success Archives - News from the Past

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (249): British Indians (5)

October 13, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (249) reports on a notable concentration of Anglo-Indian individuals listed by the 1901 census for Boscombe, Bournemouth. These individuals, most native to the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, shared common social characteristics: involvement in colonial administration or commerce, and a transient lifestyle within the British Empire. While some family connections have emerged, more may have existed. After 1901, some continued their travels while others settled in Bournemouth, drawn perhaps by its idealised English atmosphere, a reflection of their own complex cultural identities.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (247): Q3 summary

September 29, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (247) has discussed the main subjects covered by the last quarter’s articles. They dealt with the overall subject of commercial life. It provided examples of success and failure among local companies. It highlighted changes within the scale of enterprise, much of it now conducted by companies operating on a national scale. Changes also occurred because of technological improvements. This created challenges, which Bournemouth companies did not always overcome. Changes in commerce also created opportunities for individuals to advance. Some proved successful (shop girls), others less so (carpenters’ strike).

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (246): banks of banks

September 22, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (246) has speculated that, during the 1890s, the community position attainable by bank managers changed. Hitherto, perhaps seen as akin almost to the gentry, managers had enjoyed a special place within their communities. The increased and systematic development within banking, however, may have made it harder for managers to attain such a position. At Bournemouth, however, during the 1890s, the population of bank managers appears to have included managers of both types.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (245): community men

September 15, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (245) has analysed the social and career profiles of bank managers who had retired to the resort by 1901. They emerge as social stalwarts. The study also reveals how, during this period, banks and staff hid their marketing activities within a cloak of social respectability. This apparent generosity seems in sharp contrast with the advertised pursuit of Mammon practised today.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (242): bus battles

August 25, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (242) has followed the fortunes of the two main local omnibus companies operating during the 1890s. Beneficial to their directors and shareholders for a while, a comfortable cartel between them, neither could withstand the commercial threat posed by motor traffic and the tramlines.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (239): shopgirls

August 4, 2025 by Kitablios 1 comment

Victorian Bournemouth (239) has surveyed the category and social profiles found for female drapery assistants working at Plummer, Roddis, and Tyrell during the 1890s. In most cases, the girls came from respectable backgrounds, yet proved willing to work for a living. Their social profile suited them well to assist well-heeled customers drawn by the new super-stores.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (235): commercial terrain (1890s)

July 7, 2025 by Kitablios 2 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (235) surveyed the commercial terrain evident during the 1890s. It finds that enterprises perhaps adhered to the changing commercial norms wrought by the country’s governments. Nevertheless, Bournemouth’s early success, resulting in part from a strong, closed network comprised of a few people, perhaps experienced difficulties as time passed. By then, the scale of activity required a more open system, welcoming new ideas and qualified people.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (230): slate clubs

June 2, 2025 by Kitablios 2 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (230) has traced the activities of slate clubs as reported in the local press during the last two decades of the century. Once a feature expressing the personality of their sponsoring local pubs, this form of behaviour became institutionalised to take its place amongst Bournemouth’s other charitable bodies.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (226): chrysanthemum show (3)

May 4, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (226) has speculated on how experienced men, although designated as servants, guided respectable and privileged people in making decisions about the chrysanthemum show’s management. To explain how this may have succeeded, it offered, as an analogy, how the army’s non-commissioned and commissioned officers made shared decisions. Relevant experience overcame the need for deference and induced mutual respect. Victorian masters referred to their servants by surname alone. In contrast, the speeches congratulating James Spong’s organisational efforts used the title ‘Mr’.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (223): a ratepayers’ association

April 14, 2025 by Kitablios 1 comment

Victorian Bournemouth (223) studied the Springbourne and Malmesbury Park Ratepayers’ Association to examine the political and social identity among working people during the 1890s. The vocabulary used in their meetings indicates the presence of a strong, local culture. The members’ reaction to their exclusion from new secondary schools due to high fee levels suggests an interest in education as a means of advancement. During this period, local union organisers also focused more on education. Furthermore, in the year the Association was founded, Bournemouth experienced its first industrial strike.

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