals. In these new chapters she details the often appalling conditions and treatment to which these groups and individuals were subjected.  In his Foreword to this new edition Ronan O’Driscoll, author of Poor Farm (2021), writes:

Throughout Brenda’s account, there is extensive research   detailing this neglected history of official abuse. This historical research is extremely important but is only half of the story. A Wholesome Horror 2nd ed. also has a number of sections told  from the perspective of the victims of these institutions, bringing the horror of their treatment home in a much more immediate way.

O’Driscoll also notes that, “Brenda’s latest research describes the “Moral Treatment” that was meted upon the “harmless insane”: essentially torture in the form of whipping, immersion in ice water or starvation.”

Thompson has also included new material about the state of Nova Scotia’s poor houses obtained from the Cornwallis Book of Records (1795-1862), located in the Acadia University archives, Wolfville, NS and more pictorial material obtained from the personal collection of Dr. Allan Marble.

This new edition is a critical piece in the illumination of this neglected part of Nova Scotia’s social history.