Courted and Abandoned: Seduction in Canadian Law

A pregnancy outside of marriage was a traumatic event in frontier Canada, one that had profound legal implications, not only for the mother, but also for the woman's family, the alleged father, and for the entire community. Patrick Brode examines the history of the 'heartbalm' torts in nineteenth-century Canada — breaches of duty leading to liability for damages for seduction, breach of promise of marriage, and criminal conversation — that were part of the inherited English law and were a maj…