Social difference expressed through civic action

Introduction

Victorian Bournemouth (63) explores differences in the social backgrounds and personal networks of the antagonists in this struggle (1865). An unofficial ‘sanitary committee’, led by the Sanatorium’s physicians, attempted to improve Bournemouth’s drainage system. The town’s Improvement Commission opposed them. Affluent and well-connected, the rebellious doctors brought pressure to bear through an orchestrated programme of public relations. The Commission had its own network built around kinship and comradeship. The drain wars pitched the two networks in opposition, creating social as well as civic tension.

Victorian Bournemouth (63): ring leaders 

Physicians

The noisiest people in this movement consisted of the Sanatorium’s three main physicians: Willoughby Burslem, Stewart Falls, and William Allis Smith. Common factors across the three included a medical father, the forces, and wealth. They appear to have made successful marriages: Falls to a stockbroker’s daughter, then the daughter of a diplomat; Burslem to an officer’s daughter; Allis Smith to the daughter of a wealthy draper. By the time of the controversy, they had belonged to Bournemouth’s community for some years. Burslem and Falls had served on a fund-raising committee for the Winter Gardens. All three belonged to the local militia, accompanied by several members of the Improvement Commission. Falls had belonged to the Commission before resigning in 1862, while Allis Smith would become a Commissioner two years after the controversy. Thus, although participants in the local community, the rebels had higher social backgrounds than most of the Improvement Commissioners.

Other parties

David Cannan, retired merchant, Willett Adye, landed proprietor and J. P., and Richard Moody, a military engineer, also joined the physicians’ ‘sanitary committee’. Colonel Moody had a distinguished record in architecture and engineering. He had come to Bournemouth by 1839, having worked on a global scale, including in the Falklands and British Columbia. Cannan had worked for some years in Australia as an agent for a metal fabricator. Adye had inherited Merley House, a large property at Wimborne. His probate later recorded a very small estate, but he had had sufficient status to become a J. P. These men shared the instigators’ social backgrounds, while two could draw on global experience. The ‘sanitary committee’ claimed support from more than fifty men able to pay rates, including other local doctors. Henry Crutchley, however, a doctor residing at 5 Westover Villas, a good address at Bournemouth, went into print refuting his participation. 

Victorian Bournemouth (63): the issues

The existing drainage system

According to Christopher Creeke, the resort’s surveyor, the Gervis Tapps family, promoters of the marine village, had laid down much of the existing drainage system. Although Creeke did not clarify its location, it would seem plausible that the work supported the villas built along what became known as Westover Road. The surveyor claimed to have written a report on the system some eight years before the controversy, just after the Commission’s establishment. Creeke’s plan had to contend with constant building activities initiated by third party developers. The system always ran behind the human settlement, many new properties having no drainage other than cesspools. Despite the surveyor’s proposal that his report should form the basis of the system, the rebels showed disinterest, demanding an outside expert for an inspection. That effluent went into the sea horrified them. They argued for distribution northwards into the country, but this needed landowners’ approval.

The existing power system

Beneath professional concerns about the quality of Bournemouth’s air, at risk from the drainage system, perhaps a deeper issue existed. All the complainants belonged to the affluent part of town society. Their wealth and professional training would have led them to assume the right to rule. Several of the letters involved used a wordy and verbose form of English, more to humiliate than communicate. One referred to the ‘wasteful ignorance’ of the local surveyor (i.e., Creeke). Arrayed against them sat the Improvement Commission, most of whom men who had developed and built much of the town. In fact, as one of them remarked, they owned around a third of it. Yet, most had grown up in working households, several having laid Bournemouth’s bricks or crafted its joinery. Having risen to an unexpected position of authority, they encountered a group who chose not to recognise it. Therein lay the deeper issue.

Victorian Bournemouth (63): a clash of networks

The rebels’ network

The ‘sanitary committee’ made much of their ability to attract support from authorities experienced in health and drainage. For the former, they depended on royal physicians. Two of the queen’s medics, James Clark and William Ferguson, offered support. Edward Sieveking, physician to the Prince of Wales, also played a role. His letter, read out at a public reading, argued against sea drainage and use of the Bourne for this purpose. The committee also obtained support from Edwin Chadwick, a notable participant in moves to improve national health. Colonel Moody, on board for the technical aspects of drainage, also had a royal connection. They chose to go further, having already acquired the services of John Lawson. His great experience came from knowledge of urban sanitary arrangements across the country. This network, therefore, wove together three factors: relevant professional engineering technical expertise; affluence and privilege; influence reaching royal circles.

The Commissioners’ network

Several Commissioners had prospered at Bournemouth, often through its construction. Robert Kerley, for example, had developed several areas in the town. As he said in the meeting of 22^nd December 1864, ‘I am building on the Tregonwell property’. The Tucks, father (now deceased) and son, had also built much of the town, in some cases with their then foreman, James McWilliam, now an Improvement Commissioner. Their personal and professional connections became socialised to the extent that several of them had joined Christchurch’s Hengist Lodge when it revived and transferred to Bournemouth during the early period. Kinship connections also existed. For his first wife, James McWilliam had married Peter Tuck’s sister. McWilliam also had connections with Hankinson, a rising estate agent, who provided written support during the controversy. Kerley, also, may have had kinship connections within the community. The Commissioners’ network, therefore, wove together three different factors: cement, blood, and comradeship.

Takeaway

Victorian Bournemouth (63) has explored the extent to which Bournemouth’s drain wars set against each other two groups having very different social backgrounds. On one side stood visitors to the town. Their commonalities consisted of inherited wealth, its associated sense of privilege, minds broadened by global travel, and wide-ranging personal networks. On the other side stood men who had built the town. Their commonalities consisted of artisan experience, deep knowledge of Bournemouth, and local personal networks.

References

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