Article (1): studying Victorian Bournemouth 

Introduction

Article (1) presents five points about Victorian Bournemouth’s history: its rapid development as a greenfield site, the success of its tourist marketing, its immigration patterns, its social structure, and early worship practices.

Article (1): greenfield success

Bournemouth enjoyed rapid growth from a rural site to a vacation resort including embryonic urban infrastructure in around two decades. About twenty years before the resort’s initiation, the Tregonwell family had built some houses on the west of the Bourne stream. They used these – Bourne Tregonwell – to accommodate for the most part family and friends. The Marine Village, however, situated on the east of the stream, had a commercial purpose by design. Coming to life in the late 1830s, the site tapped a consumer need for healthy vacation sites without having to go abroad. Its early, rapid success occurred at a time when the site remained outside the highway and growing railway system. Its relative success and history contribute to a wider understanding of the Victorian tourism trade and its associated socio-economic factors. Also, its construction contributes to an understanding of urban planning and development at this period. 

Article (1): tourist marketing

Bournemouth appears to have obtained widescale and systematic press coverage across the country, much of it aimed to build a momentum of success. Securing the attention of Dr A. B. Granville acted as a cornerstone of the site’s marketing. A well-connected society physician, Granville advocated the medical benefits of bathing and drinking spa water. He spread his message through his personal network, through invited talks, and through book publishing. A visit to the Bournemouth site convinced him of its medical benefits. He devoted a chapter in one of his books to the new bathing resort. The town’s influencers realised how to build on the town’s early reputation stemming from its healthy environment. They succeeded in winning the right to construct the National Sanatorium to take advantage of this, thereby gaining adding uniqueness to a solid reputation. The tools and programmes used offer a case-history of nineteenth century marketing methods.

Article (1): immigration

Immigration grew early Bournemouth’s residential population. As time passed, native members appeared, but immigrants still accounted for most residents. Chronological linking of census records for Bournemouth residents offers an opportunity to explore contemporary migration patterns. The migration ‘patterns’ remain notional, however, since the data consists of an individual’s place of origin plus locations recorded in subsequent census reports (including the geography of children’s birthplaces). Nevertheless, the data available provides starting points for investigation. Perched at the extreme west of Hampshire where it bordered Dorset, during its earliest years the site recruited most of its residents from both counties. Studies to date have shown that many arrivals originated in the hinterland separating Cranborne from Wimborne. Their occupations and family connections form a basis for studying the histories of settlements in that (or other) area. Thus, Bournemouth’s immigration evidence may contribute to wider studies of population movement during the Victorian period.

Article (1): social structure

Bournemouth’s foundation depended on commercial interrelations between local land proprietors and affluent men having access to capital. This provided the basis for construction to occur. Quite soon, entrepreneurial men amongst the builders, artisans by training, also became developers. Successful members of this group combined with those already taking decisions about development of the site’s infrastructure and, also, its longer-term commercial context. A second group of men emerged from amongst those who saw early commercial opportunities offered by retailing. These would join the more influential builders in guiding decision-making about the resort’s infrastructure, built environment, and tourist attractions. Affluent men having a privileged background and wide-reaching personal networks also continued to play a role in these matters. Thus, the social structure of Bournemouth’s guidance system commingled different parts of society, a theory advocated by some contemporary national observers. Such a system should not favour one part of the community above others.

Article (1): religious worship

Bournemouth became a showcase for the Tractarian movement that had a national impact on the direction of Anglican worship. Presented to the parish by the Gervis family, the main local proprietors, Reverend A. M. Bennett, an ardent Tractarian, conducted a directed and sectional ministry at Bournemouth from around 1845 to the early 1870s. Having charge of the only church, he refused access to non-conformists. He took the initiative in developing public education both in Bournemouth and in its rural neighbourhood, but to further his doctrines. Nevertheless, his trenchant views appear to have stimulated the foundation of other worship preferences by the 1860s. On the other hand, he made Bournemouth well-known in religious circles. In a sense, therefore, he contributed to the local economy by stimulating religious tourism amongst clergymen interested in Tractarian ritual. Thus, the development of religious worship practices at Bournemouth provides a case-study of extremism and its response.

Takeaway

Article (1) has explored five points of interest about the development of Victorian Bournemouth.

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