working people Archives - News from the Past

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (243): Perfect Thrift

September 1, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (243) has explored events that concerned Bournemouth’s two Perfect Thrift Building Society funds. Newspaper reports suggest that the savings society perhaps achieved a measure of success. Several people won the lottery prizes, although the draws did not happen often. Malpractice lay not far from building societies at this time and may have reached Perfect Thrift, in Bournemouth and across the network. The founder disappeared after a large shortfall emerged at Leeds, while the secretary at Bournemouth took his family to Valparaiso in 1896. Nevertheless, some working people at Bournemouth, attracted by the dream of thrift, economy, and independence, found themselves assisted by their Perfect Thrift.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (241): the strike

August 18, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (241) has examined aspects of the strike undertaken in 1897 by local carpenters and joiners. Between the lines of the press reports lies the possibility that the union had too few members to create a strike strong enough to bring down the establishment. In January 1898, a reporter called at the union’s clubroom, only to find that the leader had also returned to work. Thus, the first strike at Bournemouth vaporised, unable to contest a wealthy and powerful network of employers.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (240): unions

August 11, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (240) has explored the foundation and activities of the local Trades’ Council, a group which acted as a central point for several of the resort’s unions. Established under the guidance of a tailor, Elias Davies, the group played a role in establishing credibility for unionisation. Davies had an interest in literacy and education. He showed a willingness to speak in public or to write to the press. Although Bournemouth experienced its first strike during the 1890s, the Trades’ Council did not appear to act in a militant fashion.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (237): fabric trends

July 21, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (237) has found that the fabric’s business bustled its way into an important component within the local economy. The category, employing always more people, spread into the suburbs. It drew more women into the economy. Competition introduced new fabrics, induced specialisation amongst retailers, and changed consumers’ shopping experience. The opening of Plummer, Roddis, Tyrrell summarised the category’s changes under one roof in spring, 1898.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (234): Q2 summary

June 30, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (234) has summarised the articles published in the last quarter. These took community groups as an overall theme. It has shown how the groups differed according to their position within the Maslow hierarchy. In addition, it has observed how, while some groups attempted to perpetuate class and gender prejudice, others succeeded in bringing together all members of society. In some cases, therefore, the groups constituted jeux sans frontières.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (232): golf

June 16, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (232) notes that Meyrick Park, the resort’s first golf course, boosted the local economy by attracting gentle folk and leisured people to the new sport of golf. This supported tourism and promoted Bournemouth’s fashionable image. It also provided jobs, bringing income and an opportunity for social improvement to local working people.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (231): CEWMU

June 9, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (231) has explored the fortunes of the resort’s CEWMU during the 1890s. It finds a group that prospered. It supported a variety of cultural activities and meeting points where the religious message perhaps acted at most as an undertow. Members found opportunities for social and cultural experiences. They could also read a newsletter. Crumpler’s support, energy, and direction stimulated the spread of similar groups across the suburbs.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (230): slate clubs

June 2, 2025 by Kitablios 1 comment

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 (229): knowledge sharing

May 26, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (229) explored the wide range of topics addressed through lectures and debates. Lectures typically offered gentle, didactic discussions, sometimes touching on politics and current affairs that could spark passionate views. Debates aimed to provoke active engagement with contemporary issues. This approach enriched Bournemouth’s culture by addressing subjects of both academic and current relevance.

5th Period

Victorian Bournemouth (228): Oxford University Extension

May 19, 2025 by Kitablios 0 comments

Victorian Bournemouth (228) has suggested that marketing myopia contributed to the local Oxford University Extension scheme’s failing to achieve commercial success. The lecturers, motivated by their belief that educational success should not rely on ‘mere material benefits,’ failed to recognise that their commercial opportunity lay in providing afternoon entertainment to respectable individuals. Embracing this perspective could have alleviated financial constraints. The education sought by working people to improve their conditions presented a different marketing challenge better comprehended by others.

Tag: working people