Jeux sans frontieres
Introduction
Victorian Bournemouth (234) summarises the key findings and themes explored in the second quarter’s articles. The focus falls on analysis of several groups and societies which comprised parts of the community terrain. In several cases, individuals from different parts of society participated, their interest in the subject transcending inherent social differences. Some groups congregated because of shared interests, others met to follow a wider social agenda.
Victorian Bournemouth (234): background
Community identity
As its first fifty years finished, Bournemouth had progressed far beyond its origins as a convalescent colony catering to the leisured and privileged. Much of the early collective effort went towards creating an infrastructure sufficient to keep pace with growing commercial success. Its early society had consisted of immigrants, inclined towards nomadism in search of opportunities. In later years, however, an increasing number settled in Bournemouth, leading to the development of a native population. As the proportion of Gastarbeiter faded, civic and community conscientiousness emerged. The formation and prevalence of clubs and societies reflect the growth of Bournemouth’s community identity. Plotting the organisations against a Maslow hierarchy suggests that they performed different functions within Bournemouth’s society. Some aimed at defending the community against perceived forces of danger. Others delivered a sense of social esteem for their participants. Further groups provided members with a way to achieve self-actualisation and personal development.
All sorts
Groups based on organised religion or politics formed the base of the hierarchy. They had the object of ensuring that existing members maintained the established belief. In addition, however, they also acquired a role as social missionaries, with their self-imposed objective of saving others from dangerous alternative practices. For the most part, these consisted of middling, respectable people intent on defending their position against working counterparts. Slate clubs, however, offered an example whereby the latter convened for self-protection, but later acted on behalf of the wider community through charitable donations. Groups concerned with further education and the improvement of knowledge fulfilled the need for peer group approval. Those who experienced a need for self-actualisation, the hierarchy’s top level, would have found this in such groups as the chrysanthemum growers, cage bird keepers, and the performing arts. A central theme lies in how the groups stood within or across social boundaries.
Victorian Bournemouth (234): community and personal needs
Defence
The Church of England enabled respectable people to mould the attitudes and behaviour of working people through the CEWMU. A programme of varied activities aimed to keep working people busy and occupied rather than becoming feckless regulars in the public houses. The organisers combined activities typical of both social spheres. Day trips resembled factory outings, while lectures belonged in the middling world of knowledge transference. The CEWMU represented the latest of many attempts to defend the establishment from disorder caused by sturdy beggars. The Springbourne ratepayers’ association, however, consisted of working people taking a defensive initiative. Developers had created this area to house labourers away from the town centre, but over time, this dormitory zone evolved a political identity. People did not want outsiders as councillors, but people from the area. Attendees at meetings railed against ‘carriage people’. Over a short, intense life, the association achieved its objective.
Peer group approval
Shared learning enabled people to obtain peer group approval by attending public educational events. These covered a range of subjects: the arts, history, geography, horticulture, current affairs, as well as the inevitable religious topics. The local Natural Science club, for example, maintained a schedule which combined meetings with field trips. Privileged travellers, living off their adventures, could thrill their social equivalents and those aspiring to a similar position by recounting tales of danger and foreign people. On occasion, the more risky option of debates replaced this one-way method of knowledge sharing. Oxford University’s Extension scheme attempted to become established in Bournemouth. A local steering group emerged. The academics had heard about substantial audiences of working people attending extended education events in the northern towns. The Bournemouth delivery, however, sailed wide of this mark. Its content struck some as high-flown if not boring. Lectures occurred when working people worked.
Self-actualisation
By the 1890s, Bournemouth’s community had evolved to the point where people at all social levels had the time and resources for self-actualisation. Through hobbies, people could improve their knowledge, but also use this as a basis for social engagement. Two examples of this flourished in the century’s final decade: chrysanthemum growing and breeding cage-birds. Although some achieved their horticultural experience through the indirect medium of employing gardeners, others, even at the respectable level, had a willingness to get their hands dirty. Cage-birds may have had a more specialised appeal, but enough interest existed to support exhibitions and shows. The chrysanthemum show became an important feature on Bournemouth’s calendar of entertainment. It grew in appeal, attracting those from elsewhere, even the Queen, through the efforts of her gardener at Osborne House. Although these events had their basis in specialised hobbies, in their public expression, they augmented the town’s community and culture.
Victorian Bournemouth (234): assessment
Social effects
This framework of assessment suggests a correlation with social classification. At the lower level, the groups sometimes endeavoured to maintain differences between sections of society. Much of the CEWMU’s activity depended on a form of prejudice exacted by middling people on their working counterparts. The Baron of Beef dining society began life as a male preserve. Only in time did it create a method whereby women could watch events. The categories set for the chrysanthemum show appeared to conform to class prejudice. Prizes reserved for cottagers depended on the assumption that horticulture would deliver a moral benefit. Nevertheless, the classless appeal of the chrysanthemum, described as the ‘people’s flower’, overrode this instinctive need for social separation. Much of the organisation for this show lay in the hands of working gardeners, albeit receiving a contribution for their efforts. The cage-bird club combined members from all social levels and both genders.
Takeaway
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. Even the golf club embraced both upper and lower people, play and work. In some cases, therefore, the groups constituted Jeux sans frontières.
References
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