Different folks. Different strokes.

Introduction

Victorian Bournemouth (109) explores the social profiles and life histories of the men who served on the short-lived committees of Springbourne and Boscombe in 1875. It also compares them with the backgrounds of those who supported independence for the ’70 acres’ on East Cliff.

Victorian Bournemouth (109): Springbourne committee

Building trades

Identifications for most committee members have emerged with some certainty. For the most part, in 1881, they lived on the two main roads in the area: Holdenhurst and Windham. The majority came from either Dorset or Hampshire, the two largest suppliers of immigrants to the entire town. Almost all of them worked in the building trade: bricklayers, carpenters, a plasterer.  Their fathers had worked in a variety of labouring occupations, often the same one later practised by their sons. In a few cases, the paternal occupation of their wives has survived. This shows a similar profile. One, however, married a gentleman’s daughter. Thus, the social origins and profiles of these men matched that for the entire Springbourne area at this time. Analysis of those noted present in the area for 1881 shows that much of the building trade resided here, a difference to other parts of the town.

Stakeholders and success

William Toogood, a Springbourne committee member, attended a Conservative party meeting in 1880, afterwards visiting with friends the South-Western Hotel, near East Station. He left ‘quite sober’, but next morning people found him nearby, dead in a pool. The court decided on ‘found drowned’. Toogood, a carpenter, had political ambition. He had voted against Springbourne’s independence. After the annexation he became one of the new Improvement Commissioners added to the board. His wife ran Verona College, a fee-paying school that employed a French governess. Another committee member, Richard Pike, had become a way-warden by 1872. Newspaper snippets show him active in local politics over the next few decades. A carpenter, he established a building business, his estate worth over £6,000. Other committee members, however, appeared to have kept free from local politics, content to work at the same occupation, in the same area, for the rest of their lives.

Victorian Bournemouth (109): Boscombe committee

Social profiles

Identifications for a greater proportion of Boscombe’s committee have emerged. In part, they shared some of the social characteristics found for Springbourne. Most originated in Dorset and Hampshire, but others came from elsewhere. Many of their fathers had labouring occupations as did their wives’ fathers. Several appeared to have greater ambitions which provided them with success. Once building craftsmen, several created their own firms, paying employees. Henry Ware, a former plasterer, employed four men as a builder. George Mitchell, once a carpenter, paid for six in his firm. Others worked in retail: grocery, drapery, bakery. One had come to Boscombe as a window-blind maker, then became a furniture dealer. Later, however, he worked as an auctioneer and a land agent. William Walden, a carpenter, later became Bournemouth’s building inspector and Christchurch’s Highway Surveyor. Thus, the Boscombe committee perhaps travelled further from their social origins than their Springbourne counterparts.

Stakeholders and success

The economic downtown of early 1879 claimed the building business run by William Walden and his brother. He changed careers, becoming a local government employee, soon reaching responsible levels. Press clippings show him active in supervising the area’s highways for years. Henry Ware, a successful builder, his estate worth almost £7,000, continued in politics. He chaired the local Liberal association, noted at one meeting together with fellow members William Walden and George Mitchell. Indeed, most of the identified committee members so involved. John Cunnington, the Palmerston’s publican, became one of the three new Improvement Commissioners. John Gould served for thirteen years as a churchwarden. Boscombe’s society may have embraced more types than Springbourne’s. Local land proprietors had seen Boscombe as a potential competitor for Bournemouth’s affluent tourist business. Its committee members, interested and active in community politics, appear to have reflected the local mood of ambition.

Victorian Bournemouth (109): 70 acres’ committee

Social profile

Almost fifty people supported Admiral Sulivan’s independence campaign for East Cliff. They signed a letter and included their addresses. Analysis of occupants of their properties at the 1881 census shows a range of affluent types attracted by Bournemouth during its early and middle Victorian period. The list of household-heads includes titled people, clergymen, justices of the peace, several people retired on incomes, most having served in the forces, and professional people. It seems plausible that the signatories had similar backgrounds. Other names mentioned in the process include John Henderson, Charles Crawley, and James Haggard. The first, M.P., J.P., carpet manufacturer, owner of coal quarries, left an estate worth almost £200,000. Crawley had served in the navy, achieving a captaincy. Haggard’s social position matched those of the signatories. Thus, occupants of the third area involved in the attempted annexation differed much from those living in Springbourne and Boscombe.

Stakeholders and success

Most occupants of this area will have enjoyed social success, many perhaps wealthy also. Unlike those in Springbourne and Boscombe, most will have lived on unearned income, although John Henderson had derived his wealth from active commercial involvement. Perhaps few lived in Bournemouth, many visiting for different periods. Indeed, one of the Improvement Commissioners accused them of winter tourism. By this, he meant they had little or no personal stake in the area. Crawley and Haggard will have had a stake because they lived there. The latter served on the Improvement Commission. Most of the occupants, however, will have rented their houses short-term, their landlords liable for rates. This protest of tourists about joining Bournemouth’s administrative and drainage system may have reflected a resentment often voiced in the past. Bournemouth had begun life as a resort for affluent tourists, but it had become a town inhabited by all ranks. 

Takeaway

Victorian Bournemouth (109) has examined the social profiles of people inhabiting Springbourne, Boscombe, and East Cliff. One speaker described inhabitants of the first two areas as ‘working men and lower classes of gentry’. Residents of East Cliff, however, sat on much higher social levels. The commonalities of each area shared little with the other two. Thus, Bournemouth’s need to extend its drainage system away from its beach forced joint decision-making amongst social types who otherwise would never have combined.

References

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