Influential. Wealthy. Connected.

Introduction

Victorian Bournemouth (88) analyses the social profiles of people born in India noted at the resort by the 1871 census. For the most part successful identification has emerged, making it possible to establish their place in society and their subsequent lives.

Victorian Bournemouth (88): survey

Demographics

In 1861, the census listed a dozen people born in India present at Bournemouth. Ten years later, however, this number had increased almost to a hundred. They included men and women, adults and children. The latter, including teenagers accounted for over half the number. Many of the children attended one of five boarding schools available in the resort. In several cases, multiple children from the same family attended school together, providing mutual support. Another group of visitors consisted of people on leave from India, some found back in the country later. Several others appear to have retired from their careers, leaving the sub-continent to reside in England. Such people comprised most of the older age group. Thus, as the East Indian Company ceded administrative control to the British government, Bournemouth qualified as a suitable resort for its visiting administrators, soldiers, merchants and their families.

Occupations

Analysis based on occupations shows that Bournemouth’s Indian-born visitors fell into three main groups: military, civil service, and commerce. For example, grandchildren of the great Peninsular War general George Thomas Napier attended school in Bournemouth, their father also a general. So also, did the grandchildren of the naval captain, Richard Hanmer Bunbury, an enthusiastic settler in Australia. The Stephensons’ father, a major-general, had married a colonel’s daughter, who had a general for a brother. The Snow children counted at least two generals in their ancestry. Caroline Haggard’s grandfather had worked in the Bombay civil service. Frances Bamber’s father did likewise, but in Bengal, her half-sister marrying another. Mary Erskine’s polymath father, William, had worked in the Bombay judiciary, while Julia Yardley’s father had become chief justice there. Commercial families included an indigo planter, the owner of India’s first distillery (Carew & Co), and East India Company merchants.

Victorian Bournemouth (88): social analysis

Wealth

Mary Arbuthnot, born in Madras, her mother and siblings, stayed in Wingfield House, supported by eleven servants. Her father, William Reierson Arbuthnot, chaired the Madras Bank. He would leave over £300,000. Others built substantial estates. For example, Frances Bamber’s brother-in-law left almost £100,000. So, too did Dora Carew’s father, Robert Russell, the distiller and magistrate. The PCC will of William Erskine, the polymath, referred to his holdings in Australia and in the Illinois-Michigan canal company. The Shewell sisters’ grandfather had a landed presence in Cheltenham, his estate worth £25,000. Several left estates worth £10,000-£20,000, but not all did so well. For example, Agnes Mann’s father, a Bombay merchant left under £1,000. From its beginnings, affluent and privileged people had visited Bournemouth on convalescence or holiday. These wealthy, Indian-born visitors would have matched that pattern. 

Connections

Most of the Indian-born visitors to Bournemouth in 1871 came from the established trading and administrative cities of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. Few seemed to come from ‘out-stations’. It seems possible, therefore, that mutual familiarity and acquaintance may have existed amongst some of these visitors. The central visitors’ list managed by Sydenham’s library offered a means for further ‘raj networking’. In some cases, genealogical links have appeared. New widow, Elizabeth Bunbury, an American, but married in Calcutta seven years earlier to a British army officer, had three tiny children with her in Bournemouth, 1871. Distant relatives, Napier children led by elder sister Cecilia, appeared in the resort at the same time. Elizabeth’s children had a marriage link with the Napier family two generations back, but their uncle would marry one of Cecilia’s sisters two years later. Mary Erskine’s younger brother, Henry, bore the name ‘Napier’ within his.

After Bournemouth

Kipling’s satirical portraits of Simla’s comfortable society exaggerated for effect, yet their success required an element of truth. He poked fun at an inclusive and inward-looking group, anxious to keep their version of English society intact. The later history of some British Indian families who remained in England suggests they may have continued as if on the sub-continent. The whole Arbuthnot family, many children, many visitors, many servants continued to live together at least until the next century. In other cases, after the father’s death, the remaining female members continued the household, often until old age. For example, the Shewell sisters lived with their mother, then alone together. Half-sisters Mary Manson and Ela Snow shared each other’s company as they aged, together at Worthing in 1911. Spinster sisters often lived together in Victorian England, but their background may have encouraged Indian-born ladies more to do so.

Victorian Bournemouth (88): discussion

Simla’s temporary society, nourished by a favourable climate, compressing together privileged people sharing much, may have resembled that of contemporary Bournemouth. During the 1860s, the resort’s reputation appears to have qualified it as a suitable venue for British Indian families. They could send their children there for an expensive education. During leave, they could obtain a personal experience. Some might retire there. This increasing suitability of Bournemouth to people living 5,000 miles away must have occurred through a combination of press coverage, personal experience, letter-writing, and word-of-mouth. Some newspapers may have reached India. The most frequent medium, however, may have consisted of letters written by relatives based in England. Bournemouth’s increased press coverage may have impressed them enough to recommend the resort as a venue to relatives living and raising families in India. Others may have sampled Bournemouth and shared their experience in letters to India.

Takeaway

Victorian Bournemouth (88) has explored the social backgrounds and genealogies of Indian-born people who visited the resort in 1871. This has provided an illustration of some aspects of British Indian society. In addition, however, it has raised questions about how Bournemouth increased its suitability for these families during the 1860s.

References

For references and engagement, please get in touch. Main primary sources: here and here (subscriptions needed). Thanks to the Internet Archive and the University of California for the map image.