Introduction Conflicts divided several local interest groups as they competed to control early-Victorian Bournemouth’s structure and identity. In several cases, these conflicts became public confrontations, often fought out in the press. This made a sharp contrast to the settlement’s otherwise glittering media image as a tourist resort. Internal initiatives, however, created the basis for social […]
Introduction Servants’ fortunes varied after their working stint at Bournemouth (1851), where data can track them. For some, record linkage enables partial reconstruction of their later life-stages. This analysis studies the later lives of found servants working in the row of sixteen holiday buildings known as Westover Villas. It explores how people comprising this important […]
Introduction Rural shopkeepers trading in Victorian Bournemouth’s hinterland appear to have chosen different survival strategies as the resort town grew bigger. They may have competed with the town’s suppliers for a while, but their opportunity disappeared longer term. In the early Victorian period, their numbers remained level, perhaps sustained in part by the burgeoning resort. […]
Introduction Grocers and bakers made migrant stops at early Victorian Bournemouth, but a couple stayed to form a long standing engagement with the resort. The jobs involved different skills – baking and retailing – but they seemed to overlap on occasion. The varying longevity of these traders offers clues to the nature of early Bournemouth’s […]
Introduction Hengist, a Masonic lodge established in Christchurch, moved to Bournemouth in 1851. Analysis of its early members provides insight into the resort’s early economy. The transfer marked an important stage in Bournemouth’s development, not least for the town’s relationship with Christchurch. Hengist Background and arrival The surviving list of Warden Masters suggests that Christchurch […]
Introduction Early Bournemouth in its commercial success may have had a negative impact on a category of business in rural Greater Westover. Young shoemakers, resident in a part of this area, appear to have built a commercial combine based on ties of kinship and friendship. Successful at first, its members later drifted away leaving only […]
Introduction Female entrepreneurs appear to have played a major if not the main role in the key business category of lodginghouses at early Victorian Bournemouth. Female entrepreneurs Women in charge Although the documentation suggests that men participated in running some lodginghouses, female entrepreneurs perhaps took the lead in operations. Other evidence shows that for two […]
Introduction Lodginghouses developed into an important part of early Victorian Bournemouth’s economy, the fluid nature of the category reflecting the dynamics of the ever-expanding town. Not least, this business afforded opportunities for women to establish personal and economic independence. Early trends The earliest found directory (1849) listed a single lodginghouse keeper, Mrs Slidle. Before going […]
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 […]
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 […]