Dorset working people

Introduction

Victorian Bournemouth (137) provides demographic and geographic background for further analyses about Springbourne’s population and society as captured by the 1881 census.

Victorian Bournemouth (137): background

Population trends

The settlement of Springbourne lay to the east of the marine village. It formed part of a sprawl marked by today’s Charminster to the north and, older settlements, Boscombe with Pokesdown, to the south-east. Developed parts of East Cliff extended up to its southern extent. The 1871 census shows its three main roads – Holdenhurst, Victoria, and Wyndham – already present. At that time almost 800 people dwelt here. A decade later, this number had reached over 1,800. Now, additional streets had appeared. The area’s total population had reached almost 2,400. Much of the residential growth in the area reflected the arrival of Bournemouth’s eastern railway connection. The line terminated at the western edge of Springbourne. The area acquired places of worship. At first, Springbourne lay outside the reach of Bournemouth’s Improvement Commission, but, in 1876, annexation incorporated this area, Boscombe with Pokesdown, and the East Cliff settlement.

Household trends

In 1871, the population comprised just over 150 households. Each social unit contained almost five adults and children (4.87). In ten years, the households occupying the original roads had more than doubled (372), although average household size remained similar (4.93). The new streets accommodated additional households, the number almost 500. The average household size remained the same. Differences, however, appeared from street to street. For Grove, Hanover, Victoria, and Wyndham, the average household size climbed above five. Thus, during the decade, the area had grown its number of households more than threefold. On Wyndham Street alone, in 1881 more people lived here than had occupied the entire area ten years earlier. In 1881, house identifications applied to most buildings. The area perhaps consisted of about 300 residential buildings. Just over half contained single households. Each of the buildings in multiple occupation accommodated between two and three households.

Victorian Bournemouth (137): demography

Working people

From its beginning Springbourne’s employed population consisted of working people. In 1871, over half worked at unskilled jobs: labouring, laundry, domestic service. Many of the women worked in the steam laundry, located nearby. About a third worked as artisans or in construction. The former baked bread, made shoes, brewed beer, crafted saddles, sewed dresses, and so on. Carpenters, painters, brick-makers, bricklayers, plumbers (a few gas fitters), masons, and plasterers constituted the building sector. Carpenters and bricklayers proved most numerous. Almost half the artisans consisted of people active with clothing: dressmakers and tailors. As many made boots as tailored clothes. Women without a recognised occupation other than wives and children accounted for almost two thirds of Springbourne’s population. Since most workers had unskilled jobs, their dependents would have led humble lives. The area perhaps resembled a large construction site and work camp, created, and augmented by many of its inhabitants.

Social tapestry

Springbourne’s society differed much from that of its southern neighbour, East Cliffs. This accommodated affluent and privileged people, including clergymen, officers retired from the forces, physicians, and people who lived on unearned incomes. Only 3% of Springbourne’s adults lived on unearned income. George Leach’s social rank perhaps stood above all others in Springbourne. He worked as a superintendent for the railway company. Nevertheless, compared to 1871, Springbourne’s society had edged upwards in dignity. The proportion of unskilled labourers dropped from two fifths to a quarter. Those working in retailing and other services almost doubled. Artisans grew more populous. Some grouping according to occupation and thus social position appears evident by 1881. For example, unskilled workers tended to cluster in Hanover, Princess, Grove, and Wyndham roads. Artisans favoured Lyton and Northcote roads to an extent. Holdenhurst Road, a public thoroughfare, attracted retailers. Thus, Springbourne’s society had evolved in a decade.

Victorian Bournemouth (137): geographic origins

Dorset and Hampshire

Around three quarters of Springbourne’s population during 1871 originated from one of these counties. People born in almost a hundred Dorset settlements had arrived by then. This broad coverage across Dorset, however, increased during the 1870s. The number of Dorset birthplaces for Springbourne had reached about two hundred. Thus, though in Hampshire, the area’s primary catchment consisted of Dorset. Natives of Dorsetshire rural settlements predominated in 1871, but ten years later people born in the larger towns sought opportunity in Springbourne. Increases in the number of natives from Blandford, Dorchester, and Weymouth occurred. Springbourne’s society, therefore, now combined families having both a rural and urban background. A large proportion of Hampshire natives came to Springbourne from Christchurch. Others came from a wide range of rural settlements, but also such larger places as Fordingbridge and Ringwood. Southampton also featured often as an origin. Over time, however, Springbourne’s native population grew larger.

Bournemouth and Springbourne

In 1871, over 650 natives of Bournemouth dwelt in the resort and suburbs. A decade later this number had more than tripled. Natives formed about a third of Springbourne’s residents at this time. A decade later, this proportion had grown almost to half. Now, natives accounted for more than the area’s entire population a decade earlier. Some grew up in families that had transplanted from one or more places elsewhere. The fertility period of these families continued at Springbourne after their arrival. In other cases, however, migration preceded the beginning of families. Thus, by 1881, Springbourne’s streets would have rung to the sounds of more and more local born children. At the beginning, many of the inhabitants, often migrants, perhaps played an active role in constructing Springbourne’s built environment. As time passed, however, the growing number of natives shows how residents rather than migrants grew their community.

Takeaway

Victorian Bournemouth (137) has provided a demographic background to future studies about Springbourne’s society in 1881. This has shown how, during the 1870s, the area experienced substantial growth in population. Migrants continued to arrive, many from Dorset, but the native population also underwent noticeable increase. Almost the entire area consisted of working people, many labourers, but also a growing number of skilled artisans and middling people.

References

For references and engagement, please get in touch. Main primary sources: here and here (subscriptions needed). See also here. Thanks to Bournemouth Public Library for the map.