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Remittance man

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of the way. He was shipped off with just enough money in his pocket—no, in the purser's pocket—for the needs of the voyage—and when he reached his destined port he would find a remittance awaiting him there. Not a large one, but just enough to keep him a month. A similar remittance would come monthly thereafter. It was the remittance-man's custom to pay his month's board and lodging straightway—a duty which his landlord did not allow him to forget—then spree away the rest of his money in a single night, then brood and mope and grieve in idleness till the next remittance came. It is a pathetic life.
129:(2013) how the figure emerged in the 1880s: "Unable to succeed in Britain the remittance man represented the utter failure of elite British masculinity to function in the modern world." Where he was to go was a wide-open question. The British Empire offered wide-open spaces and possibilities of redemption in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and colonial parts of Africa. Some thought that the American West was also an appropriate destination. Rico concludes that "the remittance man, in his weakness, symbolized his culture's fear that British masculinity was imperiled both in Britain and abroad." 139:(1913) to capture their stories. "To the ordinary Western mind, a remittance man was a rich Englishman who had proven a failure in his homeland and had been shipped into the raw land to kill himself in quiet or work out his regeneration if possible." He was "everlasting sources of enjoyment and personal gain" for the tough ranchers and early colonists, "the natural butt of the cowboys' jokes." Remittance men were held in scorn by all, even "solid contempt," and were considered easy targets by conmen and tellers of tall tales. Some, however, won redemption by, for example, joining the 260: 336: 298:(1909), when the young royal had to renounce this marriage, his beloved was given the most royal of exiles; near the City of Vancouver "in the western solitude, lived for several years—the veriest remittance woman—the girl who should now, by the right of love and honor, be the Princess of Wales, and whose infant daughter should have been the heir to the throne." 858:
his antics: howling like a timber wolf from a grove of trees at a gold rush-era (1890s) tent city near town; reciting Robert Service poems to all who will listen, and writing a very funny column for the weekly paper. Ol' Buckwheat contributes generously to any of Skagway's civic betterment activities, school functions, whatever.
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Passengers explained the term to me. They said that dissipated ne'er-do-wells belonging to important families in England and Canada were not cast off by their people while there was any hope of reforming them, but when that last hope perished at last, the ne'er-do-well was sent abroad to get him out
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counts innumerable laughs brought here four years ago when a ruddy eccentric known only as Buckwheat mistakenly got off the ferry heading down to Haines. Buckwheat, a sort of happy remittance man kept in funds by a successful business in one of the lower 48, regales locals and visitors alike with
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Tom Hadden (known to the bulk of Sydney folk as Tommy) was heir to a considerable property, which a prophetic father had placed in the hands of rigorous trustees. The income supported Mr. Hadden in splendour for about three months out of twelve; the rest of the year he passed in retreat among the
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professor of journalism drew on his Alberta childhood to write "Mr Langhorne: A Prairie Sketch," which begins: "The thing about a Remittance Man, of course, is that nobody ever knows for sure whether or not he is a Remittance Man." He characterises them as locked into secrecy, including giving up
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from German universities. There were remittance men from old families whose month would follow a rigorously determined cycle: Funds would arrive, followed by new clothes and feasting and carousing; then the money would be gone, the clothes would be pawned, and there would follow a week or two of
182:. Many of these newcomers were remittance men from prominent British families, a state of affairs which caused some to dub the region "The Valley of the Second Sons". For years, activities on many a valley ranch or farm ground to a halt at precisely 4 p.m. so that all could partake of high tea. 395:'s travelogue presented as non-fiction, he describes the first remittance men he met. One was a hopeless alcoholic, "the most interesting and felicitous talker". Another on the same ship was only 19 or 20 but already "a good deal of a ruin". 209:
their real name. The stipend, regular but not lavish, dooms them to eke out an existence: "The remittance naturally saps his energy and wilts his ambition, if any." It is not enough to set up a business, and so their fates are sealed. As the
332:, men whose birth and station would otherwise usually lead to their commission as officers, but who instead enlisted as common soldiers. A remittance man appears as a tragic figure in his New Zealand story "One Lady at Wairakei" (1891). 66:
as "a term once widely used, especially in the West before WWI, for an immigrant living in Canada on funds remitted by his family in England, usually to ensure that he would not return home and become a source of embarrassment."
558:'s recurring characters (c. 1960) is Andrea Hartshorn, who describes her situation thus: "Robbie is a remittance man. I'm a remittance woman. We're paid a monthly stipend to keep out of the family's hair. Remittance men. The 314:, a traditional escape route for English who have been exiled for one reason or another, she gracefully lived the life of a remittance woman, gambled obsessively at the casino, and established a little salon". 227:
describes the hoboes and flophouses of the first fifteen years of the 20th century: "Among the tramps and bums were enigmatic sorts and instant legends. There were said to be Oxford graduates and men with
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There were also "remittance women", but they are rarely discussed in scholarly works. A few examples include Bertha E. Kyte Reynolds, who lived in a tent outside Banff in the
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This is no place for a remittance man. The French don't understand him at all. They think everyone who's not engaged in trade is a spy. It's not as though he lived like a
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in which the son of the title figure resists his father's attempts to find him a job: "Some sort of place where everyone would sneer at the fellow from London. The
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adds: "spec one considered undesirable at home; also in extended use." "Remittance man" is first attested in 1874 as a colonial term. One of the citations is of
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A Diary by Mrs Robert Louis Stevenson (first published 1914), republished 2004, editor, Roslyn Jolly (U. of Washington Press/U. of New South Wales Press)
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in the early 1900s, until an Anglican clergyman persuaded her relatives to increase her allowance, and Jessie de Prado MacMillan, a Scottish woman who
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was an emigrant, often from Britain to a British colony, who was supported by regular payments from home on the expectation that he would stay away.
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headline put it in 1914, with reference to mining camps, "Where 'Remittance Men' Abound; Most Americans of That Ilk Work, but English Don't."
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Varney MacMahon, Sandra (July 1999). "Fine Hands for Sowing: The Homesteading Experiences of Remittance Woman Jessie de Prado MacMillan".
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xxiii. 170 The remittancer generally spends his monthly allowance in three days, living very badly on credit till his money next arrives.
118:), and paid to stay away. He was generally of dissolute or drunken character and may have been sent overseas after disgraces at home. 423:
included "The Rhyme of the Remittance Man", which shares its meter and most of its rhyme scheme with Kipling's similarly themed 1892 "
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He went on to differentiate between this type and others who followed, "individuals who were more used to the saloon than the
286:. The case that went to trial concerned an alleged secret marriage in 1890 between the young naval officer, who was to become 233:
utter destitution, each stage accompanied by a corresponding shift of lodging." The binge-and-starve cycle was remarked on in
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meant that the eldest son inherited the estate, which left the others to find their own fortunes. In his profile of the
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The remittance man was a recognisable type in literature of the period, especially in Britain, Canada, and Australia.
1008: 1019: 119: 518:, Sebastian Flyte is thus referred to by the British Consul to Charles Ryder on the latter's visit to Morocco: 482: 223:(1991) documents the life and politics of lower Manhattan from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. 17: 345: 140: 122:, is an example; he was sent to South Africa before he inherited the titles and fortune of his third cousin. 588:, uses the term to refer to a wealthy Englishman's good-for-nothing daughters who spend their days on the 584: 921: 842: 575:. Yakimov is always "waiting for his remittance" as he sponges off the expatriate community in wartime 150:
Not all of those men were considered dissolute disgraces. Some were simply younger sons of the English
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means the opposite of today's meaning of money that migrants send to their home countries.
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Nature's Noblemen: Transatlantic Masculinities and the Nineteenth-Century American West
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Nature's noblemen transatlantic masculinities and the nineteenth-century American West
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had its share of remittance men. The journalist Leroy Victor Kelly (1880–1956) wrote
764:"Where 'Remittance Men' Abound; Most Americans of That Ilk Work, but English Don't" 329: 555: 506: 325: 249: 219: 174:, the author Morris Cafky wrote in 1966 that after the initial wave of settlers, 38: 505:. The following year a book of the same title appeared, by American pulp author 926: 600: 566: 502: 354: 302: 279: 267: 253: 211: 179: 132: 115: 111: 460:
Had I clutched like them my chances, learned their wisdom, crushed my fancies,
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Cafky, Morris (August 1966). "The Railroad That Couldn't Make Up Its Mind".
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Prince Yakimov, an Englishman of noble Russian descent, is a character in
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The term can be used to refer to an eccentric person, the town character.
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Treasured Islands: Cruising the South Seas With Robert Louis Stevenson.
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writes repeatedly about remittance men and their brothers-in-arms, the
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Gilded galley-slaves of Mammon—how my purse-proud brothers taunt me!
378:), the handsome, happy-go-lucky, fellow cabin passenger on the 1890 733:(Print). Vol. 26, no. 10. Milwaukee, USA. pp. 38–39. 375: 357:, is a "South Sea yarn" featuring a "remittance man". In the book, 287: 191: 171: 94:
gives "remittancer" as another form, which stretches back to 1750.
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of an upper- or middle-class family who was sent away (from the
534:(1915–2000) included "Remittance Man" in her first collection, 523: 371: 311: 178:
Other venturesome folk followed—Englishmen this time. They too
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Far away, so faint and far, is flaming London, fevered Paris,
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William Henry Pope Jarvis (1876–1944), who was described in
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The Cruise of the Janet Nichol among the South Sea Islands
843:"Alaska's Gold-Boom Past Gives Flavor to Buckwheat's Town" 412:, a pair of novellas set in California, were published by 930:. Vol. 55, no. 7. 26 November 1979. p. 223 989:
John A. Steuart, (1924). Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
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Zeisler, Karl (1959). "Mr Langhorne: A Prairie Sketch".
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Far away the din and hurry, far away the sin and worry,
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in 1979 referred to Lady Blanche Hozier, the mother of
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from the pheasant-shooting and the aunts in the close
237:(1888) by the British traveller Elim Henry D'Avignor. 987:
Robert Louis Stevenson: A Critical Biography, 2 vols.
317: 1024:"R. L. S. and his Friends Some Stevenson Memories" 792: 106:British culture, a remittance man was usually the 1082: 948: 799:(1st ed.). New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. 884: 840: 463:Starved my soul and gone to business every day. 724: 722: 598:wrote a song, "Remittance Man", for his album 479:The Letters of a Remittance Man to his Mother 90:remittance man for whom a job was made." The 543:The spendthrift, disinherited and graceless, 282:to the story of royal scandal publicised by 719: 471:The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature 1003:Lowell D. Holmes, (2001). Sheridan House. 795:Low life: lures and snares of old New York 703:The range men: pioneer ranchers of Alberta 451:Far away—God knows they cannot be too far. 220:Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York 137:The range men: Pioneer ranchers of Alberta 1013: 903: 746:Quarterly Review of the Michigan Alumnus 547:only surprised he could escape so simply 445:That I fancy I have gained another star; 334: 258: 97: 980: 942: 743: 545:accepted his pittance with an easy air, 457:I might have been as well-to-do as they 435:The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses 125:The historian Monica Rico describes in 27:Emigrant from Britain paid to stay away 14: 1083: 992: 869: 292:Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, 3rd Baronet 790: 728: 700: 675: 1069: 872:Banff: Canada's First National Park 650: 243: 24: 841:Beyer and Rabey (30 August 1987). 25: 1102: 870:Luxton, Eleanor Georgina (2008). 958:The Journal of Stevenson Studies 433:. It was published in the US as 318:Popular representations in media 120:Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford 1063: 1033: 968: 914: 897: 878: 863: 256:in New Mexico from about 1903. 60:"Remittance man" is defined in 834: 813: 784: 756: 737: 694: 669: 644: 55: 13: 1: 1028:New Zealand Railways Magazine 705:. Victoria : Heritage House. 638: 477:, wrote the epistolary novel 141:Royal Canadian Mounted Police 887:New Mexico Historical Review 701:Kelly, Leroy Victor (2009). 290:, and a daughter of Admiral 7: 874:. Summerthought Publishing. 616: 585:The Bonfire of the Vanities 294:. As Higgison tells it, in 10: 1107: 29: 1041:"Remittance Woman (1923)" 949:Watson, Roderick (2007). 907:Alaska: The Great Country 821:Oxford English Dictionary 680:. Yale University Press. 654:The Canadian Encyclopedia 427:", in his 1907 anthology 296:Alaska: The Great Country 194:meant the evening meal.) 73:Oxford English Dictionary 63:The Canadian Encyclopedia 922:"[title needed]" 904:Higginson, Ella (1909). 473:as a journalist born in 190:, as for the Englishmen 154:or aristocracy, because 825:1888 E. H. D'Avigdor 30:For the racehorse, see 1045:British Film Institute 651:Colombo, John Robert. 552: 528: 467: 402: 364: 351:Robert Louis Stevenson 340: 264: 206:University of Michigan 184: 32:Remittance Man (horse) 1072:Manhunt Is My Mission 676:Rico, Monica (2013). 610:Following the Equator 540: 520: 439: 397: 388:Following the Equator 359: 338: 262: 186:(Presumably, that is 176: 98:Analysis and examples 530:The Australian poet 515:Brideshead Revisited 490:The Remittance Woman 475:Prince Edward Island 430:Songs of a Sourdough 310:, by this term: in " 308:Clementine Churchill 791:Sante, Luc (1991). 657:(07/17/15 ed.) 538:(1946). It begins: 164:Wet Mountain Valley 114:to the rest of the 83:The Elder Statesman 1070:Marlowe, Stephen. 769:The New York Times 419:The Canadian poet 410:The Remittance Man 366:Tommy is based on 341: 265: 180:took up homesteads 1051:on 16 August 2016 806:978-0-374-19414-7 772:. 18 January 1914 572:The Great Fortune 425:Gentlemen-Rankers 414:Beatrice Harraden 330:gentleman rankers 16:(Redirected from 1098: 1076: 1075: 1067: 1061: 1060: 1058: 1056: 1047:. 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Eliot 56:Definitions 1022:, (1937). 848:26 October 639:References 623:Emigration 606:travelogue 393:Mark Twain 225:Lucy Sante 168:Westcliffe 156:until 1925 50:remittance 633:Ostracism 577:Bucharest 104:Victorian 1085:Category 617:See also 391:(1897), 382:voyage. 362:islands. 288:George V 192:high tea 172:Colorado 855:Skagway 554:One of 481:(1908, 143:in the 1055:28 May 1007:  934:28 May 803:  776:28 May 709:  684:  661:28 May 524:Milord 372:Sydney 312:Dieppe 954:(PDF) 628:Exile 199:salon 145:Yukon 88:limey 1057:2016 1005:ISBN 936:2016 893:(3). 850:2023 801:ISBN 778:2016 707:ISBN 682:ISBN 663:2016 408:and 70:The 41:, a 569:'s 512:In 485:). 437:): 385:In 274:of 201:." 102:In 92:OED 37:In 1087:: 1043:. 1026:. 960:. 956:. 924:. 891:74 889:. 852:. 823:. 766:. 750:65 748:. 721:^ 613:. 579:. 509:. 270:, 204:A 170:, 147:. 1074:. 1059:. 964:. 962:4 938:. 910:. 809:. 780:. 752:. 715:. 690:. 665:. 526:. 34:. 20:)

Index

Remittance Man
Remittance Man (horse)
British history
remittance
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Oxford English Dictionary
T. S. Eliot
The Elder Statesman
limey
Victorian
black sheep
United Kingdom
British Empire
Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford
Western Canada
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Yukon
landed gentry
until 1925
primogeniture
Wet Mountain Valley
Westcliffe
Colorado
took up homesteads
afternoon tea
high tea
salon
University of Michigan
New York Times
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York

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