Latest Posts

Victorian Bournemouth (90)
1st Period

Social networks and success in Victorian Bournemouth

Introduction Social networks of people originating from the same Dorset district may have helped migrants achieve success in early Victorian Bournemouth. This post continues the focus on the hinterland framed by Cranborne and Wimborne. Social Networks Background Inhabitants of the area defined by Wimborne, Cranborne and the two rivers Allen and Crane migrated around it […]

Immigrant contribution to local culture from females
1st Period

Immigrant contribution to local culture from females

Introduction Immigrant contribution to local culture has formed part of the analysis already discussed for the Wimborne, Cranborne, Crane River and Allen River hinterland, a fertile recruiting ground for early Victorian Bournemouth. This analysis goes further by exploring immigrants’ demography, in particular gender. Rural migration Natives account for around half of residents On average, around […]

Cosmopolitan atmosphere in early Victorian Bournemouth
1st Period

Cosmopolitan worlds in early Victorian Bournemouth

Introduction ‘Cosmopolitan’ could have described early Victorian Bournemouth’s tourists, but the term might also have applied to the resort’s immigrant residential population. Demographic analysis of the population living in the Wimborne, Allen, Cranborne, Crane (WACC) hinterland offers insight into this aspect of the resort’s residents. The demographic analysis applied here depends on data from the […]

Migrants success in early Victorian Bournemouth
1st Period

Migrants’ success in early Victorian Bournemouth

Introduction Migrants and their families achieved success by making important contributions to early Victorian Bournemouth’s economy and society. Several kinship groups came from the hinterland framed by the towns of Wimborne and Cranborne and the Allen and Crane rivers. Study of the Joy family, based in Hinton Martel, a village lying at the centre of […]

Immigration at early Victorian Bournemouth
1st Period

Immigration at early Victorian Bournemouth

Introduction Immigration provided the majority of early Victorian Bournemouth’s residential population. Although sited in Hampshire, almost as many people came from Dorset as from Bournemouth’s home county. In particular, the rural hinterland separating Wimborne from Cranborne proved a fertile departure point for Bournemouth’s immigration. The stream of immigrants from Dorset to Bournemouth occurred at a […]

Property people at early Victorian Bournemouth
1st Period

Property people at early Victorian Bournemouth

Introduction Property people during Victorian Bournemouth’s early period began with gentlemen investors but by its close professional financial institutions had appeared. Along the way, builder-developers featured to no small extent. Two social features ran through this process: a range of social types; the existence and influence of kinship groups. Respectable commerce Professionals Bournemouth’s Victorian historian, […]

Middling people at early Victorian Bournemouth
1st Period

Middling people at early Victorian Bournemouth

Introduction Middling people at early Victorian Bournemouth may have taken social action together but did not always share the but did not share the same characteristics. Profile analysis suggests that any differences may have more to do with differences in background than rank. Merry-making and money Merry-making At the end of 1845 Christmas ‘merry-making’, held […]

Victorian Bournemouth (72)
1st Period

Bankruptcy at early Victorian Bournemouth

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 […]

Victorian Bournemouth (168)
1st Period

Town upgrade plans caused sticker shock

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 […]

Wealthy tourists at early Bournemouth
1st Period

Wealthy tourists at early Bournemouth

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 […]