Dangerous market. Bad advice. Uneasy recovery.

Introduction

Victorian Bournemouth (61) studies the cases where speculators without building experience suffered bankruptcy in the late 1860s. Analysis of their bankruptcies and their social profile raises questions about the investment climate at Bournemouth. Bankruptcies for these people may have had a different social impact to builders in the same situation.

Victorian Bournemouth (61): speculators and events

Speculators

Five amateur speculators went bankrupt at this time: retailers (grocers) and artisans (coachbuilder, cabinetmaker). One grocer, James Bell, came from a Poole family having trade connections with Newfoundland. Another, Levi Fry, came from farming, his father having 30 acres. Richard Hardiman, the coachbuilder, may have had a grandfather as a builder. His mother worked for a while in Bournemouth’s bathing sector. Hardiman married an older woman, a lodging-house keeper, the couple retaining that business. The cabinetmaker, James Carter Adlam, had kinship with Ann Carter, who kept a lodging house at Bournemouth for around thirty years. Thomas Adams had kept a grocery at one time, but he had trained as a tailor. For a while he had a photography business. Hence, none of these speculators appear to have had affluent backgrounds or property experience. Nevertheless, they had had the ability to raise funds with which to embark on their property speculations.

Events

Thomas Adams’s wife’s first husband, a wealthy man, created a trust for her. This included land on which Adams built at least one house, believing he had permission to lease it. The trustees withheld it, forcing him to declare bankruptcy. Adlam went bankrupt for £1,200, unable to realise a property sale before his creditors lost patience. His property stood in Commercial Road, as did the buildings which Levi Fry financed using money borrowed from the Dorset Building Society. He went bankrupt for a similar amount. Richard Hardiman had begun work on at least three properties, commercial and residential, near the Branksome estate. Illness over the winter had prevented his progress, but a promise of mortgage money had not come to fruition. James Bell had appeared to dabble in property earlier, acting as an estate agent. His bankruptcy, involving several properties, rivalled that of Joseph Cutler, crashing for over £6,000.

Victorian Bournemouth (61): diagnosis

Unexpected problems

Several of these cases involved apparent changes of mind by fund providers or, for Thomas Adams, his wife’s trustees. In the case of Levi Fry, Dorset Building Society, after providing funds on an agreed schedule of 168 repayments, withdrew the loan very early. Fry had wanted to run his speculative property as a lodging-house, but, despite the often-mentioned tourist success at Bournemouth, this failed, perhaps panicking the provider. It seems strange that Thomas Adams could spend on a property having an illusory promise from his wife’s trustees. Richard Hardiman expected to receive a further advance of £700 but, for some reason, that did not happen. This as well as his lack of progress due to lengthy illness drove him into bankruptcy. Information for these cases comes from press reports, so the confusion may lie there, but the repetition raises a question about professional advice, not least about solicitors.

Solicitors

Solicitors’ names appear often in these bankruptcy reports. In some cases, they supported the bankrupt, working as or with the assignee, but in others they also appear to have provided funds. Richard Hardiman had deposited two leases with a firm of solicitors, expecting to receive a further £700, but did not. Other solicitors had first and second charges on James Bell’s properties. The professional builder, Joseph Cutler, had a £3,500 mortgage with a solicitor, secured on fourteen properties. Another headed the list of Samuel Horner’s creditors. These solicitors perhaps speculated on their own or others’ account in addition to providing legal services. Genealogical exploration of the solicitors involved indicates that, while some had a base in Bournemouth, others operated either from Christchurch, or, in more than one case, from Wimborne. One firm consisted of two generations of a family, while marriage linked together two other solicitors active in property matters.

Victorian Bournemouth (61): aftermath

Bankrupts

Joseph Cutler, the professional builder, appears to have recovered after bankruptcy. Others, however, may not have done so. The amateur speculators as well as some who crashed through adverse trading had indifferent subsequent careers. A publican left Bournemouth after his bankruptcy but stayed in the wider area. He appeared to find it difficult to settle on an occupation, for almost every subsequent census recorded him in different employment. One of the grocers went to London, where he and his wife ran a coffee-house, later moving to Hove. At first, he ‘kept stores’ then later sold artistic supplies. In at least two instances, families chose to emigrate, each going to Canada. On the other hand, the livery stable owner, who had gone bankrupt through trade failure, remained both in Bournemouth and in the business. On occasion he managed stables, on others he ran a cab, living in Bournemouth until 1918.

Absconding

One solicitor featuring in some bankruptcy cases discussed enjoyed a prominent position in Bournemouth society. He advised the Bournemouth Cottage Building Company, served as a churchwarden, featured at dinners held by the Odd Fellows, and joined other prominent citizens at the Bournemouth Institute. He served in the local militia, appearing also in reports of their activities. Towards the end of the 1860s he had become an Improvement Commissioner. Everything went wrong about a decade after Bournemouth’s surfeit of bankruptcies, for he entered the same condition. Much confusion swirled around his case, including his liabilities, estimated by some as over £20,000. Thereafter his name featured in several court cases where accounts of malpractice surfaced. Early in the process, he absconded. He disappeared from the census for a couple of reports, perhaps even leaving the country, but later possible identifications show him occupied as a schoolteacher in another watering place.

Takeaway

Victorian Bournemouth (61) has explored cases where amateur speculators burnt their fingers in the town’s property market. Unlike some professional builders, who appeared to shrug off bankruptcy as part of businesses, some amateurs could not do so, leaving town afterwards their best option. One solicitor also got trapped by property involvement, but he absconded before the storm.

References

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