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PoS (3): access through themes and issues
Key subjects
Introduction
PoS(3) discusses several themes and issues for accessing important posts on the site.
PoS (3): Greenfield Borough
According to directories, Bournemouth (or Bourne Mouth) lay on a beach site, whose prior human habitation consisted of ‘poor fishermen’ and smugglers. Wild heathlands, portrayed in evocative style by Thomas Hardy, covered much of the inland area. It required improvement for its owners to obtain a commercial return. Agriculture offered little promise. Bourne Mouth’s healthy climate, however, impressed a growing number of physicians: friendly temperatures, refreshing sea breezes. If the site had accommodation, it could attract wealthy convalescents. The primary land proprietors, the Meyrick family, broke ground in the 1830s to construct a hotel beside the sea and a string of a dozen mansions running inland from it. On this cornerstone, Bourne Mouth acquired an identity. This quiet convalescent colony became a powerful municipal corporation. Bournemouth, however, had no traditions or human history before the nineteenth century. Occupants had to build this alongside the houses.
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PoS (3): Imported population
For years after its foundation, Bournemouth had to import its population. Early immigrants fell into two social groups: gentry and labourers. The latter derived their living from building structures to house the former. At first, some of both types settled, but the rest continued a nomadic existence, visiting other spas or looking for further employment. In time, as the commercial opportunities of the site became clearer, traders arrived to establish a commercial sector. As certainty grew, more people settled, and children arrived. Bournemouth’s native population expanded. Thus, Bournemouth offered sufficient hope to facilitate migration. Although wealthier and commercial types came from all over, many of the working people came from the rural settlements of Hampshire and Dorset. Genealogy suggests that some neighbourhoods in Bournemouth comprised people having close ties with each other. Some had come from the same village, others had kinship connections with each other, and many had both.
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PoS (3): Social structure
Bournemouth had begun with a minimal social structure. Its population consisted of wealthy convalescents. Soon, the beginnings of a social pyramid appeared. Respectable, commercial men translated their trading success into an identifiable segment of local society. Social zoning occurred. Traders lived over their shops in the town centre. Labourers, skilled and unskilled, occupied the eastern suburbs of Winton, Springbourne, and Boscombe. Those who had inherited wealth and the successful traders created another zone, living in the mansions built on East Cliff and in Westbourne. In time, this social structure became politicised. The respectable, middling people had a vision of the town’s future quite different from the assumptions made by their privileged counterparts. This created much contention and conflict until its resolution occurred in the form of Bournemouth acquiring its borough status. Those inhabiting the working suburbs also acquired an interest in gaining political representation within the town’s government.
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PoS (3): Conflict
During the Victorian period, Bournemouth experienced different types of conflict. An early example occurred when the new Improvement Commissioners presented their plans. These required an increase in local taxation. Residents objected in a contentious public meeting. Conflict surrounded the continuing project to equip the town with adequate drainage. Well-born physicians attempted to arouse public disagreement with the Commissioners. Troubled public encounters occurred. Other instances of conflict had a social character. Mob attacks on a trader’s house in Springbourne emerged from social and associated attitudinal differences. A property owner hired a gang of ruffians to evict a commercial tenant alleged to have defaulted on his rent. The established church experienced sharp internal conflict concerning a replacement for a long-serving curate. In this struggle, the parishioners opposed their local land proprietor and benefactor. Another type of conflict – industrial action – occurred at the end of the century. Carpenters struck without success.
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PoS (3): Female roles
During the Victorian period, many females had no recognised employment, their occupation summarised by later census reports as ‘home duties’. Nevertheless, formal jobs did provide some women with a formal living at this time. Many worked in domestic service. In addition to providing convenience to their employers, servants also represented a measure of social achievement. Affording to pay a servant signified wealth above the subsistence level. Changes in the retail trade, for example, in haberdashers, presented new opportunities for women to work as counter assistants. Similar to domestic service, these jobs had glamorous associations. Business management began to become more professional. Bookkeeping became a recognised skill by some businesses, for example, butchers. It became acceptable for women to keep the books. Working as a companion became an employment opportunity for some women. Girls and young adults from respectable but decayed families might offer paid companionship to wealthy widows or spinsters.
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PoS (3): Culture
Soon after its establishment, Victorian Bournemouth hosted cultural activities appropriate to the social profile of the colony. During the early period, cricket began, lecturers visited, and the Hengist Masonic Lodge moved from Christchurch to Bournemouth. After resistance from the town’s Puritan section, an impresario succeeded in acquiring a public performance licence for plays and more popular entertainment. Contemporary leading actors began including Bournemouth on their travels. Stimulated by the possibility of a French invasion, locals established a Volunteer militia. Men from all social levels transformed this into an important cultural activity. Results of shooting competitions often appeared in local newspapers. A wide range of societies emerged. These included art, natural science, horticulture, and amateur dramatics. Education and current affairs received attention from self-help groups comprised of working people. Once connected by train, residents could reach distant cultural events. Parties of people went to see Buffalo Bill in London.
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PoS (3): Poverty
At first, local society discouraged visits from apparent sturdy beggars and more sophisticated conmen (and women). Once the town had acquired its proletariat through the migration of skilled and unskilled labourers, the likelihood of local poverty increased. Bournemouth fell into the Christchurch Union. The Guardians, most of whom resided in Christchurch, attempted to tax Bournemouth at a level considered unfair in the resort. Bournemouth’s leading citizens increased their representation on the Union’s board to gain more control. A study illustrated how the Guardians addressed the needs of children residing in their workhouse. The need to build a new, much larger workhouse signified the national economy’s inability to control poverty. Accounts have survived to enable reconstructions of the Christmas festivities enjoyed by workhouse inmates. They resonate with Dickensian details. When a severe need occurred, Bournemouth’s society proved equal to the task of collective support. They established soup kitchens during bad winters.
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PoS (3): Economy
From its beginning, tourism provided the principal economic prop to support Victorian Bournemouth’s society. The first accommodation consisted of two hotels and a string of mansions. This arrangement suited wealthy visitors who required an array of domestic servants. Types of accommodation widened as different types of visitors came to Bournemouth. Boarding houses and managed apartments became the main forms of accommodation. The numbers of people engaged in this business dominate the listings contained in contemporary directories. The need to build tourist (and residential) accommodation meant that another large section of Bournemouth’s economy consisted of construction. This drew many labouring men to the resort, who, in turn, required accommodation. They would sometimes rent rooms in a property they had built. Retailing provided the third leg in Bournemouth’s economic tripod. This supplied necessities and, later, luxuries. The growing level of economic activity created a top level which consisted of professionals.
Browse these three articles to sample this theme: