Introduction

Victorian Bournemouth (59) explores how, while sixteen residents went bankrupt between 1856 and 1866, in the following three years this happened to forty-one people. In 1869, the new Debtors’ Act reduced the inevitability of prison sentences for convicted bankrupts. While this may have increased a willingness to declare, the bankruptcies’ cause perhaps lay elsewhere. At this period, Bournemouth became connected to wider national systems. This may have exposed locals to new ideas for personal advancement but made them vulnerable to national financial trends.

Victorian Bournemouth (59): background

Previous bankruptcies

During Bournemouth’s early period bankruptcy appeared to affect only a couple of people. John Wise, the coal and corn merchant, and Samuel Bayly, the prominent businessman, leaseholder of the Belle Vue Hotel. Trading problems may have accounted for John Wise. The presence of the Bournemouth Building Society amongst his creditors, however, may suggest some aspect of property dealing. Although a man of property, Samuel Bayly’s bankruptcy may have occurred through trading problems rather than building development. Bayly’s situation attracted press attention. In both cases, bankruptcy preceded reduced circumstances. John Wise returned to Parkstone, where he kept an inn, afterwards moving to Southampton, working as a gardener. Samuel Bayly remained in Bournemouth, making a living as a wine and spirit merchant. He appears to have possessed much social capital, having featured often in local press stories. His obituary referred to his importance and popularity, no mention made of his bankruptcy.

Bankruptcies of the 1860s

Apart from 1862, the early 1860s saw one or two bankruptcies per year. In that year, however, the press named five people who entered this condition. 1867 recorded five bankruptcies, then sixteen occurred the next year while at least twenty people sought protection from creditors in 1869. Next year, however, the number fell just to two people. As mentioned, new legislation reducing penalties for bankruptcies may have caused this effect. Nevertheless, by comparison with other years, that so many people had to declare bankruptcy in 1868 and 1869 also suggests that economic conditions had become hard. On occasion, press reports of the hearings included reasons for their situation volunteered by the bankrupts. ‘Pressure of creditors’ and ‘insufficiency of capital’ occurred often at this time. Charles Candy, a publican, talked about bad debts and the depressed state of trade. Difficulties at selling new property may have occurred for a similar reason.

Victorian Bournemouth (59): main categories of bankruptcy

Problems in trade

Bankruptcy because of difficulties in property speculation outnumbered those occurring for problems with a specific business. People went bankrupt working in several different categories. This width may add support to the possibility that Bournemouth’s economy during the 1860s suffered conditions adverse to trading, irrespective of business type. Bankruptcy came to people in these businesses: a mathematics professor, a lodging-house keeper, a bill-poster, a bootmaker, a butcher, a jobmaster, a publican and a bookseller. Scraps of evidence suggest that some of these had long had difficulty trading, bankruptcy seeming an inevitable conclusion to their business life. Frank Bartlett, the bootmaker, had earlier complained about his rent compared to the quality of the premises. Elizabeth Gavin, the bookseller, perhaps once had placed her children in a school for the poor. Hannah Pratt, a one-time bath attendant, had already entered the workhouse. Others perhaps fell afoul of the business climate.

Property speculation

Bankruptcies in this category subdivide. The first section includes builders or artisans venturing into building who, despite their relevant skills, still could not keep the creditors away. Most of these men went bankrupt owing £1,000-£2,000, but Joseph Cutler, one of the town’s leading constructers, ended up owing around £6,000. The other section consists of amateurs, men in other businesses who thought property development worth the risk. This group included grocers, publicans, a cabinetmaker, and a coach-builder. That building artisans might speculate in property investment seems a natural extension for an ambitious person having relevant skills. Grocers, publicans, and a coach-builder entering this sector seems riskier. Perhaps the resort’s noticeable commercial success eased them into what became dangerous territory for professionals as well as amateurs. The grocer, James Bell, stood out from these speculators by a crash after which he owed about as much as Joseph Cutler.

Victorian Bournemouth (59): Wider issues

Benefits of isolation

In the beginning, economic activity in the Bourne area consisted of two events: constructing holiday venues, renting the same short-term to visitors. Successful marketing increased visitor demand, driving further construction of venues. A secondary economy evolved: retail. Builders now had an additional market: shops and residences. Part of the site’s marketing platform rested on not only its micro-climate, but also its physical isolation. No canals, no railways, and only a few roads, enhanced a feeling of escape beneficial to convalescents. These people (and local media) provided the site’s main exposure to events and ideas developing elsewhere in the country. Early Bournemouth, therefore, developed much on its own resources and inward focus. The Parliamentary Act establishing the Improvement Commission, however, laid the basis for the site’s connection to the national context. This opened the resort’s residents further to external economic conditions, social trends, and cultural ideas percolating through the country.

More confidence meets less confidence

At this time, a cultural development, fostered by the media, gained traction: self-help or self-improvement. This idea may have encouraged some working and lower-middling people that reaching further could bring increased wealth closer. Within Bournemouth, this perhaps pointed towards its main industry: property development. Now, the affluent could not claim this as their preserve. At the same time, significant changes occurred in London’s (and hence the country’s) financial practices. Innovation and legislation encouraged wider lending. New ambition connected with financial empowerment, bringing increased lending to Bournemouth’s property market. By the mid-1860s, however, the system overheated, the collapse of Overend Gurney, a bill-brokering firm, in 1866, a high-water mark. Confidence drained from an interconnected financial system, which now included Bournemouth. Perhaps this persuaded cautious local lenders to call in funds, thus stimulating the bankruptcies. Bournemouth’s greater interconnection thus paired hope with despair for some of its residents as the decade ended.

Takeaway

Victorian Bournemouth (59) has explored how, in part, the significant increase in bankruptcies by the late 1860s resulted from the town’s wider connection with outside influences. Self-improvement ideas combined with wider financial opportunities rendered them vulnerable should confidence ebb from the banking system. This happened in the late 1860s, many entering bankruptcy as a result. Thus, while Bournemouth’s greater connection to national systems may have offered prizes, it also brought penalties.

References

For wider reading on the financial climate, go here. Other references and discussion, go here.