Faith, gender and financial investment: Providence and Presbyterianism in Scotland and abroad

Abstract

Mid-nineteenth century fictional representations of misdirected investment by widows and clergy position them as ignorant in financial matters and hence pitiable. While scholars have recognised female agency in nineteenth century commerce, insufficient attention has been paid to religious belief in financial decision-making. By examining the link between investment and Providentialism, through the lived experience of the ‘widow, the clergyman and the reckless’, this article demonstrates that both men and women attributed success and failure to God's Providence. This examination of investment decisions by religious Scots suggests that market loss was measured in entwined moral and economic terms.