Introduction Bankruptcy caught Samuel Bayly, one of early Victorian Bournemouth’s leading citizens, during 1856. The event attracted considerable press attention, coverage listing Bayly’s creditors as well as the amounts he owed. Publicity therefore inflicted damage to their reputations in addition to the missing money. Genealogical analysis adds texture to the press accounts, while further press […]
Introduction Town upgrade plans at early Victorian Bournemouth resulted in an angry public meeting held late in 1856. The first Improvement Commissioners had announced a new rating assessment in order to fund the building programme. An early instance of the resort’s community action saw ratepayers formulate their response. The meeting’s press report highlighted both the […]
Introduction Wealthy tourists populated early Victorian Bournemouth’s Westover Villas during 1851. A trade directory for 1849 observed that only a ‘few poor fishermen’ had dwelt on the Bournemouth site. Now ‘aristocracy’ frequented it to a great deal. In July 1838, the Dorset County Chronicle talked about ‘this picturesque and beautiful spot, already the residence of […]
Introduction A cricket team emerged in the settlement during the summer of 1852. It perhaps reflected an embryonic sense of Bournemouth’s cultural identity, but it may have had more to do with the settlement’s commerce. A curate’s egg of a season Beginnings At the end of May 1852 newspapers reported the appearance of a cricket […]
Introduction A man of all people, Dr E. V. Mainwaring featured often in early Victorian Bournemouth’s press clippings as a physician and community member. Until his early death, E. V. Mainwaring had made a broad contribution to Bournemouth’s social and cultural development by having a foot in two camps: society doctor for wealthy vacationers, promoter […]
Introduction Healthcare for early Victorian Bournemouth’s invalids and convalescents began with its excellent climate, but other assistance came from medics, bathing and visiting quacks. Several of the larger households recorded in 1851 contained nurses amongst other servants. Medics, resident and transient, offered professional healthcare Three doctors In addition to providing healthcare to invalids and other […]
Introduction Working people formed a parallel settlement to the resort they had built for affluent visitors at early Victorian Bournemouth. Although the press concentrated on marketing the site to higher types, occasional reports show a range of attitudes towards improving the quality of working people’s lives. Apartheid Out of sight In 1843 Scrooge suggested exiling […]
Introduction Early Bournemouth’s meat demand in particular helped revive Christchurch’s commercial health. For most of Bournemouth’s early period much of the meat consumed there may have come from farming and butcher families active in Christchurch’s hinterland. Family networks, based in Christchurch, but in some cases their links reaching into Dorset, appeared to maintain control of […]
Introduction Changes in building format used during early Bournemouth’s property development suggest visitor types altered. At the initial stages, the built environment took the shape of large, Italianate villas. Single households, including large service retinues would take each building. Later, building designs appeared to encompass smaller properties, while subdivision allowed several parties, without apparent relationship, […]
Introduction In 1937, a book appeared entitled Shanghai, The Paradise of Adventurers. The book depended on but also supported the town’s association as a place that attracted roguish characters. The book observed how the word ‘adventurer’ had acquired a fresh meaning. ‘Adventurer is pictured to us as an expert exploiter, a clever trickster, a cunning […]