All sorts
Introduction
Victorian Bournemouth (212) finds that in its first decade the council included men representing different segments of the local economy. The Improvement Commission, now defunct, had combined local businessmen with those enjoying private incomes. Borough councillors, however, all appeared to depend on earnings derived from professional occupations or from other commercial activities. Bournemouth’s new governance, therefore, depended much on those having an economic stake holding in the local community.
Victorian Bournemouth (212): builders
Old perennials
Successful builders had long featured within the resort’s civic governance. During the 1890s, relics of that stage persisted. For example, Joseph Cutler, a man who had experienced a tortuous political life extending decades back, still participated in local governance during this decade. In keeping with earlier times, he did not enjoy a smooth entry to the new chamber, beginning with defeat at the polls. Once established as an alderman, however, he returned to his combative best. Cutler would have often seen present in the chamber a representative of an old and powerful construction dynasty. Henry Nelson Jenkins, whose roots lay in Christchurch, continued the political life of his father. The latter, once an Improvement Commissioner for Bournemouth, had also served as mayor of Christchurch. Thus, these two councillors continued a local tradition whereby builders not only created buildings but participated in the governance of their residents.
New blooms
This linkage between local governance and the construction industry attracted new men in appetite. Two, in particular, acquired the stature of a modern colossus. C. A. D. George spun up a bricklayer’s occupation into a firm that within ten years employed almost a hundred men. His rapid commercial success provided the basis and civic presence for him to become an Improvement Commissioner, then then a councillor, whilst also becoming a magistrate. His commercial vision extended beyond construction. Some credited him with inventing and commercialising the curtain rail. He also partnered with another councillor, John Gunning, in the latter’s invention of a system to automate gas and electric lighting. Activities broader than construction also characterised the second colossus in the chamber: Archibald Beckett. Having enjoyed commercial success elsewhere, he migrated to Boscombe, whereupon he developed much of its centre. This included a theatre to the management of which he devoted much attention.
Victorian Bournemouth (212): professionals
Auctioneers
By this stage, the property business had extended beyond building. This aftermarket consisted of renting properties and auctioning those scheduled for disposal. The first two mayors, participants in an earlier phase of the resort’s development, had both created successful businesses in the property aftermarket. Others did well in this business and found their way onto the council: Mitchell Roker; Alexander Abbott; Alfred Jolliffe. Such men may have possessed greater financial acumen than builders. Several of these had encountered bankruptcy, Joseph Cutler included. One of the advantages of incorporation lay in the ability to use more sophisticated financial tools to manage the public debt. Councillors now had the ability to roll up existing debt and package it into municipal bonds designed to attract investors and their professional advisors. Men experienced in the new skills of estate agency and auctioneering could encompass the mechanics of the municipal bond market.
Physicians and lawyers
Medical men had long attempted to influence Bournemouth’s management. The presence of the National Sanatorium, whose name and stature placed substantial pressure on physicians involved, and the state of the town’s drainage, a leitmotif in its history, did the same. The medical corpus in early days had confronted the elected members, but by Incorporation, this relationship had shifted into a more supportive mode. A marker of this lies in the presence of three doctors amongst the first ten mayors: Frost, Hirons, Hosker. This change in alignment may also reflect changes in assumptions underpinning the town’s governance needs, as noted for auctioneers. Borough status represented a significant development in civic management. Negotiations with proprietors, the Local Government Board, and lawmakers needed professional expertise. Thus, lawyers – Smythe, Haydon, Trevanion – featured in the new chamber. In ensuring its continued health and security, professionals also had an economic stake in Bournemouth.
Victorian Bournemouth (212): businessmen
Retail
Though construction and its peripheral commercial satellites still accounted for many councillors, around a fifth had achieved success through retail businesses. Alongside the property men stood butchers (W.H. Vye, Richard Hodges), ironmongers (J. R. Ridley, J. Gunning), a watchmaker (W. Mattocks), a grocer (H. Trantum), a tobacconist (E. Offer), and a pawnbroker (H.A. Tuson). Most of these trades had had a long presence within the resort, albeit through the efforts of earlier immigrants. The presence of a tobacconist and a pawnbroker in the chamber perhaps provides additional indication of deeper changes within the town. Edward Offer supported the risky new venture of Joy’s Arcade by choosing this stylish milieu for selling his cigars. Henry Tuson, however, had an established pawnbroking network based in London. His choosing to set up in Bournemouth perhaps indicates how hardship can accompany prosperity, rendering the town a good commercial opportunity for those ‘popping’ their assets.
Other commerce
A group of men engaged in sundry other types of commerce also held council seats. These included three influential men who became mayor. Two of these operated businesses in the hospitality sector, hotels and a tavern: Henry Newlyn, John Webber. Another, J.A. Parsons, helped his father to establish and grow one of the main milk distribution businesses in the town. Edward Dyke had two phases at Bournemouth. In the first part, he worked as a construction artisan, then worked in the whisky business in London. On return to Bournemouth, he held the post of Consul to Liberia, but became involved in developing large properties in the town centre. During this time, he won a council seat. Charles Mate had developed a newspaper and publishing business before he won election to the council. Once again, he perhaps represented the involvement of newer business formats within the town’s governance.
Takeaway
Victorian Bournemouth (212) has assessed the occupations recorded for the men who occupied the Council chamber during the Borough’s first decade. While they show the continued influence taken by those in capital building and its aftermarket, the presence of those who had made a commercial success through other sectors shows development. Remember, also, Henry Stockley, a long-term occupant of the finance committee, a man whose stake-holding had a different characteristic: schoolteacher. This inclined more towards a cultural than commercial community involvement.
References
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