Many and various combinations
Introduction
Victorian Bournemouth (222) charts the wide range of groups which populated the community terrain during the 1890s. Collective behaviour had increased momentum in previous decades, with groups reflecting different aspects of the community. Analysis shows how the groups also varied in their purposes. The Bournemouth Guardian devoted much space to reporting group activity, but not all groups attracted media attention. Collective, community behaviour may have had even more facets than appeared in the press.
Victorian Bournemouth (222): overview
Thriving development
People clustered according to a range of reasons. Groups formed and conducted social behaviour in relation to religion, politics, commerce, defence, sports, the arts, learning (education and aesthetics), and hobbies. New groups would emerge, attracting or obtaining media attention, while others lost coverage and perhaps ceased functioning. Cyclers appear to have reformed their group, perhaps more than once. Others may have emerged as the result of ‘social infection’ or responding to a trend. The railway had a cricket team, as did St Andrew’s Church, but a United Cricket Club existed, as did the Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club. Teachers had a guild or group, but reference also occurred to a Church Teachers’ Association. The YMCA enjoyed an active calendar but it also included such sub-groups as their rowing club. The existence of so many groups suggests that Bournemouth had a vibrant and varied community life, answering different human needs.
Interested parties
Some groups appear to have formed through intervention by interested parties. An obvious case consists of the political groups. They formed not because of unspecified interest in politics but for one party to win power in elections. Other cases need social analysis of key members to discern the presence of interested parties. For example, the chrysanthemum and the cage birds associations appeared to foster an unqualified interest in those activities, both examples of hobbies. In both cases, however, involvement from interested commercial parties becomes apparent. Landscaping firms and freelance gardeners played important roles in the former, thereby winning recognition amongst the relevant community that could have commercial benefits. The same applied in the latter, society management coming from a local taxidermist and bird-supplier. Dealers, intent on promoting their business, became involved in the local cycling clubs. Despite such commercial intervention, many clubs did appear to answer fundamental human needs.
Victorian Bournemouth (222): salvation
Soldiers, temporal and spiritual
The town’s temporal and spiritual soldiers practised collective behaviour with systematic zeal. Since the middle of the century, militia groups had featured at Bournemouth, riflemen and artillery. Although founded first to form a land army in case the French invaded, they became an important method of male bonding and camaraderie. The Guardian listed their scheduled parades each week. Styles of worship had broadened from the first (High Church) Anglican congregation. In the 1890s, many denominations had places for regular worship, but they also sponsored and managed other extensive and regular activities. These aimed to maintain collective behaviour amongst their members: adult Bible classes, picnics and annual outings, children’s groups, countless teas and social evenings, lectures, and debates. Furthermore, they worked hard with Temperance groups, participating in their war against alcoholism among working people. According to the Guardian, members of these two types of groups corresponded at least every week.
Social support and self-help
Another type of collective social behaviour provided support for working people. When a bad winter occurred, sometimes made worse by economic depressions decimating jobs, volunteers would form groups that staffed soup kitchens and supplied coal to the impoverished. They solicited local traders to obtain supplies on favourable terms, whilst also raising donations of funds. Aside from such emergencies, several friendly societies flourished. These ran self-help systems whereby working people might obtain insurance to cover medical and burial expenses. The Oddfellows, the Foresters and the Buffaloes took prominent roles in hosting such collective behaviour, lubricated by regular meetings and dinners. Trade Unions, affording income and employment protection, also came to Bournemouth by the 1890s: a local branch of the Amalgamated Union of Carpenters and Joiners. Other collective behaviours related to job security occurred: groups for teachers, hairdressers, and cabmen. The Wednesday Early Closing group ran a sub-section devoted to rambling.
Victorian Bournemouth (222): improvement
Identity and recognition
Collective behaviour helped individuals to establish or improve their position within the community. Mutual Improvement, a Victorian social belief and motivator, provided an engine for this. It flourished within the activities pursued by different types of clubs. It had a regular place in the CEWMU meetings, members attending improvement lectures. The Gardening Society also provided mutual improvement sessions consisting of papers and their discussion. Furthermore, the Oxford University Extension scheme had reached Bournemouth, providing courses and examinations. Other clubs enabled their members to establish their social position. A Baron of Beef society enabled successful commercial people to achieve a collective and soft political identity. The Town Interest Association, having a keener political edge, attempted to create an alternative identity for Bournemouth. Having a more precise focus, the Society for Taxation of Ground Values met every two weeks. Thus, these various societies enabled both individuals and interests to obtain recognition.
Sports and hobbies
Sports and hobbies provided another way for individuals to practise collective behaviour. By the 1890s, Bournemouth had several sports clubs: rowing, swimming, gymnasium, cricket, football, and bicycling. These organised not only meetings but also competitions. Hobbies or interests spawned several clubs. These included growing chrysanthemums, breeding cage-birds, photography, field walking, natural science, music and fine arts. Efforts from members of some groups progressed to the establishment of significant competitions. Interest in chrysanthemum growing, bird breeding, and fine arts provided the basis of annual events. These drew outside entries and contributed towards the town’s national reputation. Whereas the self-help groups connected with a single section of the community, some sports and hobbies societies appear to have involved social mixing. Gentry and labouring people participated in the committees serving the chrysanthemum and cage-bird groups. Thus, as the focus moved from protection and safety towards identity, groups embraced the whole community.
Takeaway
Victorian Bournemouth (222) has examined the collective behaviour of the resort’s inhabitants. Beneath the infrastructure provided by the Corporation and the town’s economy, there flourished various forms of human activity. Future articles will provide a more comprehensive understanding by analysing individual groups and associations.
References
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