Bournemouth: 1810-1910, the history of a modern health and pleasure resort

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Bournemouth: 1810-1910, the history of a

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BOURNEMOUTH:

1810-1910.

The History of a Modern
Health and Pleasure Resort,

Chas. H. MATE, J.P., F.J.I.,

AND

Chas. RIDDLE, Borough Librarian.

With Preface by
HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF ARGYLL.

With illustrations of Bournemouth, Old and
New, Maps and Estate Plans.

19 10.

Bournemouth :

Messrs. W. MATE & SONS, Ltd.,

Commercial Road.

m

Dedicated
BY Special Permission

TO

Her Royal Highness

THE

PRINCESS LOUISE CAROLINE ALBERTA,
Duchess of Argyll.

PREFACE

His Grace the Duke of Argyll.

BouKNEMOUTH ! Your Guide Book will tell you all about
its History and Climate, but you should hear also from one
of the ladies who have stayed there, both during winter and
summer, the experience of each season.

A friend of mine used to say that a Man's account of an
Event or of a Place was History, and that a Woman's descrip-
tion was merely Her Story. But Her story often brings
more home to you that which you desire to know in regard
to climate and local interest than does the Man's History !
And Women will speak gratefully to you of the shelter
given by the Pinewoods in Winter, and of their pleasant
resinous smell in summer. For anyone not in the strongest
health a Lady's impressions of a place are more to be trusted
than those of a healthy Man, if we wish to know how enjoy-
ment, peace of mind and ease of body, may be sought and
found.

Let me then briefly from the point of view of the " weaker
vessels " repeat what I have heard from them ; and if any
of them could find healthy occupation and interest, the
task should be much easier for others who have not women's
delicacy of health, and are able to do more, and work harder,
whether for amusement or profit or variety.

We must leave the summer yachting and the winter sports,
the fishing and the riding, to those who can well shift for
themselves and obtain as much as they can care to have or
afford to have— to those who can find out for themselves
what every corner in England may afford. We must become

ii PREFACE

mentally shortsighted and for the moment think only of
what can be seen by the easy means of the motor car, or by
the aid of the humbler carriage and pair.

Limited to this, how full may life still be of interest, if
the lessons of pleasant country houses, of historic churches,
of antiquarian researches, of excursions by steamer to other
parts of the mainland coast and to the Isle of Wight, be
happily inquired after and learnt.

And then, the interest of all animal life to be watched each
in due season : the departing crowds of migratory birds
in the autumn, the farewell notes of many of our singing
birds, of swallows and waterfowl, and the arrival from the
yet colder north of the little migrants who think our Bourne-
mouth climate all that bird comfort ought to ask to have,
and to hear this said pleasantly in the language of Crossbills,
who are not cross in disposition, except in the disposition
of their beaks ; and to have it repeated by other visitors who
deem Norway and the rest of Scandinavia too cold, and find
nearly as many Pines in the South of England as at home,
and a more friendly temperature. There are Br ambling
Finches for the Pine Woods and Woodcocks for the marshy
low-ground.

Mr. Gould, the great bird lover, always declared he could
distinguish a Norwegian Woodcock from those who live with
us all the year round, and these again from those who
prefer Albania and other Mediterranean shores in winter.

And in summer, when the birds are nesting or looking
after their young, you may change your studies of Natural
History, and your diet, by trying to perfect yourself in a
difficult art, namely, that of catching the nutritious Razor
Shell-fish yourself for your own dinner. This requires a lot
of practice and a local professor who will show you how to
put a long barbed wire down into the spot in the sand where,
by signs not easily read, he knows a Razor Shell has made
preparations either to rise or to sink in the sand, and down
goes his barbed wire, running through the " fish " and bringing

PREFACE iii.

it up, a wholesome dish, in many people's opinion much
better than an oyster !

It was at Highclift that the late beautiful Lady Waterford
was inspired to paint many of her striking water-colour
sketches. Her sense of colour was always true, however
vivid her tints, and her pictures were always the outcome of
charming sentiment and love of all that is graceful in woman
or child.

Queen Victoria's able Physician, Sir James Clark, was one
of Bournemouth's greatest benefactors, for he lived there
and praised the influence of its Pine Woods, and was keen
that these Woods should be preserved, and that wherever
land were taken for building, a certain number of the trees
should be preserved, as they were among Bournemouth's
best Doctors.

From Lord Malmesbury's house near the clear little river
which gives Bournemouth its name, much of the history of
England during the time of Lord Derby's Administration,
was guided, for Lord Malmesbury was then Foreign Minister
of this country during trying times. But such family remin-
iscence can go much further back, and can unite with us the
age of the Norman Conquest, when the forefathers of our
English Statesmen had to consolidate our own country, still
seething with the enmities of Celt, Saxon, Dane, and Norman.
One of the finest of the Norman Abbey Churches is within
a short motor drive, namely Romsey, where the painting
of wall and column has disappeared, and the white stoned
round arches and columns stand as they stood when Norman
hands first finished the structure. But temptation to tell
what is better told within the Book must be resisted, and
all I have to say further is — Open and Read, and may you
become wiser as well as healthier through Bournemouth
air and learning.

A.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

P0RTE2UT OP L. D- Gr. Tbegonwell, Esq., the " Founder op
botjknemouth "

The AW/Vkd Map, 1805

The " Tregonwell Arms," 1810 to 1884

Map op " Bourne Tregonwbll," 1835

" PoRTMAN Lodge " — One op the Residences op Mr. Tregonwbll

Bournemouth Bay and the " Bath Hotel," 1850

Map op the " Marine Village op Bourne," 1838

St. Peter's Church and Westovek Villas, 1846

One op Mr. Ferret's Schemes, 1846

View iprom Richmond Hill, 1846

The " Belle Vue " Hotel, Library and Baths, with " The
Jetty," in 1855

The Pier Approach, 1846

A View Across the Bay, Looking Westward, 1855

The Wooden Pier, 1861

The Rustic Bridge (on Site now occupied by Gervis Arcade)
185.S-1866

The Centre op the Town, Looking East, in 1800

" The Bagged Cat," Ohkistchurch Road, Boscombe, in 1875

The " Wooden Pier," 1861 to 1880 . .

The Square, 1870 . .

The Squ^ure, 1875 . .

General View op Old Ohristchurch Road in 1868 . .

Beading the Charter op Incorporation in 1890

East Clifp Hall — Lady Cotes' Gipt to Bournemouth

Cheistchurch Road, Boscombe in 1906

The Square and Richmond Hill in 1875

Boscombe Chine in 1875

St. Peter's Church in 1847 . .

St. Peter's Church, completed December 18th, 1879

The Square, 1910 . .

Bournemouth Clipps and Bay in 1846

Pier, Clipps, and TJnderclifp Drive in 1910

The Mayor op Bournemouth in 1910 and President op the
Centenary Committee (Councillor G. E. Bridge, J.p.) .

Facing
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272

L. D. (i. THECONWKLI,, Ksi;., " FOUNDER <1I.' BOT' H MCM( U'TH.'

BOURNEMOUTH:
1810—1910.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory.

The Pounder op Bournemouth — 1810 and 1910 : A Brief Contrast^
Prehistoric Bournemouth — Interesting Discoveries — A " New
World Within an Old World " — Bournemouth in the Days op

Queen Elizabeth A " Dangerous Place por the Landing op

AN Enemy' ' — Ai.um and Copperas Works at Alum Chine and Boscombe
— The First Place in England Where Alum Was Manufactured —
The Bournemouth " Myners " and the First Local Industry — Lord

mountjoy, the " curious searcher into nature " a scheme por

THE Transmutation op " Raw Iron " into " Good Copper."

On one of the terraces in the picturesque churchyard of
St. Peter's, embowered amid a wealth of fohage, stands a
low flat tomb, erected as a memorial of Mr. Lewis Dymoke
Grosvenor Tregonwell, a Dorset 'Squire, celebrated in local
history as the " Founder of Bournemouth." His claim to
that distinctive title rests on the fact that in 1810-11 he here
erected " a mansion for his own occupation " and " was the
first to bring Bournemouth into notice as a watering place."
From that modest beginning— the erection of a seaside villa
residence — has been evolved the Bournemouth of to-day :
the second largest health and pleasure resort in the United
Kingdom— of world-wide renown, of unique charm, and
growing attraction : "A Garden City," " A Paradise of
Pines," " A Stately Pleasure Dome," " A Temple of Hygiea "
a town which has beauty an"! salubrity as its chief character-
istics and health and pleasure as its staple manufactures.

Huge development and many changes have taken place
since 1810. The Bournemouth which Mr Tregonwell brought

2 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

into notice was a district of very restricted area. From
that centre boundaries have been extended in all directions,
and in this Centenary Year of 1910 the County Borough of
Bournemouth includes an area of nearly six thousand acres,
with six miles of sea frontage, and upwards of six hundred
acres of Parks, Pleasure Grounds, and open spaces secured
for all time against the attacks of the speculative builder
or any others who would destroy the special characteristics
of the " Town in a Pine Forest "—the " Forest City by the
Southern Sea." It has a population of from 75,000 to
80,000, and a rateable value of over £650,000. Its bound-
aries extend from the Branksome Pine Woods, in " the
county of the town of Poole," on the west, to the River Stour
and the bold promontory of Christchurch (Hengistbury)
Head on the east, and inland from the sea to the broad
moorlands behind Talbot Woods and Winton. With the
causes and the circumstances attending these remarkable
developments we shall have to deal later on. All that is
necessary at this stage is to put into brief contrast the
seaside village of 1810, when Mr. Tregonwell first brought
Bournemouth " into notice as a watering place," and the
" Great Town " of 1910.

Mr. Tregonwell's title to be called the " Founder of Bourne-
mouth " rests, as we have said, on his having been the first
to bring it into notice " as a watering place." Bournemouth
did not originate in 1810 ; it simply entered upon a new
phase of history. The making of Bournemouth began far
back in the remote ages of which geologists discourse learnedly
and glibly, but v\^hich the man of average education only
feebly appreciates. In one of the cases at the Public Library
there is a stone kelt with a label attached stating that it
was " found at Boscombe, some eight feet below the surface "
of the soil, that it is " supposed by Sir Archibald Geikie to
be at least 500,000 years old," and that it was " presented
by John Sleigh, Esq., March, 1896."

Other relics of prehistoric eras have been dug up from
time to time : memorials of a period when there was no
trickling Bourne, but a great tropical river as broad as the
Amazon disembogued its vast waters into the sea. It is a
far cry from that time to the present ; but then it was that

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 8

the foundations of Bournemouth were first laid, and it is
to the great natural forces which operated then, and subse-
quently, that Bournemouth is indebted for its climatic
advantages, the composition of its soil, the formation of
its cliffs and chines, the configuration of the land, and its
proximity to the sea. In Bournemouth, as Thomas Hardy
has said, with a narrower application, we have " a new
world in an old one." It is equally true as he has applied
it : this " glittering novelty " which we now call Bourne-
mouth has grown up "on the very verge of a tawny piece
of antiquity." " Within the space of a mile from its out-
skirts every irregularity of the soil was prehistoric, every
channel an undisturbed British trackway ; not a sod having
been turned there since the days of the Caesars." Within
the past year the fact has been emphasised by the discovery,
close to the railway line at Pokesdown, of prehistoric remains
which have led to the suggestion that Bournemouth may
claim a higher antiquitj'^ as a human settlement than even
London itself. In the course of excavations for the making
of a road and the development of a small building estate at
what is known as Hillbrow— a jutting piece of land with
an oak grove sloping away towards the valley of the Stour—
upwards of thirty urns were exhumed— of various sizes.
The larger urns were almost certainly used for funeral
purposes ; the smaller, it is suggested, may have been for
domestic use or for religious ritual. The theory put forward
by Mr. D. Chambers, of Southbourne, an antiquary who
personally superintended the work, is that the hill ridges
from Hengistbm-y to Pokesdown, and from thence to Moor-
down, Redhill, and Parkstone were the homes of a prehistoric
people, who selected the hilltops for their residences and
their cattle stockades, whilst the valleys below formed
their pasturage or grazing lands. The site at Hillbrow
would appear to have consisted of ramparts and a fosse
enclosing two tumuli, and what seemed to be a general
cemetery for the settlement, with a roadway leading into
the valley. From time to time there have been other dis-
coveries in the neighbourhood of very similar character.
More than thirty years ago the late Mr. T. Cox unearthed
no less than 96 " black pots " at Redbreast Hill, a couple

4 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

of miles further up the Stour Valley, and in the possession
of the Corporation— and housed at the Central Library—
is an ancient Bi'itish urn which was dug up near the Stour
some years ago when excavations were being made in connec-
tion with the construction of Tuckton Bridge. Barrows
in Talbot Woods— and some still existing in the very heart
of the town— fortified camps and entrenchments extending
up the Stour Valley from Hengistbury to Dudsbury, from
Dudsbury on past Wimborne Minster (the ancient Vindo-
gladia) to Badbury Rings— occupied but not constructed
by the Romans, and identified by Professor Freeman with
the Mons Badonicus held by Arthur and his " Knights of the
Round Table "—all testify to the same effect : that Bourne-
mouth has been built up in the very midst and upon the
foundations of an earlier civilisation : that the place was
the home and habitation of peoples of whom we have now
but very imperfect record.

The " new world within an old world " characteristic of
Bournemouth is shown also by its position between the
ancient towns of Poole and Christchurch. The eastward
boundary of the borough is at Double Dykes, the prehistoric
earthworks traditionally associated with the landing— at
Hengistbury Head— of Hengist and Horsa, on their second
invasion of England. Historians now discredit the whole
story ; but the entrenchments are there— memorials of a
period of which all authentic record has been lost. The town
of Christchurch dates back at least to Saxon times ; for
Bournemouth's western neighbour, Poole, it is claimed that
there is " ample evidence " that " the smooth waters of
its harbour have, assuredly, been ploughed by the more
aspiring beaks of the Roman galleys, if, indeed, they have
not also shadowed the frail coracle of the early Britons."*
That Poole was visited by the Danes there is conclusive
evidence. It is recorded that a Danish Army under Halfden
in 877 were summoned from Wareham to the relief of Pjxeter.
Sailing down the Harbour and out into the Channel within
sight of Bournemouth Cliffs they encountered a fleet manned
by King Alfred— the founder of the British Navy. A storm

* Sydenham's " History of Poole."

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 5

arose, the Danes became hemmed in between their enemy
and the rocky Purbeck coast, and eventually no less than
120 of their boats were driven ashore and wrecked " where
Purbeck's ancient promontory bares her stony teeth," and

Alfred won —
There in the lee and shelter of those hills —
The first sea battle of our glorious roll ;
Flinging the Norseman, full of panic fear,
To meet on Peveril's grim ledges, death.

Off the mouth of the Bourne the remains have been traced
of a submerged pine forest (of which an account was first
given by Sir C. Lyell, in his " Principles of Geology ") and
further up the valley have been found the trunks of oak,
alder, birch, and other trees, bearing traces both of fire
and axe. " The peasantry," says the writer of an early guide
book, " have a tradition that the forest was burned down
during the reign of Stephen," though the Rev. W. B. Clark,
F.G.S., in a paper read before the Geological Society, " con-
ceives that its destruction was effected during the occupation
of England by the Romans."

In the making of excavations for the West Undercliff
Promenade in the Spring of the present year, the contractor
had to cut through a complete section of the forest bed.
It was eight feet in thickness, with trees in situ, imposed
upon a strata of gravel and sand, this new evidence suggesting
the theory that the whole land must have fallen (by subter-
ranean agency) since they grew.

The Rev. Mackenzie Walcott in his " Guide to Hants and
Dorset " suggests that it was to the spot where Bournemouth
now stands that the Duke of Monmouth was hastening when
seized under a tree near Cranborne, some twenty miles
distant across country, in 1685 ; and there is a tradition
that, after the death of King Rufus, when hunting in the
New Forest, Sir Walter Tyrrell fled to the sea-coast, crossing
the Avon at a point still known as Tyrrell's Ford and the
Stour at a spot close to where is now Heron Court— the coun-
try seat of the Earl and Countess of Malmesbury. If this
be correct Tyrrell's flight must have brought him to Bourne-
mouth.

It has been frequently assumed that the name " Bourne-
mouth," like the Great Town which it now designates, is of

6 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

quite modern origin : that it was adopted some time during
the last centiuy when the inhabitants took it in preference
to the more homely " Bourne," which was at that period
the common appellation of " the village." But the name
is, in fact, one of considerable antiquity. Going back to
the time of Queen Elizabeth— and we are told, but have not
had opportunity to establish, that there are still earlier
records — we find in the Calendar of Domestic State Papers,
under date Jtdy 8th, 1574, a return from Lord Thomas
Poulet, the Earl of Southampton, and others, to the Council,
of the " musters and surveys " of the County of Southamp-
ton, inclosing a " certificate of the dangerous places for the
landing of an enemy on the coasts of Hampshire, from
Bournemouth, in Westover Hundred, to the East Haven
of Hayling Island," and examining the return itself we
get the following : —

" A viewe taken the 23, 24, 25 of June anno dni. 1574,
and in the xvith yere of the Reigne of or Sovereigne Ladye
Elisabeth bye the grace of God Quene of Ingland, Fraunce
and Ireland, defendor of the Fayth, etc., bye the Right
Honorable the Erie of Southampton Edward Horseye,
James Pagett, Thomas Carewe, Willm Bowyer, and Thomas
Uvedale, esquires, of the daungerous landing places uppon
the sea coste from Bornemouthe, within the hundred of
Westover, adioyning to Dorsetshire unto the Est haven
of the Isle of Hayling leading to the Dell nere Chichester
in Sussex.

" First, we finde at Bournemouth within the west baye
at Christchurche a place very easy For the ennemye
to lande there conteyning by estimacion oon quarter
of a myle in length, being voyde of all inhabiting :

" Wee Finde more a place called Bastowe within the
said Baye wch is also an easy place for the ennemye to
lande conteining in length a Flight shott :

" Wee Finde more oon other like place within the same
baye betwixt Redd Cliff, and Hensbury ende, called lowe
lands, conteining in length by estimacion half a myle,
and the See ever aginst the same place ys of Depthe viii or
ix Fathem, having verye good ancorhold within the same.
" Wee Finde more within the Est Baye of Christchurch

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 7

a place called Longeboroughe where Beacons are nigh
Christchurch haven, being an easy place for the ennemye
to land conteyning in lengthe half a myle, and is of depthe
iiii Fethem, and hath a good ancor holde.

" Wee Finde more a place called the Black Bulworke
at the Chessell ende, leading to Hurste Castell, an easye
place for the ennemye to lande, conteyning in length
iii quarters of a myle."

The document is of historic importance and special local
interest, remembering that fourteen years later the "Invin-
cible Armada " appeared in the Channel, and that the
Bournemouth Beach was not only a " very easy " place
" for the ennemye to lande," but adjoined the scene of a
former raid— made upon Poole by a combined French and
Spanish force in revenge for ravages by the celebrated Harry
Page, described in the " Cronica del Conde D. Pero Nino "
as " a Knight who scours the seas as a corsair, with many
ships, plundering all the Spanish and French vessels that
he can meet with."*

Reference to Bournemouth is also to be found in a MS.
map of Dorset (" Dorcestriae Comitatus Vicinarumque
Regionum nona verage Descriptio, A.D. 1575 ") in the
Harleian collection at the British Museum. There we find
mention of " Burnem.outhe "—shown as in the county of
Dorset— of Sturfeld heathe, of Holenest, and of Iverbridge,
as well as of Poole, Longflete, Hickford, and Parkstone,
with " The Mynes," and " Canford Lawndes " : those
" launds " referred to by Drayton in his " Poly Olbion " : —

Oanford's goodlie launds
(That leene upon the Poole), enrich with coppras vaines.

In Camden's " History and Description of Britain "
(1567), the writer states : " Having passed Christchurch
Hed we come to the fall of the Burn, which is a little brooke
runnying from Stourfield Heath, without braunches, and
not touched in my former voyage, for want of knowledge
and information thereof in tyme." The Rev. Mackenzie
Walcott, in his " Guide to Hants and Dorset," says the

* Page's conquests, says Sydenham (" History of Poole "), were so numer-
ous, that after one expedition he brought home from the coast of Bretagne
120 prizes, laden with iron, salt, oil and Eochelle salt.

8 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

place was known in 1586 as the " Fall of the Bourne." His
authority probably was the map of Ralph Tresswell, which
shows the Bourne as west of the Hampshire boundary,
and within the County of Dorset. In the map of Dorset,
included in Camden's "Britannia" (1610), the stream is
similarly placed ; so it is in Morden's map (1690), and in a
map of Dorset " drawn from the best authorities " published
in 1749. In Overton's map (1600), which corresponds very
closely with that of Ralph Tresswell, the stream is shown,
without a name being given, but to the west we find mention
of " Allom Chine Copperas House," and to the east " Bas-
comb Copperas House."

Bournemouth has undergone many metamorphoses. Be-
fore Mr. Tregonwell brought it " into notice " as a watering
place it was a smugglers' resort, and in the sixteenth century,
as already indicated, there were "copperas works" at Alum
Chine and Boscombe, where presumably trade of a more
reputable character was conducted.

The story of the " Mynes " reads like a romance. James
Blount, sixth Lord Mountjby, is said to have been " a curious
searcher into Nature," and whilst possessor of the Manor of
Canford* — stretching from the village of that name down
to the seashore— he " discovered that there was, near Park-
stone, earth yielding alum, on which, in 1564, he began to
make calcanthum, or copperas, and boil alum." The credit
of being the first to introduce the manufacture of alum into
this country has been erroneously attributed to Sir Thomas
Chaloner, who in 1595 erected alum works near Gainsborough.
But there is conclusive proof that Lord Mount] oy commenced
operations on Poole Heath some thirty years earlier—
importing his knowledge of the process of manufacture
from the south of Europe. " He is stated," says Mr. Philip
Brannon, " to have been guided to the discovery of the
rich alum shale of the Poole trough, by observing the holly
growing spontaneously and with luxuriance (as at these chines)
near the outcrop of the alum shales ; and as he had observed

* In Canford Park there still stands an old tree known as Mountjoy's
Oak. It could not have been planted by Lord Mountjoy — it Is far too old
for that — but it probably was a favourite resort of one or more of the former
owners of the estate.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 9

the same circumstances in his continental travels so frequently
that he found it was there considered an almost certain
indication of the existence of such beds, he was encouraged
to carry out the manufacture near Poole, and but for litigious
opposition would doubtless have attained eminent success."

From the maps it would appear that the Parkstone
" Mynes " were somewhere near Lilliput ; there is no doubt,
however, work was also carried on at Alum Chine— which
probably derived its name from this fact— and early seven-
teenth century maps show " Allom House "—well within
the Dorset boundary ! Lord Mountjoy's experiments seem
not to have been a commercial success ; but for a time
they no doubt attracted attention, and they were extended,
not merely from Parkstone to Boscombe, but also to Brownsea
Island. The late Mr. Charles van Raalte, in his delightful
monograph on that Island, refers to certain proceedings
in the Court of Chancery, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
respecting the partnership accounts of a joint concern,
wherein the parties were engaged in " certain mines of alum
and copperas called Baskaw, in the county of Southampton,
Allom Chine and Brounsey, alias Brownsea, in the county
of Dorset." " Baskaw " no doubt refers to Boscombe.

As these " mynes "—at Parkstone, Branksea, Alum Chine,
and Boscombe — were doubtless all of similar character it
may be interesting to quote the description of the industry
as given by Mistress Celia Fiennes, in a journal entitled
" Through England on a Side Saddle," published in the time
of William and Mary : —

" We went by boate to a little Isle called Brounsea, where
there is much Copperace made, the stones being found
about ye Isle in ye shore in great quantetyes. There is only
one house there which is the Governour's, besides little
fishermen's houses ; they all being taken up about ye Copper-
ace Works. They gather ye stones and place them on ground
raised like ye beds in gardens, rows one above the other,
and all are shelving, so that ye raine disolves ye stones, and
it draines down into trenches and pipes made to receive and
convey it to ye house, ych is fitted with iron panns four
square, and of a pretty depth, at least twelve yards over.
They place iron spikes in ye panns full of branches, and so as

10 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

ye Liquar boyles to a candy it hangs on those branches.
I saw some taken up, it look'd like a vast bunch of grapes.
Ye colour of ye Copperace not being much differing, it looks
clear like sugar candy ; so when ye water is boyled to a
candy they take it out and replenish the panns with more
liquar. I do not remember they added anything to it, only
ye Stones of Copperace, dissolved by ye raine into liquor,
as mentioned at first. There are great furnaces under to
keep the panns boyling ; it was a large room or building, with
several of these panns. They do add old Iron and nails to
ye Coperice stone."

Copperas, which seems to have been a very important
product in those days, is a salt of iron, ferrous sulphate.
It has a bluish-green colour, and an astringent, inky, sweetish
taste, and is used for tanning and in the manufacture of
ink, Prussian blue, oil of vitriol, plate powder, etc.

We have no description of the methods of the Bournemouth
" myners " with regard to alum. It would appear, however,
that the alum works were carried on in conjunction with
the manufacture of the copperas.

This was Bournemouth's first local industry. It was
not very long lived. Why it came to grief is not quite
clear, but a story told in the Chancery records of Queen
Elizabeth is very suggestive. Sir Thomas Smith, one of
the Queen's Secretaries of State, like the Lord Mountjoy
already referred to, was " a curious searcher into Nature " —
and apparently somewhat credulous. A man named Medley
persuaded him into the belief that he (Medley) had discovered
a secret process of converting iron into copper, and, associating
some others with themselves, a company was formed to
work the new discovery " in the Isle of Wight, or at Poole
or elsewhere." Medley said he had discovered the process
at Winchelsea, but that spot was not so convenient for the
larger undertaking. The Isle of Wight also was abandoned
for the neighbourhood of Poole, where land was leased from
the Dowager Lady Mountjoy, at a rental of £300 a year.
Medley undertook to " make of raw iron good copper," and
that the liquor in which the iron was boiled would ultimately

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. ii

make copperas and alum ready for the merchant.* Immense
profits were foreshadowed, and even the great Lord Burleigh
was drawn into the scheme. But this transmutation of
metals never took place ; the whole thing proved to be a gross
deception, and the investors lost their money. The " curious "
Lord Mountjoy, son of the lady above mentioned, perhaps
because he was too much of a scientist, does not appear to
have been one of the victims. But possibly this strange
swindle discredited the Parkstone and Boscombe " Mynes."
Or their failure and discontinuance may have been due to
other and quite different causes.

* From Medley's account we learn that " by vitriol " he (Medley) " had
changed iron into true copper," which (says Mr. Robert Brownen)"really means,
in modem language, that by acting upon the iron stones and clays of the locaUty
by vitriol, or sulphuric acid, there was produced iron sulphate or copperas
and sulphate, the basis of alum. (See Strype's " Life of Sir T. Smith ").

CHAPTER II

Smuggling.

The " Staple Industry " of the Eighteenth Century — An Incident

IN 1780 " Armed Bands " and Revenue Ofpioebs — The Smuggler's

Tomb in Kinson Churchyard — Impudent Attack on the Poole
Custom House — " Slippery Rogers," op Christohukch — " Old Gulli-
ver " and His " White Wigs " — " Audacious Outrage " at Decoy
Pond House, Bourn Mouth — Press Gang Raid on Bournemouth
Beach — 1,000 Casks of Spirits Landed at Bourne Bottom.

Bournemouth has passed through various metamorphoses.
It is sometimes spoken of as having had its origin in a fishing
village. It was never, however, a fishing village in the sense,
say, that Hastings was. The Poole and Christchurch fisher-
men climbed the cliffs to watch for the coming of the mackerel
—just as they do now — and frequently, no doubt, they
drew their nets to shore on Bournemouth Beach ; but they
had neither home nor market in Bournemouth itself. The
" staple industry " of the eighteenth and the early part of
the nineteenth century was of a far less reputable character :
it was concerned with the smuggling of contraband goods.
There are many records of Bourn Mouth during this period —
and all that are not concerned with national defence relate
to smuggling. In the Diaries of the first Earl of Malmesbury
it is put upon record that at the early part of the last century
" a considerable contraband trade " was carried on along this
part of the coast. " All classes contributed to its support.
The farmers lent their teams and labourers, and the gentry
openly connived at the practise and dealt with the smugglers.
The cargoes, chiefly of brandy, were usually concealed in
the furze bushes that extended from Ringwood to Poole,
and in the New Forest for thirty miles."

In the " Memoirs of an ex-Minister," the third Earl of
Malmesbury, the friend and colleague of Lord Beaconsfield,
states that : " During the long war with France, this wild
country, which extended in an uncultivated state from
Christchurch to Poole, was the resort of smugglers upon a

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 13

large scale," and he tells the following anecdotes as illustra-
tive of the times : — " About 1780 Lord Shaftesbury was
sitting at dinner in the low hall at Heron Court with his
relation (Mr. Hooper), the latter having his back to the
window. The road, which has since been turned, passed
by the front door of the house. Suddenly an immense
clatter of waggons and horses disturbed their meal, and six
or seven of these, heavily loaded with kegs, rushed past at
full gallop. Lord Shaftesbury jumped up to look at the
sight, but the old squire sat still, refusing to turn round,
and eating his dinner complacently. Soon after a detach-
ment of cavalry arrived with their horses blown, and asking
which way the smugglers had gone. Nobody would tell
them, and no doubt they got safely through the New Forest.
The smugglers had dashed through two deep fords in the
Stour close by, which the soldiers had refused, and so lost
their prey. These fords are the same through which Sir
Walter Tyrrell rode red-handed for his life on his way to
Poole after he had crossed the Avon at a place which bears
his name, Tyrrell's Ford. ... At the beginning of the
present century [the nineteenth], and during the war, a
great contraband trade was carried on. And I myself,
when a small boy, had an adventure with these heroes.
I was bird-nesting in one of the copses in the park by myself
when a rough fellow seized me, and seeing I was frightened
was very civil, promising to let me go in an hour if I did
not resist. He kept his word, and made me swear I would
not tell of the incident. Although rated when I got home
for my long absence, I did not betray the man or his com-
panions, whom I saw in the wood hiding kegs of brandy, of
which they insisted on giving me a specimen. . . . The
principal stronghold round which the smugglers operated
was the seashore and its hollow cliffs that run from Christ-
church Head to Poole, then a district of gorse and heath for
ten miles, with fir-woods above them."

The Rev. Richard Warner in his " Literary Recollections "
has also some personal reminiscences relating to the early
part of the last century. He mentions having more than
once seen " a procession of twenty or thirty waggons, loaded
with kegs of spirits ; an armed man sitting at the front and

14 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

tail of each, and surrounded by a troop of two or three hundred
horsemen, every one carrying on his enormous saddle from
two to four tubs of spirits ; winding deliberately, and with
the most picturesque and imposing effect, along the skirts
of Hengistbury Head, on their way towards the wild country
to the north-west of Christchurch, the point of their separa-
tion." Between these armed bands and the Revenue Officers
there not infrequently was conflict, sometimes of a serious
and fatal character.

In the little churchyard at Kinson, away behind the Bourne-
mouth heathlands, there is a headstone inscribed as follows :
" To the memory of Robert Trotman, late of Rowd, in the
county of Wilts, who was barbarously murdered on the shore
near Poole, the 24th March, 1765 :

" A little tea, one leaf I did not steal,

" For guiltless blood shed I to God appeal ;

" Put tea in one scale, human blood in t'other,

" And think what 'tis to slay a harmless brother."

No doubt, as already shown, there was much sympathy
with the smuggler : smuggling was not regarded as a crime
demanding severe censure. But the men engaged in the
trade were not " harmless brothers " ; upon occasion they
displayed great daring and wreaked most terrible vengeance
upon any who stood in the way of their illicit trade. One
such instance was the historic case of the attack on the
Poole Custom House in 1747, described as " the most unheard
of act of villainy and impudence ever known." A cargo of
tea had been captured and stored in the Custom House.
Some sixty armed men assembled in the neighbourhood of
Charlton Forest, marched to Poole, broke into the Custom
House, took the tea, and then rode off with their booty up
through the country, hundreds of people turning out to view
the cavalcade. Not till eighteen months later, when murder
had been added to their other crimes, were the ringleaders
brought to justice. It was given in evidence at the time
of the trial that there was a large sloop laid up against the
Quay, and some of the men were afraid she would plant
her guns to the Custom House door and tear them to pieces ;
but others pointed out that the tide was low, and she could
not possibly bring her guns to bear. The accused maintained
to the last they were guilty of no crime in rescuing the goods

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 15

from the Custom House, as these were the property of no
one but those who sent their money to Guernsey for them.
Like Robert Trotman, " for guiltless blood shed they to
God appealed."

" A celebrated adventurer in contraband articles, nick-
named Slippery Rogers, from his eel-like faculty of escaping
the grasp of his maritime pursuers," operated along the
coast with a " remarkable vessel," rowed by forty daring
mariners, with " a cuddy, fore and aft, for sleeping berths,
and a large open space, in midship, for the stowage of two
or three thousand ankers of spirits." Mr. Warner tells of
some of his exploits ; and Mr. Grantley Berkeley, writing
of a later period, when " the contraband trade from the
sea on the coast of Hampshire was still rife," tells of other
smuggling operations at or near Christchurch Head. And
famed in romance (see Colonel H. M. Walmesley's story
entitled " Branksome Dene "), there was " Old Gulliver,"
the greatest of all smugglers who harassed the preventive
officers along the south coast. This Gulliver lived during
the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning of the
nineteenth century. It is said that his smuggling operations
were most extensive, his servants numerous, and his fleet
of vessels and team of pack horses admirably suited for the
purpose for which they were employed. A favourite landing
place for his cargoes was at Branksome Chine, from whence
his waggons and horses journeyed, either across the New
Forest to the large towns in the Midlands or to London,
westward across Crichel Down to Bath, Bristol, and the
cities of the West. Gulliver was a landowner, and is said
to have planted part of Eggardun Hill in Dorset to serve as
a landmark to his vessels when homeward bound across the
Channel. Mr. Roberts says he " kept forty or fifty men
constantly employed " ; they " wore a kind of livery,
powdered hair and smock frocks, from which they obtained
the name of ' white wigs.' . . . Gulliver amassed a large
fortune, and lived to a good old age. . . . Till of late years
a chamber, open towards the sea at the mouth of the river
Lyme, was in existence, where the ' white wigs ' took refresh-
ments, and remained in waiting till their services were
required." The incident narrated in Colonel Walmesley's

16 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

" Branksome Dene," where Gulliver, pursued by the revenue
ofl&eers, hides in the cottage chimney, is said to have been
founded on fact, and a house at Wimborne Minster is still
pointed out as a place where Gulliver died. In Dorset and
South- West Hants " Old Gulliver " was not regarded as a
mere hero of romance, but a champion of local industry.

We have no wish to dwell too long on a subject so unpleasant
as a catalogue of crime, and we shall not attempt to reproduce
all the record which has come to hand. But as these stories
constitute almost all that is known of Bournemouth during
a considerable period preceding the coming of Mr. Tregonwell,
and for some years later, some few extracts from newspaper
reports of the period will not be inappropriate. Our first
selection is from the " Salisbury and Winchester Journal,"
of the 20th December, 1762, wherein we find a reference to
Bourn Mouth and to the Decoy Pond which formerly existed
here. The story is to the effect that one night in September,
" a gang of supposed smugglers, consisting of eight persons,"
representing themselves as a Press Gang, broke into the house
of one William Manuel at Iford, violently seized his son
Joseph, " dragged him by force out of the house, carried
him across the heath to the seashore towards Poole, and
forced him down to Bourn Mouth to a lone house there
called the Decoy Pond House, notoriously frequented by
smugglers." Manuel was afterwards put into a boat, forcibly
carried on board a smuggling cutter, and conveyed to Alder-
ney, where he managed to effect his escape, but not without
severe injury. " This audacious outrage " was believed to
be prompted by the supposition that Manuel had given
information to the Revenue Officers, and the men who com-
mitted the crime were, it was said, " hired or instigated to do
it by some of the principal smugglers on that part of the coasts
of Dorsetshire and Hampshire." The Commissioners of
Customs, " in order to bring the offenders to justice and to
suppress the enormous smuggling now most audaciously
carried on upon that part of these coasts," offered a reward
of £50 for evidence leading to conviction. Whether the
criminals were brought to justice we cannot say, but the
practise of smuggling was not stopped, and, indeed, not
seriously checked, for many long years.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 17

This story of a sham " Press Gang " may be appropriately,
perhaps, supplemented with one of a real " Press Gang "
which raided Bournemouth early in the last century. One
summer's evening, in the height of the mackerel season, the
fishermen were busy with their nets, and many of the farm
labourers from the country had come in to assist them.
Suddenly an armed party of sailors appeared, made many
of the men prisoners, and marched them off to Poole. No
man, it should be remembered, was liable to impress-
ment for the Navy unless he had previously been to sea.
The morning following the raid the captives were taken
before the magistrates ; most of the men and boys were
able to justify their claim to exemption ; but in one case
the Lieutenant swore that he had seen the man at sea, and
though there was non-official testimony to the effect that
he was an " inland man," the magistrates gave credence to
the word of his Majesty's officer. Very much against his
will the man was drafted into the Navy, from which service
he was only released (without a pension) after an interval
of thirteen years, in 1816.

In 1791, there is record of a smuggling lugger attempting
to land a cargo at Beacon Bunny, to the east of Christchurch ;
on being discovered the crew set sail. A Revenue cutter,
however, fell in with the lugger off Christchurch, gave chase,
and came up with her, " when the crew of the lugger ordered
the officer and his men on board, whom they forced below,
and kept a guard over them, whilst the lugger proceeded to
the westward, and at two o'clock next morning landed her
goods at Bourne Bottom, consisting of about one thousand
casks of foreign spirituous liquors, some tea and tobacco ;
they then ordered the officer and his men into their boat,
and dismissed them after having plundered the boat of
firearms and some of her materials."

Among other miscellaneous reports of similar character
we get the following under date Poole, October 23rd, 1821 :
" In the night of Friday, the 12th inst., the officers stationed
at Bourne Mouth seized near that place 42 tubs of brandy,
gin and other foreign spirits, and lodged them the next day
in his Majesty's Excise Warehouse, at this port." Another
report, dated March of the same year, states that " About

c

18 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

130 tubs of foreign spirits have lately been picked up on the
beach at Bourne Mouth and deposited in the Excise Ware-
house at Poole."

It was not till the nineteenth century was well advanced
that smuggling was effectually put down— not, in fact, till
long after the period when Bournemouth came into note
as a rising watering place and health resort.

CHAPTER III.

Coast Defknce,

The Fbak op Napoleonic Invasion — ^Appeabance of a " Hostile French
Fleet" in 1690 — Richmond and Buckingham: an Incident Chkoni-
CLED BY Shakespeabe — The Christchuboh Fensiblb Volunteers —
Gift op Great-Coats by Sir George Tapps — A Kotal Eevtew Pre-
vented BT Rain — Napoleon's Flotilla : A Suggested Relic —
Napoleon III. and the Possibilitt op Invasion at Bournemouth.

" The great cause of excitement within many miles of
Bournemouth in 1804 was the generally understood inten-
tion of Napoleon Buonaparte to invade England with a large
army— for which object he was preparing a fleet of very
numerous gunboats, to be used for transporting the French
soldiers to some convenient landing place across the English
Channel. And as Bournemouth had a fine shelving beach
and sufficient depth of water for gunboats to approach
within a short distance of the shore, was easy of access by
its opening in the cliff to the neighbouring country, in which
were but few impediments for an army to encounter, and
having but small population, many official and non-official
authorities supposed that the landing of the French Army
might be attempted at that place "

Our extract is taken from a communication addressed
many years ago, to the " Bournemouth Visitors' Directory,"
by one who shared the exciting experience of the time, and
was able to remember and describe the preparations made to
meet the expected emergency. There was alertness all
along the coast — nowhere, certainly, with greater reason than
along our Southern shores, situate as they are within some
sixty miles of the coast of France, and besides accessibility
having other important advantages for such a flotilla as
that which Napoleon collected. The danger was averted,
the threatened invasion was never even attempted— but our
retrospect of Bournemouth's history would be incomplete
were we to omit mention of the peril which seemed peculiarly
to threaten this district in the early years of the nineteenth

20 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

century, and to make some brief extract from contemporary
records showing how the people reahsed the danger and
prepared to meet it.

This was not the first occasion upon which a hostile French
fleet had menaced the Hants and Dorset coast. In the
chronicles of the town of Poole there is reference to a hurriedly
summoned meeting of the inhabitants of that town on the
21st June, 1690, to consider measures for the better securing
of the place against the dangers threatened by the French,
described as " the common enemy of the Kingdom, now
having a very great fleet of ships in sight of this place."
The " very great fleet " referred to consisted of 78 ships of
war and 22 fireships, and the description of it as being " in
sight " of Poole shows that it must have been in what we
now know as Bournemouth Bay. But the danger passed ;
the following day the fleet sailed up the Channel and " fought
and defeated the English Admiral, Lord Torrington, in an
engagement off Beachy Head."

Two centuries earlier— in 1483— Henry, Earl of Richmond,
in prosecution of his claim to the Crown of England, had
sailed from St. Malo with forty ships and a force of five
thousand men, " designing to make a descent on the western
coast of England, where his partisans were then in arms,
arrangement having been made for a general insurrection
on their arrival. In the attempt to cross the Channel, how-
ever, his fleet was dispersed by a violent storm that arose,
and most of his vessels were compelled to put back ; but
the Earl's ship, weathering the tempest, arrived off Poole
Harbour. He found the coast lined with men, but whether
friends or foes he could not satisfactorily determine. The
intended revolt had been discovered by Richard, who,
previously to the arrival of the Earl, had succeeded in crushing
the rising in embryo, had taken and beheaded the Duke
of Buckingham, and dispersed the rest of the confederates.
The forces of Richard appointed to guard the coasts had,
therefore, instructions not to oppose the landing of Rich-
mond, but to make signals to encourage him to leave his
vessel, and if he sent for intelligence, to pretend that they
were posted there by the Duke of Buckingham to receive
him." Sydenham— the Poole historian— from whom we

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 21

have quoted, goes on to show that Henry was " too cautious
to be entrapped by an artifice, which, if successful, would
have thrown him entirely into the power of his relentless
enemy," and a messenger sent to the shore returning with
an answer which he mistrusted he weighed anchor and sailed
off to Normandy. " The tempest, which dispersed his fleet,
had been his preservation, for if he had effected a landing
after the failure of Buckingham, the fortunes of the Tudors
would in all human likelihood never have obtained that
ascendant which brought with it to the nation so much evil
and so much greater good."

The incident is referred to in Shakespeare's " Richard III."
(Act iv., Scene iv.).

Richmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a boat

Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks.

If they were his assistants, yea or no ;

Who answer' d him, they came from Buckingham

Upon his party ; He, mistrusting them,

Hois' d sail, and made his course again tor Bretagne.

Reverting, after this digression, to the " cause of excite-
ment " in 1804, we find interesting corroboration of the
testimony already quoted. The defence of the coast had
been a subject of serious concern and of much attention for
many years. In 1792 Artillery Barracks were built at Christ-
church. Supplementing the protection afforded to the
neighbotirhood by the soldiers quartered there, the inhabi-
tants formed a Volunteer Force of their own, which continued
up till the Short Peace of 1802. That these gallant patriots
did a very useful work may be gathered from the following
extract which we take from " The Salisbury and Winchester
Journal " of May 3rd, 1802. It relates to the time of their
disbandment— when it was erroneously thought that all
danger has passed away— but it is nevertheless interesting : —
" On Sunday last the Christchurch Fensible Volunteers were
disbanded by Captain Lyons, in the absence of Colonel
Walcott, confined by severe illness. This Corps has long
been distinguished for its military appearance and professional
excellence ; under the eye and close attention of their Colonel,
and the general zeal of all the other officers, they have been
rendered perfect soldiers ; the steadiness of their discipline
and the precision of their manoeuvres procuring them the
highest approbation from General Stevens when he inspected

22 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

them, who reported them so truly meritorious to the Com-
mander-in-Chief that his Royal Highness expressed his wish
and intention of seeing them himself ; this flattering compli-
ment they expected this summer, and they were deprived
of the honottr only by their being no longer a Corps. Captain
Lyons, in his address to the men, was impressively interesting,
bestowing on them a choice tribute of praise for their loyalty
as subjects, steadiness as soldiers, and good conduct as men,
during the late severe trials of difficulty and danger— declaring
at the same time, however joyful the occasion of their being
now disbanded, he, in common with his brother officers, could
not help feeling sensations of regret at parting with men with
whom they had been so long attached, assuring thena it would
ever be to him a pleasing reflection that he had been an
officer in so respectable a corps ; and it must be an equal
source of happiness for each man to recollect that he had
been a Christchurch Volunteer."

The " joy " of disbandment soon passed away ; the
necessity for re-arming came very quickly, and in the journal
already quoted, under date October 31st, 1803, we get the
following : —

" Our Western bay being supposed a probable part of the
coast for the enemy to attempt a landing, the Windsor Castle
guardship, of 98 guns, and two frigates, have received orders
to cruise off this place and the Needles. A troop of the
20th Light Dragoons have reinforced the military already in
this quarter ; piquets are established along the coast ;
beacons and night signals to prevent the possibility of sur-
prise ; and the utmost vigilance in every department. Our
Volunteers, forming a body of over 400 men, well disciplined,
have received orders to hold themselves in readiness to
march at an hour's notice ; this intimation has been received
with alacrity both by men and officers. The different corps
of Yeomanry in this neighbourhood, with a spirit truly
becoming, have volunteered going into quarters for ten days
to perfect themselves in military tactics and inure themselves
to a soldier's life. At the suggestion of the Lord Lieutenant
of the County several gentlemen have been appointed super-
intendents of districts and directed to enrol those men as
pioneers and cattle drivers, guides, overseers of removals,

BOURNEMOUTH: 18i0-1910. 23

etc., as are not engaged in any Volunteer Corps ; by this
judicious proceeding every individual (except the infirm) will
be able to render some service to the country. From the
goodwill and activity of most of the above gentlemen (a
good example to others in this capacity) such regulations
have been adopted whereby every man previously knows his
situation and department should the enemy invade this
country. Thus the removal of property and persons (in case
of necessity) can be effected, at a very short notice, without
confusion and misunderstanding."

A month later we find these gallant defenders of the coast
assuring their worthy Colonel that they would follow wherever
he wou.ld lead them to serve their King and country, and the
Colonel (Walcott) replying in " a neat and proper speech "
promising to " attend to their every comfort in quarters."
Two new companies are reported to have been lately added
to the regiment and to be " by emulous exertions rapidly
advancing to equal those on the old establishment." Then
comes the following interesting paragraph : "A report having
prevailed that the above corps would be called on to watch
the coast nightly during the winter. Sir George Tapps, with
the liberality characteristic of his known generosity, presented
the men with fifty great-coats, a most essential bounty for
protecting them against the inclemency of the weather should
this duty be required of them. The very handsome donation
was accepted by Colonel Walcott, who expressed his warmest
thanks to the worthy baronet for his benevolent regard and
provident attention to the comfort of the men under his
command." Later there was an announcement that " Thomas
Wilson, Esq., of Stourfield, has presented the Christchurch
Volunteers with twenty great-coats."

The great-coats were very badly needed, and one would
infer from the following, appearing under date December 31st,
1803, that they were not supplied quite as quickly as might
be desired, notwithstanding the liberality of the gentlemen
named above : — " The conduct of the Christchurch Volunteers
has been so exemplary in every respect since they went on
permanent duty, both in Dorsetshire and at home, that his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland took the trouble,
most condescendingly and kindly, to go to Christchurch on

24 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Tuesday last for the express purpose of returning his thanks
to them in the most pubhe manner on their parade ; but a
heavy and incessant rain prevented their being assembled
there on that day : it was then agreed that the corps should
be assembled for the purpose the following morning at Mr.
Rose's cottage, where his Royal Highness dined and slept ;
but the weather continued so extremely bad as again to
defeat the object he so considerately took the journey for.
His Royal Highness then, disappointed of affording the
officers and men the highest gratification they could have
received, was reduced to the necessity of returning his thanks
to the whole Corps in writing, which he put into the hands
of Lieutenant-Colonel Walcott, their Commandant, on whom
too much praise cannot be bestowed, nor can it be repeated
too often. The time of service originally proposed being
expired, the Corps was to have been disbanded ; but his
Royal Highness having, for reasons he stated, left an earnest
request that it would continue for some time longer on
permanent duty, from the zeal and alacrity invariably shown
both by the officers and men, the same met with a cheerful
compliance."

One can hardly refrain from a smile at this picture of
soldiers, called upon for nightly patrol duty along the coast,
yet unable to appear for review by the Duke of Cumberland,
because it rained ! But we must be thankful to them and
to their comrades of the South Hants Cavalry (commanded
by Lieut.-Colonel G. H. Rose), detailed " to act as patrols
along the coast between Christchurch and Poole." It was
the patriotism of the people— their readiness to defend our
shores at every point— that prevented the actual attempt
at invasion, and the faded colours of the old regiment deserve
the honoured place still allotted to them in the Priory Church
at Christchurch.

Another relic of that interesting period is in the possession
of Alderman Tucker, of Christchurch. It is a receipt given to
his grandfather, Sergt. -Major Tucker, by one Thomas Plughes,
a London tailor, for the sum of £4 14s. 6d. There is one entry
only on the bill, and this, under date September 13th, 1803,
reads as follows : — " To a superfine dark extra blue cloth
Regementall coat, scarlet cloth lapels, cuffs and cape, lined

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 25

"with fine white pratenet, with gold skirt, ornaments com-
pleat." The Sergt.-Major, no doubt, presented a very smart
appearance — as befitted his rank.

Napoleon's threatened invasion never came off : the only
ship of the French flotilla that ever reached here came as a
wreck — if we may accept the following, which appears in
the Reminiscences of the late Marchioness of Waterford :
" On the Beach at the Christchurch side of Haven House
were the backbone and ribs of a large boat, and I was told
one of Napoleon's flotilla wrecked on the shore."

Half a century later, when the modern Volunteer force
was formed, the possibility of French invasion was again
considered, and in the " Poole Herald " of April 1st, 1858,
we find the following : " The present Emperor of the French,
in his much discussed pamphlet on the invasion of England,
himself condescended to notice the peculiar adaptation of
Bournemouth and its neighbouring shores for effecting
a landing." We have been unable to trace the " much-
discussed pamphlet" referred to, but we quote the extract
as evidence, if not of actual fact, at least of current opinion
at a period when Ventente cordiale had not been established.

CHAPTER IV.

The Evolution of Health Resorts.

The Metamokphosis op Mercantile Coast Towns — Strange Offer to a.
Brighton Hairdresser — " The Stocks " as a Punishment fob Bath-
ing — " Determination to the Seaside " — The Invention op the
Bathing Machine — Koyal Bathing to Musical Accompaniment —
Southampton as a Watering Place — George III. at Mudeford —
Sib Walter Scott and " Mabmion " — Sib George Rose as Constabus!
of the Shore — Mixed Bathing — Mr. Tbbgonwell's Visits to Mudb-

PORD.

Mr. George Roberts, in his " Social History of the People
of the Southern Counties," tells of " the singular fate that
attended many of our south coast towns " in the course of the
eighteenth century. " They died out as mercantile coast
towns ; and when near to a point of extinction, they rose,
phoenix-like, under a metamorphosed appearance, and
enabled a large and new class in Society to gratify their
wishes and a novel taste." " Weymouth was a town that,
had fallen very low, and was the residence of fishermen and
smugglers. Poverty was great, and tenements fell down
from neglect. ... At Brighton a spot of ground was
offered to a hairdresser in fee, upon condition of shaving the
possessor. The terms were declined." Then, in the middle
of the eighteenth century, there came a remarkable change.
" Before the year 1759, the sea on our southern coast had
ever been as pure ; the hills and undercliffs as grand and
captivating, still, no inland residents came to the fairyland.
There is in history no record of any summer seaside pleasure-
taking or health-seeking visits ; not a word of bathing.
There never had been any convenience for sea-bathing, nor
any hot baths. In Queen Elizabeth's reign any scholar of
Cambridge University who dared to bathe by day or night
was set in the stocks all the day ; and for the second offence^
to be whipped with rods." " Whether," asks Mr. Roberts,
" is the more strange— the neglect of the seaside for bathing,
or the change that now obtained ? Persons of either sex
living far from the sea deemed it necessary to rush to the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 27

coast so soon as the fine weather had set in. Like the anadro-
mous fishes, a furious desire to migrate seized upon them,
and they obeyed the instinctive call." Dr. Richard Russell,
the son of a London bookseller, was " the instigator of the
seaside mania." A treatise which he wrote had such an
effect upon the medical faculty that " sea water became the
panacea for every ailment. . . . Determination to the
seaside was set up." Not alone did he cause Brighton to
rise, the " metropolis of the sea-coast." " The fame of his
practice led other medical men to raise the cry, ' to the
seaside.' . . . Dr. Russell was to seaside visitors what
Peter the Hermit was to the Crusades— the instigator, the
genius that raised the latent spirit."

" The rush to the coast to procure the benefit arising
from the virtues of sea water " was followed by a similar
movement to " secure the curative effects of the balmy sea
air." " Much had to be done before the decayed towns
could be made to shake off, serpent-like, their old skin,
and assume their new character or metamorphose— that of
watering places." Royalty " partook of the coastward move-
ment," and helped to make both Brighton and Weymouth
famous. Weymouth's success is said to have been due to
one Ralph Allen, of Bath (the original of Fielding's " All-
worthy " in " Tom Jones "). Allen invented the bathing
machine and introduced it for his own use at Weymouth.
The fame of the new invention led to a visit from the Duke
of Gloucester in 1780, and that in turn led to the visit of the
King, who, according to Fanny Burney, bathed here with
great success. " A machine follows the royal one into the
sea, filled with fiddlers, who play ' God Save the King ' as
his Majesty takes his plunge."

Southampton was another of the watering places which
the eighteenth century evolved. According to Miss Aubrey,
the editor of Speed's " History of Southampton," written in
the latter part of the 18th century, it was " a watering place
in both senses of the term." Visitors came hither alike to
enjoy the sea bathing and attracted by the reputed value of
the mineral springs. " Persons of quality " had made the
discovery " that its air was salubrious, the scenery in
the neighbourhood fine, and— greatest attraction of all—

28 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

that its society was very select." According to a guide
book of the time, it merited the notice of the man of taste,
claimed the attention of the antiquary, and courted the
admiration of the stranger, "and there was no neighbourhood
in Great Britain where politeness, good breeding, harmony
and friendship " reigned so universally, and were " so pro-
ductive of undisguised confidence and undisturbed tran-
quility."

Long after " Dr. Brighton " had become famous ; after
Southampton had ceased to have among its town officials
a Master of the Ceremonies " second in importance to none
except the Mayor " ; after Mr. William Morton Pitt had
made vain attempt to bring Swanage into notice ; and after
Weymouth had entered upon the memorable era known as
its " King days," Bournemouth was unknown and unsought.
In the early days of the last century— before the coming of
Mr. Tregonwell— it was Mudeford, lying to the east, not
Bournemouth, to the west, of the " mother town " of Christ-
church, which gave promise of renown as a health resort.
" This admired spot, the favourite summer residence of
numerous families of distinction," offered many attractions :
a fine level sandy beach, good boating and fishing, safe
bathing, etc., whilst " the remarkable pureness and salubrity
of the air, and the seclusion of the situation from the noise and
bustle of a thoroughfare town, rendered it no less desirable
as a quiet retreat for the invalid or literary student." " These
qualities," we are told, " were appreciated and emphatically
remarked on, by his Majesty George III., who with the royal
family honoured Mr. Rose with a visit at Sandhills."* Hither
came Sir Walter Scott, on a visit to Mr. W. Stewart Rose,
to whom the great " Wizard of the North " dedicated one of
the cantos of his delightful " Lady of the Lake," from whose
works he quotes in his " Peveril of the Peak," and whose
valet, David Hinves — " as much a piece of Rose as ' Trim '
was of 'Uncle Toby '—furnished Scott with hints for his
picture of ' David Gellatly,' in ' Waverley.' " In a villa
on the sea-front Scott wrote, or corrected, some of the pages

* From the " Historical and Descriptive Account of the Town and Borough
of Ghristchurch, comprehending a Guide to the Watering Places of Mudeford
and Boui'neniouth," etc., published about 1835.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 29

of " Marniion," and he is said to have been not only dehghted
with the sea-coast, but to have been specially charmed
with the hinterland around Holmesley, where the heath-
lands reminded him of his beloved Scotland, without a
sight of which, at least once a year, he used pathetically to
declare, he could not live. Here also, or in the immediate
neighbourhood, for longer or shorter periods, sojourned
Coleridge, Southey, Lamb, and others of literary fame,
including the Italian patriot, Ugo Foscolo, the centenary of
whose appointment as Professor of Literature in the Univer-
sity of Pavia has but recently been celebrated.

Hengistbury Head— bearing the name, but probably
no other association with the great Saxon warrior— divides
two bays— East and West— the former now generally denom-
inated Christchurch Bay and the latter Bournemouth Bay
—formerly Poole Bay. Mudeford looks out on the East Bay,
Bournemouth on the West. When George III. visited Mude-
ford in 1803, Bournemouth was unknown. " Determina-
tion to the seaside " had set up— to use the expression of
Mr. Roberts— and Mudeford seemed in fair way to benefit
by " the craze," and, perhaps, to become a place of con-
siderable size and importance. It had three bathing machines,
and these were laid in a row to permit his Majesty to reach
the barge which conveyed him to the Royal Charlotte yacht
—bound for Weymouth. On the shore witnessing this
singular embarkation, " were drawn up the Scots Greys, the
Yeomanry, and the Loyal Christchurch Volunteer Artillery,
under the command of Colonel Walcott, who fii'ed three
volleys, while the cannon on the Isle of Wight thundered a
salute." But Mudeford never made any very marked
advance, and half a century later we find its enthusiastic
admirer, the Hon. Grantley Berkeley, describing it as " an
unpretending little place " — a " quiet little village, so retired
that when ladies come there, they do not think it necessary
in their walks to be followed by a footman caned and cocked-
hatted." " Nor do they," he adds, " simulate the folly of
those at the neighbouring sea-bathing place, Bournemouth,
and bob about from dell to dell as if they thought every bush
concealed a serpent and a tempting apple, and that they were
never safe unless at church."

30 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

Though not directly concerned with Bournemouth, and
deahng apparently with a period when the nineteenth century
was well advanced, we quote from the " Life and Recollec-
tions " of Mr. Grantley Berkeley an " illustration of watering
place life " in the sister resort at a period when experience
had not definitely proved which of the two daughters of
the " mother town " of Christchurch would attain the greater
dignity and importance. " One amusement of the late Sir
George Rose," says the narrator, " was to constitute himself
constable of the shore at Mudeford, and preside over the
decency he deemed requisite on a public beach. To this work
he was peculiarly urged by one Jane West, who presided
over the bathing temples, whether on wheels or sequestered
beneath the inscription on her hut of ' Hot and cold water
baths.' Any person who sought a lonely nook in the cliffs
between Mudeford and Hurst Castle, about nine miles of
shingly desert, there to indulge in the enjoyment of the
bathing, was the object of this woman's detestation, because
he or she avoided the twelve-penny tax. She applied to
Sir George to protect her ' vested interests ' in the beach,
by the fine of a shilling against all such offenders, as she
considered them. On learning this law, I cut steps in the
cliff from my lawn to the sea, and bathed as I pleased, putting
up a tent just above high-water mark for any ladies who
were staying with me that they might do the same. . . .
A very stout couple, man and wife, of the strictly-speaking
agricultural class, came up to Mrs. West. ' We want to
bathe,' said the man ; ' what do you charge for a machine ? '
' One shilling each,' she replied. ' Each ! ' exclaimed the
farmer ; ' we only want one.' The bathing woman would
not sanction such an impropriety, and indignantly declined
to let her machine ; so they went away up the more lonely
strand beneath Beacon Lodge. One of the look-out men being
on duty saw a fat couple walking beneath the cliffs, among
the debris of some of the fallen blue clay in which there are
fossils, and there they suddenly disappeared : but presently
emerged in a state of nature. In spite of Sir George Rose
and Jane West, they walked hand-in-hand in the sea, and
proceeded to disport themselves among the billows."

Mixed bathing, subject to regulation, has been one of the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 31

innovations of the last few years at Bournemouth. But it
appears to have been practised in the East Bay three-quarters
of a century ago. Mudeford's " King Days," as we have
shown, were long before that. The period of its greatest
fame was before the founding of Bournemouth ! Whether
it was the establishment and development of Bournemouth
that occasioned the neglect of her elder sister we cannot
definitely say ; probably the attraction of the one did militate
against the success of the other. But our present purpose
is sufficiently served by showing that Mudeford preceded
Bournemouth, and that this elder daughter of the " mother
town " of Christchurch, in the early days of the last century,
when Bournemouth was but a wilderness— the haunt of
wildfowl and the frequent resort of men of lawless disposition
and habit — offered an irresistible attraction to many dis-
tinguished people afflicted with what Mr. Roberts has described
as the " new craze " for sea-bathing and sea-air. Hither
came Mr. L. D. G. Tregonwell and his wife, suffering under
a heavy load of bereavement, and needing change of air,
scenery and associations, to restore their shattered health.
And it was from Mudeford they took that little afternoon
drive which resulted in the discovery of Bournemouth— of
which we shall have more to say in a future chapter. Possibly,
had there been no Mudeford, the whole course of Bourne-
mouth history might have been altered. Sooner or later,
of course, it would have been " discovered," but the title of
" Founder of Bournemouth " might have fallen to some one
other than Mr. Tregonwell, and the developments which he
effected might have been differently attempted, and quite
another character have been impressed upon the early
history of the place.

BOURNEMOUTH : 1810-1910. 33

common lands as then existed in all rural areas to remain
tmcultivated, and the general Act mentioned above was
passed as " a means of increasing the national wealth." A
year later, and based on that Act, Parliament passed the
Christchurch Enclosure Act— a statute which has in very
marked and peculiar degree been " a means of increasing
the national wealth."

For our record of local circumstances we are fortunately
enabled to refer not merely to official documents, but to the
testimony given some years ago by one who had personal
recollection of the events referred to. At that time, stretching
right away from Christchurch to Poole was a vast, desolate
heath, covering an area of probably twenty square miles,
" with few, if any, other public roads over it than one from
Longham to Poole, from Wimborne, from Corfe Mullen, and
another from Wareham and Lytchett, all to Poole. Many
wheel tracks there were, which were used almost exclusively
for carting turf, to be used as fuel, from various parts of the
heath to the nearest houses to which it was to be conveyed,
within a few miles of that tract of country ; and a few other,
wheel-tracks or without wheel-tracks, were made for driving
across the heath from the neighbouring towns and villages
by parties resorting to Bournemouth for a sea bath, that
being, even in those early times, a favourite excursion for
that object, and for whose accomniodation, and for smugglers,
there was a small public-house and stables near to the sea.
A few sheep, and occasionally small numbers of cattle, fed
upon the ' common ' when there was any grass for them,
which often occurred during and after damp weather, but
not in very dry seasons. The chief value of the whole district
was, however, for its turf, cut from one inch to three or four
inches thick, which constituted almost the only fuel used at
nearly all houses within some miles of ' the Heath.' Never-
theless, and regardless of its turf, with so much dearth of
food as then existed throughout Great Britain, the enclosure
of Poolo Heath was determined upon." For the purposes of
this enclosure two Acts were obtained : the Canford En-
closure Act, dealing with such lands as were within the
County of Dorset ; and the " Christchurch Enclosure Act,
1802 " (42, George III.), describ#^d as " an Act for dividing.

34 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

allotting and enclosing certain commonable lands and waste
grounds within the Parish of Christchurch, and the Parish
or Chapelry of Holdenhurst, in the Comity of Southampton."

In defining what is meant by a Common " Chambers'
Encyclopaedia " has the following : " This is one of the
numerous instances in which a different meaning is attached
to the same term in the legal systems of England and Scot-
land. In England, the property in the Common land belongs
to the Lord of the Manor, although rights over his Common
lands are possessed by certain persons who hold land in the
manor and are loiown as Commoners. Thus Blackstone
defines a Common as ' the profit which a man hath in the
land of another, as to feed his beasts, to catch fish, to cut
turf, to cut wood, or the like.' " The problem which faced
the Legislature in 1802 was to meet and recognise all existing
rights, and at the same time to advance the general interests
of the public : to add to the wealth of the community with-
out the robbery of the individual. The happy solution of
the problem, locally, seems to have been principally due to
the co-operation of the Lord of the Manor of Westover, Sir
George Ivison Tapps (an ancestor of the present Sir George
Meyrick), and the advocacy of Mr. William Clapcott, of
Holdenhurst. Three Commissioners were appointed to carry
out the requirements of the Act— Messrs. R. Richardson, of
Lincoln's Inn Fields, London ; J. Wickins, of Mapperton,
Dorset ; and W. Clapcott, of Holdenhurst, — and after three
years their task was completed and the results recorded in
what is known as the " Christchurch Enclosure Award."

The first care of the Commissioners was to lay out suit-
able roads, and most of these were formed on the sites of
the old roads and tracks across the heath. The most im-
portant of these were the following : No. 1 — Between Christ-
church and Poole, which is described as beginning at the
south-west end of Poole Lane (about Pokesdown Hill), and
going westward '' over the Great Heath by the Decoy Pond
Cottage, into Canford Heath ; being part of the publick
road from Christchurch to Poole " (the " Decoy Pond
Cottage " was west of the Square). No. 2 — The road from
Great Dean, near Holdenhurst, to " Bourne Mouth,"
^' over Great Dean Common, westward to Dean Drove

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 35

Gate, and thence in or near the present track to the last
named road, and after passing the same," then to the Enghsh
Channel " at Bourne Mouth." (This is the Holdenhurst
Road ; the point at which it passes Road No 1 is Lansdowne,
and the continuation to the sea is the Bath Road). No. 3
corresponds with the present road from Richmond Hill to
Charminster ; No. 4 with the Wimborne Road north of the
Cemetery Corner ; No. 5 is at Redhill ; No. 6 the Sea Road,
Boscombe ; and No. 7 the Exeter Road from the Square to
the Beach.

In order to meet the costs of the Private Act and the
Award, and the expense of carrying the latter into effect,
various portions of the land were sold. Thus 200 acres
on the East Cliff were sold to Sir G. I. Tapps for £l,050 2s. lOd.;
the land above the Bridge (now the Square) on the north side
of the Brook went to Mr. William Driver for £622 Os. 6d. ; 400
acres on the West Cliff and 100 acres on the Holdenhurst
Road were acquired by Mr William Dean for £689 Is. 2d. ;
and 141 acres in the district lying between Sea Road
and Lord Abinger's were secured by Mr. Philip Norris for
£230 6s. 4d. ; making a total of £2,541 10s. lOd. for the
greater part of the sea frontage and adjacent land between
Westbourne and Boscombe— much of it at the present time
worth, irrespective of buildings, more per acre than was then
paid for the whole. These parcels of land do not, of course,
represent the whole of the district, only the parts sold. The
allotment of pieces of land, in respect of various rights over
the wastes, for which no payments were made, was as follows :
—Six large pieces on the south side of Christchurch, Old
Christchurch, and Commercial Roads to Sir G. I. Tapps " for
fuel for ancient cottages, in lieu of the right of cutting tm-f in
the Liberty of the West Stour " (Westover) ; nine allotments
(Malmesbury Park and that district generally) to Lord
Malmesbury, " in lieu of tithes " ; and five portions (Meyrick
Park, etc.), to Sir Geo. I. Tapps, " in respect of his rights in
the soil of the waste grounds." The land surrounding the
Burlington Hotel was given to Lord Malmesbury in a similar
way ; the Boscombe Manor Estate was acquired by Mr. John
Slom'an, of Wick House ; and the land on the north side of
Christchurch Road from the Lansdowne to the Salisbury

36 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Hotel, Boscombe, was given to Dr. Farr, of Iford House. A
large tract of land lying between the old Christchurch Road
and Stewart Road, Malmesbury Park, was given to William
Dean, and included in general allotments to " the several
owners, proprietors, lessees, and customary tenants, and other
persons interested, in proportion to their several and respec-
tive lands, conamon rights, and all other rights whatsoever."

The effect of the distribution of lands which passed under
the provisions of the Act will be naore readily appreciated
by reference to the accompanying copy of the " Award "
map. The cheapest lot sold appears to have been the 600
acres purchased by Mr. William Dean, including about 400
acres extending along the sea front right away from the
Highcliff Hotel to Alum Chine, and about 200 acres in the
vicinity of what is now King's Park. The price for the whole
was but £639 Is. 2d. Portions of the land remain unbuilt
upon ; for such, we suppose, a thousand pounds an acre
would be a very moderate estimate of value.

An incidental, but very important result of this Enclosure
Act and the ensuing Award, should here be mentioned. It
resulted in five tracts of land being kept in statu quo till
very recent years, and then coming into the hands of the
Local Authority under easy terms and conditions. Three
of these large tracts of land have become Meyrick Park,
King's Park, and Queen's Park respectively ; and two others
— at Red Hill and Southbourne respectively— are awaiting
municipal development for similar purposes of public recrea-
tion and enjoyment.

It was consequent also upon the Act of 1802 that the prin-
cipal planting of the pine-woods began. But some pioneer
work had already been attempted, and Sir George Meyrick
has in his possession at Hinton Admiral accounts and state-
ments relating to work done for Sir George Ivison Tapps
in the closing years of the eighteenth century. Whoever
miay have been the originator of the tree-planting scheme,
unquestionably he was a great public benefactor ; he made
the wilderness beautiful, he set into operation forces which
had a modifying effect upon climate and produced conditions
which subsequently gained for Bournemouth wide renown
as a health resort, and ultimately his labours vested Bourne-

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 37

mouth with a characteristic which gives it an entirely distinc-
tive place among British watering places. Bournemouth,
which a century ago had a resident population but little
larger than the family which went into the Ark, to-day
numbers nearly eighty thousand souls ! Yet it still retains
its pine-wood characteristic, and thousands of young trees
are being planted annually to compensate for the wastage
which results from building and other causes. An official
report presented in 1907 showed that the number of fir trees
planted by the Corporation in the past nine years had been
61,000. Since that period the average per annum has been
considerably larger.

Since these pages were commenced evidence has reached
us that the enclosure of the heathland and the subsequent
tree-planting did not meet with the complete approval of
all the parties interested. Mr. Dale, of Tuckton, in 1871,
communicated some interesting reminiscences to the late
Dr. James Kemp-Welch, of Christchurch, and from these
we are permitted to make extract, as follow : —

" I have one remark to make : that if man has made a
great alteration in the appearance of the country, and of my
native place, he has robbed it of one of its greatest beauties,
and I fear deprived us to a certain extent of one of the
greatest blessings. When I look back to the beginning of
this century, when the wide extent of many thousand acres
was clothed with the beautiful heather, and the millions of
busy bees collecting the sweets from its lovely flowers, and
storing them away for the use of man : when I reflect on
the past and think of the present I can hardly feel that the
world is progressing, but retrograding in these days. The
bee garden was by the side of the common from Wick to
Wimborne, on to Corfe and to Lytchett. The hives were
placed, and they swarmed and stayed until September.
Then some was taken for honey, and the other brought
home to the cottages until the May month, when they were
taken back to their old quarters to enjoy and get the sweets
from the same heather that fed and nourished them the last
year. And from what I have been told the district was
much healthier, and the inhabitants lived many more years
then than now. I believe there is a cause of declining health

38 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

in fir trees and rotten wood, and the fungus that is produced
from it is the principal cause of the shortness of Ufe now to
what it was in the last century, for then we had the pure
sea breeze sweeping over the cliffs and then across the
beautiful plateau covered with flowers of various sweets
And such is not to be seen now."

The " Award " map of 1805 shows " Decoy Pond," situate,
as already explained, close to what is now known as the
Square. The exact position of the pond was about three
hundred yards from the Square, near the pathway leading
across the Gardens by the Sanatorium. The dimensions
were about 135 feet long and 66 feet wide. It was practically
a widened part of the Brook. There was also in existence
the Tapps Arms (afterwards re-built as the Tregonwell Arms),
kept ostensibly for the accommodation of fishermen and
picnic parties, but no doubt deriving its principal income
from the patronage of the smugglers and the business which
was carried out on their behalf or through their agency.
Except, possibly, one or two small cottages, there were
no other habitations in the vicinity of the Bourne. But
away on the cliffs beyond " Boscombe Bunny"— on or
near the site of the old " Copperas House "—there was
Boscombe Cottage, or, as it is now known, Boscombe Manor.
Its tenant was one Richard Norris, who, according to Mr.
Ferrey, gave " a most praiseworthy donation of twenty
guineas " for the repair of the beautiful Salisbury Chapel in
Christchurch Priory ; and at a later date Mr. James Dover.

Just outside the radius of the Award map were Stourfield
House, Iford House, and Wick House. Iford, by the way,
affords another illustration of the " new world within an
old one," previously referred to as one of the characteristics
of Bournemouth. It is a village of great antiquity, being
distinctly recorded by the Saxon Chronicler, who designates
it as the spot where many skirmishes took place between
the forces of Edward the Elder and those of Ethelwald, in
their predatory excursions from Wimborne in 901. The
name of the place is given as Yattingaford, but it is not
improbable that at a later period it attained the name closely
resembling that which it now bears, namely, Eaford, com-
posed of two Saxon words, " ea " and " ford," signifying a

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 39

shallow place in a river, which name, by hasty colloquial
pronounciation, and a shght change of orthography, became
Iford. A neat erection, Iford House, circa 1800, presented
to view through a vista formed by a double row of stately
elms, was the residence of Dr. W. D. Farr, the house, with
the estate, occupying the intervening space between the
public road and the River Stour. Stourfield House— placed
on an eminence whence it commanded views that were at
once romantic and extensive, beautiful and varied— is said
to have been erected by Edmund Bott, a relative of Chief
Justice Bott, who wrote the Commentaries on the Poor Laws
of England, and was the first mansion erected on the common
between Christchurch Head and Poole. The Countess of
Strathmore passed here, in retirement, the later years of her
eventftd life, and died here in 1800, whence her remains
were removed to Westminster for interment. Wick House
was occupied by Mr. John Sloman, and its situation, we are
told, afforded every facility for the gratification of his known
predilection for angling and the various sports of the field.

With the exceptions we have named, the whole of the
district now called Bournemouth was uninhabited prior to
the coming of Mr. Tregonwell. In 1811, indeed, the whole
population of Holdenhurst, including various hamlets and a
considerable area now within the County Borough of Bourne-
mouth, was only 491. That number (with the Bournemouth
additions) increased to 580 in 1821, to 733 in 1881, to 905
in 1841. In 1851 the population of Bournemouth itself was
only 695.

One other quotation must suffice as showing the condition
of things prior to 1810, and then we must go on to deal
with the coming of Mr. Tregonwell, and the great events
which followed. In " Observations on the Western Parts of
England, relative chiefly to picturesque beauty," by the
Rev. W. Gilpin (the original of " Dr. Syntax "), written
about 1778 and published in 1808, the author, referring to
this district, says : — " Our route from Pool to Christchurch
led us over a heath, wilder almost than any we had yet
found ; but it scarcely lasted four miles. It ended in agree-
able lanes, through a country not unpleasant. At least, the
contrast with the country we had just seen gave it a pleasant

40 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

appearance. Here, whenever we had an opening on the
right, we had views of the sea, the Isle of Wight and the
Needles." Gilpin noted the picturesque, but it was left to
Mr. Tregonwell to discover the fuller charm of the neigh-
bourhood : the practical advantages which it offered as a
seaside resort,— in a word, to discern that combination of
beauty and salubrity which was afterwards to suggest the
town's motto (" Pulchritudo et Salubritas ").

CHAPTER VI.

The Founder and His Family.

BOUKNDMOUTH'S STOBT A ROMANCE — THE TREGONWELLS OP MiLTON ABBEY

— ^A Child's MAnvBiious Escape axd a " Thankfuld Acknowi^edq-
MENT op God's Wondebpuix Mercy " — A Chained Library — Sir
Jacob Banokes and His Monument to John Milton — The Member

FOB CHMISTCHUBCH AND THE COTTNTY HISTORIAN OP DORSET — THE

Knights op the Royal Oak — The Pounder op Bournemouth and
His Descendants — Captain Tregonwell and His Patrol op Bourne
Chine — The Dorset Bangers — Royal Bathing to Musical Accom-
paniment — A Celebrated Portrait Painter and His Picture op
Mr. Lewis Tregonwell — The Portrait in the Bournemouth Council
Chamber.

" The story of Bournemouth is not a history, but a romance."
So says the Rev. Telford Varley in his charming book on
" Hampshire." Certainly there is much that is romantic in
the circumstances of its discovery, the remarkable transforma-
tion that has been effected, and in the life history of some of
the people who have been most prominently identified with
it. The coming of Mr. Tregonwell in 1810, as we shall show
later on, was a mere day excursion from Mudeford ; but
it was fraught with magnificent consequences. It opened
up a revelation of wonderful beauty. Mr. Tregonwell was
keen enough to see that a place with such physical character-
sties as " Bourne" presented must also be salubrious, and
with commendable enterprise he " grasped the skirts of happy
chance," purchased land, built houses, and did other pioneer
work to "bring Bournemouth into notice as a watering
place." L-viS;:

'-^ But before we proceed to deal with the founding of Bourne-
mouth let us first direct attention to the Founder and his
family. The name Tregonwell suggests a Cornish origin.

By Tre, Pol, Pen

You may always know the Cornish men.

The fact^'corresponds with the suggestion. Dorset was the
home of^the family for three centuries, but it derives its
surnametfrom its ancient seat, Tregonwell, in Cornwall,
where, it~is recorded, " they builded many places, and had

42 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

many lands and manors before the Norman Conquest." The
first Tregonwell who appears in the Dorset annals was Dr.
John Tregonwell, D.C.L., who is said to have at one time
been the Principal of a small college now incorporated with
Christ Church, Oxford, and who made his reputation by the
support he gave Henry VIII. in connection with the divorce
of Catharine of Arragon. For this he received a pension of
£40 a year, and was soon afterwards made Chief Judge of
the Admiralty. In 1538 he was appointed a Commissioner
to receive the resignation of religious houses in England, and
in the following year Henry granted him the Milton Abbey
Estate, in consideration of the payment of a sum of £l,000
and the forfeiture of the pension already mentioned. Subse-
quently he sat in Parliament as member for Scarborough,
received the honour of knighthood at the hands of Queen
Mary, and was Sheriff both of Dorset and Somerset. He
lived for many years at Milton, and in the Abbey Church
there is a canopied monument of Purbeck marble with an
inscription : " Here lyeth buried Syr John Tregonwell,
Knyght, Doctor of the Cyvill Lawes, and one of the Maisters
of the Chauncerye, who Dyed the Xlllth day of January,
in the year of our Lorde 1565. Of whose soule God have
m'cy." Hutchins suggests that " he must have been a man
of much ability and policy to pass through so many great
employments in different reigns, and in very unsettled
times," while the Vicar of Milton Abbey (the Rev. Herbert
Pentin, Hon. Secretary to the Dorset Field Club, from whose
writings we have been permitted to make extract) says his
memory is " revered in Milton in that he was chiefly instru-
mental in preserving the Abbey Church for the use of the
parishioners."

Sir John was succeeded in the possession of Milton Manor
by his grandson, and he in turn by his son, another John
Tregonwell, who purchased the manor and farm of Abbot's
Court, formerly the property of the Turberville family (the
" D'Urbervilles " of Thomas Hardy's " Tess "), and some
other estates, including Anderson Manor. Sir John got into
trouble " for deserting the Parliament and residing in the
King's quarters," but compounded for his estate by the
payment of a fine of £3,735. " He and his elder son were

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 43

neuter, but his second son Thomas in arms for the King. He
was Sheriff of Dorset, 1604, 1615, 1627." In 1620 he built
the " faire house " at Anderson, of which Inigo Jones is
traditionally reported to have been the architect, and, on
the marriage of his son John, took up his residence there in
1624. From this period dates the two branches of the
family— the Tregonwells of Milton Abbey and the Tregonwells
of Anderson.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century the heir of
the Milton estates was John Tregonwell, born in 1598. When
about five years old he was taken one day by his nurse to the
roof of the south transept of the Abbey, where repairs were
then going on. Some attraction appears to have diverted
the nurse's attention from her charge, and the child took
advantage of her carelessness by climbing the parapet, which
alone fenced in the roof, to seize a wild rose growing out of
the wall. In so doing he overbalanced himself, and fell
right over, descending at one fall a depth of sixty feet. The
nurse, seeing the result of her neglect, rushed down the
turret steps, through the church into the churchyard, expect-
ing as a matter of course to find the child dashed to pieces ;
but she could scarcely credit her senses when she found him
entirely unhurt, not even stunned, but busy picking daisies !
The child was wearing at the time a very full dress made
of nankeen, and as there was a strong wind blowing, the
dress, becoming inflated, acted as a parachute, completely
breaking the force of the fall ! Mrs. Harkness, a grand-
daughter of the Founder of Boiu-nemouth, has in her
possession a portrait of the child — as he was at or about
the time of his marvellous adventure.

This John Tregonwell afterwards became High Sheriff of
Dorset, and died at the age of 82. At his death, in 1680,
his widow, Jane, daughter of Sir Robert Fenn, Lord Mayor
of London in 1638, put up a tablet in the Abbey commemorat-
ing the remarkable deliverance. The inscription reads as
follows : " To the memory of John Tregonwell, late of Milton
Abbas, in the County Dorset, Esqr. ; who dyed the 20th of
January, 1680, and by his last will and testament gave all
the bookes within this Vestry to the use of this Abbey Church
for ever as a thankfuld acknowledgment of God's wonderfull

44 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

mercy in his preservation when he fell from the top of this
Church is this Monument erected at the proper cost and
charges of Jane Tregonwell, his relict and executrix."

The " bookes " to which the tablet refers have also had
a history and a deliverance. They formed a " Chained
Library," and for more than eighty years remained in the
vestry. Then, imfortunately, the Vicar of the day had them
taken to his own house, and stowed away in a garret. They
suffered considerable mutilation at the hands of domestics
searching for curl-papers and fire-paper, chains were wrenched
off and bindings damaged, and when rescue came it was
found that seven of the volumes had perished altogether.

The last of the Tregonwells who lived at Milton was Mary,
the beautiful and wealthy daughter of John Tregonwell,
Esq. She was twice naarried, her first husband being Colonel
Francis Luttrell, of Dunster Castle, Somerset. After his
death she resided for a time in London. Her house was burnt
to the ground, but she herself was rescued from the flames
by the gentleman who became her second husband, Sir
Jacob Banckes, a native of Stockholm. He came to England
as Secretary to his uncle, John Birkman, Count of Lezen-
burgh, Swedish Ambassador to the British Court in 1681.
Banckes rendered distinguished service in the British Navy,
was knighted in 1699, and was member of Parliament for
Minehead, in Somerset. Hutchins says he was also " a
great patron of literary men, among whom he himself ranked.
He erected a monument to Milton, and died at Wimbledon,
1724." Through him we have another personal link between
Milton and Bournemouth, for Sir Jacob was succeeded by
his second son— another Jacob— who was twice elected
M.P. for Christchurch, in succession to the Sir Peter Mews
who gave a letter or " bond " to the burgesses insuring
them against any claim for wages or other expenses on
account of his services in Parliament. Hutchins writes of
Mr. Banckes in terms of glowing eulogy. He was, we are
told, " a most accomplished and well-read gentleman, his
person graceful, his presence noble, his deportment and
address engaging, polite, affable, and humane. Pie had a
natural vivacity of spirit, and a peculiar sweetness of temper ;
and he studied to be agreeable without lessening his dignity.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 45

He -was a true lover of his country, a firm friend to the con-
stitution in Church and State, and extremely popular in
this county, in which his interest and reputation exceeded
that of those who were his superiors only in point of fortune.
. . . His probity and integrity were inflexible, he was a
lover of truth, a strict observer of his word and the exactest
rules of honour, from which he never deviated. Open,
candid, and sincere, he scorned the mean arts of cunning,
dissimulation, and design, and tempered the plainness and
simplicity of the ancient English with the politeness of the
modern." Hutchins' appreciation was not without good
cause : he has put it on record that he revered Banckes
alike " on account of his pubhc virtues " and because of
" many unmerited marks of his favour and friendship " ;
and the Rev. George Bingham, in his " Biographical Anec-
dotes," supplements this with a statement which adds a
wonderful touch of romance to the story. Hutchins was
Curate of Milton and assistant-master at the Grammar
School. It was this engagement which " first introduced him
to the notice, then to the acquaintance, and soon to the
friendship " of Mr. Banckes ; and it was the research which
he made into the memoirs of Sir John Tregonwell which
" first engaged him in his inquiries into antiquity and laid
the plan of his future history." " Great events," we are
told, " from Uttle causes flow." It was comparatively a
" little " thing that Mr. Banckes— erstwhile M.P. for Christ-
church— in 1737 commissioned Hutchins to investigate the
family history of the Tregonwells ; the compiling and pub-
lication of Hutchins' monumental history of Dorset was
certainly a " great event."

Sir Jacobs Banckes was succeeded by his son, who died
intestate in 1737. Mi'. Thomas Tregonwell, of Anderson,
claimed the large property of which Mr. Banckes died seized,
as his heir ex parto materna, and accordingly commenced a
law suit against Mr. Strahan, the heir to Mr. Banckes, ex
parte paterna. Protracted and, no doubt, costly proceedings
ended in a compromise. Then a new claimant appeared, and
another arrangement had to be made. Next, " to prevent
further trouble, as other claimants might appear from Sweden,
and such were industriously sought for, Mr. Strahan procured

46 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

an Act of Parliament, 25 George II., to obviate doubts that
might arise on an Act made 11-12 WilUam III. to enable
natural born subjects to inherit the estates of their ancestor,
either lineal or collateral, though their father or mother were
aliens."

In the time of Charles II. one John Tregonwell was included
in a list of persons designated for nomination as members
of an Order of Knights of the Royal Oak, which the " Merrie
Monarch " intended to found as a reward to such as had
distinguished themselves by their loyalty (see Hutchins'
" History of Dorset "). The Knights were to wear a silver
medal with a device of the King in the royal oak. The
proposal, however, was laid aside lest it should create ani-
mosities. Whether the John Tregonwell referred to belonged
to the Anderson or Milton branch it is difficult to determine ;
the Christian name of John was common to both branches.
Every generation in each had its own representative, and
it was no uncommon thing for three, four, or more John
Tregonwells to be living at the same time.

The Founder of Bournemouth— Mr. Lewis Dymoke Gros-
venor Tregonwell, who was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy-
Lieutenant for Dorset — descended from the Anderson branch
of the family, and was the son and heir of the Thom.as Tregon-
well who sued for the Milton Estate. His mother was Hen-
rietta Eleonora, daughter of Michael Lister, Esq., and cousin
of Lord Ribblesdale. He was born on the 14th February,
1758, and married, first, Katherine, daughter and sole heiress
of St. Barbe Sydenham, Esq., of Priory, Devon, and Coombe,
Somerset ; and, secondly, Henrietta, daughter of H. W.
Portman, Esq., of Bryanstone, Blandford. By his first wife
he had two daughters and one son ; by his second two sons
and one daughter. Mr. St. Barbe Tregonwell, who is still
remembered by some Bournemouth residents, was a member
of the first family. We shall have occasion to refer to him
again later on ; here it is sufficient to state that he was
born in 1782, and died in 1859. He was never married.
Of the two daughters of the Founder's first marriage, one
died young, and the other— Helen Ellery— married, in 1814,
Captain John Duff Markland, R.N. Her eldest daughter,
Miss Sophia Markland, still survives, and has shown much

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 4^

interest in the arrangements for the celebration of the Cen-
tenary of the great watering-place founded by her grand-
father. So also has Mrs. Harkness, another of Mr. Tregon-
well's grand-daughters, to whom the compilers of this work
are particularly indebted for interesting information, and
who has taken infinite pains to render them such assistance
as was within her power. Of the two sons born of the Founder's
second marriage, one— Grosvenor Portman— died in infancy ;
the second was Mr. John Tregonwell, who was personally
and prominently associated with the early government of
Bournemouth. He was born on the 26th September, 1811,
and is described in the family pedigree given in " Hutchins'
History " as " of Cranborne Lodge, Dorset, and Bournemouth,
CO. Southampton." He married in 1836, Rachael, daughter
of the Rev. Robert Lowth, and grand-daughter of the Rt.
Rev. Robert Lowth, D.D., Bishop of London, by whom
he had a family of three daughters. He died in 1885. Miss
Henrietta Lewina Tregonwell (born 1802), only daughter
of the Founder of Bournemouth by his second marriage, in
1825 married Hector William Bower Monro, of Edmondsham,
Dorset, and Ewell Castle, Surrey, eldest son of Lieutenant
General Monro, some time Governor of Trinidad, and a
descendant from the ancient family of Monro, of Foulis
Castle, Ross-shire. Through this lady the Tregonwell estates
in Bournemouth descended to her son Hector (J.P. and D.L.
for Dorset and High Sheriff of the County in 1870), and from
him to his son Mr. Hector Edmond Monro, the present holder,
who was born on the 30th August, 1855, and is High Sheriff
of Dorset for the current year. The Anderson (Dorset) and
Ashington (Somerset) estates passed through Mrs. Mark-
land (mentioned above) to the Markland family, and have
since been sold.

Further details of the Founder's career are chronicled
in the next chapter. But before proceeding to deal with
that visit to the Evergreen Valley which he paid with Mrs.
Tregonwell in the summer of 1810, and which had such
momentous results, it may be interesting to put on record
the fact that his personal acquaintance with Bournemouth
—or Bourne— was of a much earher date. In the closing
years of the eighteenth century, as mentioned in our Chapter

48 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

on Coast Defence, the country was agog with expectation of
an attempted invasion by the French ; a great wave of
patriotism swept over the country, and active, well organised,
and timely preparations were made against such an even-
tuality. We have told on the testimony of Mr. West, an
old resident, now deceased, something of what was done in
the neighbourhood of Bournemouth ; we have now to supple-
ment this by reference to work in which the Founder of
Bournem^outh took prominent and honourable part. On
the initiation of Lord Milton, in the year 1794, a Corps of
Light Infantry was formed in the County of Dorset, " to
serve during the war in the Volunteer Cavalry of Dorset."
The corps was designated the Dorset Rangers, and among the
list of officers first enrolled appears the name of Lieutenant
L. D. G. Tregonwell, of Cranborne. On the 17th September,
1794, the corps was reviewed at Maiden Castle by his Majesty
the King, " who returned them thanks and expressed much
pleasure at seeing them all alert and forward in their man-
oeuvres."

The " Records of the Dorset Yeomanry " state that in
the autumn of 1796, " the Lord Lieutenant, with the advice
of Government, thinking it right that precautions should be
taken for driving the stock to some place of security in case
of invasion, divided that part of the county which is situated
on the coast into six districts, giving the care of a district
to each Captain of the Yeomanry ; and the farmers in each
were desired to make a return of the number of cattle, etc.,
and acres of corn which they had, together with the number
of men necessary to remove them." These six districts
were subsequently extended to nine, and to Mr. Lewis
Tregonwell, who had become Captain in 1795, with his son,
Mr. St. Barbe Tregonwell, as Lieutenant, was assigned
responsibility for a district which not only comprised the
easternmost part of the Dorset coast, but the very place
where he subsequently founded a new seaside health resort.

Quoting again from the " Records of the Dorset Yeomanry,"
under date 1801 we get the following : — " In the course of
this summer, fears of invasion became more prevalent from
the enemy having collected great bodies of troops all along
the coast of France from Dunkirk to Brest, and more regula-

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 4^

tions were accordingly made for the defence of the maritime
counties. In Dorsetshire the Yeomanry Cavalry were in the
first instance to remove the stock from the coast to the
distance of about eight or ten miles inland, and afterwards
to assemble in places of rendezvous to act against the enemy
if occasion should require. . . . Captain Tregonwell's
division is formed from the eastern boundary of the county
at a place called Bourne Chine along the north shore to
Poole, and extends northwards from Poole along the turn-
pike road to Wimborne, from thence eastward along the
Ringwood road to the 10th mile stone, and by a river called
the Allen to a place called Sibbols, and from Sibbols in a
direct line to Riddle's Ford, and from thence in a direct line
to the 5th mile stone on the Christchurch-road ; and from
thence to Bourne Chine." Captain Tregonwell's patrol, it
appears, not only took in the easternmost seaboard of Dorset,
but crossed the boundary and included part, at least, of
the district now known as Bournemouth, and the actual site
of the watering-place which he founded in 1810-11. No
wonder need be expressed that the Dorset Men should thus
take responsibility for a part, however small, of Hampshire,
seeing that in the old maps Bournemouth almost invariably
appears as within the County of Dorset.

According to tradition it was the band of the Dorset
Rangers which, concealed in a bathing machine, " struck up
' God save great George our King,' " when his Majesty
" popped his royal head under water on the first occasion
of his bathing in Weymouth Bay."

Apparently the officers were very proud of their corps—
as they had reason to be— for besides the written record
of their service, extending over many years, there was got
together a collection of portraits by Thomas Beach, one of
the most distinguished portrait painters of the eighteenth
century. Beach, we may add, was a pupil of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, P.R.A., and an exhibitor at the Royal Academy
and in connection with the Incorporated Society of Artists.
Three of his pictTires were included in the Exhibition of
National Portraits in 1867. His most celebrated work is
his picture of John Kemble and Mrs. Siddons, in " Macbeth,"
of which the great tragic actress wrote, " My brother's

50 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

head is the finest I have ever seen." He died at Dorchester
in 1806, and his life work and association with the county
of Dorset are commemorated on a tablet in All Saints'
Church, Dorchester.

The " Dorset Ranger " portraits, some twelve in number,
-were formerly in the Came House Library. They were
offered by the third Earl of Portarlington to the Dorchester
Corporation, as a gift for the Town Hall, but declined.
Captain Tregonwell's name is missing from the list, but the
gallant captain was not excluded from the commission, or
commissions, given to Beach. Indeed, it would have been a
very curious circumstance had there been such an exception,
for Beach was a native of Milton Abbey, and intimately
as the Tregonwells were associated with Milton, they would
not have been likely to overlook the claims of one who,
eminent in his profession, must surely have been an acquaint-
ance, and possibly a friend— an artist, too, who had received
the patronage of his brother officers. The explanation why
Captain Tregonwell's portrait was not included in the list
offered to the Dorchester Corporation would appear to be
due to family reasons. It was in the possession of the Portar-
lington family till 1889. Then, when Colonel Dawson Damer-
of Portman Lodge, Bournemouth— succeeded to the peerage,
inquiry as to the picture was made by the late Mrs. J. Tregon-
well, and it was found at Emo Park, in Ireland, which Lord
Portarlington had given over to his son. Lord Carlow. The
latter agreed to sell the picture for a sum of £250. Mrs.
Tregonwell purchased it, and it is now in the possession of
her daughter, Mrs. Harkness.

Having acquired possession of the original portrait, Mrs. J.
Tregonwell thought it would be an appropriate thing to
present the copy, which had hitherto been kept at Cranborne,
to the town of Bournemouth. Accordingly, early in 1890
she sent a letter to the Commissioners making them an offer
of the picture. It was, of course, accepted, and the gift
was formally received at a meeting on the 13th June, the
presentation being made on behalf of Mrs. Tregonwell by
the Rev. Canon P. F. Eliot (now Dean of Windsor), who briefly
reviewed the circumstances of Mr. Tregonwell's visit to
Bournemouth in 1810 and his claim to be regarded as the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 51

Founder, adding that Mrs. Tregonwell hoped the Com-
missioners would accept the gift and place it among other
historic portraits of the town.
- The picture, which has a classic background, shows a
gentleman of very amiable appearance— with none of that
fierceness of aspect which we associate with the soldier as
depicted in, say, Shakespeare's " Seven Ages." He is arrayed
in uniform, as are all the officers in the Came House collection.
The uniform was dark green, with a crimson silk girdle and
white leather breeches. The helmet was of black bear skin
with peak, with a black and white check band round the
base bearing the words " Dorset Rangers," and surmounted
with red and white ostrich plumes. The portrait, no doubt,
is a fine presentment of Captain Tregonwell as he appeared
in real life in the closing days of the eighteenth century and
the beginning of the nineteenth. It is not seen to advantage
in the Coimcil Chamber. It needs a strong Ught to reveal
its merits. Then it is found to be not only a clever drawing,
but a fine piece of coloturing. The richness of its tone
is entirely lost unless a strong light is upon it, and, of course,
much of its detail is similarly sacrificed.

In the right-hand bottom corner of the picture appears
the name " Lewis Tregonwell, Cranborne Lodge," and a
tablet on the frame is inscribed : " L. D. G. Tregonwell,
Esq., Founder of Boiurnemouth, 1810-11. Presented to the
town of Bournemouth by Mrs. Tregonwell, widow of John
Tregonwell, son of the above ; February, 1890."

CHAPTER VII.

The Building of the Mansion.

Hon. GRANTr,ET Bebkelet's Fajtoiful PrcTtrRE op the Founding and
THE Founder op Bournemouth — Mr. Treoonwell's Visit in 1810 —
Bournemouth Then an " Unrbciaimed Solitude " — Purchase op
Land prom Sib George Tapps — The Building op " The Mansion "

AND op PORTMAN LoDQE — " BOURNE TREGONWELL " TRAVELLING

Between Cranbobnb and Bournemouth — Amusing Story op a Royal
Visit to Cranbobnb — The "Death op " The Founder " — The Foun-
der's Sons and Their Association With Boubnemouth — Mb. hT-
Babbe Trbgonwell and the Pishebmbn's Bogs — The Foundeb's
Tome in St. Peter's Ohurchtabd.

An amusing and fanciful picture of the Founder and the
founding of Bournemouth was given many years ago by the
late Mr. Grantley Berkeley. It is not entirely in accordance
with historic fact, but it is entertaining, and quotation here
may not be inappropriate or unwelcome : —

" It's an odd place, and of strange history. Listen ! I
knew it when it was in its wild state of heather, and its name
was only known from the juncture of the little rivulet of
Bourne, at that particular spot, with the sea. On a dark
night, a lord of the soil drove up in his carriage, and, halting
on a slight eminence, he exclaimed to his steward, ' How
far am I from the sea ? '

" ' Close, sir,' was the reply ; ' you will hear the surf if
you listen.'

" ' Good,' said the great man, ' let there be houses here ;
and mind, as people at watering places love shaded and
sequestered spots, plant— plant, sir, well with the Scotch fir
— fir, d'ye mind me, nothing else will grow.'

" ' Where shall we plant, sir ? '

" ' Here, here,' said the great man, waving his hand in the
murky air, and turning round till he forgot his position as
regarded the whereabouts of the vasty deep, and ordered
the trees to be planted in front of the row of houses.

" The lord of the soil who commanded this was a gentleman
of the old school, of a warm heart and an open hand, and
one whom to know was but to like ; his word was a law

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 53

against which there was no appeal, so his steward obeyed
him to the letter.

" House upon house, no two of them at all alike, soon
reared their walls over the dreary heather, till the village or
watermg place assumed the likeness of a Chinese puzzle.
. . . The houses had scarce been raised by their pro-
prietors before wise men were found to take them ; an inn
was built, baths sprang up, bathing machines of different
patterns spotted the beach, fat women were found to attend
them, and there was nothing wanted but a parson, a butcher,
a baker, and an hostler ; the doctor and the lawyer were
regarded as sure to follow of then- own free will, as Satan
may be supposed finally to attend a congregation of sinners."

Mr. Grantley Berkeley's story, as we have said, is a fanciful
one. But it was written, nevertheless, with a knowledge and
due appreciation of the forces which have made Bourne-
mouth : the planting of the pine trees,— the adoption of a
policy which eventuated in a " Pleasure City of Detached
Mansions."

It was not on a dark and stormy night, but one day in
the month of July, 1810, that the Founder of Bournemouth
paid the visit which resulted in the purchase of land, the
building of a mansion, the laying out of an estate, and the
forming of a new centre of seaside resort. Mr. Tregonwell,
as has already been shown, must have been acquainted with
" Bourne Chine " for some years before 1810 ; but probably
his mind had been too occupied with military plans and
other matters to think of it as a desirable place of residence.
He had been Sheriff of the county, was one of the leaders
of Dorset society, and infected, perhaps, by what Mr. Roberts
has described as the " seaside mania," he had gone to Mude-
ford— then a place of high repute for its sea-bathing, whither
had come royal and other distinguished visitors, and which
had shown its enterprise by the provision of no less than
seven bathing machines ! Mrs. Tregonwell had accompanied
him, driving over from their Dorset home with the big, strong
horses and chariot which afterwards became so familiar. No
doubt, like Sir Walter Scott, while they made Mudeford their
temporary home, they wandered east and west,— inland as
well as along the beach. At all events, one July day they

54 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

drove over to Bourne Chine, and put up at the httle wayside
inn then known as the Tapps Arms, standing in what is
now the Old Christchurch Road, and on the land now occu-
pied by Post Office Road at its junction with the Old Christ-
church Road. From the inn they no doubt wandered down
the Chine to the sea-shore, and they appear to have been
greatly impressed with the beauty and the possibilities of
the place. The family tradition is that it was upon Mrs.
Tregonwell that the greater impression was made : to her,
no doubt, it presented more novelty than it did to her
husband, and she probably saw it under most favourable
conditions. Some time before, Mrs. Tregonwell had lost her
infant son Grosvenor— who died on the very day of his
christening. An event so sad naturally affected her very
greatly ; she could not forget it,— she could not cease to
trouble about it. When she suggested she would like to
build a house at Bournemouth, Mr. Tregonwell, anxious to
do anything to distract her mind from trouble, readily fell
in with her wish, and negotiations were soon in progress for
the acquirement of land. Mrs. Tregonwell kept a diary.
That diary is still in existence,— and it shows that following
the visit to " Bourne " on the 14th July, there was another
on the 30th, and further and frequent visits in September,
October, November and December. There was much going
to and fro again in March and April of 1811 ; in June they
came over from Christchurch every day for a week— a fact
significant not of pleasure-taking alone, but of business.
The erection of " the Mansion " had been determined upon
and commenced. But, apparently, it was not completed till
the spring of the following year, for the entry in Mrs. Tre-
gonwell's Diary under date April 24th, 1812, reads as follows :

" "Went to Bourne. Slept there for the first time."

At this period Bournemouth is said to have been an "un-
reclaimed solitude." The valley was a swamp ; the broad
heathlands were not broken up with pine woods as they
became some years later ; the place was the haunt of wild
fowl, and except for occasional picnic-parties in the summer-
time, the only visitors were fishermen from Poole or Christ-
church and the smugglers engaged in contraband trade with

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910. 35

France, — to whom, of course, its solitude was a recommendation.
Mr. Tregonwell obtained land for building from Sir George
Tapps, purchasing part of what was Lot 31 of the Enclosure
Award, described in the title deeds as " all that piece or
parcel of common land or heath land situate, lying, being,
at or near Bourn, in the Parish of Holdenhurst, containing
by estimation eight acres and two roods and eight perches,
. bounded by a footpath or way leading from the
Decoy and Cottage by the Decoy Enclosures on the east, by
a public carriage way leading from the said Decoy Cottage,
to the sea on the west," etc. For this he paid £179 lis., in
" lawful English money." It was upon this land that Mr.
Tregonwell built the mansion subsequently known as Exeter
House. The footway may be identified as Exeter Lane, the
carriage way as Exeter Road. It has been sometimes assumed
that Mr. Tregonwell made the Decoy Pond ; in a previous
chapter, however, it was shown that the Decoy Pond and
the " Decoy Pond House " were in existence in 1762, and
the Award map of 1805 marks the Pond's position as to the
west of the Brook, some little way above what is now the
Square. The extract from Mr. Tregonwell's title deeds,
quoted above, further indicates its former position, and that
it must have been a well-known spot. The present 'Coy
Pond— far up the valley— dates from a much later period,
after the valley had been drained and the original Decoy
Pond had disappeared.

Mr. Tregonwell made subsequent purchases of Sir George
Tapps in 1814 and in 1822, paying in the former instance
at the rate of about £40 per acre, and in the latter £60 per
acre. Exeter Park cost little more than £20 an acre ! The
accompanying plan shows Bourne Tregonwell as it was some
few years after the Founder's settlement. He owned, it will
be seen, the stretch of land from the Square nearly, but not
quite, down to the sea-front- Sir George Tapps still retaining
possession of the meadow, now the Lower Pleasure Gardens,
—and the Earl of Malmesbury being the owner of a large
plot on the immediate sea-front. Mr. Erie Drax was in
possession of the West Cliff front up to where the Coastguard
Station now is -the former haunt of the gipsies. Mr. Tre-
gonwell had obtained possession of practically the whole of

56 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

the land between Exeter Road and what is now Tregonwell
Road, but Sir George Tapps retained a small portion on the
western side of the Square— just opposite the point where
the Brook then meandered over the roadway. Another
block owned by Mr. Tregonwell extended from the foot of
Richmond Hill up that thoroughfare as far as Yelverton
Road, bounded on the other side by the Old !°Christ-
church Road, and including the present site of Southbourne
Terrace, the Young Women's Christian Association, the
Town Hall Avenue, the Post Office, the Theatre Royal,
and other valuable properties. The Founder also acquired
the Tapps Arms, which he re-built and named the Tregonwell
Arms. After Mr. Tregonwell's death his widow sold part of
this land at the rate of £800 an acre. When it came into
the market again some thirty years later another enormous
accretion of value was shown, and in 1886 the corner site
at the foot of Richmond Hill, whereon St. Andrew's Presby-
terian Church formerly stood, was sold for £7,000, a price
equivalent to nearly £100,000 an acre. For a plot of land
in the Post Office Road offered to the Borough Education
Authority in 1903 the sum of £10,000 was asked, though the
area of the land was less than a quarter of an acre. And
this in what is practically a side street !

The first conveyance of land from Sir George Ivison Tapps
to Mr. Tregonwell was dated the 25th September, 1810.
The building of the Mansion was commenced in 1811, and
the house was in occupation early in 1812. Henceforward,
Mr. and Mrs. Tregonwell spent some considerable part of
every year at Bournemouth. Soon they gathered friends
around them, and other building was commenced. The
little colony at first was made up of relatives, but it quickly
extended. The thatched house now known as Portman
Lodge is an extension of a four-roomed cottage erected in
1810, and formerly known as Symes' Cottage, Symes being
the name of the butler, who lived there, and who probably
looked after the erection of " the Mansion." The original
plan of the cottage is still in existence, and in the possession
of Mr. Monro. It is inscribed " A Bourne Plan, 1810. Done
for Bourne. Symes' Cottage. Drawn by Mr. Evans."
Other buildings provided at that early stage included Terrace

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 57

Cottage— a predecessor of the present house of that name—
which was put up for the accommodation of the gardener,
who had the charge not only of the gardens but of " the
Orchard "—which ran from Terrace Road down into Com-
mercial Road, and which is commemorated in the names of
Orchard Street and Orchard Lane. The coach-house, in-
corporated in a modern villa, still stands in Exeter Road.
The name Exeter Road commemorates the visit— early in
the last century— of the Marchioness of Exeter, who was
the first tenant to whom Mr. Tregonwell let his original
Mansion. That house, by the way, still stands— incorporated
in the Royal Exeter Hotel. That was the first residence
of Bournemouth's first " proprietor resident."

The following, taken from an old newspaper, is the text
of an advertisement published in 1820— an advertisement
which secured the first letting of the Mansion : —

A MARINE RESIDENCE LOOKING TO THE SEA.

TO BE LET (furnished), a modern detached convenient HOUSE
at Bourne Mouth, midway between Poole and Ohristchurch, con-
sisting of three parlours, Ifift. and 17ft. each, nearly square, fronting
the sea, six or seven bedrooms, kitchen, scuUery, housekeeper's room,
servants' hall, larder, etc. Also a coach-house, stable for two horses,
a garden full cropped, a well of good water, and a bathing machine.
The situation is particularly airy and healthy, in the centre of a fine
open bay between Christchurch Head and Branksea Castle ; there is
an easy approach to a very beautiful beach of several mUes extent.
The house stands on a green near the high road and a small Inn,
where carriers stop daily on their way to the two nearest market towns.
A butcher and a baker will bring provisions. Cows are kept on the spot.
The terms are moderate, and may be known by a letter, addressed to
the Post OfBce, Cranborne, Dorset, or to H. Hayter, Bourne Cliff, near
Christchurch, Hants.

Mr. Tregonwell soon commenced tree-planting, and other-
wise developing his estate, devoting particular care to the
beautiful glen which he called the Cranborne Gardens— now
the Winter Gardens. Here he spent a considerable part of
his time, and here, on his death, his widow erected a cenotaph
— a massive pedestal surmounted by an urn, and bearing
the following inscription : —

THIS URN

Marks the Favourite Spot op

L. D. G. TREGONWELL,

Late of Cranborne Lodge, Dorset, Esq.,

The First Proprietor Resident

AT Bournemouth,

And to His Beloved Memory

Is Dedicated,

By His Widow Henrietta,

Daughter of Henry Willl^m Portman, Esq.,

1832.

58 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Mr. Tregonwell lived, it will be noticed, some twenty years
after he became the first proprietor-resident of Bournemouth.
He divided his time between residence at his new country-seat
at Cranborne and sojourning by the sea-side. Tradition says
the yearly migration was accomplished in two stages ; his
first stage was from Cranborne to a now defunct but formerly
well-known old coaching establishment called the Crown
Inn, at Oakley, near Vi'^imborne ; there he used to lunch and
rest the horses, and then on to Bournemouth. On Sundays
the family used to drive over to Poole, and attend service at
St. James' Church— for, till years after the Founder's death,
Bournemouth had no place of worship of its own. Mr.
William Hibbs, now in his 89th year, remembers the time
when he used to be summoned from Wimborne to Cranborne
to drive Mrs. Tregonwell to Bournemouth. Mr. Hibbs is
probably the oldest living " post boy," and has recollections
of Bournemouth extending over three-quarters of a century.

The records of the family life at Bournemouth are very
scanty, but such as they are suggest happiness and simple
enjoyment. They bathed, of course— and the quaint machines
which they used, of singular circular construction, remained
in existence till far into the latter half of the century, and are
depicted in our illustration showing the wooden jetty. And
they had other innocent amusement— as revealed in a very
entertaining and prophetic document compiled by Mrs.
Drax Grosvenor, for perusal of which we are in-
debted to the courtesy of Mrs. Harkness. It suggests that
in the early history of the family's settlement, Bourne-
Bourne Tregonwell as it came to be called— was " a lonely
and rather desolate spot— the only neighbours a gang of
gipsies and the smugglers." But the writer saw the possibility
of, and predicted, great developments— some of which have
happened, and some have not.

The play is entitled " A Peep into Futurity ; or. Small
Talk at Bourne some 60 years hence, between the Dandies
and Elegants of the day " (the " sixty years hence " would
mean 1876). It is accompanied by a number of very amusing
drawings, and dedicated to the " Most excellent Governor "
Tregonwell, with an intimation that it is " meant as a frontis-
piece to a new work now in hand, entitled " The History of

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 59

the Bourne Colony from its first inhabitants and the present
times, with a sketch of the manners, customs and food of the
inhabitants, describing their winter and summer dress, and
theu: amusements," etc., by " A Settler." We extract the
following : —

"Do observe that old man seated on the bench before
the Library, with his open and good-natured countenance,
with his daughter Harriet beside him. 'Tis old John Tregon-
well, son of the late Governor, whose house is that fine one
in the centre of the town. It was built by his father, and
was then considered as a lonely and rather desolate spot ;
the only neighbours were a gang of gipsies and smugglers.
How times are altered ! For now, the good man goes to
sleep every night to the sound of the waltzes and Italian
music, and with watchmen crying the hour under his window."

It is a singular coincidence that it was in the year 1876—
the year indicated by Mrs. Drax's "prophecy "—that the
Itahan Band actually settled in Bournemouth.

In the same scene we have the following, which possibly
details an item of local history as well as gives an anticipa-
tion of sartorial developments which have not been fully
realised.

" Lady Georgina Gossamer : Oh, how hot it is ! Even my
transparent passe-partout* incommodes me on these sands.
Do you think, my dear, that I shall be quizzed in the " Bourne
Gazette ' if I drop it ? Why not ? But I have heard that
even the thinness of the passe-partout was treated with
scorn by our ancestors, and they say the old gipsy, formerly
the only inhabitant of Meg's Hill, used to make pitfalls
and lay snares to catch any struggling Poole belles who dared
sometimes on Sundays to frequent her cliffs, if with petticoats
shorter or thinner than her old worn-out camblet petticoat.
But these old days are past, thank my stars, and this wild
and uncouth class of beings are driven by our refinement
to seek unsophisticated nature in more remote parts.

" Miss Penelope Parasite : My dear friend and chaperon,
you are always so entertaining with all your wild eccen-

* "A passe-partout is the only petticoat that will be worn by the
fashionables in those days, made ot clear muslin, and worn over a pair of
cambric trowsers, with rutfled ends, as a summer's waltzing-dress."

60 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

tricities. No one abounds with them as you do. My advice
is, Drop your passe-partout boldly ; be the first this year to
start a Bourne fashion."

The Founder of Bournemouth enjoyed the personal friend-
ship of the Prince Regent (afterwards George IV.), and an
amusing story is told of an incident which is said to have
happened during the period of his Royal Highness's residence
at Crichel. The story is told with many variations, but the
version which appears below is the one generally accepted
by the family, and supported by the best internal evidence.
His Royal Highness kept a pack of hounds, and Mr. Tregon-
well frequently hunted with him and several times had the
honour of dining at the royal table at Crichel. The Prince
had what is called a " strong head," and hard drinking was
at that time regarded with no disfavour, but accepted rather
as an accomplishment. Frequently he saw his guests go
" under the table " — and probably he was amused rather
than disgusted with the sight. But Mr. Tregonwell was
permitted to keep to " toast and water," a decanter of which
was obligingly placed by his side when he dined with the
Prince. " I'll come over and dine with you some day," said
the Prince to Mr. Tregonwell, and the promise was again and
again repeated. At last came the more definite statement
that his Royal Highness would come to-morrow. Mr. Tregon-
well expressed his pleasure, returned home, and ordered the
necessary preparations to be made. The Founder was at
that time a widower— for the incident occurred between the
death of the first Mrs. Tregonwell and his marriage with the
second— and the housekeeper was appalled by the unwonted
call made upon her housekeeping. But she managed to
secure the cooking of a good dinner, and to make other arrange-
ments for the due entertainment of the distinguished visitor.
His Royal Highness was known to be particularly fond of
cherry brandy, and always had a glass of that liqueur after
dinner. As luck would have it, there was at that time living
in Cranbome a Mrs. Stillingfleet, who had been Mistress of the
Robes to the Princesses, and was renowned for her manu-
facture of cherry brandy. Mr. Tregonwell begged for a bottle
for his guest, and of course it was sent to him. All went well
through the dinner, and then the host got up and himself

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 61

poured out the cherry brandy for the Prince. His Royal
Highness sipped it, and then, without a word, set down his
glass. No remark was made, but on leaving the room
IVIr. Tregonwell told the butler to put the glass aside. The
company adjourned to the drawing room, and after some
time the Prince said, " I tell you, Tregonwell, you have
made us so comfortable we will stop here to-night." Such
an offer was of course an honour ; but it was an honour
for which Mr. Tregonwell was not prepared, and which filled
him with alarm. He communicated his feeling to a member
of the suite, and a hint of the unpreparedness of the house-
hold was quietly given to the Prince, who, after an interval
sufficient to suggest entirely spontaneous action on his own
behalf, suddenly exclaimed, " By-the-bye, though, Tregon-
well, we must return to Crichel to-night, as we have an
engagement early to-morrow morning. So, kindly order the
carriage." The Royal party returned accordingly. Then,
after their departure, Mr. Tregonwell discovered the secret
why it was his Royal Highness only sipped the cherry brandy.
Mrs. Stillingfleet not only made cherry brandy, but manu-
factured her own writing ink, and a bottle of writing ink had
been sent in mistake for the cherry brandy !

Mr. Lewis Tregonwell, as already mentioned, died in 1832,
and was buried at the old Dorset home, where his remains
rested till February, 1846, when his widow had them removed
to a vault newly constructed in St. Peter's Churchyard,
Bournemouth— consecrated in the previous year. A few
weeks later Mrs. Tregonwell was laid by his side. She died
at Portman Lodge, and from an obituary notice published
at the time we take the following :— " The late L. D. G.
Tregonwell, Esq., was the first who noticed the peculiar
advantages of Bournemouth, and while the neighbourhood
was an unreclaimed solitude, was induced by an appreciation
of its natural beauties and advantages to build a mansion
here, in which he passed the greater part of his life ; and
since his death his widow, the late lamented Mrs. Tregonwell,
has spent nearly the whole of her time, and died much re-
gretted by a numerous circle of friends and relatives."

Neither the death of the Founder nor of his widow broke
the personal association of the family with Bournemouth.

62 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1900.

Mr. St. Barbe Tregonwell, the eldest son, remained a resident
till 1859, and is personally remembered by some old residents.
We have heard of the courtesy with which he carried a horn
lantern guiding the footsteps of his sister and other friends
from St. Peter's Church on dark Sunday evenings ; and it
is said of him that on the passing of the Cruelty to Animals
Act, 1849, whereby the use of dogs for draft purposes became
prohibited, he constituted himself the watchman of Bourne-
mouth, and effectually prevented any such breach of the
law here. The Poole fishermen had been accustomed to
use dogs for drawing their fish-trucks ; but Mr. St. Barbe
Tregonwell posted himself at the top of Commercial Road,
then known as Poole Road, and as that was the only way
into the village, he soon succeeded in securing cessation of a
practise which had been popularly condemned and rendered
illegal.

Mr. John Tregonwell was born the year after the visit of
1810, and a few months before Mr. and Mrs. Tregonwell
first took up residence in the Evergreen Valley. He remained
associated with the place till his death in 1885, and took a
prominent part in the town's affairs— helping to secure the
Improvement Act of 1856, and himself filling the office of
Improvement Commissioner for some years. The official
records show that he was a member of the first Board in
1856, and continued a member till 1867, occasionally acting
as Chairman at the Board meetings, though never, it would
seem, formally elected as Chairman for the year. In April,
1867, he tendered his resignation, which was " accepted with
much regret." At the next meeting, his nephew, Mr. Hector
Monro, was elected to fill the vacancy, and continued to
hold office till 1873. He was Chairman in 1871-2, but in
1873 there was a contested election, with a large number of
candidates, and he lost his seat.

The monument which formerly stood in the Cranborne
Gardens has disappeared— no one knows where. But over
the Founder's grave in St. Peter's Churchyard there is a
large altar tomb, with a variety of inscriptions. First, we
have the following : —

" Sacred to the memory of Lewis Dymoke Grosvenor
Tregonwell, Esquire, of Anderson, and Cranborne Lodge,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 63

in the County of Dorset, who departed this hfe at the latter
of these residences on the 18th day of January, 1832, aged
73 years. Also of Grosvenor Portman Tregonwell, his son,
who died an infant, on the 29th May, 1807. Their remains
were removed from Anderson to this spot on the 26th of
February, 1846, Bournemouth, which Mr. Tregonwell was the
first to bring into notice as a watering place by erecting a
mansion for his own occupation, having been his favourite
retreat for many years before his death."

Above this central inscription, and immediately below
the slab, is another plate, bearing the following : —

" In this vault lie the remains of St. Barbe Tregonwell,
eldest son of Lewis D. G. Tregonwell, of Anderson, Cranborne,
and Bournemouth. Born at Clyst St. George, in 1782.
Died at Bournemouth in 1859."

A similar plate lower down on the same front is thus
inscribed : "In this vault lie the remains of Henrietta
Lewina Monro, widow of the late Hector W. Monro, Esq., of
Edmondsham, Dorset, and Ewell Castle, and daughter of
the late Lewis D. G. Tregonwell, Esq., who died at Bourne-
mouth, January 13th, 1864, aged 62 years."

On the other side of the tomb are also three inscriptions,
their text, reading from top to bottom, being as follows : —

" Also in loving memory of John Tregonwell, son of L. D. G.
Tregonwell, and Henrietta, his wife, of Anderson, and Cran-
borne Lodge, Dorset, and Bournemouth, who departed this
life October 12th, 1885, aged 74." ;

" Sacred to the memory of Henrietta, relict of L. D. G.
Tregonwell, Esq., of Anderson and Cranborne Lodge, in
the Coimty of Dorset, and daughter of Henry Wilham Port-
man, Esq., and Ann, his wife, of Bryanstone House, Dorset,
who departed this life at her residence in Bournemouth on
the 15th of April, 1846, aged 76 years. Sincerely regretted
by a large circle of friends."

" Also in memory of Rachael, widow of John Tregonwell,
of Cranborne Lodge, and Anderson, Dorset, daughter of the
Rev. Robert Lowth, who entered into life 13th February,
1901, aged 85."

Six persons are thus commemorated : the Founder and
his wife, three of his sons and one of his daughters.

CHAPTER VIII.

" The Marine Village of Bourne."

BOUKNBMOTTTH : THE " MOST SECLUDED SPOT IN ENGLAND " — SPOBTINQ
EXPERTENCES OF THE EaBL OF MAL1IESE0RT AND MB. CLAPCOTT DEAN

— Sir George Tapps as Lord of the Manor op Westover — Origin
OF the " MiVRiNE Village op Bourne " — Mr. Kerrey's Plans and
Their Development — An Act of Parliament Describes Bourne-
mouth as " Well Adapted for a Watering Place " — Progress at
Railway Pace — Some Quaint Advertisements — A Conservative
Dinner Party — " The Gay Resort of Fashion and the Favoured
Retreat of the Invalid " — The Pedigree of Sib Geobge Meyrick -
A Descendant op the " King op All Wales," and of Thomas
Drake, Brother of the Elizabethan Hero.

When Mr. Lewis Tregonwell died in 1832, Bournemouth—
or Bourne Tregonwell— though a place of great and increasing
natural beauty, had still but a very small population. The
third Earl of Malmesbury (friend and colleague of Lord
Beaconsfield) has told the story of how in 1826 he " shot
an old black-cock on the very spot where St. Peter's Church
at Bournemouth now stands," and in 1827 the Hon. Charles
Harris knocked down a guillemot with a riding whip near
Boscombe. It yet remained a " wild country," abounding
with game, and Lord Malmesbury and Lord Shaftesbury
(famed as " the good Earl ") came here as to " the most
secluded spot in England " to study for their degrees. " In
1830 there were not more than half a dozen houses and cottages
where now one of our largest and most fashionable seaside
places stands." Even subsequent to this period the late
Mr. W. Clapcott Dean, who kept a pack of harriers at Little-
down, is said to have taken part in a run which ended in a
kill in what is now St. Peter's Churchyard.

It has already been recorded that Mr. Tregonwell acquired
his estate by purchase from Sir George Ivison Tapps, Lord
of the Manor of Westover. But Sir George had retained in
his own hands the whole of the land on the sea-front, stretching
right away from the mouth of the Brook to Boscombe Chine,
as well as some considerable tracts in other parts of the
district. An opportunity for the advantageous utilization

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 65

of these lands came in 1836, from which period dates a most
important development— initiated by Sir George W. Tapps-
Gervis, Bart., the only son of the original owner.

Sir George Ivison Tapps, who was created a baronet in
1792, became entitled to the original part of the Meyrick
Estate in Hampshire under the will of his cousin, Mr. Joseph
Jervis Gierke, who died in April, 1778. The Manor of Christ-
church and Liberty of Westover, in which Bournemouth is
situated, had been bought by Sir Peter Mews, from the Earl of
Clarendon and his trustees, and these properties descended
from Sir Peter Mews to the Clerke family, from whom they
passed, as stated, to Sir George Ivison Tapps. Sir George
subsequently sold the " Manor of the Borough of Christ-
church" to the Rt. Hon. George Rose, Treasurer of the Navy,
but the Manor of Chris tchurch and Liberty of Westover has
remained in the possession of the family down to the present
time. The mansion at Hinton Admiral, it may here be men-
tioned, was built by Sir Peter Mews, who was at one time
M.P. for Christchurch — the old borough, of course, including
no part of what is now Bournemouth. Under the Christ-
church Enclosure Award, relating to the land in the Liberty
of Westover, part of the enclosed land was awarded to Sir
George Ivison Tapps as Lord of the Manor. As
abeady shown, he bought up other parts (sold to defray
expenses)— mostly abutting on the sea. He was largely
responsible for planting the property with pine trees, being
apparently the originator of that splendid work which, con-
tinued and extended by other owners, has made Bourne-
mouth unique among seaside places— a " Forest City by the
Southern Sea." Sir George died in March, 1835, and was
succeeded by his son (born 1795), who assumed by sign-
manual the surname of Gervis, in addition to his patro-
nymic. He had, in 1826, in his father's lifetime been (as Mr.
George WiUiam Tapps) elected M.P. for New Romney. On
the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832 he became M.P. for
Christchurch, which he continued to represent up till 1837.
Prior to 1832 Christchurch had sent two representatives to
Parliament ; from 1832 onward it sent but one, and the
representative chosen for the first two Parliaments was the
same Mr. George William Tapps (afterwards Sir George

66 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

William Tapps-Gervis), who upon each occasion was returned
without opposition.

On succession, as absolute owner, to his father's estates,
Sir Geo. W. Tapps-Gervis gave what has been described as
an " efficient impetus " to Bournemouth improvements.
He became satisfied, it is said, " that Bournemouth was
endowed by nature with those special features and circum-
stances which eminently fitted it to become an approved
resort of those who, at the termination of the London season,
seek on the coast that invigorating repose, and that com-
mixture of fashion and retirement, which afford the best
protection against ennui, and are most conducive to the
restoration of that freshness and activity, both in the physical
and mental functions, which the constant excitements of
town life have so great a tendency to undermine. Under
his auspices, therefore, and directed by the acknowledged
talent and personal superintendence of Mr. B. Ferrey, the
eminent architect, many plans for the improvement of the
estate were laid down, and some of them immediately
realised. Thus on spots where, before, the foot of man rarely
pressed, but the lowly heath flower blossomed and faded in
unnoticed solitude— where no sound was heard but the
rustling of rank grass and the wild shrub, as they waved in
the light sea-breeze— there a number of detached villas,
each marked by distinct and peculiar architectural features,
sprang into existence, affording accommodation of varying
extent, so as to be suited to the convenience of either large
or small families, and adapted, some for extended, others for
confined, establishments."*

Thus originated the "marine village of Bourne"— laid
out on the eastern side of the valley, just as Bourne Tregon-
well was laid out on the west. The plan published herewith
shows the scheme of contemplated development— not fully
realised in all its details. Sir George Gervis put " a portion
of his immense wealth in requisition, for the formation of a
complete and extensive watering-place," and at that early
stage laid down the rule of having every residence detached—
each standing in its own grounds, shaded by trees and

*" The Visitors' Guide to Bournemouth," — 1842.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 67

beautified by flowering shrubs and other plant Hfe. The
houses first erected were those still known as the Westover
Villas, facing the beautiful pine-wood which from the earliest
days has been set apart for the convenience and enjoyment
of the people. No. 1 was erected by Mr. David Tuck, whose
lease was dated the 27th March, 1837, and was for a period
of eighty years. The ground rent was £8 per annum. It
was stipulated that the house should cost at least £500,
that it should be ready for occupation in twelve months,
and also that in case the ground landlord should erect a
church or chapel, and so soon as divine service should be
performed according to the rites of the Church of England,
then the lessee should pay " on the 29th September yearly,
and every year during the said term, the sum of one pound
sterling as rent for the use of a pew or three sittings for his
famUy, in the chtirch, chapel, or place of worship." The
Bath Hotel was built in 1837, and opened on Coronation
Day in 1838. We find it described in 1842 as " a very elegant,
spacious, and convenient structure, capable of affording
accommodation to a great number of inmates." The manager-
ess was a Miss Toomer, and the regulations and arrangements
of the establishment, under her " active superintendence
and careful management," were such as "|ensured the com-
fort and tended to the satisfaction of the visitors." For
" the appropriate accommodation " of visitors " preferring
the retired and quiet mode of life available in such establish-
ments," the Belle Vue Boarding House was built close to
the Beach, and fitted up " with every regard to elegance and
comfort." In addition to the ordinary advantages of such
an institution, Mrs. Slidle, " the conductress," provided
" accommodations for the more casual visitor," including
" every requisite " for picnics. Even a billiard table was
provided, whereon the visitor might enjoy his " 50 " or
" 100 up " ! In a western wing of the same block of building,
and immediately adjoining the meadows, since known as
the Lower Pleasure Grounds, Mr. Sydenham established a
Library and Reading Room, where " a plentiful supply of
books, magazines, and newspapers proffered information as
to the course of the busy world and presented sources of
intellectual amusement and recreation." The proprietor

68 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

vended " stationery of every description " ; new and fashion-
able music ; soda water, lemonade, and ginger beer ; tea
and coffee ; and there were pianofortes for sale or on hire !
There was a receiving box for letters.

The original architect to the estate, as already mentioned,
was Mr. Ferrey, whose plans laid down principles which,
though not followed in their entirety, gave Bournemouth
much of the peculiar attraction which it has since possessed.
They included the laying out and reservation of the Pleasure
Gardens— that great central feature of Bournemouth which
is the admiration of all visitors. Mr. Decimus Burton, the
architect of the Wellington Memorial at Hyde Park Corner,
was subsequently employed.

Sir George Gervis had but a very brief career in the owner-
ship of the property. He died in the year 1842, having
entailed the property on his eldest son (afterwards Sir George
Eliott Meyrick Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick) who at the time of
his father's death was " an infant " of about fifteen years of
age. For the further development of the estate a private
Act of Parliament— 9 and 10 Vic, Cap. 29— was obtained,
and during the minority of the owner the estate was adminis-
tered by Trustees.

Mr. Ferrey not merely prepared a scheme of development,
but he was responsible also for the preparation of a large
number of house-plans, including the whole of the Westover
Villas, plans for a series of villas for a crescent to be called
Poole Crescent, and Greek, Italian, Elizabethan and Gothic
villas proposed to be erected along the cliff-front. Sir George
appears himself to have taken a very active part in connec-
tion with the development of the " new marine village,"
for there are records in existence showing that he purchased
some of the furniture for the Bath Hotel ! Indeed, he seems
to have retained a large interest in the general development,
himself making arrangements for the purchase of bricks,
lime, cement, etc., " for his buildings at Bourne." Long
before his death the Bath Hotel had been completed ; the
roads in the " new marine village " were well advanced ;
the Westover Gardens had been planted, and paths laid out
and gravelled ; and some preliminary steps had been taken
for providing for the spiritual needs of the growing population.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 69

In the Private Act already referred to, obtained in order
that the Trustees which he had nominated might continue,
during his son's minority, the good work which he had
commenced, it is set out that " a considerable part of the
lands and hereditaments " mentioned and described in the
1st Schedule, are " situate upon or near the sea-coast at
Bournemouth," and that " the situation thereof, by reason
of the salubrity of the air and its proximity to the sea-coast,
is well adapted for a watering place." Further, it is stated
that " the testator, in his lifetime, with a view to its becoming
a fashionable place of resort, granted building leases of
certain portions of the said lands and hereditaments, for
the erection of detached villas, of which nineteen have been
built ; and he also expended considerable sums of money
in the erection of an hotel for the accommodation of visitors
and in the construction of a church, which is now endowed
with a rent charge issuing out of the hereditaments devised
by the said will of the said testator, or some part thereof."
The Trustees were iirged to action by the lessees, who called
attention to various features of the plan of this " new marine
village of Bourne " which had not been carried into effect.
The " Pleasure Gardens Pagoda," for instance, had not
been erected. And it never was. It was the fore-runner of
a whole host of Pavilion schemes— which have appeared
on paper only. The Trustees were reminded that the
provision of a Pier " is very essential to those who are
desirous of water excursions," etc., " as the waves are so
high, except when the wind is moderate to the northward,
that it is frequently impracticable to approach the shore
from a boat without being swamped, and at other times
it is very difficult to get out or into a boat without being
annoyed by the surf." Though, as we shall show in a
subsequent chapter, a Pier was ultimately provided by the
Local Authority, a contribution of £500 towards the cost
was originally offered by the Gervis Estate. The lessees
further called attention to " the necessity of clearing away
the underwood and furze and heaths in the plantations
surrounding Bourne, so as to prevent their destruction
by fire." Their prayer was acceded to ; the underwood
was cleared away ; the Westover Gardens were enclosed

70 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

within a rustic fence, preventing trespass and injury by
cattle ; and two rustic bridges were constructed across the
Brook.

In the "Hampshire Advertiser" of June 16th, 1838,
appeared a statement that " the new romantic watering
place called Bourne is progressing at a railway pace. The
splendid hotel is all but completed, and in a few short years
it is conjectured that it will compete with the renown of
Southampton." A week later there was an announcement
of a prospective sale by auction of " marine villas." The
auctioneer was Mr. George Cranston, and the sale was to
take place at the Bath Hotel. The advertisement set forth
that these houses were " five unfurnished villas situate at
Bournemouth, and numbered respectively 4, 9, 10, 11, and
12 ; 4, 9, and 10 are in great forwardness, and may in a few
weeks be perfected for habitation. Hotel just completed ;
also a new chapel for public worship, and Baths, etc., are
in progress." The " new chapel " for public worship was a
building erected in the Square— on a site now occupied by
Messrs. Leverett and Frye ; and the method of erection
appears to have been the throwing of two cottages into one
large room, and making the upper floor serve the purposes
of a gallery. Here services were held and the singing led
by a village choir with instrumental accompaniments of the
varied and now obsolete character depicted in some of the
Wessex stories of Mr. Thomas Hardy.

The advertisement columns of old county newspapers give
various other evidences of Bournemouth's progress at this
early time. Even as far back as 1826 we find in the " Salisbury
and Winchester Journal " an announcement of two " modern
detached houses " to let, with the following allurements :
" A bathing machine and a warm bath. A baker attends four
days a week. A coach passes daily from Southampton to
Weymouth, and several carriers."

A news paragraph in the same journal in July, 1836, ran as
follows : " The projected range of villas at Bourne Mouth
are in a state of active progress, including a large and com-
modious hotel, with baths, etc. It is also intended to erect
a number of large and elegant buildings on the cliff in a line
with Boscombe Mouth." Two years later a long advertise-

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 71

ment appeared with an appeal to "gentlemen, builders
and others desirous of investing capital advantageously."
Sites of freehold building land were for sale, " immediately
adjoining the new marine neighbourhood now fast progressing
called Bourne Mouth." With glowing enthusiasm the auc-
tioneer described the charms of the neighbourhood— the
" advantages of country retirement with the pleasures of the
sea coast," the proverbial mildness of the climate, and the
very favourable prices at which building materials could be
obtained. Publicity only was necessary " to insure the
patronage of rank and respectability— especially of the lovers
of rural and marine scenery."

In 1838 " furnished and papered villas," " with every
requisite," were being advertised at a rent of four guineas
per week— if taken by the month ; " if taken for six or twelve
months, considerable allowance wUl be made." In 1839 a
mansion was advertised at eight guineas a week. It was
described as " the property of a lady, and suitable for a
family of distinction." It was sheltered by plantations, and
" a kitchen garden and two cows " might be rented. Other
attractions included three bathing machines, with " a guide "
in attendance. Applications were to be made to Mr. George
Fox or Miss Toomer ; " if by letter, post-paid " ! No doubt
the Mansion referred to was that owned by Mrs. Tregonwell.

1838 was a year of great activity, and even of festivity.
From a contemporary record, under date May 19th, we take
the following : —

" On Tuesday last a large party of Conservative gentlemen
from Poole and Christchurch partook of an excellent dinner,
got up by Fox, at the Tregonwell Arms, Bourne Mouth,
Henry Rowden, Esq., in the chair. A number of Conservative
friends at Poole and Christchurch propose meeting annually
at Bourne to dine together in celebration of their mutual
principles. Bourne being delightfully situated midway between
these towns, and being one of the pleasantest spots in the
country."

Describing Boiu-nemouth generally as it appeared in
1842, an authority before quoted thus depicts it : " Midway
between Christchurch and Poole, the road conducts the
traveller into a narrow vale winding into the land and open

72 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

ing directly upon the seashore, and on entering which he is
dehghted with the prospect of social life, animated retire-
ment, and a combination of the elegancies of nature and of
art, spread before his view, detached villas, indicating every
variety of style that the fancy and ingenuity of the architect
could devise, and admirably associating with the local natural
features, rows of stately edifices, relieved by the dark-foliage
of dense plantations ; extensive walks, and tastefully arranged
shrubberies are the objects that first strike the eye in this
pleasing retreat ; whilst the whole is softened by an air of
tranquil repose and a quietude of character eminently grateful
to those who seek a relaxation from the fatigue and excite-
ment of fashionable life, or a respite from the turmoils and
anxieties of rough intercourse with the world. This pleasing
spot

' Embowered in trees and hardly known to fame,'

the beauties of which are enhanced by the contrast afforded
by the surrounding scenery, is Bournemouth, where, in a
season, the magic hand of enterprise has converted the silent
and unfrequented vale into the gay resort of fashion and the
favoured retreat of the invalid."

The part which the Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick family have
played in the evolution of Bournemouth is so important —
extending over the whole of the century— that the brief
biographical facts mentioned above may, we think, here be
appropriately supplemented by some fuller details.

The Lord of the Manor of Christchurch and Liberty of
Westover represents families of great antiquity and distinc-
tion. The Rev. Mackenzie Walcott attributes the rise of
Bournemouth to the enterprise of Sir George Gervis, grand-
father of the present Lord. We have shown that to Mr. Lewis
Tregonwell belongs the title of " Founder of Bournemouth "
— a title which has been recognised from the earliest period
and never seriously challenged. But much credit also attaches
to Sir George Gervis ; his enterprise gave impetus to the
movement which Mr. Tregonwell initiated, and further
established Bournemouth's claim upon public attention at a
time when it was but little known.

George Gervis (or Jarvis), who died in 1718, left three
daughters and co-heiresses, the eldest of whom, Lydia,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 73

married Sir Peter Mews, M.P. for Christchureh, son of the
Right Rev. Peter Mews, D.D., Bishop of Winchester— an
eminent prelate who distinguished himself not only by his
great sacrifices and large contributions for the cause of
King Charles I., but having been a soldier before his ordina-
tion, resumed the sword, and when a bishop, commanded a
regiment in defence of his Church and King, and received
a wound, the scar of which remained on his face to his death.
Lady Mews died at Hinton Admiral in 1751, without issue.
The estates descended to the son of her younger sister, who
had married one William Clerke, of Buckland and Cromer
Hall, Herts. The third sister, Catherine, married Richard
Tapps, whose son and grandson were both named George
Gervis Tapps. The latter, who was a barrister, married a
daughter of J. Ivison, of Carlisle, and died in 1774, leaving
as his successor his son George Ivison, who was father of
the first Baronet, Sir George Ivison Tapps, Lord of the Manor
of Westover at the time of the passing of the Christchureh
Enclosure Act. The latter's son, George William Tapps, as
already mentioned, was M.P. for Christchureh from 1832 to
1837 — and he it was who, on accession to the estates in
1835, gave that impetus to Bournemouth's development
which resulted from the erection of the " marine village of
Bourne " on the eastward side of the Evergreen Valley.
Sir George married a daughter of Augustus Eliott Fuller, of
Rosehill Park, Sussex— who came of the Meyrick family
and had assumed that name in addition to that of Fuller.

The Meyricks trace their origin from Roderic the Great,
King of All Wales, who began to reign in 843 and fell in
battle in 876. They have possessed the same ancestral
residence and estates at Bodorgan, Anglesey, without inter-
ruption for a thousand years. From Roderic the Great
descended (among others) Owen Gwynedd, Prince of Wales,
A.D. 1136, and Llowarch ap Bran, Lord of Monau (Menai) and
founder of "the II. noble tribe of North Wales and Powys."
It is not necessary to give in full the details of the family
fortunes right down through the centuries, but it is interest-
ing to note, en passant, that one Llewellyn ap Heylin fought
at the battle of Bosworth on the side of Henry VII., and his
two-handed sword and salt-cellar are still preserved at

74 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Bodorgan, where also his saddle was a few years back. His
son, Meyrick ap Llewellyn, was captain of the guard at the
Coronation of Henry VIII. He was the first High Sheriff
of the County of Anglesey, which office he held till his death.
From him the name Meyrick, signifying " guardian," is
derived, as a surname, in pursuance of the Act of Henry VIII.,
requiring that the name of every man at that time should be
borne by his descendants as a surname, there being no sur-
names before that time in Wales.

We go back now to Sir George William Tapps-Gervis,
the second Baronet. Sir George had three sons and one
daughter, his eldest son being George Eliott Meyrick, who
succeeded him as third Baronet, and who, in compliance
with the will of his great-grandfather, Owen Putland Meyrick,
assumed the names and arms of Meyrick, in addition to
his other names, on succeeding his uncle, Mr. Augustus Eliott
Fuller Meyrick. Sir George Eliott Meyrick Tapps-Gervis-
Meyrick, who was High Sheriff of Anglesey in 1878, was born
in 1827, and married Fanny, daughter of Christopher Har-
land, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and by her had three daugh-
ters and one son— the present and fourth Baronet, Sir George
Augustus Eliott Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick, who is a J.P. and
Deputy Lieutenant for Anglesey, and was High Sheriff for
the County of Southampton in 1900. Sir George, who was
born in 1855, married, in 1884, Jacintha, youngest daughter
of Charles Paul Phipps, M.P., of Chalcot, Wilts, and has two
sons and two daughters.

As the above biographical statement is necessarily some-
what complicated, we summarise as follows with regard to
the four Baronets directly associated with the history of
Bournemouth : —

1. — George Ivison Tapps, first baronet, born 1753, died
1835, was Lord of the Manor of Christchurch and Liberty
of Westover at the time of the passing of the Christchtirch
Enclosure Act and the making of the subsequent Award.

2.— George William Tapps-Gervis, son of the above,
and second baronet, born 1795, died 1842, gave " efficient
impetus " to Bournemouth improvements and originated
the " new Marine Village of Bourne."

3.— George Eliott Meyrick Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick, third

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 75

baronet, born 1827, died 1896, succeeded his father when
but a lad of fifteen years of age.

4.— George Augustus Eliott Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick, fourth
and present baronet, born 1855. Granted to the Corpora-
tion the lease and powers under which the Undercliff
Drive has been constructed and other improvements are
projected for the further development and perfecting of
the health and pleasure resort which as " the Marine
Village of Bourne " claimed so much of the attention
of his father and grandfather. Sir George, in addition
to distinctions already mentioned, quarters the Arms
and bears the Crest of Sir Francis Drake, claiming
(through the Eliotts) descent from Thomas Drake, brother
of the great Elizabethan Admiral, and also from Lord
Heathfield, who conducted the famous defence of Gibral-
tar. On the shield of Sir George the baronies of Eliott
and Drake are combined, and constitute an heraldic record
of which any family might well be proud.

CHAPTER IX.

A " Perfect Discovery " : A " Sea Nook " for the
Real Invalid.

The " Most Rbmabkabi^ of all Seaside Places " — Fanciful Picttjbe
BY Besant and Rice — The " Great Unknown Genius Who Founded
A " Gabden of Eden " — A Warning : Don't Make Boubnemouth
THE Mere Metropolis of Bath Chairs — Dr. Granville's " Perfect
Discovert " — A " Sea Nook " for the Real Invalid — An Oppor-
tunity op Establishing a " Real Montpellieb on the South Coast
OF England " — Dr. Aitkbn on Bournemouth's Warmth, Equability
OF Temperature and Dryness — The Testimony of Sib Jambs Olabk,
Physician to Queen Victoria.

" Of all seaside cities, watering places, retreats, hospitals,
convalescent houses, or bathing places, Bournemouth is the
most remarkable. There was once a forest of pines. Some-
body made a clearing and built a house just as if he was in
Canada. Then another mian made another clearing and
built another house, and so on. The pines stand still between
the houses, along the roads, in the gardens, on the hills,
and round the town. The air is heavy with the breath of
the pine. The sea is nothing ; you are on the seashore, but
there is no fierce sea-breeze, no curling line of waves, no
dash of foam and spray. The waters creep lazily along the
Beach, and on the Pier the fragrance of the pines crushes
out the smell of the salt sea.

" When the settlements were cleared, and the houses
built, and rows of shops run up, there arose a great unknown
genius who said, ' We have slopes, streams and woods ;
we have a town planted in a forest by the seaside ; let us
make a garden in our midst.' And they did so ; a Garden of
Eden. Hither come, when the rest of the world is still battling
with the east wind and frost, hollow cheeked young men
and drooping maidens to look for the tree of life in that
garden, and to breathe those airs. They do not find that
tree, but the air revives them for a while, and they linger
on a little longer, and have time to lie in the sunshine and
see the flowers come again before they die. This is the city
of Youth and Death. Every house amid these pines is

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 77

sacred to the memory of some long agony, some bitter
wrench of parting, some ruthless trampling down of hope
and joy. From every house has been poured the gloomy
pageant of death, with mourners who followed the bier of
the widow's only son, the father's cherished daughter.

" Then that great genius who laid out the garden said :
' They conne here to die : let us make death beautiful.' And
they did so. They built a church upon a hill ; they left
the pines to stand as cypresses ; they ran winding walks
and planted flowering shrubs ; they put up marble crosses
on the graves of the youthful dead ; they brought flowers
of every season, and all sorts of trees which are sweet and
graceful to look upon ; they refused to have any rude and
vulgar monuments ; they would have nothing but white
marble crosses. Some stand in rows all together on an open
slope, bounded and sheltered by the whispering pines with
saffron-coloured cones ; some stand each in its own little
oblong, surrotmded by plants and trees, shaded and guarded
for ever. They bear the names of those who he beneath ;
they are all of them young men and girls : one is twenty-
four, one is eighteen, one is twenty. Here and there you
find an old man who has stumbled into the graveyard by
accident. It jars upon the sense of right ; it is a disgrace
for him to have lived till seventy ; he ought not to be here ;
he should have been carried five miles away, to the acre
where the venerable pile of Christchiu-ch guards the heaped-
up dusty of thirty generations, and the river runs swiftly
below ; but not here, not among the weeping girls and sad-
faced boys. Let them all rise together, at the end, this army
of young martyrs, with never an old man among them, to
find with joyful eyes a fuller life than that from which they
were so soon snatched away."

The above extract will be recognised by many readers as
taken from the story entitled " The Seamy Side," by Walter
Besant and James Rice. The description was applied to a
period of a later date than we have yet reached in these records,
but it illustrates a phase of history which Bournemouth entered
upon in the second quarter of the last century. Soon after
its establishment in 1858, we find the " Directory " uttering
a warning to Bournemouth against being " content to regard

78 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

itself only as a valetudinarian's retreat. " It would satisfy
neither our interest nor our ambition were Bournemouth
to become the very Metropolis of Bath Chairs. We desire
that these may be the appendages only of a cheerful and
pleasure-taking resort." But regard for accuracy compels
us to state that, for a time, Bournemouth really was little
more than a " Colony of Invalids." That, at all events,
was the pre-eminent characteristic of its population during
the years immediately following the visit of an eminent
medical authority, from whom some of the more enterprising
of the " Colonists " succeeded in extracting a very glowing
report in 1841. The story of that visit we have now to tell.

Dr. A. B. Granville, the author of a celebrated work on
" The Spas of England," happened in February of 1841 to
be in the neighbourhood of Bournemouth, and being there
" was requested by several gentlemen connected with that
almost unknown sea watering place " to visit and give
his professional opinion respecting it. He was entertained
at a public dinner given at what he describes as the " Great
Hotel," and Chapter X. of the volume which he issued the
same year is devoted entirely to an appreciation of "Bourne-
mouth and its yet unformed colony " — "a perfect discovery
among the sea-nooks one longs to have for a real invalid."

The Doctor reproduces the speech which he delivered
at the dinner, and from that time down to the present it
has appeared, in whole or in part, in practically every Bourne-
mouth guide-book. Time has not robbed his testimony
of any of its value, though Bournemouth has developed along
lines, and to an extent, which he never imagined, its attrac-
tion as an invalid health resort being rivalled by its claim as
a holiday centre. Adopting the picturesque phrasing of
Sir James Crichton Browne : a " Stately Pleasure Dome "
has been erected side by side with the " Temple of Hygeia."

" I have examined Bourne in all its parts," said the speaker,
" under sunshine as well as during the prevalence of wet and
high wind. I have seen what has been done, and have heard
of what it is intended to do, in order to profit of the many
advantages which the situation of Bourne offers as a watering
place ; and I have no hesitation in stating, as the conclusion
of all my observations, around as well as within the place—

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 79

that no situation that I have had occasion to examine along
the whole Southern Coast possesses so many capabilities
of being made the very first invalid sea-watering place in
England ; and not only a watering place, but what is still
more important, a winter residence for the delicate constitu-
tions requiring a warm and sheltered locality at this season
of the year (February). ... I hardly need touch upon
its superiority as a bathing-place to any in the neighbourhood,
or along these coasts. It is an inland sheltered haven for
the most tender invalids, however, that I would call your
attention to the great capabilities of Bourne ; for we look
in vain elsewhere for that singular advantage which Bourne
possesses, of presenting two banks of cliffs, clothed with
verdure even at this inclement season, running from the sea
inland, with a smiling vale, watered by a rapid brook or
bourne, dividing them just enough to allow of a most complete
ventilation, with coolness in the summer, and yet affording
a most protected succession of ridges upon which to erect
residences not only for convalescents, free from positive
disease, but also for patients in the most delicate state of
health as to lungs."

Remarking that they had here a spot which they might
" convert into a perfect blessing " — " to those who do not
like to tear themselves from home to go in search of foreign
and salubrious climates," Dr. Granville added a warning
against the blunders which had been perpetrated in other
places. " You must not let in strangers and brick-and-mortar
contractors, to build up whole streets of lodging houses,
or parades and terraces interminable, in straight lines facing
the sea, the roaring sea, and the severe gales, that make
the frames of an invalid's bedroom casement rattle five days
in the week at least, and shake his own frame in bed also."
There is a suggestion that the warning was necessary, for
following the quotation from the speech at the " Great
Hotel " we have a hint that by the people " not properly
using their resources, their very first beginning a few years
back proved a failure, until two or three other spirited and
judicious proprietors stepped in to the rescue." From
warning he went on to prophecy as to the future of the
" incipient settlement " " which has as yet no definite or

80 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

permanent population." " So insignificant has it hitherto-
been considered by the topographer that we find in the
adjoining county's map an indication set down that a par-
ticular road from Dorsetshire leads ' to Christchurch,' without
mentioning to Bournemouth, albeit the identical road passes
through it. But the day is at hand when the latter indica-
tion will be substituted for the former."

The description of Bournemouth which follows is too
long for full quotation. Incidentally, reference is made to
white pipe-clay being found near the cliffs to the east of
Boscombe and at Diu-ley Chine, " where it is worked out and
sent to the potteries in Staffordshire as the purest and best
material for the celebrated porcelains of that district."
The peculiarity of Bourne's formation is referred to as con-
stituting one of the great merits of the locality as a retreat
for invalids, " while the chance circumstance of a gentle-
man retreating to this spot some thirty or forty years ago»
and planting all the sandhills to the westward of the Bourne>
or brook, with trees of the Pine tribe, whereby the district
has been converted, in the course of time, into a sort of tiny
Black Forest, is the cause of another and most important
advantage of the place." The writer describes the " range
of sandhills " west of the Bourne, " once bafren and naked,
and now covered with luxurious and dense forests of fir trees,
the work of the late Mr. Tregonwell, of Edmondsham, Dorset-
shire, whose relict even now occupies the mansion he originally
built for his permanent residence, at present surrounded with
lawns and shrubberies, and embosomed amidst dense planta-
tions," and he adds that it was by exploring this ridge " on
a few points of which only an isolated private dwelling-
house has as yet been erected, that I discovered three or
four retired glens, so lovely from their verdure, so tranquil
from their position, and so warm from their sheltered aspect
that I did not hesitate a moment in declaring such spots
to be the very thing that was wanted in this country, to
render the South Coast really and truly available on behalf
of those who are afflicted with consumption. . . . Here
then the great desideratum for consumptive invalids is
found ; and if the proprietress of this blessed region is
properly advised, instead of parting to speculating purchasers

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■with her lord's estate (who, in planting it, and throwing the
shelter and balsamic effluvia of a forest of firs around so
many natural glens, probably looked forward to the destina-
tion for which I am the first to declare it to be fitter than
any other place in England), she will apply herself to build
insulated villas of different sizes and properly located with
gardens, and a general walk through the intended woods,
enclosing the whole territory by fences, and making a hand-
some entrance into it near the wooden bridge or head of the
valley, denominating henceforth the establishment, Bourne-
mouth Park, and the dwelling-houses of the valetudinarians
in it, the Park Villas ; with a perfect assurance that they
will become celebrated all over the country as the best, the
most promising, and the only real asylums for consumptive
people of the higher order. . . . An opportunity is
now offered of establishing a real Montpellier on the South
Coast of England, and a something better than a Montpellier
in point of beauty for the upper and wealthier classes of
society, who ought to be encouraged and enticed to remain
at home and spend their income in husbanding their health
in England."

Dr. Granville repeated his warning against making Bourne-
mouth " just as tolerable and common " as twenty other
places, and this was his criticism upon one of the plans of
development which seems to have been submitted to him :
" It is well to study effect, and to try to cover in concentric
circles the whole face of the hill, which towers over the east
sea cliff, and at the back of the present villas, with lines of
lodging and other dwelling-houses, and crowning the whole
with a Gothic church, placed in the centre of the summit,
like a diadem— to serve as a beacon to mariners ; but it
will not do for invalids with delicate chests and damaged
lungs to climb up the Capitol, either to return home after
a walk on the sea-shore, or to attend at church on a Sunday,
to be blown away in endeavouring to reach the House of
God, or blown upon on coming out of it by the boisterous
south-wester— and so, chilled into a pleurisy or an additional
vomica, thereby destroying the benefit which Bournemouth
is calculated to yield to the sick."

" In a colony of invalids," he goes on, " the Temple of

G

82 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

God should be in a quiet, secluded and rural spot. It should
be easily accessible to all— to the villagers in health, who
are occupied to the last minute with household affairs— to
the valetudinarian who cannot walk far- to the feeble and
the cripple who can only creep or must be carried ; and all
of whom ought, above all things, to eschew exposure of
every description. Such a spot I pointed out for that purpose,
on the estate of Mistress Tregonwell on the eastern bank.
There a plain, unassuming, but spacious and well-built rural
church, without any pretensions to Gothic naiseries (for
who can bear a church in a Gothic dress that is not as big as
Lincoln, Wells or York Minster ?) should be erected near
the entrance to the Park Villas, whereby the invalid inhabit-
ants of the Park Villas would have it near to them ; close
to a spot where the villagers' community would be prin-
cipally settled, on the margin of the brook at the foot of
Gordon Villas, that attendance may be made easy to the
dwellers therein as well as to the villagers ; and lastly, not
far removed from the present and any other detached villas
along the lower and upper roads ; thus leaving no excuse
to any class of inhabitants and visitors (as they will have,
if the church is built on the top of the hill) for not attending
service. From the high character for charity and liberality
which the lady nobly connected who owns the Bournemouth
Park, as I have called it, bears in this place, and among all who
have the honour of knowing her, no doubt can be entertained
that a site, such as I have pointed out, would be granted by
her. Let the rest of the landowners who take a true interest
in the success of Bournemouth, and the spiritual welfare of
its future inhabitants, contribute materials and money as
part of their tribute for the erection of a suitable temple,
and their charity will be blessed. Any other worldly or selfish
view in this affair ought to be set aside, and not allowed to
have any sway."

Everything, it will be noticed, was to be done for the
consumptive invalid. But the doctor admitted that " there
are many other classes of people in easy circumstances who
require, and may be benefitted by, the pure and invigorating,
yet mild and temperate air of the place." " For such as
these provision should be made in gay and airy regions,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 83

calculated to serve as much for the summer as the houses
before alluded to are essentially destined for the winter
season ; for it is as a winter residence to a select community
of invalids and visitors that Bournemouth must become
chiefly celebrated." He advised the erection of detached
villas on the cliffs— the making of " ample provision " for
those who, " being otherwise well in health, like a retired
rather than a bustling and noisy sea watering place." "Bourne-
mouth," he added, " combines, to an eminent degree, the
character of beautifiil and sheltered rusticity with that of
an open seaside residence. . . . To be near the sea and
to be able to have recourse to its water or its breezes when
necessary, yet not to be always and for ever saturated with
either ; to have it in one's power to turn to spots where its
shingle-rustling, or the more loud roaring of its waves,
cannot disturb you— to be, in fine, on the threshold between
sea and land life, so as to take to each alternately as required,
as a means of recovery from disease, or for the restoration of
lost strength (and those means of the very best description)
these are the advantages which, in my estimation, nature
affords to an extent and of a character unequalled in any other
place I am acquainted with on the South Coast of England.

" To render its superiority to the generality of sea-watering
places still more conspicuous, the Vale of the Bourne —
beginning at the present insignificant wooden bridge, which
ought to be replaced by a handsome stone one, down to the
Beach, a species of narrow flat prairie, which divides the
two banks before described— should be converted into a
regular promenade garden all the way, with parterres and
beds of flowers by the sides of the brook. That imaginative
and skilful agronomist, Mr. Loudon, would soon make
the prettiest thing in England of such a place, and he ought
by all means to be consulted. At present, the Vale consists
of a narrow belt of peat earth lying over sand, on which a
few miserable sheep are allowed to feed, or a scanty coarse
grass is cut. It divides the west from the east banks, which
are the inland prolongations, before adverted to, of the
corresponding cliffs on the shore, and which slope down
to the margin of the brook, both of them clothed by evergreen
plantations and shrubberies, and crested with the rows of

84 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

detached villas or single houses previously mentioned.
The little brook itself, perfectly wild, shallow and tortuous,
and of no great width, meanders down the middle ; but a
little judicious management, by swelling out the banks in
parts, contracting them in others, and deepening the bed
here, or raising it there, so as to create a rustling fall or cas-
cade, would readily convert an insignificant streamlet into a
pleasing ornamental water-feature in the landscape. The
garden, with suitable gravel walks, would afford to the
weakest and most delicate among the real invalids at Bourne-
mouth the means of taking exercise on foot whenever any
other wind but the north prevails ; for to that and that alone
would the garden promenade be exposed. At the mouth of
the river a small estuary or cove, to admit a few pleasure boats,
might be established readily, and a short pier, sans pretension,
yet convenient for landing on the beach in favourable
weather, ought to be added."

We have quoted Dr. Granville at great length, because
we regard both his speech and his more deliberate report
in the " Spas of England " as being epoch-making. The
report claims notice also because of its detailed description
of Bournemouth as he saw it in the first half of the last
centtu-y, and because of his criticisms upon plans which were
brought under his notice. Mr. Ferrey's plan for the " marine
village of Bourne," covering the face of the eastern slope
with " concentric circles," crowned with a Gothic church,
was afterwards modified ; the plot of land which Dr. Gran-
ville pointed out to " Mistress Tregonwell " as a suitable
site for " a plain, unassuming, but spacious and well-built
rural church " appears to be the identical spot afterwards
chosen, not for St. Peter's, but for the old Scotch Presbyterian
Church at the foot of Richmond Hill. The " narrow flat
prairie " which he advised should be " converted into a
regular promenade garden " all the way down the valley,
with " parterres and beds of flowers " by the side of the
Brook, has become the Lower Pleasure Gardens ; the " wild,
shallow tortuous Brook " has not received all the " judicious "
manipulation that he advocated, but it been has beautified
and made a never-ending attraction to children.

Dr. Granville's very favourable report was supported

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 85

by Dr. Aitken, of Poole, and also by Dr. Salter, an " old
and experienced general practitioner," also of Poole and
father of Mr. Clavell Salter, M.P., the present Recorder for
that borough. Dr. Salter's testimony to the " healthful-
ness of that interesting place Bournemouth," was that it is
" peculiarly fitted for the residence of invalids, and adapted
equally to every season of the year." The concluding phrase
is specially interesting— remembering that from that time
down to the present Bournemouth has always advertised
itself as having a " double season " — summer and winter—
with but very short intervals between.

Dr. Aitken, who is described as " a scientific and pains-
taking pKysician," had in the previous year read " a very
valuable essay on the medical topography of the district
of which Bournemouth is the centre, at the general meeting
of the Provincial Medical Association, speaking " very
favourably of the climate of Bourne for warmth, equability of
temperature, and dryness." This paper, we assume, is
incorporated in the very substantial appendix which Dr.
Aitken in 1842 contributed to " The Visitors' Guide to
Bom-nemouth and its neighbourhood," published by Mr.
J. Sydenham. The " dissertation " extends over a hundred
pages, and marshalling his evidence the writer expresses
the hope " that it will be deemed sufficient to establish
a high character for the climate of Bournemouth and its
vicinity, for the three great requisites of a healthy situation,
namely— dryness, equability, and mildness of temperature.
The great advantages to be obtained from so fortunate a
combination of causes as have been detailed can indeed only
be duly appreciated by a well-informed medical man, or by
those who have had personal experience of them." Readers
will have noticed the phrase " Bournemouth and its vicinity."
Dr. Aitken concludes with an expression of his gratification
that her Majesty the Queen Dowager has been, " with a
view to health, advised to try the air of this district. High-
cliffe, although not included within the precise limits we
have prescribed, is the only mansion in the immediate vicinity
fitted as a residence for so exalted a personage ; and as it
possesses the principal features that have been insisted upon
in these pages, the selection appears to us to be in every way

86 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

a judicious one." Highcliffe, it may here be added, was in
1900 the residence for a short time of the late King Edward
VII., and in 1907 was visited by H.I.M. the Emperor of
Germany.

Following Dr. Granville, other interesting medical testi-
mony as to Bournemouth's climatological and other advan-
tages was given by the late Sir James Clark, physician to the
late Queen Victoria, who, in his famous work on " Climate,"
has the following : " From an attentive consideration of
its position, its soil, and the configuration of the surrounding
country, there can be no doubt that Bournemouth deserves
a place among our best climates, and for a certain class of
invalids capable of taking exercise in the open air, affords
a very favourable winter residence."

Thus Bournemouth was advertised to the world as an
Invalid's Paradise. New attractions were added, and in the
" Sahsbury and Winchester Journal " of May 16th, 1842,
appeared the announcement that " a resident surgeon now
affords the patients at Bourne what was before much needed,
the opportunity of a skilful hand. For the domestic comforts
required, there are likewise settled a grocer, a baker, and a
butcher, in addition to which there is a daily supply of
fish, butter, milk and vegetables from the neighbouring
markets and villages."

In Woodward's " History of Hampshire," published at
a somewhat later day, Bournemouth was thus described :
" A valley somewhat accidente, and abounding in peat bog
and sandy soil, on which pines, ferns, and rhododendrons
flourish ; all sorts of appliances for such people, and the
usual watering place delicise make up Bournemouth." Bourne-
mouth had— and has— such merit as a health resort, was
of such supreme advantage to consumptive patients particu-
larly, and attracted so much notice as " a sheltered haven
for the most tender invalids," that false impression was
created with regard to it— an impression which was accentu-
ated by the establishment of " the National Sanatorium
for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest " and by the
naming of the popular pinewood parade as the Invalids'
Walk. So it came to be suggested that at Bournemouth
every other person v/ore a respirator, and that the place.

BOXJRNEMOUTH : 1810-1910. 87

though a Paradise for invalids, was terribly depressing for
people who merely desired change of air amid pleasant sur-
roundings. But Bournemouth was " not content to regard
itself as only a valetudinarian's retreat " or " an invalids'
colony." How it emerged from that phase of its history
may be shown more fully in subsequent chapters. We need
but say now that other visitors increased in greater propor-
tions than the " tender invalids " ; fashion also changed ;
bath chairs and respirators went out of vogue, the parade
of invalidism ceased, and as facilities of travel improved,
so increased the tendency of the people to repair to the seaside,
not so much under the compulsion of " doctor's orders,"
as for pleasurable recreation.

CHAPTER X.

The Development or the " Marine Village."

The Village of Boukne — Plans by Mr. Febrey — Reports bt Mr. Deci-
Mus Burton — The Natural Beauty op the Valley to be Pre-
served — And Bournemouth's Rusticity — An Esplanade prom Bos-
combe to Westbourne — The Westoveb Pine Wood — Developments
on the Branksome Estate — The Squabe — Gordon Grove and
Cupid's Geove — A Regatta in 1849 — Early Advocacy op a Piee
— A Jetty on Wheels — Shipweecks — Dramatic Incident at Bos-
combe — Travelling Facilities in 1850 — A Suggestion for Combined
Gas Wobks foe Poole and Bournemouth.

Although we dealt with the laying out of the Gervis Estate
in Chapter VIII., it may be of interest to again refer to
certain interesting matters in connection with Sir George
Gervis' judicious planning. Through the courtesy of Sir
George Meyrick we have been privileged to examine many
of the original documents relating to the estate. In one
of these we find that the following constituted the whole of
the buildings and the tenants of the " Bourne Property "
in 1841-2 :— Westover Villas (16) ; The Bath Hotel ; the
Belle Vue Boarding House ; land on the West Cliff, leased
by Mr. Samuel Greatheed and Mr. J. S. W. Erie Drax ;
land near Russell's Cottage, rented by Mr. David Tuck,
who also had land near Nurse Hill (afterwards Gordon's
Estate, Richmond Hill) ; land adjoining Poole Hill, Mr.
George Berry, Messrs. Berry and Tuck, and Mr. John Hibid-
age ; land for the Baths, Messrs. Conway, Bayly, and Lam-
pard ; Preventive Station House ; Decoy Pond Meadow,
Mr. Polhill, Mr. Edward Castleman, Mr. James Lampard,
Mr. John Best (house and land), and Mr. James Allen (house,
brick-kilns and land). Respecting one of the last mentioned
lands it was reported by Rlr. Decimus Burton, in 1848, that
" having no wish to throw any obstacle in the way of the
trustees' proposed improvements in the ' Bournemouth
Park,' Mr. Castleman would relinquish possession of the
piece of garden ground in the valley on being paid £50."
As Mr. Castleman had incurred heavy expense in making
the garden the proposal was agreed upon. ' Decoy Pond

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 89

Meadow was the name of the Upper Pleasure Gardens up
to the year 1851, when a little over 30 acres were sold to
Mr. Durrant for £2,600. The major portion of the conveyed
land was described as " all that dwelling house and 25 acres
of heath and moorland, formerly the Decoy Pond, with the
appurtenances in Boom Bottom, in the Parish of Holden-
hurst, in tenure of Edward Beake."

By the Private Act already referred to the Trustees of the
late Sir G. W. T. Gervis were empowered to expend the sum
of £5,000 on the improvement of the estate, in continuance
of the deceased baronet's scheme, to which he devoted so
much time and energy in his lifetime. Sir George fully
realised, even at the early date of 1835, that the position had
great possibilities as a future health resort ; but, much as
he anticipated the success of his plans, it is scarcely probable
that the present prosperous watering place had even a
position in his imagination. During his lifetime he instituted
developments on every part of his " Bourne " property, as
we have shown in a previous chapter. When in 1836 he
engaged Mr. Ferrey, the Christchurch architect, that gentle-
man submitted for Su- George's approval a large number of
plans, designed with situations in many cases quite different
from the present road formations. For instance, the present
Hinton Road (then called Church Road) was wholly set out
as " sites for shops." Behind this road, and perched on the
high ground at the back of the Upper Hinton Road, two
schemes were devised to form Crescents, with Italian and
Gothic double villas at either end and one in the centre.
One of the Crescents the architect called " Poole Crescent."
Besides the whole of the Westover Villas Mr. Ferrey designed
the original Baths, and some large houses on the East Cliff ;
and on the 19th July, 1836, he sent to Sir George, at Hinton
Admiral, a " general design, consisting of ground plan, 1st
floor, and 2nd floor plans, with elevations for the Hotel."
Many other schemes were formiilated, and would, in all
probability, have been proceeded with had our enterprising
ground landlord been spared to see the completion of his and
his architect's ideas. Had Sir George lived the whole char-
acter of the land lying between the East Cliff and the Old
Christchurch Road would now present a different aspect.

90 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

The very land on which Mr. Ferrey devoted most of his
attention remains unbuilt upon to this day.

For the further development of the Estate, the new Baronet
being a minor, the Act 9 and 10 Vict., Cap. 29, was obtained,
and the records of the proceedings taken under it show many
interesting facts regarding the powers sought by Sir G. E. M.
T. Gervis, through his Trustees.

Mr. Decimus Burton, who succeeded Mr. Ferrey as archi-
tect and estate agent, presented a long series of reports,
some of which are of most interesting character, embodying
important suggestions, the carrying into effect of which
has had considerable influence in the fortunes of Bourne-
mouth. Mr. Burton had, it appears, visited Bournemouth in
1840, at the instance of Mr. Gordon, the then owner of
property on what is now Richmond Hill. In 1845, in a
report addressed to Mr. Crawley (solicitor to the Trustees of
the Gervis Estate), he mentions that " houses of a large scale
are particularly enquired for, from which it may be argued
that the place is in good repute with the higher classes."
" The wooded valley through which the Bourne rivulet flows
to the sea is and must always constitute the principal object
in the landscape, and therefore any work undertaken there
should be most jealously watched, and every endeavour
made to preserve the natural beauty of the valley." As
Mrs. Tregonv/ell owned land on the west side of the valley,
he advised that she should be invited to co-operate in " a
general plan for laying out this portion of the ground."
He recommended also, "as a general principle, " that in
designing a building plan for Bournemouth, formality should
be carefully avoided." " The characteristic which distin-
guishes Bournemouth from most other watering places is
its rusticity. This individuality should be maintained, and
a class of visitors will be thus attracted who cannot find the
same elsewhere." He advised that further caution should
be used in thinning the plantations, so that the best grown
trees should be preserved ; that walks and drives should be
liberally provided ; that there should be " a wide Esplanade
on the Cliff," extending from Boscombe Chine to the county
boundary westward, and even farther if it could be effected ;
that the bottom of the Bourne Valley should be laid out

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 91

as ornamental pleasure grounds from the Beach to the
Bridge on the Poole Road (to what is now the Square)— and
he hinted at the possibility of further extension in the future,
with a view of adding yet more to the attractions of the
place.

Later reports show how effect was given to the principles
thus laid down, and indicate from time to time the advances
made. Thus, in a report dated May, 1849, we get the follow-
ing:— "The fir plantation between the Westover Road
and the sea, together with a portion of the sandy waste
purchased of Lord Malmesbury, at the north of the valley,
has been laid out as pleasure grounds by contract entered
into with Mr. Ramsay ; the brambles and rubbish have been
cleared away, glades formed, paths made, a turf bank en-
closure fence raised along the south-western boundary, and
many thousands of ornamental shrubs planted. This spot
has by this means been rendered a most agreeable and con-
venient promenade to visitors, and will be a means of attract-
ing families of respectability to Bournemouth." The West-
over Gardens, it may be added, were placed under the
direction of a Committee of Management, and a small yearly
charge was made to householders in respect of their use.

These reports also disclose negotiations which took place
with the owners of the Branksome Estate with regard to
an exchange of lands with a view, as mentioned above,
of facilitating the improvement of the valley, and under
date 21st May, 1853, we get the following : — " I called on
Mr. Hudson, the agent for the Branksome Estate, and with
him saw Mr. Winter, sen., who gave me information as to
improvements projected on this estate, some of which have
already been effected. A new road has been made from
Poole Hill along the south side of the valley westward, and
several houses have been built there. The marshy bottom
of the Valley is now drained and made dry pasture land,
across which a public path has been made from Poole Hill
to a new road on the north side of the valley which is intended
to enter Poole Road, at the County boundary, a branch from
which opens on the Poole Road about a quarter of a mile
from Bournemouth, v/here two entrance lodges are in pro-
gress, and another branch turns north and re-enters the

92 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Wimborne Road above Richmond Villas. The Sanatorium
is about to be erected here. An Independent Chapel, with
m.inister's house, are about to be built, and a Burial Ground
made on two acres given for the purpose by the proprietors
of the Estate. ... A Pottery on a large scale is being
built on the extreme West end of the Branksome Estate
and a new brickyard between that and Bournemouth. The
portion of the Estate south of the Poole Road has been sold
to Mr. Packe, M.P., and the beautiful knoll or wooded hill
above Richmond Villas to Mr. Tuck. Mr. Winter expressed
his opinion that a Local Act for Bournemouth is required,
and will communicate with Mr. Crawley on the subject."

In Mr. Burton's report of the 9th May, 1848, reference is
made to the letting of land on the East Cliff for houses to be
built by David Tuck and John Hibidage for the Rev. W.
Timson and Mr. Mainwaring (the first resident doctor), with
the huge dimensions of 160 by 300ft., and 210 by 330ft., at the
absurdly low ground rent of £11. Mr. David Tuck, being
the first purchaser of the East Clifi Estate, had a slight
advantage in ground rent charge, by taking the larger plot on
the same terms as the smaller.

As yet Bournemouth had been, on the whole, preserved
from the error of building terraces and townlike houses and
dwellings arranged in streets. The mention of streets reminds
us of a curious fact which should be placed on record, viz.,
that even at the date of writing the only thoroughfare so
called in the whole County Borough of Bournemouth is
Orchard Street. How it came to be called a " street " we
are unable to say. This we can vouch for, it was formerly
Orchard Lane, and led from the orchard situated at the
back of the Commercial Road, and is so shown on the map
of " Bourne Tregonwell." The thoroughfare in question is
really only an unimposing lane, about twelve feet wide,
although it has many historical associations connected with
it. Some errors were made in the designs of a house here
and there ; but generally speaking, the styles of architecture
were in most cases faithfully adhered to. The designs were
very various, chiefly Italian, thatched and Elizabethan
cottages, or rather in mock Gothic — an architectural critic
of the time called it the " Bourne style." Some there were

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 93

who maintained that in the erection of a new place like this
it was much to be regretted, that one mind could not have
planned and regulated the building sites, and made the
houses on a more definite plan than was done. Be that as
it may, the numerous detached villas constructed on the
slopes, crests and retired dells present, without doubt, a
handsome and unique position, and constitute one of the
most delightful charms of Beautiful Bournemouth. Spots
but recently covered with fir trees became cleared, and lodging
houses of a superior class, surrounded with neat gardens and
shrubberies, quickly sprang up thereon one after another,
and Bournemouth steadily increased in popularity. As
locally reported at the time, " there was not now monotonous
quiet felt here, as was once the case, the long evenings being
relieved by many parties amongst the distinguished residents
and visitors." During the winter of 1848-9, what had been
a wilderness of fir plantations and underwood, between the
Westover Villas and the seashore, was greatly altered and
tastefully laid out, the underwood cleared away, great
numbers of fir trees cut down, and in their places ever-
greens, American and other ornamental shrubs, thickly
planted ; the surface levelled, turfed, and serpentine walks,
offering a delightful promenade, such as is rarely met with
at a watering place so close to the beach, were created.
Needless to point out, that we refer to the Westover Pleasure
Gardens, or, as they were then known, the Westover Shi-ub-
beries. We may say here that this delightful part of the
Gardens has maintained, in spite of attempts made to
" beautify " it by the erection of public and private build-
ings, most of the attractiveness it had sixty years ago. May
the Westover Gardens be always preserved as an " open
space " !

It will probably be of interest to record that Mr. David
Tuck, as well as being the builder of the first houses on the
Gervis Estate, was also road-maker and general contractor ;
Mr. James Ingram was frequently employed as estate car-
penter ; Mr. J. Piper and Mr. David Ramsay were the nursery-
men who laid out all the strips of plantation, and the Westover
Pleasure Grounds ; Mr. Wilme, surveyor, made a detailed
survey and plan of the estate ; Mr. Henry HoUoway was also

94 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

an Estate Surveyor ; Mr. Leet was Clerk of the Works ;
and Mr. Decimus Burton we have already referred to.

Respecting Mr. David Tuck it may be said that, until the
arrival of Mr. Hibidage, he had the monopoly of the work
under Sir George Gervis, and afterwards the Trustees acting
for the young baronet. Mr. Tuck, who died in 1860, was
succeeded by his son Peter, although Mr. McWilliam, who
was the former's foreman, carried on the unfinished con-
tracts which were entered into in 1857 and 1858.

A proposal was made in 1858 by Mr. Matcham to improve
the front of the Belle Vue Hotel, and lay it out as a lawn and
garden " as soon as the proposed bridge and road required
in the locality to connect the east and west sides of the valley
are carried into effect." For the sum of £14 10s. the gradient
of the Bath Road was improved : " Mr. Bayly having given
up to the Trustees the Mews Road on the west side of the
hotel."

This brings us to a very important point in our history,
namely the making of the Bridge, the situation of which is
now styled The Square. The part of the Borough generally
spoken of as being the centre of the town— The Square— is
very far from being so geographically ; in fact, the actual
centre of Bournemouth's sea front is the Pleasure Gardens
on the cliff beyond Boscombe Pier. Be that as it may,
everything seems to have always been reckoned as from
The Square. The only time it could reasonably be called
the centre of the town was at the period of the passing of
the Act of 1856, and then it was usually referred to as The
Bridge. In the old coaching days there was only a very
narrow passage here, and the brook ran across the road,
more or less at will. Crossing for foot passengers was only
by means of a plank laid across the brook, although it is
recorded that " Mr. Tregonwell made a road here, but it is
now [1848] obliterated by the sand." There has been so
much conjecture respecting the building of the Bridge that
it gives us pleasure to be able to give the actual facts in
connection with this erstwhile important feature of the
town. In the same report of 1848 made by Mr. Burton,
from which we have already quoted, he states that " the
erection of a carriage bridge over the Bourne stream, and

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 95

the formation of the road through Mr. Tregonwell's property
to the Poole road," he considers to be an improvement
essentially required for the convenience of visitors at Bourne-
mouth."

Of the 111 acres mentioned in the 1805 Award as allot-
ments, Mr. Tregonwell owned about 40 acres, and the
Gervis Estate the remainder, excepting a few acres held by
Mr. Erie Drax.

" There is no mention, however," continues Mr. Burton,
" in the Award of a Bridge, although it is absolutely necessary.
Mr. Tuck offers to build a brick bridge suitable for the purpose
for £70, and to make a road for £30, together £100. Providing
the remainder is forthcoming, I recommend the Estate to
subscribe £50." Mr. John Tregonwell, it is believed, made
a liberal donation towards the cost, and Mr. Matcham and
Mr. Bayly subscribed £10 each. " As the road will be on an
embankment it would form an excellent south boundary,
and in great measure shelter the proposed public park in
the Bourne Valley." This very practical proposal was
carried out, for on the 1st August, 1849, it is recorded that
" a bridge has been built, by subscription, over the Bourne
rivulet, and roads leading thereto, the Gervis Estate con-
tributing towards this work £50."

This narrow pathway and road did duty until the first
widening took place early in 1869, which work, it is interesting
to record, was executed by Mr. J. K. Nethercoate. The cost
being only £26, it may be assumed that the roadway was
not very considerably widened. The next widening was
done by Messrs. Hoare and Walden in 1873, when both sides
were set back. Since that date The Square has been improved
from time to time, until we now have an imposing open
space, looking its best on a summer morning, when the
coaches are assembling or leaving for the delightful drives
of the neighbourhood. There was very good reason for the
appellation " Bridge," as it actually bridged the stream, and
was to all intents and purposes an aqueduct, but why and how
it became to be styled the "Square " passes our comprehen-
sion Such, however, is the local acceptation, and we suppose
the misnomer will be perpetuated. Our first record of the
Square being referred to by that name is November, 1858.

96 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Various transfers of land had taken place since 1805,
and at the time to -which we are now referring not only had
nnany attractive villas been erected on the Tregonwell and
Gervis Estates, but developments were proceeding also on
property which now forms part of the extensive Durrant
Estate. A range of stately houses, in which a dignified
exterior was combined with the most complete internal
accommodation, was erected, environed by plantations
intersected by walks and drives of extreme length and
imposing character. These improvements were undertaken
by Mr. William Gordon, the purchaser of the estate. The
district referred to is Richmond Terrace, Richmond Hill
(west side) and St. Stephen's Road. On the map of the
" Marine Village of Bourne " this road is called Gordon
Grove — no doubt after the gentleman mentioned. Richmond
Hill used to be called Niu-se Hill, or Nurses' Hill, just as at a
later stage of the town's history a beautiful pine wood walk
on the East Cliff was called Cupid's Grove. The reason may
be imagined by the reader. The two Elizabethan mansions—
Forest House and Little Forest House— apparently date
from about the same period. The latter was the home of
the late Mr. W. E. Gladstone during his brief stay in Bourne-
mouth shortly before his death, and both are noble edifices,
and in the past, more so than in the present, they occupied
a singularly commanding position, with magnificent sea
views. Fairly large houses were also erected in the vicinity
of the Old Christchurch Road, the principal being Adelaide
Cottage, Ashley Cottages (on the site now occupied by the
Criterion Hotel), Verulam House, Hampstead House, Yelver-
ton House, Albert House (once the temporary home of Ex-
Queen Marie-Amelie of France), Church House (where the
Fancy Fair now stands), etc. On the death of Miss Bruce, the
extensive estate of Branksome, stretching up through the
valley to the Poole Road, right down to the Dorset sea front,
along the Poole Road as far as the old Award Road, and
inland right out to Talbot Woods, was sold to different
purchasers. The portion lying west of Broad Chine (now
called Branksome Chine) was purchased by Mr. C. W. Packe,
M.P., who built near the cliffs the picturesque mansion of
Branksome Tower. Land at Westbourne, including the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 97

glens west of Alum Chine, was acquired by the late Mr. R.
Kerley. The large tract of land north of the Poole Road—
at one time thickly covered with pine trees— still retains
the title of the " Branksome Estate," just as the district
south of the Poole Road keeps to the title of Branksome
Park. The Bourne Valley Pottery and Clay Works, the
Gas Company's Works, and the Electricity Supply Company's
Works have all been erected on part of the estate. The throw-
ing open of this property cleared the way for a new exten-
sion of Bournemouth, and the establishment of the Sanatorium
added to the renown of the place as a health resort.

As far back as 1849 a regatta was held here, for the record
is in existence of the holding of the Poole and Bournemouth
Regatta on Friday, the 16th August, 1849, when the place
was much enlivened by the event, which was carried on
with very great spirit. Numerous races for yachts were held,
and the competitions were followed with keen interest by
a large company on board the steamship Atlanta ; a
number of people from the neighbouring towns and villages
came in full force, and our small health resort was a scene
of great excitement. The Regatta Ball was held at " Mat-
cham's Belle Vue Hotel " on Tuesday, 14th August, 1849,
and was " attended by about 40 fashionables of Bourne-
mouth, Parkstone, Poole, etc.," and Targett's Band was in
attendance. An excellent supper was done full justice to,
and dancing continued until 4.30 a.m., the party regretting
that " for Matcham's sake " the company was not larger.
Small as the population of the place was, the inhabitants
were evidently determined to enjoy themselves, and make
up for the deficiency of " counter attractions." A tradesmen's
ball was held at Matcham's Belle Vue Hotel at Christmas,
1849, when Mr. Finley acted as M.C. over a company of 50.
It was evidently an " all night," as the company dispersed
at 6 a.m.

A large hollow at the foot of Commercial Road was filled
up in 1851, giving a wider and more level entrance to the
Exeter Road. Some few shops were opened at the bottom
of Commercial Road— then called Poole Hill— and these
were succeeded by others further up the road. The number
of visitors and residents continued to increase, and the

H

98 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

population in 1851 numbered 695. The Bath Hotel and
the Belle Vue were always spoken of as " The Hotel "
and " The Boarding House," although at later periods the
latter became " Matcham's Belle Vue Hotel " and " Macey's
Belle Vue Hotel." The only other hotel in existence in 1850
was the London Hotel, frequently referred to as " The
London and Commercial Inn," kept by Mr. Henry Aldridge.
Numerous boarding houses were built about this time, in-
cluding Windsor Cottages (on the site of the Roman Catholic
Church), Heathfield Lodge, Bourne Villa, Willow Cottage,
Eagle's Nest, Essex Cottage, Granville Cottage, Heath Villa,
Rose Cottage, Sea View House, Morley House, and Clarence
Cottage. These, and the houses in Richmond Terrace, the
Westover Villas, and a few cottages erected at an earlier
period, with a few private residences and shops, made up
the Bournemouth of that period. Many distinguished visitors
came regularly every winter, among the most notable being
Lord and Lady Bulwer Lytton, who resided at Adelaide
Cottage, at the south-west corner of Yelverton Road, during
the winter of 1849 ; the Duke and Duchess of Montrose,
the Marquis and Marchioness of Westminster, the late Duke
of Argyll, Lord St. Maur, and many others. Bournemouth
was, in fact, the resort of a select and fashionable assembly.

Further evidence of the development of the district is
afforded in the following extract from an advertisement
which appeared in the "Poole Herald" of May, 1852: —
" There has long been a demand for houses, as well for resi-
dents as for visitors, but there has not been any adequate
supply of sites suitable for building purposes until the
present time. The proprietors of the Branksome Estate,
which comprises both sides of the Bourne Valley to the
extent of more than two miles in length, are now prepared
to offer to the public most eligible sites for building, either
immediately contiguous to the spot selected for the Sana-
torium, or in its neighbourhood, or at a greater distance
from it, as may be preferred. Roads have been formed
and various other important improvements have been made
and are now in progress, for bringing into notice the capa-
bilities of this lovely locality, which, for all purposes of
health or enjoyment, is not to be surpassed in England."

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 99

Editorial reference is made to the advertisement, and we
find the following, which is both illuminating and entertain-
ing:— "As regards the progress of this watering place, we
have not been without fear of injury from the overcrowding
of the buildings ; we are, however, relieved from what must
be admitted to have been a well-founded alarm, by the
judicious plans of the owners of the Branksome Estate.
These gentlemen have clearly apprehended the necessities of
the case, and forthwith proceeded to carry them into execu-
tion. The rismg grounds on either side of the valley of
the Bourne afford sites for building of unequalled beauty,
and in the greatest variety ; nor is this all, the roads, which
are in course of making, amongst these hills, will bring
into view all that diversity of scenery with which the country
abounds. It may not be out of place to notice, incidentally,
that the demand for labour is so large in the neighbourhood
that none but the wilfully idle need lack employment."
Happy little village of Bourne ! What a Paradise it must
have been !

Another interesting fact to be noted in connection with
the period now under review is that the inhabitants them-
selves had begun to display a keen interest in the place,
and to meditate plans for its improvement. One of Mr.
Burton's reports shows that in 1847 ten gentlemen— including
Sir John Guise, General Boyd, Mr. J. Tregonwell, the Rev.
A. M. Bennett, Mr. Elgie, Mr. Bayly, and others— met him
at the Bath Hotel, when Sir John stated " that the parties
considered that no improvement was more wanted than a
pier or jetty at which boats might embark and disembark
passengers. They then came to a resolution that a memorial
signed by all the inhabitants should be forwarded to the
Trustees on the subject," and they expressed the hope that
Mr. Burton would " advocate the measure." Presumably
he did. On the 3rd December in the same year, a meeting
was held at the Bath Hotel " for the purpose of considering
what steps should be taken towards erecting a Pier on the
Beach at Bournemouth," and a series of resolutions were
passed with the view of facilitating progress. Thanks, in
the first place, were tendered to Sir George Gervis' Trustees
for their " attention to a memorial from the inhabitants "

100 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

and for their having caused a survey and estimate for a
Pier to be made by Captain Denham, R.N. A further
resolution affirmed the expediency of raising a sum of £2,000,
in £10 shares, and another gave instructions for the calling
of a second meeting " for the purpose of appointing a com-
mittee, and for taking such further steps as they may deem
advisable to carry out the object in contemplation." This
further meeting led to the preparation of a prospectus and
a scheme to promote a public company. The very sanguine
promoters anticipated a return of from 15 to 20 per cent,
upon their outlay, but even this bait, and the exhibit of
a model at the Marine Library, failed to produce the capital
required. We deal with the actual erection of the Pier in
a later chapter. Here we need but say the " object in
contemplation " was not effected for some years. In 1855,
through the efforts of Messrs. Bayly, Kerley and Rebbeck,
subscriptions were promised for the construction of a " tem-
porary, movable landing-stage " — a "jetty on wheels"
(suggested by the captain of Messrs. Cosens and Co.'s s.s.
Princess), which could " be pushed into the water and
again drawn out at pleasure,"— and Messrs. C. C. Creeke
and P. Tuck were asked to report " what would be the
best manner of placing it on the Beach." In May " the
Committee " were advised to " bestir themselves " as there
was a rumour " that the Queen might come to Bournemouth
to visit the Sanatorium, in which she took great interest."
The Queen did not come, but the committee and subscribers
" bestirred themselves " to such effect that the first pile
of a landing-stage was driven early in July, and announce-
ment made of the intention of " the tradesman employed "
to " get it finished in about three weeks' time." " We then
hope to be often favoured with a visit of the Contractor
steamer from Poole and other such craft, with pleasure
parties, as the difficulty of landing will then be removed."
The builder of " the Jetty "—as it was afterwards called—
was Mr. Samuel Ingram, a well-known and prominent resident
at that time, and the cost was borne by the residents and
landowners. " The Jetty " answered a temporary purpose,
and emphasised the need for a more important and sub-
stantial structure. It remained until July, 1859, when the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 101

first pile of the 1861 or " wooden Pier " was driven,— under
circumstances which are narrated in a subsequent chapter.

A short time previous to the erection of the " Jetty "—
namely, in March, 1835— a ketch named the " Elizabeth and
Ann " was driven ashore right upon what is now the Pier
Approach. It should be mentioned, however, that at the
time when this apparently impossible event took place the
outlet of the Bourne was under a rustic bridge, and on a
level with the Beach. Some years later the whole of the
approach to the Pier, from the Bath Road to the West Cliff,
was raised, and the brook, instead of being allowed to meander
over the sands, was eventually turned into the main sewer.
It finishes its career by flushing the main outfall ! Even
after the removal of the rustic bridge, on occasions when the
tide was exceptionally high, the sea ran into the meadows,
now the Pleasure Gardens. Boats have been floated into
the Gardens from the sea, and a well-known resident avers
that he has frequently caught trout in the brook, more
especially from the rustic bridge over the outlet,— then about
the centre of the present Pier Approach. We fear there
are no trout in the stream now, and the rustic bridge feU in
in October, 1859, and was cleared away by permission of
Sir George Gervis.

On the 26th December, 1852, a barque named the William
Glen Anderson was driven ashore near Boscombe. That
very night Su- Percy and Lady Shelley were giving a dramatic
entertaiimient at Boscombe jManor, and the play selected
for representation was one entitled " The Wreck Ashore."
While the company were playing came intelligence of a
dramatic realisation of fact, and soon after a poor Norwegian
sailor was carried in an unconscious condition to the Manor.
He received all the kind treatment that his unfortunate state
seemed to require, and was left sleeping. When morning
came he had disappeared, and was never seen or heard of
again ! The barque stuck fast on the sands, and eventually
broke up. In January, 1853-some two or three weeks
after the wreck— an interesting sequel took place in Bourne-
mouth, when the " Institution for the Preservation of Life
from Shipwreck " presented their silver medal to Lieutenant
Parsons, R.N., chief of the Coastguard, and a reward of £4

102 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

to his men for their gallant services rendered to the stranded
vessel and her crew. We may remark, en passant, that in
various other instances vessels have been driven high and
dry upon Bournemouth Beach. Ordinarily, ours is not a
stormy coast, but occasionally circumstances do justify Dr.
Granville's phrase as to the " roaring sea."

In 1850 " increased travelling accommodation to those
famed watering places, Bournemouth and Mudeford," was
offered by the Avon coach, which left Christchurch for
Salisbury " at a quarter before eight in the morning, return-
ing to Christchurch for Mudeford and Bournemouth at five
in the afternoon." This was announced as " a good oppor-
tunity " for persons living to the north of Christchurch " to
visit these delightful and invigorating watering places, at
both of which lodgings of every description may be obtained,
as well as most superior acconmiodation at the hotels, at
moderate charges." Later in the same year the inhabitants
of Christchurch " unanimously resolved to introduce portable
gas lighting into the public street," upon " a very partial
scale," and it was suggested as " worth consideration "
whether " a connection might not be effected with Poole,
extending the benefit to be derived from this lighting to
Parkstone and Bournemouth " ! Some six years later the
" Poole Herald " made the further suggestion that gas might
be supplied from " enlarged works at Poole." " Boiirnemouth
will then have the advantage of gas light without the
nuisance of gas works." Half a century or so later Bourne-
mouth was actually supplied with gas manufactured at
" enlarged works at Poole."

In connection with a scheme for bringing Christchurch
into association with the South Western Railway the sugges-
tion had been made that " Bournemouth would prefer the
line being brought to about Iford Bridge, which also might
be made the Christchurch Station. It doesn't desire a
second station close into its own district " !

Reserving for our next chapter a chronicle of the efforts
which eventuated in the passing of the Bournemouth Im-
provement Act of 1856, and the establishment of the first
Local Government Authority in Bournemouth, we conclude
our present chronicle with mention of the fact that during

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 103

the Great Exhibition of 1851 the local Press complained
bitterly of the harm done to the great majority of watering
places, and especially to Bom-nemouth, which was then
struggling hard to maintain a reputation for progress.
Curiously enough, a similar outcry was raised against the
" White City " in 1908.

CHAPTER XI.

The Bournemouth Improvement Act, 1856.

Bournemouth's Dependencb Upon its Neighbours in the Fifties — His-
toric Meeting at the Belle Vue in 1854 — The Improvement Act
AND ITS Cost — Powers and Responsibilities op the Commissioners
— First Officials and their. Salaries — The First Rate — A Contrast
WITH 1910 — An Encroachment in Old Christchurch Eoad — Con-
temporary Description op Bournemouth in 1856 — The First Police-

MAK.

For nearly half a century after the historic visit of Mr.
Tr agon well and the erection of " the Mansion " occupied by
the first proprietor-resident, Bournemouth was but a village
community, depending almost entirely upon its neighbours
for the necessities and the amenities of life. Even as late
as 1858, when the number of visitors was large enough to
justify the Poole Cornopean Band coming over to give a
promenade concert outside the Bath Hotel, and when its
first newspaper had been duly established, so dependent was
it that one of the earliest advertisements in the "Directory "
was an announcement that Mr. W. Attewell, " hair cutter
and dresser," of Christchurch, " attends at Bournemouth
every Tuesday and Friday," and that orders for his services
might be left at the Post Office or at the Tregonwell Arms.
Every birth and death within the district had to be registered
at Christchurch, and not till late in the last quarter of the
century could any marriage be celebrated in a Nonconformist
place of worship, without one or other, or both, the parties
making pilgrimage to the " mother town." Any " villager "
so poor as to need assistance from the rates had to apply
to a Relieving Officer who lived at Christchurch, and, perhaps,
go before the Board of Guardians sitting within the shadow
of the grand old Priory. If the parish doctor was required
he had to be sent for from his residence in the same place,
where also dwelt the public vaccinator and the coroner (or
one of his deputies). Thither the Bournemouthians had to
proceed for all County Court, licensing, or police business,
for all registration work, and to record a vote in any Parlia-

f: %

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 105

mentary election. In Bournemouth itself there was no place
of temporary detention for offenders against public order or
morality, no place of rest for any " Weary Willies " taking
a summer tour through the county, and only the most
microscopic search revealed the presence of a policeman.

The first important change came with the passing of the
Improvement Act of 1856, when Bournemouth entered upon
a new phase of history. It is from this period, indeed, that
we must date its career as a town. Prior to that time it
had been a watering place and health resort— picturesque,
salubrious, and of increasing attraction— but it had no civic
organisation of even the most elementary character : no
machinery for co-operative effort in the material interests of
the community. But as landowner after landowner began
to put land upon the market and develop his estates, as
house after house was built, and the population came to be
numbered by hundreds, the necessity for considering the
welfare of the community as well as that of the individual
forced itself upon the attention of the residents, and action
became imperative. Questions of water supply and sanitation
had to be considered ; lighting and road improvement had
become desirable ; and the erection of a pier or landing-stage
was regarded as essential to complete summer enjoyment.

On the 29th August, 1854, a meeting was held at the Belle
Vue Hotel, when it was unanimously resolved to apply to
Parliament for an Act authorising the carrying out of various
public improvements by and at the cost of the inhabitants.
A committee was appointed, and the co-operation of the
various landowners was sought. The Trustees of Sir George
Gervis were sympathetic, but apparently powerless without
the approval of the Comrt. They petitioned the Court,
however, and obtained authority " to raise by a sale of Ex-
chequer Bills or Consolidated Bank Annuities held by them,
or standing in their name, and out of any monies in their
hands arising from the proceeds of the sale of real estates
devised by the will of the testator, the sum of £250," and " to
apply the same in part discharge of the expenses of obtaining
the said Bournemouth Improvement Bill." According to
the petition, " it was proposed by the inhabitants of and
owners of property in Bournemouth to apply for an Act of

106 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Parliament for the improvement of Bournemouth," and
to enable the Commissioners to be thereby appointed to
do various things under the Act, " and that such Commission-
ers shall have power to levy rates on all the property within
the limits of the Bill, . . . such rates not to exceed
in any one year 2s. 6d. in the £." The amount proposed
to be raised by the Bill was £4,000, " to be laid out in paying
the expenses, paying interest on borrowed money, and setting
apart a Sinking Fund." It was estimated that the
cost of obtaining the Act would be £600, and the Trustees
asked for powers to contribute £250, " inasmuch as the greater
part of Bournemouth was subject to the trusts of the will
of Sir George William Tapps Gervis." As a matter of fact,
the cost of the Act was not £600, but £l,118 9s. 3d. !

The Bill was duly presented to Parliament in 1856, and
provided for the appointment and incorporation of a Board
of Commissioners, armed with powers to construct roads,
sewers and drains, to pave, light, watch, drain, cleanse,
water and improve the streets, roadways and other public
passages, to remove and prevent nuisances and encroach-
ments ; " to supply and also to contract for a supply of
water and gas to the said district and the neighbourhood
thereof " ; to establish and maintain fire engines ; to erect,
establish, maintain and regulate a Market or Market Place
for the sale of marketable commodities ; to construct a
pier, jetty or landing place ; and to purchase by agreement,
or to rent, ground which they might think desirable " for
the purpose of ornament, recreation, or improvement."
Other incidental powers were also sought, including, of
course, the power to levy rates and tolls. The Bill was gener-
ally approved, and in May, 1856, we find the " Poole Herald "
rejoicing over its success. " No doubt Bournemouth will
now have good water, good sewerage, proper footpaths,
and a pier which will give visitors a delightful promenade."
The Bill " weathered the usual perils of opposition," and,
with some important modifications, was duly passed through
both Houses of Parliament, and received the Royal Assent
in time for the first meeting of the new Authority to be held
in the month of July. In the " Herald " of the 31st of that
month an editorial opinion was expressed that " Bournemouth,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 107

now that it ceases to be so emphatically retired, has become
intensely dull," the suggestion being made that " it must
not now be considered simply for the invalided and the
convalescent," and that a pier would be an immense advan-
tage, an object of attraction in itself, and an answer to the
ever-recurring question, " Where shall we go ? " "A pier
will advantageously decide this question, probably seven
times per week for at least a thousand persons."

On the 14th July, the Bill received the Royal Assent, and
became the " Bournemouth Improvement Act, 1856." It
provided for the incorporation of a body of thirteen Com-
missioners, under the name of the Bournemouth Improve-
ment Commissioners, and the district assigned to them was
limited to an area " within the circle of the radius of a mile,
whereof the centre is the front door of the Belle Vue Hotel " —
a district which excluded the whole of Westbourne, Winton,
Springbourne, Malmesbury Park, and Boscombe The boun-
dary line crossed the Christchurch Road a little westward of
the junction mth the Derby Road, the Holdenhm'st Road
just beyond the railway, the Wimborne Road west of the
Cemetery, and the Poole Road just beyond the Hospital.
The Act provided that the first Commissioners should be
the " Lord of the Manor of Westover for the time being,
a person to be nominated by him in writing," and Messrs.
Samuel Bayly, William Clapcott Dean, Robert Kerley,
George Ledgard, Charles William Packe, William Robson,
Thomas Shettle, David Tuck, John Tregonwell, Samuel
Thompson and William Esdaile Winter.

The Commissioners were given the general powers sought
for with regard to " the more efficient pa^dng, sewering,
drainage, lighting, cleansing, watching and otherwise improv-
ing the district," and special powers for the provision of a
pier and of a market or markets, the levying of tolls, etc.
But they were given no powers with regard to water supply,
and in the matter of lighting they were restricted to the
entering into contracts for any period not exceeding three
years, with any person or company for the supply of gas,
oil, and other means of lighting the streets and public buildings
within the limits of the Act. They were authorised to borrow
a sum not exceeding £5,000 for the erection of a pier, and

108 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

a sum of £5,000 for other purposes within the meaning of
the Act, and to levy a General Improvement Rate not exceed-
ing, in any one year, " three shillings in the pound on the
annual value of the property assessed thereto."

At the first meeting on the 30th July, 1856, there were
present : Mr. George Ledgard (in the chair), Messrs. Shettle,
D. Tuck, Bayly, Kerley, Thompson and Robson. Mr. George
Ledgard was appointed Chairman for the year 1856-7 ;
Mr. Richard Ledgard, Treasurer ; Mr. Thomas Kingdon,
Clerk ; and Mr. Christopher Crabb Creeke, Surveyor and
Inspector of Nuisances.

After the election of Chairman and officers, three other
important matters were decided upon, viz. : the designing
of a suitable seal, the making of a map of the district, and
the opening up of negotiations with the Gervis Estate respect-
ing the Pleasure Grounds and plantations— marking the
commencement of a correspondence with one of the principal
landowners which has lasted until this day. Respecting the
seal, Mr. Creeke, the Surveyor, submitted at a later meeting
a drawing which received the entire approval of the Commis-
sioners, and that badge of authenticity was ordered to be
engraved. The design was plain, having in the centre a
Hampshire rose surmounted by a crown, around which
appeared, " Improvement and Pier Act— Incor. 19-20 Vic,
chap. 30." Outside this was simply " Bournemouth Com-
missioners, A.D. 1856." In shape the seal was almost round.
The map of the district was duly made upon a scale required
by the Commissioners' Clauses Act.

The first Clerk— Mr. Thomas Kingdon— received the
princely salary of £25 per annum, " to include all general
business." He was required to attend all meetings of the
Commissioners, whether ordinary or special, as well as of
all committees appointed, and the annual election of Com-
missioners ; to keep the minutes and accounts, and attend
at the office of the Commissioners as required by the 54th
Clause of the Commissioners' Act, either in person or by
some person authorised by the Commissioners," and " no
bill will be allowed for extra charges except upon special
resolution of the Commissioners." Mr. Kingdon— owing
to a dispute relating to the full meaning of the foregoing—

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 109

resigned in June, 1858, and he was succeeded by Mr. Edward
Robinson, who acted as Clerk under the same conditions
and at the same salary until the 2nd July, 1861, when, in
consequence of a similar grievance, he too resigned, and
Mr. J. Druitt, of Christchurch, was chosen. The last named
gentleman continued in office until the 4th September,
1877, when he was succeeded by his son (now Alderman J.
Druitt), who remained the principal adviser to the Com-
missioners down to the year 1890, when the Board was
dissolved and a Tovm Council appointed. Mr. Druitt then
became the first Town Clerk, which office he continued till
his resignation in 1902, when he was succeeded by the present
Town Clerk, Mr. George Wm. Bailey, who resigned a similar
appointment at St. Helens to come south. The Commissioners
in 1869 increased their Clerk's salary to £75, later on they
advanced it to £150 ; then, in 1877, to £200, later it was
raised to £250, but out of this Mr. Druitt was required to
pay the expenses of his office staff.

At the critical period of the town's history to which we
have been referring an appointment was made governing the
fortunes and future of the district in so many ways that it is
difficult to enumerate them in detail. When the Commis-
sioners made Mr. Christopher Crabb Creeke their first Svuveyor
and Inspector of Nuisances, they secured a gentleman capable
in every way for work in connection with the formation of a
new town. To his wise, thoughtful, and far-seeing instinct
we owe a good deal. Consider for a moment what a difficult
task was his. There was no proper system of drainage, neither
was there an adequate outfall ; the roads were in a condition
bordering on the chaotic, though it is true the roads principally
consisted of the main road through to Poole and Christ-
church, Holdenhurst Road, Bath Road, Wimborne Road
and Richmond Hill, Exeter Road and Westover Road. To
put these satisfactorily in order took the Surveyor some
years before they were reduced to anything like a state of
efficiency. A considerable part of Mr. Creeke's early years
under the Commissioners was devoted to levelling the surface
of the roads— lowering here, raising there— gravelling, channel-
ling and curbing ; all spare soil being thrown over the cliffs.
With an eye for the artistic, Mr. Creeke in setting out the

110 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

district on his first map, designed the winding, tortuous side
and back roads visitors sometimes grumble about, especially
so after a first visit, say, to the Dean Park Cricket Ground,
and an attempt, without guidance, is made to get to the
station, or, indeed, to arrive at any definite point at the
first essay, from this most confusing of roads. Parenthetic-
ally, we may remark that Mr. Creeke was not only Surveyor
to the Commissioners, but also Surveyor and expert adviser
to Mr. Clapcott Dean, the owner of large estates in both the
eastern and western parts of the town. Numberless similar
cases could be quoted, but this is sufficient to point out that
Mr. Creeke's main idea evidently was to avoid a straight
road, that being against his view of the canons of the pictur-
esque. We cannot admit that Mr. Creeke was other than
right ; we do regret that when planning the district he did
not widen the Old Christchurch Road, already made, by at
least 20 feet. Had Mr. Creeke ever thought that Bourne-
mouth would develop so rapidly as it has done, it is certain
we should have had a main thoroughfare from East to West
of ample proportions, with a subsidiary side road as an outlet
for traffic at busy times. Now this gentleman, on whom
largely rested the destinies of the future prosperous health
resort, was willing to undertake the following work for
the sum of £50 per annum : — " To advise, report on and
prepare estimates for any works from time to time contem-
plated by the Commissioners relating to the profession of
Surveyor, Architect, and Civil Engineer ; to provide all the
requisite plans, specifications, and superintendence of works
carried out in such manner that there should be no extra
charge for such drawings, specifications, or superintendence.
As Inspector of Nuisances to carry out the duties prescribed
by the ' Nuisances Removal Act ' and supervision of sanitary
matters as laid down by the Acts, so that the Commissioners
should not be at any extra expense or charge for supervision."
All this Mr. Creeke himself suggested, as well as the rate
of remuneration he considered sufficient. He would make
no extra charge for the required survey he was then preparing,
except for actual materials for the plan and duplicate. Any
professional services in designing the pier were not to be
included in this agreement ; and Mr. Creeke further suggested

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. Ill

that if the duties should become Ughter or less important
than attending on the first outlay he was willing that his
salary of £50 should be reduced accordingly ! Mr. Creeke's
salary remained at this ridiculously low figure until July,
1868, when it was increased to £l50, to include the provision
of a competent road foreman and inspector. He was also,
at the same time, voted an honorarium of £100 for his past
professional services, which, owing to an almost total absence
of fimds, he did not receive until October, 1869. The Com-
missioners themselves in 1864 placed on record that " the
conduct of the Surveyor in the performance of his duties
both at their meetings and otherwise has been entirely
satisfactory to the Commissioners." In January, 1876, Mr.
Creeke's salary was increased to £300, and he resigned on
the 27th May, 1879, at a time when the Board were plunged
mto a number of difficulties and anxieties caused mainly
by the non-fulfilment of certain works by the contractors.
In spite of certain differences it is now needless to explain
Mr. Creeke was held in very high esteem by the ratepayers,
and in 1883, on his seeking election as a Commissioner, he
was returned at the head of the poll. He died in May, 1886.

The meetings of the Commissioners were held at the Belle
Vue Hotel until the end of 1857, when rooms were rented from
Mr. Creeke at Lainston Villa (now the Garden Tea House),
at £20 per annum. Here the business of the town was trans-
acted until January, 1875, when a Town Hall having
been erected on the site of the present Town Hall Avenue
a suite of rooms was occupied by the Commissioners and
officials. The Corporation premises in Yelverton Road were
leased in 1892.

In 1868 an attempt was made to provide suitable accom-
modation in a permanent building, plans being submitted by
Mr. Kerley, whose scheme was, however, rejected, although
the Commissioners paid £21 for the cost of preparing the
plans, executed, we believe, by Mr. Peter Tuck. At the
same time, the Surveyor produced plans of offices to be erected
on Mr. Durrant's Estate in the Oval Block, and of stables,
etc., on the same estate on Poole Hill, the rent of the former
to be £60, and of the latter £27 10s. ; the term to be seven
years, and the Commissioners to have the option of purchasing

112 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

the stables plot for £550. Notwithstanding the adoption and
confirmation of this scheme, the idea was abandoned. The
position of the " Oval Block " being unknown to most people,
we may say that the situation is the north side of the Com-
mercial Road and the west side of the Triangle.

As we have said, almost the first decision arrived at was
the inquiry to be made as to the terms on which Sir George
E. M. Tapps Gervis would hand over the Westover Pleasure
Grounds to the Commissioners, " including the meadows
south of the Holdenhurst Bridge." As has been previously
mentioned, the Westover Pleasure Grounds had been planted
with evergreens and ornamental shrubs, and the whole place
put into something like the order in which we find it to-day.
The meadows, or Lower Pleasure Gardens, were not open to
the public to the extent they are now, owing mainly to the
very swampy state of the ground. It was not till March,
1873, that the meadows were converted into public pleasure
gardens. The draining, done by men employed by the
Commissioners, and superintended by Mr. Proudley, was a
long and somewhat costly undertaking.

The offices of Surveyor and Inspector of Nuisances were
separated in August, 1866, when Mark Revel was appointed
to the minor post, with the added title of foreman, for which
he received £l per week. The office of Inspector, to all
intents and purposes Sanitary Inspector, was held successively
by George Light (1867), WilHam Macey (1869), William
Cowley (1871), and Maurice O'Connell (appointed in 1871,
remained an official of the Board for many years). O'Connell
came to Bournemouth in 1860 as Drill Sergeant to the
Rifle Volunteers, then newly established.

Shortly after taking office the Commissioners ascertained
the legal net value of the property within the district as a
basis of an Improvement Rate, and re-assessed and re-valued
the whole of the buildings. Until a permanent loan was
arranged for a temporary loan of £200 was obtained from
the Treasurer with which to carry out those improvements
most necessary and of urgent importance. The intention of
the Commissioners to negotiate for a loan of £5,000 raised
the ire of the principal residents, who rose up as one man
and held a meeting at the Belle Vue Hotel to protest against

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 113

this and the increased assessment. This meeting was held
m less than three months after the first meeting of the
Commissioners, Colonel Simmonds presiding over what was
then a large and influential meeting. After a long discussion
It was resolved " that the meeting viewed with alarm such
a proposition as tending to depreciate the properly at
Bournemouth, and in other respects prove highly prejudicial
to the interests of the ratepayers." They made respectful
representation to the Conmaissioners to confine their improve-
ments to the repairing of roads, drainage and lighting,
other works contemplated by the Act (principally the Pier)
to be for the present left in abeyance. £3,000 was considered
to be a sufficient sum for all necessary improvements and
discharging one moiety of the expenses attending the pro-
curing of the Act. The outcome of this was the abandonment
of the principle of a low rate and a high assessment, viz.,
Is. in the pound, to produce £282 13s. on £5,653. Before the
Commissioners reverted to the old assessment, counsel's
opinion was obtained, when they found that they had no
power to alter or rescind the rate made, so it was allowed
to stand for that year. In August, 1857, a new rate of
3s. in the poimd on the basis of the last Holdenhurst Poor
Rate was made, and produced £592 10s. 9d., the assessable
property being £3,950 5s. In contrast to this we may
mention that the Borough and District rates just approved
for the year 1910-11 provide for the raising of a sum of
upwards of £161,000 !

Small as the income was — apart from borrowed money —
it evidently answered for all purposes of administrative
expenditure, and as each year passed the Commissioners
depended largely on the number of houses and shops erected
to increase their income. But, in one or two years— in
1868 particularly— the Commissioners were in dire straits
for money sufficient to pay their way. In the year mentioned
the Board were in a complete state of bankruptcy, and were
inundated with appeals and threats for settlement of accounts.
In an ordinary way, however, a 3s. rate was sufficient for
all purposes ; for many years it remained at that amount.
It is interesting to note that Mr. McWilliam was appointed
the first Rate Collector, with a remuneration of £5 for collect-

114 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

ing the first rate, and £7 10s. for the second (or 3s.) rate.
We may also add that the second collector was Mr. W. E.
Rebbeck (February, 1861, to November, 1866) ; the third
Mr. Henry John Aish (February, 1867, to October, 1871) ;
the fourth, Mr. William Bell, was appointed in November,
1871, and disappeared in a mysterious manner in December,
1876. The next to hold the office was Mr. Alexander McEwan
Brown, who served from early in 1877 till August, 1881,
when his future partner, Mr. C. W. Wyatt, was appointed,
he in turn being succeeded in October, 1883, by Mr. James
Phillips, who still holds the office in conjunction with his
son, Mr. F. J. Phillips.

As it probably will interest many to know a little more
of the financial condition of the town, and make comparisons
with the present state of affairs, we give here a brief outline
of the statement of estimated income and expenditure after
the adoption of the 3s. rate. That rate was estimated to
produce £592 10s. 9d., from which was deducted £90 17s. 3d.,
to be returned on the Is. rate previously abandoned. Apart
from the balance due on account of law expenses in connection
with the initial outlay the total expenditure was estimated
to be : — Salaries, one year, £75; tradesmen's bills, £75;
general improvements, maintenance of the walks, and expenses
of the Commissioners, £135 14s. 3d. The liabilities of the
Board at the end of the first year amounted to £338 10s. 2d. ;
the second year £1,560 ; and in the third year, 1859-60,
they totalled £2,100. To enable the Commissioners to carry
on the work small loans were raised, namely, from Messrs.
Fearon and Clabon, £600 ; and Mr. Kingdon, the Clerk,
£350. Both loans were repayable in 1859. Another of £500
was advanced by Mr. Henry Dickinson, and was repaid by
February, 1863. Comparing the liabilities of a little over
£338 at the end of the first year with the town's indebtedness
at the 31st March, 1909, of £1,361,241 7s. 4d., we have a
clear and practical illustration of the town's growth in 51
years.

There is one matter worthy of record, which, had it been
carried out, would have completely altered the character of
the Lower Pleasure Gardens, and prevented the enjoyment of
the countless thousands of children who have since derived

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 115

untold pleasure from its shallow and meandering stream.
In 1857, when the Surveyor was bravely trying to cope
with the incomplete drainage system, he very strongly urged
on the Commissioners the desirability of conveying the
brook to the sea in pipes put underground, joined on to the
sewer at the bridge ; the consequent extra flow of water,
he maintained, would give great assistance in conveying the
sewage to the sea. Fortunately for the town, this advice
was not acted upon— though it would undoubtedly have
materially assisted in the object Mr. Creeke had in view—
and the " Children's Corner " has been handed down to
us for the perpetual enjoyment of our youngsters. How
strange that part of the Gardens would look without the
pleasant sight of the children bent on trying the capabilities
of their frail craft ! Oftentimes we are led to think that the
Beach— generally supposed to be the crowning joy of all
children— frequently takes second place to the charming and
sheltered spot where miniature " Dreadnoughts " are launched
and jealously guarded.

The district in 1856 was in a more or less chaotic state
in matters relating to roads, footpaths, and especially drain-
age. Looking at it with the knowledge of history, the whole
place seems to have got quite out of hand, and the necessity
for the formation of a local governing body was, indeed,
imperative if the budding health resort was to be put in
proper order to meet the requirements of the time. There
must have been, even in those days, a great and undefinable
charm about the place which actually forced itself into promin-
ence, and it only required guiding hands, imbued with the
proper spirit, for the town to be re-organised for the recep-
tion of the class of visitors it was anticipated would come. The
history of the drainage of the town, the temporary means
adopted to cope with the rapid growth, the establishment
of main drainage schemes, completed bit by bit, and the
consequent abolition of cesspools, are matters we do not
purpose entering into very largely. Suffice it to say, that
there was very much trouble in the fifties, sixties, and even
seventies with the various drainage schemes adopted. There
is little necessity to deal here with this matter, except to
remark in passing that for years the unsatisfactory state

116 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

of things in this respect was a source of much worry and
concern to the Local Authority.

Although it is not our intention at this point to go into
the most interesting history of the religious life of the town,
there is a matter that is perhaps expedient should be recorded
at this juncture. At the end of 1857, when the first Scotch
Church, built of galvanized iron, was opened at the foot of
Richmond Hill, it was found that the erection encroached
on the building line of the main road. A report was called
for, and the Christchurch Award of 1805 was examined,
when it was found that both the Scotch Church and Mr.
Fox's dwelling house (situated a little higher up the Old
Christchurch Road) were encroachments on the public
highway. Wishing to avoid litigation, the Commissioners
compromised the matter by the proprietors of the land in
question giving up all claim to their land beyond the front
of the buildings. The amount of ground in dispute only
measured six feet in depth, but that extra width continued
right up that part of the Old Christchurch Road on the
north side would have considerably enhanced the value of
it as a main thoroughfare.

From a description of the district written in 1856, we
quote the following, which relates to the opportunities of
travelling at that time : " Lastly as to the position of Bourne-
mouth in respect to the great lines of ' Passenger and Traffic
Transit.' At a time when the pretended humanity, but really
unprincipled cupidity of railway companies, has provided
extraordinary temptations of Sunday travelling— so that
termini of railways do not even enjoy the grateful peace and
propriety of the Sabbath Day, one of the greatest sources
of gratification and pride to the Englishman— it becomes a
matter of the greatest importance in seeking a place of
retirement to find one sufficiently far from a terminus to be
relieved from this source of annoyance, yet without being
so far distant as to occasion inconvenience in travelling.
This is happily the case with Bournemouth. There is a
regular eommunicatioii by omnibus several times a day with
Poole, the nearest railway station. . . . from hence to
London is five hours, and to Southampton ... is but
two hours travelling by rail."

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. lir

When the Commissioners took over their responsibilities
of government the roads, as we have said, were in a parlous
state ; but under Mr. Creeke's able direction a small, though
systematic method was adopted to make the thoroughfares
at least presentable. The fu-st road attended to was, of
course, that in the principal residential quarter, Westover
Road. Here were employed six labourers laying down gravel
obtained from the Holdenhurst Road, and from the gravel
pit on the Poole Road (nearly opposite St. Michael's). The
Surveyor found at a sudden rise in the Holdenhurst Road,
at its junction with the Christchurch Road, a bench of good
gravel, but like many other good " finds " this became
unpromising, and had to be abandoned. Recourse was then
had to Mr. Clapcott Dean's gravel pit on Poole Hill (now Road).
Gravel for road surfacing was also, in 1857, taken from under
the road fronting the Tregonwell Arms (on the site of Plummer
Roddis' premises), and the pits filled in with the refuse
from other excavations. The wages of labourers averaged
^ ess than 12s. per week, and the men employed in 1857 were
W. Gollop, C. Fall, F. Fall, J. Troke and G. Plamblin (garden
keeper), the last named at 10s. per week, his work being
the repairing of fences and railings, and assisting in road-
making. After the completion of the Westover Road, the
roadway was shaped and curbed from the villas to the end
of Gervis Place, and on to the Bridge, Commercial Road,
Exeter Road and the Pier Approach. Richmond Hill was in
places raised, in others lowered, and made more uniform than
it apparently used to be. The cartage was done by Mr. Aldridge,
who was appointed public scavenger, for sweeping, watering
and cleansing the roads. Even so late as 1869 the average
weekly wages bill was only £4 8s. ! To-day it amounts to
something substantial in four figures !

There are numerous ways in which we can guage the size
and importance of any district, but none more than by the
number of official guardians of the peace. When the Com-
missioners were appointed, one policeman was considered
sufficient to look after the life and property of the district.
It occurs to us that here was a golden opportunity for any
evilly-disposed person to carefully prepare his plans, take
advantage of the policeman's night off, and make a good

118 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

haul. Indeed, something of the kind actually occurred, for
in October, 1856, the Chief Constable of the County was
written to to draw his attention to the fact that several
depredations of property had recently been committed in
different houses in Bournemouth, and the inquiry was made
if he would allow a constable to be permanently attached to
the place during the night. Up to 1858, however, P.C. Smith
was the sole guardian of the peace ! Perhaps Sir W. S.
Gilbert had this policeman in mind when he wrote the well-
known humourous song for " The Pirates of Penzance."
In the years previous to 1856 Bournemouth had no separate
jurisdiction, but was part of the Ringwood Petty Sessional
Division, with headquarters at Ringwood. After that year
all prisoners were taken to Christchurch for magisterial
examination. By the year 1877 the town had grown in
importance to such an extent that Sergt. Alexander (after-
wards Inspector) was stationed here with six constables.
This force was increased in 1888 to one inspector, two sergeants
and nineteen constables, and the last increase decided upon
— in May, 1910— brought the total force for the borough
area up to 94, made up as follows : one Superintendent,
three Inspectors, eleven Sergeants, and seventy-nine Con-
stables. These periodical advances illustrate in a striking
manner the remarkable growth of the town.

As far back as January, 1864, a deputation was appointed
to wait on the magistrates at Christchurch, asking their
assistance in procirring the establishment of a Police Station
at Bournemouth ; and in 1866 the three principal ground
landlords. Sir George Gervis, Mr. Durrant, and Mr. Clapcott
Dean, were applied to for a grant of land for this purpose.
In the following year a memorial was sent to the Justices
in session, pointiag out the extreme urgency of the matter.
It was not until 1869, however, that the present building
was erected, to give place at no distant date to a building
more in keeping with the dignity and aspirations of a County
Borough.

CHAPTER XII.

The Wooden Pier— And Some Other Enterprises.

Another Pier Meeting at the Belle Vue — Action by the Commissioners
— Driving the First Pile — A Pinaijcial Difficulty — Opening of
THE PiEB — A " Red Letter Day " for Bournemouth — Christening
BY Lady Gervis — Public Festivities — Storm and Tempest Visit
THE " Sun-Loving Village of Bournemouth " — Landing Stage
Designed by Mr. E. Birch, C.E. — A Pier Company and Their
Pro^tsional Order — Pier Incidents : Amusing and Otherwise
— Improvements on the Sea Front — Scheme for a Winter Garden
— Bournemouth's First Newspaper — Telegraphic Communication
with Poole — The Building op Br.vnksome Tovra;R and Boscombe
Lodge — Hon. Grantley Berkeley and the Ladies op Bourne-
mouth — Too Decorous and Unsocial.

In Chapter X. we have referred to efforts made as far back
as 1847 with the view of securing a pier, and it has been
shown that even before that day the provision of a pier
was one of the improvements contemplated by the Lord of
the Manor of Westover. These efforts eventuated in the
erection of a jetty or landing-stage in 1855, and in the pro-
motion of the Bournemouth Improvement Act. On the
7th December, 1858, on the motion of Mr. Henry Dickinson,
seconded by Mr. R. Kerley, the Commissioners passed a
resolution " That it is desirable that a pier should be erected
in accordance with the provisions of the Bournemouth
Improvement Act, and that the Clerk be instructed to
advertise for a loan of £5,000 to enable the Commissioners
to carry out the object." The Surveyor reported on the
requirements of the Act, and confirmed the accuracy of the
survey and soundings which Captain Denham had made,
some years previous, at the instance and expense of Sir
George Gervis. A public meeting held at the Belle Vue
Assembly Rooms on the 17th January, 1859, under the
presidency of Mr. George Ledgard, also passed a resolution
affirming the desirability of action, with this important
addition : " That, inasmuch as there now only remains two
years and a half in which a Pier can be erected by the Com-
missioners, this meeting requests the Commissioners forthwith
to proceed to carry out the above object." The mandate

120 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

was obeyed, and on the 1st March, 1859, Mr. Rennie, C.E.,
was asked to make a survey and submit a report and design,
which he did in due course. He recommended the construc-
tion of a pier 1,000 feet in length and of an estimated cost
of £4,000. On the 3rd May his plan was approved and sealed,
and the Board (very much to their subsequent regret) decided
that the Pier should be constructed of wood. The necessary
assent to plans, etc., was obtained from the Admiralty, and
on the 15th June a tender was accepted from Mr. David
Thornbury, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who undertook to erect
the pier for a sum of £3,418. A loan of £5,000, repayable
in thirty annual instalments, was obtained from the Royal
Exchange Assurance Company, charged on the pier tolls and
the General District Rate. The seal of the Commissioners
was affixed to the contract on the 19th August, 1859. The
actual work, however, was commenced even earlier. Mr.
Thornbury— who was an engineer of some repute— was taking
holiday at Bournemouth at the time, and, according to his
own statement, it was a " trifling occupation " for him to
" knock off the pier."

The driving of the first pile— or rather pair of piles —
described in the " Directory " as " the inauguration of a
new state of affairs for Bournemouth," took place on the
25th July, with appropriate ceremonial and festivity. The
plans, as stated, provided for the erection of a timber struc-
ture, about 1,000 feet long, with a T end, which, it was
suggested, would serve as a breakwater and shelter for
vessels. Before the work had proceeded far there came a
great gale, which " swept away the whole thing, making the
pier look as small as the Commissioners felt," and necessitating
a recommencement. That was but the first of a series of
misfortunes. The Commissioners ere long found themselves
involved in controversy, both with the engineer and the
contractor ; when this was settled, the work again in full
swing, and large payment due to the contractor, Ledgard's
Bank stopped payment, which affected the whole financial
position of the Board. The Pier funds had been deposited
at the Bank, and consequent upon the failure the Com-
missioners were unable to meet Mr. Thornbury's claim. In
their dilemma they opened negotiations with the Poole

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 121

branch of the National Provincial Bank, and a crisis was
averted by the Bank advancing the money the Commissioners
required on a promissory note, pending other arrangement.
Thereupon the work proceeded to a finish.

The opening of the Pier took place on the 17th September,
1861— which remains a "red-letter day" in Bournemouth
annals. The place was decorated with triumphal arches, and
crowds of people poured in from all the country-side. The
festivities began with a procession— prominent place in which
was given to the then newly-formed " 19th Hants Rifle
Volunteers." They were under the command of Lieutenant
C. A. King and Ensign C. C. Creeke, and accompanied by
" Eyers' celebrated Blandford Brass Band " and the 19th
Hants Drum and Fife Band. At the Bath Hotel the pro-
cessionists were joined by Sir George and Lady Gervis (after-
wards known as Sir George and Lady Meyrick, father and
mother of the present baronet), Mr. C. W. Packe, M.P., and
the Commissioners. " A number of the nobility and gentry
of the neighboTxrhood " had already taken possession of the
Pier, and when Sir George was called upon to declare the
Pier open, a salute of twenty-one guns drew from him the
remark that he could not " announce the fact more forcibly
than it had been done by the cannon's mouth." Lady
Gervis christened the Pier with a bottle of wine, " the British
flag was unfurled," and a band played the National Anthem.
But this was only the first part of the day's festivity. There
was a dinner at the Belle Vue Hotel, at which Mr. Shettle
(the Chairman of the Commissioners) made the announcement
that " other projects were contemplated in order to render
Bournemouth not only a beautiful summer residence, but
also to afford additional facilities to persons of delicate
constitution during the winter season " : to " afford increased
comfort to those who honoured the place with their presence."
Looking through the names of the company present at that
interesting social gathering we note that, apparently, there
is but one survivor— Dr. W. Allis Smith. " Aunt Sally "
held court on the Beach, where there was also a regular
country -fair— imported from Woodbury Hill. Tea—" a first-
rate affair"— was provided free of charge in the Cranborne
Gardens— and the " Directory " report states that there were

122 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

a thousand applications for tickets. Lady Gervis and Lady
Shelley were amongst those who presided at the tables—
others including Mrs. Burslem, wife of the Dr. Burslem who
has already been referred to as a pioneer advocate for the
erection of a Pavilion. The Ursa Major steamboat, with
Harman's Band on board, is reported to have brought
visitors from Poole, and the Prince steam yacht (Captain
Cosens) made an excursion from Weymouth with " a numer-
ous and respectable party." The day concluded with " fire-
works in the meadow, opposite the Telegraph Office." The
Commissioners by resolution had restricted their expenditure
on opening to a sum not exceeding £40. The amount privately
subscribed must, it is obvious, have been very considerably
larger.

At the diimer we have referred to, Mr. Shettle described
the new Pier as " handsome and adequate," but wisely added
that " he would be a bold man who would say it would be
equal to the wants of forty years hence." It did not remain
equal to public requirements for half that time, for the
misfortunes which attended its construction were followed by
others of still more serious character and of lasting effect.
Within less than six months after its opening a committee
" was instructed to repair the Pier." Disaster came again
in January, 1867, when a terrific gale swept along the coast,
and the Pier, described in a contemporary record as that
" refreshing place of refuge from the heat, in the sultry
evenings of summer"— was very seriously damaged. That
was, in more respects than one, a memorable storm, for no
less than six ships went ashore in Studland Bay and one on
the Hook Sands. The whole of the massive transverse body
of the Pier was wrenched away, broken up, and cast upon
the shore, where, a few days later, it made material for a
sale by auction. In a monthly magazine called " The Hawk,"
published at Ringwood, a contributor— evidently a student
of Longfellow — chronicled as follows : —

A rough south-easterly gale, combined with wonderful spring tides,
Over the shores of the south coast raged with wonderful fury ;
Mountains high ran the waves, each covered with snow like a white fleece.
Stirring the depths of the sea and bearding old Father Neptune ;
Causing destruction alike to our merchant navies and seamen.
Such was the storm on the ill-fated night of the fifth of the first month.
Long will men talk of that gale in spinning their yarns to the yourigsters ;

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 123

How as gay Phoebus arose the'strength of the tempest abated ;

Many a town and village witnessed the terrible havoc

Eurus and Neptune had wrought while darkness mantled then- dwellings.

Part of the beautiful Pier was lost to the village of Bom-nemouth ;

High on the Beach it was thrown like a stranded wreck on a sandbank ;

Tall piles wrested in twain, and iron twisted like packthread,

Covered the yellow strand of the sun-loving village of Bournemouth.

About £4,000 had been originally spent on the Pier, and
the Commissioners now had to face further expense and
gradually to replace the timber piles with iron. The struc-
ture, however, was permitted to remain some 300 feet shorter
than its original length— being in its mutilated state about
600 feet long, with a deck 15 feet wide. The Commissioners
must have been almost at their wits' end with trouble.
They tried every possible means to keep the Pier together,
but were it not vouched for by one whose veracity is beyond
question, we should hesitate to credit the story told by an
old resident, that White, the diver, was instructed to go
down into the water, take out the bolts of the iron piles,
which in many places had been put in substitution for
damaged wooden piles, oil, and replace them ! In November,
1876, came another great gale, with the loss of another 100
feet or so, leaving the structure too short to be serviceable for
steamboat traffic. A temporary landing stage was consequently
erected in 1877 from plans submitted by Mr. E. Birch, C.E., the
eminent engineer who afterwards designed the present Pier. A
sum of between £600 and £700 was expended, and the work
was completed in time for use by the steamers in the month
of July. The Criterion was the first boat to make use of
it. Mr. Hill, of Gosport, was the contractor. In November
of the same year it was decided to make application to the
Local Government Board for powers for the provision of an
entirely new Pier at a cost not to exceed £40,000— a figure
which was reduced to £30,000 in the following June. The
story of the new Pier must, however, form the subject of
another chapter.

Some of the wreckage from the damaged Pier drifted in
1876 to Swanage, and in February, 1877, the Commissioners
passed a resolution that " if no acceptance is received from
Mr. Brown of the offer made to him respecting the Pier
piles drifted to Swanage before Thiu-sday, the piles be
demanded and brought to Bournemouth, and £3 10s. offered

124 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

to him as salvage." Following on this an item appears in
the aecomits dated the 4th September, 1877 : " W. Hill,—
Recovery of wreckage to Pier, £175 19s. lid." !

The Pier experiences of the Commissioners had been
exceedingly discouraging, and remembering all the circum-
stances—the repeated mishaps, the continuous expenditure,
and the fact that the district, though rapidly extending, was
still of comparatively small rateable value, and had much
prospective outlay to meet— it is not, perhaps, surprising
that there were inhabitants who felt they would be glad
to get rid of the whole thing, and leave the provision of a
Pier to private enterprise. Certain private adventurers did,
indeed, come forward tvith a proposal to relieve the Local
Authority from its responsibilities, and they actually secured
a Provisional Order from the Board of Trade, which was
duly confirmed by Parliament early in 1875. But the Com-
missioners seem to have very effectively protected the town's
interest. They secured the insertion of a provision that the
Order should lapse if, within two years, there was not a
substantial commencement of works. They succeeded also
in getting a clause inserted that the Company must buy
out their interests in the old Pier. Negotiations went on from
1875 to 1877, but without effect. The Commissioners were
willing to sell, and the Company apparently were willing to
buy ; but all the latter were willing to pay was a sum equal
to the then outstanding debt. In April, 1877, one month
before the expiration of the Company's powers, the Com-
missioners passed a resolution breaking off all negotiations
unless £1,000 were paid by a certain day. The money was
not forthcoming, and the Commissioners then wisely deter-
mined themselves to " proceed as if no overtures had been
made by the Promenade Pier Company."

Some particulars with regard to the administration of the
Pier after it was erected may not be uninteresting. We have
referred to some of the troubles of the Commissioners.
These did not all arise from storms or Bank failure. Early
in 1864 the Finance Committee received instructions to
inspect the Pier where it had been injured by " the worm,"
and to take such measures as appeared necessary ! A curious
item appears in their accounts for the same year : Mr.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 125

Bridge, for beer to men tarring the Pier, £3 13s. 6d. We
wonder what the tar cost ! And the labour ! When the
Pier had to be painted in 1872, Mr. Dacombe was asked on
what terms he would do the work if the Commissioners
found the whitelead ! We have no report of his answer.
The earliest record of seats on the Pier occurs in 1869, when
tenders were obtained from three tradesmen, and that of
Mr. Edmunds, at £6 each, was accepted. Two seats were
ordered ! Seats were luxuries in those days. Three years
later, when gi^'ing permission for the erection of a Cabmen's
Shelter on the Beach, the Board made the stipulation
that " under no circumstances must it be used as a sleeping
apartment." It is a pity their conditions were not more
stringent, for the place remained an eyesore till a few years
ago. In 1872, the Gas and Water Company were asked to
submit an estimate for lighting the Pier, and following on
this eight lamps were placed there, after the sanction of
the Trinity Board had been obtained.

When the Pier was first opened a toll collector, Thomas
Burt, was appointed, at the princely wage of 12s. per week,
with two suits of clothes and two hats annually, and a great-
coat once in two years. The charge for annual tickets was
based on rateable value ; thus we find that a ratepayer
and his family rated at a less rateable value than £15 could
obtain a yearly ticket for 5s. ; up to a rateable value of
£50 the charge was 10s. 6d. ; over £50 the ticket cost £l Is.
" Family " included near relations residing with the rate-
payer, and servants. Non-ratepayers were charged 2s. 6d.
each or 10s. 6d. for a family of not exceeding six persons,
for one month ; three months, £l Is. ; six months, £l 10s. ;
twelve months, £2 2s. ; single entry. Id. With two years'
experience the Commissioners decided to let the tolls, and the
tenders received in September, 1863, were : Mr. G. J. R.
Goodden, 25 per cent, above the last year's net receipts ;
and Mr. W. Roberts, £170 a year. The latter appearing
to be the highest, it was accepted. In September, 1866, on
the re-issue of the tenders, that of Mr. Goodden at £235
was accepted, which— due to the storm in January, 1867—
the Commissioners reduced by £60. Mr. Goodden placed a
toll-house at the Pier entrance, which the Commissioners

126 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

decided they would purchase at a valuation at the end of
his term. In 1869 this house (including the stove) was
purchased for £30. In 1869 Mr. Roberts was once more
successful, with a bid this time of £245 10s., his nearest
competitor being Mr. Mundy at £171. Mr. Roberts died in
1871, the Pier for many years afterwards being managed by
his widow. (In 1872 Mrs. Roberts' tender of £305 10s. was
accepted, although lower than Goodden's, because " the
difference was small, and the management was acceptable
to the frequenters of the Pier and the Commissioners.")
In 1874, Mrs. Roberts' accepted tender was £485, and in
1878 Mr. Goodden's tender for one year was preferred to
Mr. Alfred Roberts' offer of £530. The arrangement— the
last in connection with the old Pier— ended in a dispute
which led to Police Court proceedings for the recovery of a
balance of rent.

During Mr. Goodden's tenure as lessee he had at one time
a collector (Mr. Llewellyn, we believe) who engaged in some
semi-professional taxidermy, much to the annoyance of
visitors, who complained of the " stench " at the toll-house.
In 1868 the Commissioners directed Mr. Goodden's attention
" to the nuisance occasioned by the practice of bird stuffing."
We presume it stopped.

In connection with the question of the Pier site, there
had at an earlier date been a little difficulty which had to
be adjusted with one of the Government departments. The
Office of Woods and Forests refused to convey a greater
frontage than 100 feet— insufficient on account of the peculiar
shape of the Pier-head— unless Sir George Gervis conveyed
a greater frontage. This was eventually arranged satisfac-
torily, and a cheque for the purchase money and costs was
signed, " and ordered to be paid if there was sufficient funds
at the Treasurer's." The amount was only a little over
£100, and the date 1864. In the conveyance the Commissioners
covenanted not to erect any building exceeding 20ft. in height
to the highest part of the roof from the level of the Pier,
which limit of height the Commissioners considered to be
ample to protect the sea view of the houses. The limitation
was unfortunate ; it is one of the restrictions which have
led the LocalAuthority into heavy expenditure. Mr. Roberts,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 127

proprietor of the Baths, having an interest in the Beach,
volunteered to resign all such interest in return for the
privilege of placing bathmg machines on the sands, at a
distance of not less than 200 yards on either side of the
Pier, which offer was accepted by the Board.

The Commissioners were very enthusiastic in their work
in connection with the Pier. This was one of the special
objects for which they had been incorporated, and they
reahsed that, lacking a place where passengers might land
or embark from pleasure boats, etc., Bournemouth was
without one of the essentials of a seaside watering place,
however moderate its pretensions might be. But they did
not allow the Pier to absorb all their energies. They earlj'^
turned their attention to the general improvement of the
sea-front : the laying out of cliff walks, etc. They asked
permission from the Admiralty to dig clay from the Beach,
and conunencing operations before assent was obtained they
were promptly stopped by Lieutenant Parsons, Chief of the
Coastguard. This was in 1858. For the work then carried
out Mr. J. McWilliam was the contractor, and the sum
expended £50. Not only was the cliff-front laid out, but by
arrangement with Sir George Gervis two footpaths leading
from the Bath Hotel to the Cliff were gravelled. Sir George
Gervis at the same time completed the central walk through
the Pleasiu-e Grounds— the beautiful pinewood which subse-
quently became known as the Invalids' Walk.

From this period also dates the first proposals for the
establishment of a Winter Garden or Pavilion. Dr. Burslem,
a well-known local physician, with some others, entered into
negotiation with Sir George Gervis with the intention of
acquiring the Westover Gardens on a ninety -nine years'
lease, and erecting Public Reading Rooms and a Winter
Garden. They put forward the suggestion that the Com-
missioners should take a sub-lease from them of land not
required for their proposed buildings. The Commissioners
declined to entertain the matter unless Dr. Biirslem first
revealed the names of the persons forming the Company.
What names were disclosed in consequence of this hint does
not appear, but some of the subsequent correspondence was
with Dr. W. S. Falls, another physician who acquired great

128 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

influence in the district. The promoters apparently were
very much in earnest, and in November, 1860, it was reported
that the funds necessary for building had been raised. Fur-
ther communications passed, and a suggestion was made by
the Coinmissioners that, instead of building in the Pleasure
Grounds, the promoters should utilise a site on the sea-front
between the Bath Hotel and the Baths, in which case they
would be prepared to take an under-lease from Sir George
Gervis and pay three-fourths of the entire rent. Further,
they were prepared to rent offices in the proposed buildings.
Before going further, however, the Commissioners took
counsel's opinion as to their powers, and this resulted in the
whole project of a Winter Garden being dropped.

We turn now to an enterprise of a different character :
the establishment of Bournemouth's first newspaper. It will
have been noticed that our extracts from newspaper reports,
etc., for some years preceding the incorporation of the Com-
missioners are mainly from the " Poole Herald." This
newspaper was founded in 1846, the first registered proprietors
being the late Mr. John Sydenham, jun., and Mr. David
Sydenham, now of the Royal Marine Library, Bournemouth.
In 1850 the business passed into the hands of Mr. Martin
Kemp-Welch and Mr. Henry Mooring Aldridge, from whom
in 1853 it was transferred to Mr. James Tribbett and Mr.
WiUiam Mate, both of whom had been members of the staff
for some years previous, and who then entered into a partner-
ship which lasted for more than a quarter of a century.
Mr. David Sydenham had filled the editorial chair. On the
change of proprietorship, which took place in March, 1853,
he relinquished that post, and for many years onward
responsibility rested mainly with Mr. W. Mate. The " Herald"
is one of the various publications subject to the direction of
his eldest son, and it will not, we hope, be deemed inappro-
priate or uninteresting if we mention that in the preparation
of these " Chapters of Local History " the Editor of 1853
and the Editor of 1910 have been able to join hands and
meet in friendly conference. In 1858, Mr. W. Mate thought
the time had come when Bournemouth should have a news-
paper of its own, and on the 5th June of that year appeared
No. 1 of the " Bournemouth Visitors' Directory," established

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 129

with the object of protecting and advancing the town's
interests, and of keeping Bournemouth and its claims con-
tinuously before the public notice. It was not anticipated
that the paper would be immediately remunerative ; but it
" took on " at once, with the result that the tiny four-page
sheet which made its first timid appearance on the 5th July,
1858, as a fortnightly visitors' list, within a few months was
enlarged, by the beginning of 1859 was issued with a supple-
ment, and speedily became a weekly publication. Many later
enlargements followed, the paper was issued twice a week,
and the printing, as well as the publishing offices, were
removed to Bournemouth.

In 1860 Mr. W. Mate was the Secretary of a Limited
Liability Company known as the Poole, Bournemouth and
South Coast Printing Telegraph Co., formed for the purpose
of giving the public " cheap telegraphic communication."
Bournemouth at that time was so shut off from the world
that the nearest railway stations were Holmesley (then
called Christchurch Road) on the one hand, and Hamworthy
on the other. The telegraph line was laid from Messrs.
Rebbeck's Estate Office, opposite Southbourne Terrace,
to the " Herald " Office at Poole, Mr. A. Potter carrying out
the work on behalf of the Company. Every message from
Bournemouth to, say, London, had first to be telegraphed
to Poole ; it was then transcribed, despatched by messenger
to Hamworthy, and once again the " electric telegraph "
clicked and sent it speeding on its way. The Company con-
tinued for some years— till the whole Telegraph system was
taken over by the Government. We have before us as
we write a summarised statement of receipts and expenditure
from the opening of the system in 1860 down to July, 1864.
The total receipts during that period came to £587 17s.,
and the total payments to £441 12s. 5d., showing a balance
of £146 4s. 7d. The receipts at the Poole end of the line
were £207 4s. 2d. ; those at Bournemouth £380 12s. lOd.
These figures cover, it will be noticed, a period of over four
years ! For the half-year ended July, 1863, the total receipts
at Poole appear to have been only £6 15s. 6d. ; the lowest
half-yearly total at Bournemouth was £27 8s. 5d. for the
period ended in July, 1862. The business grew in the follow-

130 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

ing years, and the shareholders received a reasonable return
on their investment. But the total capital expenditure, it
should be mentioned, was only £312 12s. 7d. In July, 1861,
it only required the sum of £7 19s. to paj' a six per cent,
dividend. To this little Poole and Bournemouth Companj-
belongs the credit of being the pioneer of sixpenny telegrams.
Throughout its career, the charge for telegraphing between
Bournemouth and Poole, and vice versa, was sixpence for
ten words, excluding addresses. When the undertaking
was taken over by the Government, local traders and others
had to face some disadvantages, for the charges went up,
and many years passed before sixpenny telegrams were again
in operation here.

Another interesting development described in current
records as " the inauguration of a new era " occurred about
the same time. On the 17th August, 1860, Mr. C. A. King
laid the foundation stone of Branksome Dene— the beautiful
marine mansion at Westbourne now owned by Lord Wim-
borne. Respecting it we read : " The wild scenery which
stretches out in front of the site of the mansion is both bold
and picturesque. Across the ravine a rustic bridge, made of
timber and iron rods, has been thrown by C. W. Packe, Esq.,
of Branksome Tower, whose estate joins that of Branksome
Dene, and who is the owner of the greater portion of the
ravine." Besides the bridge, an embankment was built,
and this was subsequently the cause of contention and litiga-
tion. The land on both sides at the seaward end of the
ravine belonged to Mr. Packe ; the land at the upper end
was the property of Mr. King. The latter's view of the sea
was obstructed, and hence the trouble. Both bridge and
embankment have long since disappeared. The conservatory
subsequently erected at Branksome Dene was one brought
from the Exhibition in London in 1862. Commenting on
the stone-laying ceremony referred to above, the " Directory "
had the following : " We regard with peculiar gratification
the erection of such noble mansions as Branksome Dene Hall,
Branksome Tower (C. W. Packe, Esq., M.P.), and Boscombe
Lodge (Sir Percy Shelley). They may be considered as
the inauguration of a new era, and the first instalment of
similar buildings which shall give Bournemouth an influential
neighbourhood."

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 131

Reference having been already made to the Belle Vue
Boarding House, we may mention that this establishment
became the Belle Vue and Pier Hotel about sixty years or
more ago. As has been said, the first proprietress was Mrs.
Slidle ; the next that we can trace was a Miss Bobbins
in 1846; Mr. Bayly in 1847; then Mr. Matcham, from
the Royal Hotel, Southampton, was proprietor, 1850 to
1853 ; Mr. Macey, 1853 to 1857 ; Mr. S. Newlyn, 1857 to
1858; Mr. Bill, 1858 to 1859; Miss Toomer, November,
1859. In later years the property was owned by Mr. T.
Beechey ; afterwards it was acquired by Mr. Dore, and has
since been purchased by the Corporation in order to prevent
the operation of restrictive covenants against them and to
facilitate a project for the erection of a Pavilion near the
sea front. The Assembly Rooms attached to the hotel were
used for a great number of purposes : as a place of worship
for various denominations, for concerts and entertainments,
for public meetings and political assemblies, for dances and
conversaziones, and for many official and semi-official gather-
ings.

In a previous chapter we have quoted a remark that, fifty
years or so ago, Bournemouth was " intensely d\ill." Per-
haps it was its dulness that provoked some restless spirits to
hilarious festivity on the 5th November— the day sacred
to the memory of the discovery of the infamous plot of
Guido Faux. Mr. Grantley Berkeley, whom we have before
quoted, has described Bournemouth as he saw it at that time.
We are afraid he was not altogether an unprejudiced observer ;
but he had a racy style, and is worth further quotation, with
the caution that his remarks must be taken cum grano salis.
In that same work from which we have quoted in Chapter
IV., and in which he describes the ladies of Bournemouth as
bobbing " about from dell to dell as if they thought every
bush concealed a serpent and a tempting apple, and that
they were never safe unless at church," while admitting to
have seen " much fun " here, he describes Bournemouth
as " the prettiest, most pretending, but generally stupidest
place " he was ever in. The adjectives, it will be noted, are
not all depreciative. " At Bournemouth," he says, " man
has no amusement of any kind ; and what is stranger still,

132 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

when men and women meet at this watering place there is
no association, no promenade, as at other places, where the
people walk ; and not an opportunity sought in which to
exchange an idea." That Winter Garden evidently was
badly wanted ! " Nature," he adds, " has been most prodigal
in her gifts to this secluded spot." " Every prospect pleases."
But that did not satisfy him— the inhabitants were too
decorous and unsocial. " Bournemouth seems made for
social enjoyment, and to waken the heart to genial sympathy ;
yet the visitors apparently shrink within themselves, remain-
ing in their lodgings or hotels, or secreting themselves in
the cover afforded by the neighbouring bushes. It is a very
quiet place for sedentary or literary occupations. But were
it not for the advantages of the adjoining wilds, and a fir-
wood still bearing the suggestive title of Cupid's Grove—
because there was a time when to my certain knowledge
lovers used to meet there— no one at this fashionable watering
place would be able to speak to his friend, to walk out,
possibly not to sneeze, without its being known to and
canvassed by the community in their various hiding-places.
. . . Bournemouth is, as I have said, a very pretty
place ; it is also a very strange place. It has more Divine
service in it, and the churches are more crowded and better
attended than in any place I ever saw. Week-day as well
as Sunday the apparently religious flock to their places of
meeting, and then only can you judge of the number of
people who between whiles secrete themselves in the bushes,
or occupy themselves in their seclusion at home in illuminating
lengthened scraps of paper with gaudy letters that make a
Scriptural quotation. When completed, these are stuck
up in drawing-rooms and bedrooms, to the special disfiguring
of the walls. From the way the churches were thronged,
and the frequency of Divine service, I had thought at first that
Bournemouth must rank high in sanctity and decorum,
but on inspecting the visitors' list kept at the Library, I
therein saw that no less than twenty-seven fresh clergymen
had arrived in one week. What then means this advent of
religious men ? Surely there must be some reason for their
flocking here. Either the place has been very wicked, or it
must become good. I have been told that it is a nursery for

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 133

Puseyism, and that this class of visitors come to learn its
attractive ceremonial previously to introducing it to their
own congregations."

An exceptionally interesting event which occurred on
Soptember 1st, 1863, was the visit of H.R.H. the Princess
Louise (now Duchess of Argyll), by invitation of Sir James
Clark, one of the physicians to Queen Victoria and an enthu-
siastic admirer of Bournemouth. Her Royal Highness
steamed down from the Isle of Wight in the yacht Elfin,
landed at the Pier, dined with Sir James Clark at " Eagle's
Nest," visited the Cranborne Gardens, " now so great an
ornament to the place," and proceeded to the Flag-staff
at the Coastguard Station, " from which one of the best, if
not the very best, views of the place is to be obtained."
The contemporary report states that the Princess and her
suite expressed themselves " pleased with the general appear-
ance of the place," some of the party, who had visited Bourne-
mouth before, being surprised at the progress which had been
made. Thirty years later her Royal Highness visited Bourne-
mouth again, " admired the natural beauties of the town and
neighbourhood," and found it " very pleasing to see the
wonderful advance in prosperity and importance naade by
the Forest City of our Southern Sea." Our extract is from
the letter written by his Grace the Duke of Argyll— that
letter in which, as will be noticed, occurs the notable phrase
expressive of Bournemouth's distinctive characteristic and
of the ideal which its best friends hope it will endeavour
to maintain.

Here we may add the remark that seven years previous,
in 1856, Bournemouth was honoured with a visit from the
late King Edward VII., then Prince of Wales, who was touring
the country in. cog. with his tutor, Mr. Gibbs, and among
other places visited Bournemouth and Poole, Wimborne and
Swanage. His Royal Highness walked along the Beach from
the Bath Hotel to Sandbanks, crossed the water to Branksea,
and spent considerable time in inspecting the Island and
Castle— interesting alike on account of their romantic and
picturesque situation and their historic association.

CHAPTER XIII.

A Peeiod of Immense Growth and Extension.

The Pbovtsion of Railway Accoiumodation — Some Locai Prejudice and
Protest— Gas and Water Supplies — The Establishment of a Pirb
Brigade — The Building of Gervis Arcade — " Joy's Polly " and
THE Rustic Bridge — Old Time Postal Arrangements — The Cran-
borne Gardens — Archery Ground and Skating Rink— Winter
Garden and Rendezvous — Steamboat Excursions — To the Isle op
Wight and Back for 4Jd. — Fatal Accident off The Pier — A Regatta
Night Incident — Loss op the " Bournemouth."

A Magazine writer in 1859 described Bournemouth as a
place that had " had no origin whatever " : that " was
born of nothing " and had " hardly grown one brick since
its birth." His article was evidently written in humorous
mood, but the humour met with little local appreciation.
Bournemouth, indeed, was at that time adding brick to
brick, and giving promise of remarkable extension. The
Board of Improvement Commissioners had been established ;
they had done much preliminary work, and more was in
contemplation, to meet the needs of what it was apparent
must soon become, in fact as well as in name, an urban
community. In 1851 the population of Bournemouth was
enumerated as 695, the Census of 1861 showed that it had
increased to 1707. In 1871 the population in the same
area was more than three times that total, the Census return
placing the number at 5,896. Already the fruits of enter-
prise were being reaped. But there was an era of still
greater expansion coming, and the return for 1881 showed
a population of 16,859. There had been some slight increase
in the area of the district in the interval, but even when
allowance is made for that fact, the population is seen to
have more than doubled in the decade, and to be nearly
twenty-five times as great as it was in 1851 ! In 1851, by the
way, the population of the whole of the Christchurch Union
was but 8,482. Fifty years previous it was 5,102. Fifty
years later— in 1901— it was 69,340. Various causes con-
tributed to produce this marvellous expansion. We have

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 135

referred to the work of the Commissioners and the general
enterprise of the inhabitants— the provision of the Pier and
some other " attractions " for the pleasure seeker and that
other treasure-hunter who came in quest of health. Among
other causes which led to the building of " brick " upon
"brick "—particularly during the decade 1871-1881— were
the creation of new facilities of travel— the opening up of
the railway system— the provision of gas and water supplies,
and the general advance in the standard of comfort and
convenience which Bournemouth was able to offer to its
patrons.

At a meeting held at Christchurch in December, 1858,
Admiral Walcott, M.P., said he " was 66 years of age, and
from the time of his childhood until that moment he had
never seen an increase in the wealth or any improvement
in that town and neighbourhood. And why ? They were
stuck into a corner with great natural advantages, but had
never been able to make proper use of them ! There was a
good beach, two rivers, no turnpikes, and a beautiful country
round, but the chief thing had up to that time been wanting,
and that was a railway. He considered the present station
was useless to them." The " present station " was at Holmes-
ley, then called Christchurch Road, five miles away ! Bourne-
mouth was still more heavily handicapped, for it was five
miles further from " the iron road." Its seclusion was a
charm, no doubt, to some people ; but the lack of facilities
of access prevented many more from realising its advantages,
and restricted its growth. Yet there was always opposition
to any railway advance. We have referred in a previous
chapter to a suggestion once made that a railway station
at Iford would serve the purposes both of Christchurch and
Bournemouth. Even as late as 1882, at a public meeting
to consider certain improvements then under discussion, we
find one of the speakers quoting the following lines : —

" 'Tis well from far to hear the railway scream,
And watch the curling, lingerinp; clouds of steam ;
But let not Bournemouth — health's approved abode,
Court the near presence of the iron road."

The rev. gentleman who quoted the above, was asked if he
would like an organ accompaniment for his recitation ; but

136 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

he spoke apparently in all sincerity, and represented a feeling
with regard to the railway which was long entertained by
many people, and which proved an effectual block to various
schemes from time to time put forward. The story of the
Bournemouth railway service would of itself fill a small
volume. We can only afford space for a summary of important
facts. In 1862 a branch line was opened from Ringwood to
Christchurch, and henceforth the omnibuses ceased to ply
between Bournemouth and Holmesley. But it was not
till eight years later that they were entirely taken off the
road, and Bournemouth was first placed in direct communica-
tion with London and the railway systems generally. March
14th, 1870, was the date of the opening of the first railway
station in Bournemouth itself— the running of the first
trains into and out of the district. The station was in what
is now the goods yard, Holdenhurst Road, on the very
fringe of the Commissioners' district, the opposition of the
lovers of seclusion having forced the company to keep back
— " out by the brickfields." The Station Master was the
late Mr. Leach, and Mr. J. Phillips, now the Borough Collector,
was booking clerk and issued the first ticket. The Company
signalised the opening of the line by carrying passengers
between Bournemouth and Christchurch free of charge.
In 1872 another new line of railway was opened between
Broadstone Junction and Poole, and two years later this
was extended to Bournemouth, which then became possessed
of two railway stations, East and West, with no track com-
munication between the two except by a circuitous route of
about twenty-five miles. This condition of things lasted till
1888, when the South-Western Railway Company completed
the construction of a new Direct line between Brockenhurst
and Christchurch, and linked their Western with their new
Eastern (now the Central) Station. Later improvements have
included the construction of a line from Broadstone to
Bailey Gate, giving better access to the Somerset and Dorset
and the Midland systems, and another new line across the
backwater of Poole Harbour, greatly advancing the con-
venience and the facilities of travel between Bournemouth
and Weymouth. Pullman cars and corridor trains came in
due course, with such increase in speed that the non-stop

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 137

expresses now do the journey between London and Bourne-
mouth in two hours and ten minutes. Additional stations
have been provided at Boscombe and Pokesdown, and in
connection with the motor train service a " halt " has also
been established at Meyrick Park.

On the occasion of the opening of the " Direct Line " it
was officially stated that the Company had spent over £600,000
on the new line, station accommodation, and junction line
between the East and West Stations. Since that time there
has been still further and very considerable new capital
expenditure to meet Bournemouth's needs. Fiurther evidence
of the Company's enterprise and development may be found
in the fact that, whereas, in 1871 they were assessed at
only£lOO, their four stations, lines, etc., within Bournemouth,
are now assessed at upwards of £7,000 — and this exclusive
of charges on stables, cottages, offices, and some other
properties.

We come now to the record of a private enterprise which,
at first looked upon with suspicion and distrust, within a
few years achieved remarkable success. Where now stands the
Gervis Arcade— generally known as " The Arcade " — was
formerly a pretty glen, crossed by a rustic bridge. The late
Mr. Henry Joy, who was an astute and practical business
man, conceived the idea of making this a great shopping
centre, and in spite of much opposition, of protest against
his vandalism, and ridicule of his work (" Joy's Folly "
was what it was designated), he carried out his scheme,
which eventuated in a popular public rendezvous— a main
thoroughfare from the Christchurch Road to the Westover
Gardens and the sea.

Covered with ivy and other climbing plants, and in the
summer time with wild roses, the rustic bridge which the
new arcade displaced was undoubtedly a beauty spot.
Many happy recollections are recounted by those now living
who can remember the keen appreciation of the delight
and charm of this bridge with the glen below. Situated in
exactly the same position as the Arcade, the bridge, built of
rough fir poles, faced at the north end a group of pseudo-
Elizabethan and thatched cottages {" Ashley " and other
cottages, the sites of which are now occupied by the Town

138 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Hall Avenue), and at the south side the entrance to the
Westover Gardens and Westover Road. On the east of
the bridge, on the site of the " Fancy Fair," stood Church
House ; the whole of the land on the east and west being
named Church Glen. About 20 or more feet below the bridge
ran a tiny brook, which came from the vicinity of the Lans-
downe, and flowed behind the site of the houses and shops
in the Old Christchurch Road ; in front of the Grand Hotel
site, St. Peter's Road, under the old Post Office, lately
demolished, so down the glen under the bridge, and
finally into the Bourne. The glen was not filled in,
consequently the basements of the Arcade shops are in
most cases double. The Rustic Bridge was erected by Mr.
Thomas Shettle in 1853, for the benefit of his tenants in the
Old Christchurch Road, and afterwards for that of
the general public, and a charge of one halfpenny was made
for its use ; the grounds in the valley were also laid out.

The Arcade, commenced in 1866, took seven years to
complete. The two sides and the four " pepper castors "
were erected some time before the roof was put on. Owing
to the difficulty of erection, mainly due to the great depth
and unsatisfactory nature of the foundation, the project
threatened to ruin the intrepid builder. He lived to see
the day, however, when his former " Folly " became one
of the town's most valuable assets. It is interesting to
relate that so little was thought of the value of the premises
that, in 1868, a shop and residence could be had for £40 per
annum ; ill fact, some of the premises went a-begging for a
long time. To-day Arcade shops are assessed at from
£200 to £240 per annum, showing a value six or seven times
as great as when first erected.

In the Arcade was established in 1870 what we choose
to term our fifth Post Office, and the institution for the first
time of the telegraph under the care of the postal authorities.
Reference has already been made to the establishment
of the Post Office at the Tregonwell Arms in 1839 ; on the
removal of Mr. Fox from the Tregonwell Arms to a house
on the site of the National Provincial Bank, near the Square,
in 1848, the work of the Post Office was carried on till, at a
later period, it was established at the foot of Commercial

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 139

Road, when Miss Bell was Postmistress, and where money
orders were first issued in 1851. When Southbourne Terrace
was built in 1863, the office was installed in a building adjoin-
ing the Terrace occupied by Mr. Fox, who acted as Post-
master. There was a Postmistress again in 1868, for we
have a record that her salary was increased from £60
to £80.

When the Post Office was established at the right hand
corner of the Arcade in the Old Christchurch Road, the
work was in the charge of Mr. W. Dunn, who managed to
meet the rapidly increasing requirements of the place from
time to time, and, as it is recorded, " a single youngster was
enough to assist him in the manipulation of all the letters
that found their way either to or from Bournemouth."
If a telegram was received which was apparently of extreme
urgency, it was not an unknown event for the Clerk to
close the office and deliver the message ! The postal staff
was increased in 1873 to one inspector and six postmen, the
latter receiving 15s. per week. The " round " of one of the
postmen was from Bournemouth to Muscliff— away beyond
Moordown — delivering letters to the houses on his way,
and for this he was rewarded by a grateful country with 16s.
per week ! In 1883 a handsome building was erected near
St. Peter's Church— making the sixth office— which did duty
until its seventh and present home was erected and opened on
the 1st August, 1896, extended in June, 1904, and now inade-
quate for the enormous amount of work transacted. A con-
trast of the present staff and that of 40 years ago shows in
a striking manner another phase of abnormal growth in,
comparatively, so short a time. The present Postmaster
is Mr. C. E. Tennant— succeeding Mr. Millard— and the staff
under his charge numbers 404. The indoor staff has increased
from " one youngster " in 1870 to 96 at the present time.
The staff of postmen in 1873 was six, it is now 203. There
are also 29 sub-postmasters, and 63 telegraph •; essengers,
as well as seven inspectors and assistant inspectors, and six
minor officials.

Twa interesting souvenirs of an early period when one
letter carrier from Poole did all the Postal work of Bourne-
mouth, lie before us. The first reads as follows : —

140 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

PAEKSTONB AND BOURNE POST OFFICE.
The inhabitants of Pabkstone and Bourne are respectfully
informed, that the Post Town appointed for the delivery of Letters
for the above places, is Poole ; and that there is a Receiving House
at Pabkstone, which has been established five years ; and that I,
as the regularly appointed Postman, deliver and receive the Post Letters
at Parkstone, Bourne, and the Immediate Neighbourhood, and call
at the Bath Hotel, and the Tregonwell Arms, Bourne, every day.

Ohables Satohell.
Parkstone, May 6th, 1839.

The second note suggests that, hke the policeman's of comic
opera, the " postman's lot " was not always happy : —

I, the undersigned, Thomas? W ^'— s, do hereby express my

sorrow and contrition, for having in a state of intoxication, and without
any provocation, assaulted and abused, Mn. Charles Satohell, the
Bourne Postnaan, whilst in the discharge of his duty, and I am very
thankful to Mr. Satchell, for accepting ttas apology, instead of Prosecut-
ing me.

Thomas W s.

Dated this 12th day of June, 1841.

At another period one William Kidner — " Billy Kidner "
he was generally called— was the letter carrier. He also
came from Poole, and at one time was a constable in that
town. The story is told that he incurred the displeasure of
a big, powerful fisherman, who, passing along the street
one day, in freakish mood, caught Kidner up in his arms,
dropped him into a box, hoisted the box on his shoulders, and
walked off with him, "Billy" shouting the while: "Bill

H , Bill H , if you don't put me down, I'll take

you up " !

As many references have been made to the Tregonwell
Arms, it will be interesting at this point to give a few par-
ticulars respecting this old landmark, which was^taken down
in 1884. In the Autumn of 1832 an agreement for renting the
Inn was signed by Mrs. Tregonwell (who evidently was a
practical business woman) and Mr. George Fox ; with Lord
Portman, of Bryanstone, as a witness. In 1837 Mr. Fox
purchased the Inn, and afterwards the land since known as
the Beckford Estate— extending from the Inn to the Square,
up Richmond Hill to Windsor Cottages (the present site
of the Catholic Church). In 1839 Mr. Fox made a successful
application for the establishment of the Receiving Post
Office, to which we have already referred. The tea gardens
adjoining the Inn were frequented by summer visitors from
the country, there being then a beautiful view of the Bay

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 141

Stables were built at the rear of the house, and bathing
machines were provided on the Beach. The Inn also owned
a skittle-alley, in which contests were frequent between the
visitors and the tradesmen. The Postmaster acted as referee
upon all sorts of matters, Mr. Fox being looked upon as a
kind of general authority. The Inn was much frequented by
smugglers, and many a rollicking song was no doubt heard
within its walls, in spite of the watchful preventive officers.
Before St. Peter's Church was built a daughter was born to
Mr. Fox at the " Tregonwell " ; she became Mrs. Albert Dawes,
her husband being a well known music dealer of the town.
It is said that in order that the child should be christened
the jom-ney was made to Christchurch by water, and the
late Mr. W. E. Rebbeck, who was one of the party, acted as
godfather. During the numerous building operations the
"Tregonwell" was, naturally, much resorted to by workmen
and others for necessary refreshment, and the landlord,
who was much respected, received at all times great kind-
ness from the Tregonwell family and the late Miss Frances
Strangways, a relative of the Earl of Ilchester, who used to
stay at Terrace Cottage, and who stood sponsor at the
christening of Mrs. Dawes. It is recorded that Miss Strang-
ways herself dressed the little baby for the ceremony in a
robe she presented. The ground known as the Beckford
Estate was purchased in 1837 by Mr. Fox for £560. A sale
was held at the Criterion Hotel on the 15th April, 1883,
when there was keen conapetition for the land. The site,
including the adjoining Wesleyan Chapel, realised upwards
of £20,000. £800 was given for the site at the foot of Rich-
mond Hill in 1866 ; £3,000 for the Tregonwell Arms and
site of Southbourne Terrace in 1868 ; and £6,500 for the
same site in 1877. The price of the portion sold in 1883,
having a frontage of 200 feet to the Richmond Hill and totall-
ing about 3,630 square yards, was £5,640. Mr. Fox resided
at the Tregonwell Arms from 1832 to 1848, subsequent
tenants being Mrs. Butler, Mr. Thorne, Mr. Bartlett, and
lastly, Mr. C. Hayball from 1879 to 1884, when it passed into
the hands of the Bournemouth Blue Ribbon Gospel Temper-
ance Union, the license having been allowed to lapse. Some
time afterwards the "Tregonwell" and Church adjoining were

142 B0URNS:M0UTH : 1810-1910.

pulled down and a new roadway made called Beckford, or
(latterly) Post Office Road.

When Mr. Tregonwell built his residence the district
covered by the grounds of the Winter Gardens was in a
delightfully wild yet pleasant state. Here in this spot he
was in the habit of taking daily exercise whenever he was
at " Boiu-ne." Undoubtedly deriving its name from that of
the Founder's country residence, " Cranborne Gardens "
became the title of the district lying west of the Exeter Road.
The first public use made of the Gardens was that of an
Archery Meeting in August, 1862, the place afterwards being
known as the Archery Grounds.

Archery, ascribed to Apollo, who communicated it to
the Cretans, became more or less the fashion sometime after
the Toxophilites established themselves in 1781, which society
eventually took grounds in the inner circle of Regent's
Park in 1834. This form of sport, never very exciting,
has occasionally been revived in Bournemouth, an archery
meeting being now and again held in the Dean Park.

Little beyond the meeting above mentioned was done in
this favoured spot, until in 1875 a company was formed —
the Bournemouth Winter Garden Company— with the object
of erecting a place of greater pretensions than the
Town Hall and the Belle Vue Assembly Rooms, which latter
had done duty for so many years. Before the building
was finished the company inaugm^ated a skating rink in
the grounds, on the site now partly occupied by the lawn
used for the al fresco concerts. But here we may remark,
en parentheses, that the first skating rink to be established
in the district was that managed by Mr. John Cunnington,
early in 1875, in the Palmerston Gardens, Boscombe, where
morning and afternoon assemblies were held on four days
of the week.

There was a numerous assemblage at the Cranborne
Gardens on Saturday morning, the 15th January, 1876,
on the occasion of the opening of the Bournemouth Rink,
and the band of the 4th Hants A.V., by the kind permission
of Captain Rebbeck (now Colonel E. W. Rebbeck, V.D.),
discoursed sweet music to the company as they glided about
on their little runners or wheels, gracefully or otherwise.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 143

The proceedings were under the management of Mr. W. J. A.
Knowles, Secretary of the Belgrave Skating Rink, London ;
and accompanying him was a young lady named Miss Watkins,
whose easy and graceful evolutions were the very " poetry
of motion." The surface of the rink was of cement, hard
as iron and perfectly smooth ; and the rules were framed
on those of the Belgrave Skating Rink Club. Racing, use
of sticks or strings, and hand-in-hand skating of more than
three were forbidden. After dark the Rink was lit up by
torches, and an animated scene was witnessed. The dimen-
sions of the Rink were 104 feet by 50 feet.

Diu-ing the Skating Rink's first season the completion
of the Winter Gardens was pushed forward, as the contractors
were under an obligation to finish within the year. The
fact that it was mainly intended as a large greenhouse or
winter garden is suggested by its being designed by a firm
of horticultural builders— Messrs. Fletcher, Lowndes and
Co., of Great George Street, Westminster. The erection
was superintended by Messrs. Tuck and Cumber, of Bourne-
mouth, and it cost upwards of £12,000. The gallery, then con-
sisting of three sides only, was intended to be used, like the
Crystal Palace, for stalls, fancy ware, etc. The " Old Curiosity
Shop " and Messrs. Wood and Impey's exhibit were the
only spaces utilised at the opening, the latter meeting with
the decided approval of the directors. £100 was offered
for the west end of the building as a picture gallery, which
offer was accepted. It was this portion which was designed
as the permanent concert room, having floor accommoda-
tion for 500 chairs. Altogether offers for space amounting
to £300 per annum had been accepted as soon as the building
was opened. The opening ceremony was performed by
Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, K.C.M.G., M.P., who was
supported by Mr. T. J. Hankinson, Chairman of the Com-
missioners, and others, on the 16th January, 1877, and about
550 persons were present. The building was never a success,
and in spite of frequent exhibitions and shows of various
kinds, it was found necessary to close the place. It was
re-opened on the 19th February, 1884, when another attempt
was made to make it a popular rendezvous. Once more
the doors were closed owing to lack of support, till in 1893

144 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

the Corporation leased the building and opened it as a temple
of music. Having high ideals as to the nature of the enter
tainments to be provided by the municipal purse, the Corpora-
tion engaged Mr. Dan Godfrey, jun., then a young man of
25 years only, though with a wide experience of his profes-
sion. From that time we can safely say that the Bourne-
mouth Winter Gardens have been a most valuable asset to
the town. Through the instrumentality of the Corporation
and their talented conductor, the fame of the Bournemouth
Municipal Orchestra has spread to almost all quarters of
the Globe. The alterations to the building are of comparatively
recent date and hardly call for enumeration. It should be
mentioned, however, that an organ was situated at the back
of the platform ; and the fourth side of the gallery has been
added, making a continuous promenade. The beautiful
palm trees were gradually removed from the central hall
to the east wing, and eventually displaced almost entirely,
until the name Winter Gardens became a misnomer. When
the acquirement of the property was under consideration,
the place was advocated as a " Rendezvous." But the title
" Bournemouth Rendezvous " never took on— nor were
the Corporation ever able to make it a Rendezvous in its
fullest sense. It is a Temple of Harmony, but not a daily
meeting place — a rendezvous— for visitors and residents,
irrespective of the concerts and entertainments.

Before concluding this record it should be mentioned
that the salaries of the bandsmen for the Winter Gardens
alone amount to £4,312. The total annual cost of the Muni-
cipal Orchestra, excluding the salary of the Musical Director,
is £8,600. The musicians included in this amount perform
in the Winter Gardens, on the Piers, as well as in the public
Gardens of the borough. The total expenditure on the
Winter Gardens for the year 1908-9 amounted to £14,535.
Bournemouth was the first municipality to provide music,
and while other towns have followed this excellent lead,
hardly any are able to maintain an orchestra all the year
round.

Though the Commissioners were able, as early as 1860,
to open a pier, they were not at once able to give all the
facilities needed for aquatic excursions. Indeed, it was not

a

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 145

till late in " the seventies " that there was such accommoda-
tion as permitted, and secured, the running of regular excur-
sions throughout the summer months. Poole steam tugs
made frequent trips between that town and Swanage, but
to get to Poole meant a long omnibus ride, which consider-
ably discounted the pleasure of the boating trip. From Poole
also there was during some substantial period a passenger
and goods traffic to and from Cherbourg, worked by a local
company. Great things were anticipated from the inaugur-
ation of this international trade, civic courtesies were
exchanged, and an entente cordiale was established. In 1865,
the Mayor and Corporation of Poole attended an
" international banquet " given at the French seaport, and
before the season ended there was a return banquet given at
Poole, when the Corporation, not content with utilising their
Guild Hall, built a temporary erection in the Market Place, so
that their guests might be received with all the honour and
dignity befitting what they vainly believed would prove an
event of international importance. But the scheme failed —
largely through the lack of adequate railway facilities for
distribution. At that time, as already indicated, Bourne-
mouth was cut off from railway communication with its
neighbours, and consequently did not offer as good a market
for the French produce as it would otherwise have done.

The first pleasure excursion from Bournemouth of which
we have any record was in 1868, on the occasion of the visit
of the Shah of Persia to this country, when Mr. David Syden-
ham chartered a Southampton steamer named the Fawn,
for a trip to Spithead, where a review of the Fleet was held
in honour and in the presence of the monarch we have named.
This was followed by further speculations in solitary excur-
sions in the following year, and then by the formation of a
small company under Mr. Sydenham's management. This
company ran a steamboat named the Pearl, and afterwards
one called the AiA ; but the result was a pecuniary loss.
Then in 1871, the late Mr. George Burt, of Swanage, pur-
chased the Heather Bell (whose memory lingers in the pages
of Besant and Rice, and of Thomas Hardy), Mr. Sydenham
acting as his Bournemouth manager, and Mr. George Hale
as Captain. She was a Clyde-built steamer, credited with a

146 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

carrying capacity of 246, and capable of steaming nine miles
an hour ! A contemporary description of her says that
" spacious saloons were fitted up with every regard to com-
fort," though " a coat of paint " was required " to complete
the handsomeness of the craft." While the painting was
going on a small boat named the Lothair did duty. The
Bournemouth Promenade Band usually accompanied the
Heather Bell on her excursions, and every reasonable effort
was made to render the service popular. But at the end
of 1876 Mr. Burt intimated his wish to retire from respon-
sibility, and withdrew the vessel, whereupon a town's meeting
was held (under the presidency of the late Mr. J. McWilliam),
and a committee of five appointed to confer " with the
Weymouth and any other company as to the best arrange-
ment that can be made to supply steam communication
in succession to the Heather Bell." This eventuated in
the formation of a new company, and the chartering of a
vessel called the Criterion, with a Board of Trade certificate
for 137 passengers. An interesting fact in connection with
this vessel is that she was the first to make use of the landing
stage erected consequent upon the partial destruction of
the Pier in 1876. Prior to that there had been steps at the
side of the Pier, and accommodation for landing from small
boats, but no proper means of going from Pier to steamboat,
or vice versa. In the summer of 1878, the Lord Collingwooi
took the place of the Criterion, and then in the early summer
of 1879, there was the Transit, with a competing boat named
the Royal Saxon, run by Messrs. Sharp Brothers. Com-
petition became so keen that you could go to the Isle of
Wight and back for 4id., and subsidiary attractions were
provided. " The Transit was advertised to carry the Royal
Italian Band, who were to play a choice selection of operatic
airs on board, whilst the special attraction advertised for
the Royal Saxon was that the boat would carry on the
occasion Messrs. Roberts and Archer's Dramatic Company."
" What the talented members were to do on board, the bills
armouncing the excursion did not set forth," but, adds the
chronicler, " the farce of ' Beggar my Neighbour ' is, however,
being enacted by the rival companies and is causing some
amusement to the visitors and residents." The running of

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 147

Sunday excursions was attempted, but the Commissioners
put up the Pier tolls ; so it cost the Sunday trippers more
for pier tolls than steamer fares, and the experiment failed.
In August, Messrs. Sharp announced that " in consequence
of the disadvantages attending the passenger traffic from
the pier, owing to its dilapidated and imfinished condition,"
they intended to withdraw the boat for the remainder of the
season. In 1880 the Local Company ran the steamboat
Carham. In connection with a boat named the Florence,
which was also " on the station," a very sad accident hap-
pened. Backing out from the Pier on the conclusion of her
day's work on Saturday, 4th September, she ran into a pleasure
boat named the Kittiwake, under the charge of a boatman
named Jesse Cutler, and four lives were lost— a lady visitor,
two young girls, and the boatman's little boy. The Local
Company being wound up, Mr. Sydenham in 1881 transferred
his services to Messrs. Cosens and Co., of Weymouth, who
have from that time down to the present maintained a
fleet of popular vessels, including the Monarch, the Emperor
of India, the Majestic and others. In 1881 the " Bovirne-
mouth, Poole and Swanage Steam Packet Company " was
established, and purchased the " fast and magnificent saloon
steamship Lord, Elgin," for which it was claimed she was
" the largest and most powerful vessel on the station,"
her average speed being thirteen miles an hour. " The
directors, however, having regard for the comfort of their
patrons, have given instructions to their captain on no
account whatever to attempt racing." The Lord Elgin
was so successful that the directors proceeded to acquire a
new boat, which was specially built for the service and named
the Bournemouth, the intention being to use her for long
journey trips. She had, however, a most unfortunate career.
On the 20th August, 1884, one man was killed and many
persons injured through a firework explosion in connection
with the Regatta Day festivities, and on the 27th August,
1886, she ran ashore on Portland Bill during a dense fog, and
became a total wreck. Fortunately there was no panic
among passengers or crew, and no loss of life. Other boats
subsequently owned by the company were the Brodick
Castle and the Windsor Castle. The Company itself, after

148 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

a chequered career, was wound up in 1908, the business
being taken over by the Southampton and Isle of Wight
Steamship Company, who had themselves been running
excursions to and from Bournemouth, as had also the Messrs.
Campbell, of Bristol. Mr. Edward Bicker was Secretary
of the Bournemouth Company from 1883 to 1908.

CHAPTER XIV.

Extensions of Area.

The One Miije Radius — An Acre of Land for 4s. — Incutsion op Boscombe

AND SpKINQBOUBNE THE BUILDING OF BOSCOMBE PiEK — REMINISCBNCES

op His Grace the Duke op Argtil — The " Bournemouth Fishery " —
Boscombe iVRCADE and Theatre — Malmesburt Park — Westbourne —

POKESDOWN, SOUTHBOURNE AND WiNTON — MiSS TALBOT AND THE TALBOT

Woods — The Stour as a Borough Boundary — A Remarkable Draught
OF Salmon.

The district assigned to the Bournemouth Improvement
Commissioners, under the Act of 1856, as we have already-
shown, was a comparatively small one, and its boundaries
were determined under a peculiar system. The ecclesiastical
district of St. Peter's had been formed some years previous—
carved out of the ancient parishes of Christchiu-ch and Holden-
hurst. The Commissioners' district comprised only part
of the district of St. Peter's, but in that part was included
portions of both the old parishes, with the result that for
certain parochial work Bournemouth remained attached to
these two old centres. In the election of Overseers, for
instance, and of Guardians of the Poor, one section of its
population found representation through Holdenhurst,
another through Christchiirch.

Even before the passing of the Improvement Act— but
mainly consequent upon the Foimding of Bournemouth —
there had sprung up new and growing centres of population
on the surrounding heathlands : artizan suburbs, if we may
so describe them. And here we ought to put on record the
fact that, from the earliest date, the people of Bournemouth
— led in this matter, as in so many others, by the late Rev.
A. M. Bennett, the Founder of St. Peter's— recognised a
responsibility for the spiritual care and education of the
people of these artizan areas, and bore noble part in the
provision of churches and schools. This remark applies,
not to Churchmen alone, but to Nonconformists as well,
and now that all these districts have been brought within
the domain of the Parish and County Borough of Bourne-

150 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

mouth, the circumstance of this early and voluntary recog-
nition of responsibility ought not to be overlooked. Bourne-
mouth has extended its boundaries many times— but these
annexations have never been dictated by mere greed of
territory. Each step has, indeed, been justified by the broad-
est, most comprehensive review of attendant circumstances
and public interests.

The first extension took place in 1876, and had the effect
of bringing into the Commissioners' area Boscombe, Spring-
bourne, and a tract of pinewood property known at the
time as the Seventy Acres, lying between Boscombe Chine
and Derby Road. Boscombe, as we have already shown,
had its " Copperas works " in the time of Queen Elizabeth-
just as Bournemouth had, and never probably was wholly
without inhabitants. The Award map of 1805 shows Bos-
combe Cottage, but the mulberry trees still standing in Lord
Abinger's grounds at Boscombe Manor date back to the time
of the Stuarts, and suggest an occupation of Boscombe at
least as remote as that period. The late Sir Percy and
Lady F. Shelley settled here some sixty years ago— at a
time when Boscombe comprised only a few thatched cottages
and a wayside inn, then known as " The Ragged Cat," and
afterwards as the " Palmerston Arms." Then came the
erection of artizan dwellings to meet the needs of Bourne-
mouth, in which there was no working class quarter. A big
development came some years later, and Boscombe assumed
such importance as threatened to make it a rival watering
place to Bournemouth. The " boom " in its fortune origin-
ated in the purchase of " a small estate " of land by the
late Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, lying between the Christ-
church Road and the sea, east of Boscombe Chine. To this
estate was given the name of Boscombe Spa, from the circum-
stance of there being on it a supposed impregnated mineral
spring which it was said possessed properties similar to those of
the Harrogate waters. The greater part of this area was
at one time pine wood ; you stepped from the Christchurch
Road right iiito a squirrel-haunted wood which bordered
the thoroughfare from Sea Road westward to the Chine.
Sir Henry laid out the estate, built a house for his own occupa-
tion, and named the principal roads after literary colleagues

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 151

of "The Owl"— a socio-political newspaper, the pioneer of
Society journals, of which he was one of the earliest con-
tributors. He had as a neighbour Sir Algernon Borthwick
(now Lord Glenesk), whose association with the neighbour-
hood continued for many years, and helped not a little to
promote the renown of Boscombe. Sir Henry's house was
a charming villa known as Boscombe Tower. " Tankerville,"
another house owned by Sir Henry, became in later years
famous as the temporary residence (and scene of extradition
proceedings) of Dr. Hertz, of Panama fame. Part of Sir
Henry's work for Boscombe included the demolition of the
old brick-kiln in the Chine, and the substitution therefor of
a rustic building for the accommodation of tennis players, some
other pioneer work of transformation, and the construction
of a rustic wooden bridge spanning the valley from Boscombe
Cliff. A contemporary description of Boscombe as it appeared
some time prior to 1875 was " a scene of indescribable
desolation." In its early years land was of even less than the
" prairie " value which prevailed in Bournemouth, and the
story is told of a man named Holloway who was engaged to
do some turnip hoeing. He asked 4s. for his day's work.
His employer thought that was too much, and suggested
that he shoTild take an acre of land instead ! But the man
wanted money, and was not inclined for speculation. Some
years after the land fetched £275 an acre !

In 1875, when the question of extending the Commis-
sioners' district was raised, Boscombe organised a strong
opposition, and presented a counter petition to the Local
Government Board asking for the formation of a new Urban
Sanitary District, to include both Boscombe and Spring-
bourne and adjoining areas. Mr. C. T. Miles, who at that
time and for some years afterwards acted as agent to Sir H. D.
Wolff, was engaged to make a plan of the district, ]Mr. R. D.
Sharp acted as legal adviser to the committee, and Messrs.
Wicks and McEwan Brown were Secretaries. The Local
Government Board, in accordance with their usual practice,
held a local inquiry, and in May, 1876, intimated their assent
to the scheme of the Commissioners, the new district to
have the privilege of electing three representatives to sit on
the Board. The Boscombe Committee protested against

152 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

this ruling, but in due course a Provisional Order was made
and the annexation consummated, Boscombe receiving
some concession in the way of differential rating. The elec-
tion of Commissioners for the new area took place on the
10th October, 1876, when Mr. Henry Joy, Mr. John Cunning-
ton, and Mr. William Toogood were returned out of six
candidates, one of whom, it may be mentioned, received
only six votes.

Boscombe development went on apace— notwithstanding
some not inconsiderable handicap. Up till 1885 it had no
railway station of its own ; it was an outlying district, and
it had no Pier — no centre of attraction for its visitors, and
no facilities for taking part in those acquatic excursions
which had now become one of the delightful features of the
summer season. In 1885, the advisability of erecting a
Pier was pressed upon the attention of the Commissioners,
and a resolution was actually passed affirming the desirability
of the Board applying for powers to erect and maintain Piers
both at Boscombe Chine and Alum Chine. But nothing
came of these expressions of pious opinion. Boscombe,
however, was preparing to help itself. At that very time,
proposals were afoot for promoting the formation of a Pier
Company, and shares to the amount of £3,000 were said to
have been applied for. But it was not till 1888 that there
was an actual commencement of works. Then, on the 17thj
October, Boscombe had a " gala day," and the first pile
was fixed by the late Lady Shelley. The length of the Pier
was 600 feet, with a landing stage on each side, and the usual
accessories. The cost was put at £12,000, and the directorate
of the Pier CompiVny included Sir H. D. Wolff, Mr. G. M.
Saunders, Colonel Pott, Mr. C. R. Hutchings, Dr. Deans,
Mr. T. H. Philhps (succeeded by Dr. De Landfort), and Mr.
W. Hoare, with Messrs. McEwan Brown and Wyatt as
Secretaries. The opening ceremony took place on the 29th
July, 1889, and was performed by his Grace the late Duke
of Argyll, who was accompanied on the occasion by his
son, the present Duke (then Marquis of Lome). In an
address of welcome which was presented by the Commission-
ers, as the Local Authority for the district, his Grace was
reminded that he was " no stranger to the beauties and ad-

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 153

vantages of Bournemouth," and informed that " during the
twelve years that Boscombe has formed part of the town
of Bournemouth, it has shared in the prosperity of the
town generally and has greatly increased in extent and
population, and this new Pier will doubtless greatly enhance
its attractiveness and tend to still greater increase in its
development." His Grace was presented also with two
other addresses, besides an album of views—" a memento
of Boscombe "—the first address being from the Pier Com-
pany, intimating that " the Boscombe population will
recall to memory with delight in after years the great favour
conferred on them this day " ; and the second being one
from Scotsmen in the neighbourhood, " where very many
of your countrymen have found a sanatorium."

His Grace's reply to these addresses is worth recalling,
for, as suggested, he was " no stranger," but had reminiscences
of Bournemouth which, as he showed, went back to a period
long before the establishment of the Commissioners, and
when the combined population of Bournemouth and Boscombe
was, at the most, only a few hundreds. It was, said his
Grace, in the year 1846, that, being in a rather low state
of health, he was recommended by a medical friend, who
had wTitten a book called " Notes of a Wanderer in Search
of Health," to come to Bournemouth, being told he would
never get well unless he did. He asked, " Bournemouth !
Where is it ? " The reply was, "It is a place I have seen
in my wanderings in search of health, and I have never met
with any place on the coast of England that eclipses Bourne-
mouth." So his Grace took train to Winchester (the nearest
point to Bournemouth which was then reached by the South-
western line) ; and from Winchester he posted through the
New Forest, " and at length arrived at Bournemo^ith."
And this is the picture which his Grace gave of Bournemouth,
as he then saw it : There was the Bath Hotel and there were
a few houses in the immediate neighbourhood, and there
was almost nothing else. There was a large fir wood which
extended all the vvay from the Bath Hotel in the direction of
Boscombe, and he and his friend used to take interminable
walks through thesefir woods without meeting a single human
being. The only living things they could see were some

154 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

squirrels. After staying at Bournemouth ten days or a
fortnight he was perfectly well. His Grace's second visit
is equally interesting to recall. He was, he said, " rather
fond of geology," and happened to discover on the western
coast of Argyllshire some very curious fossil leaves, which
threw considerable light upon the history of the volcanic
rocks in that neighbourhood. The discovery was chronicled
in all the books of geology as having given a data for the
probable age of those rocks. Soon after that he came do\^Ti
to Bournemouth, and he found these sands full of almost
similar leaves to those he discovered in Argyllshire— curious,
remains of the ancient world. His Grace added that he
knew no place in the three Kingdoms which presented
problems of geology so curious and so interesting as Bourne-
mouth, and mentioned as among the exhibits of the Bourne-
mouth leaf-beds auracarias, now only to be found in New
South Wales ; cacti, now existing only in North America ;
and palms, existing only in the tropics. From this interesting
speech we extract one other personal note. When his Grace
first came to Bournemouth, his friend took him down to
the Brook and showed him a solitary trout. " At that time
the valley of the Bourne was one long, marshy, rushy hollow,
entirely unprotected, and having no hedge on either side.'*
His Grace's reference is to a " solitary trout." But the
vmter of a guide book of 1859 was so impressed with " the
Fishery," that after advocating the deepening and widening
of the bed of the Brook, the deposit of clean shingle, and
the construction of occasional dams and ledges to produce
a greater body of water and better effect, he went on to
suggest that " it would be an additional attraction to Bourne-
mouth if, in the above arrangements with the stream, the
fish were preserved, and the liberty of angling only let out
to visitors." The returns thus obtained might, he suggested,
" go to liquidate some of the expenses incurred by improving
plantations and setting apart this valley."

The provision of the Pier was, of course, a great addition
to the social amenities of Boscombe ; but the structure gave
a great deal of trouble and anxiety to its promoters, and
was never financially remunerative. In 1903, in response
to many appeals, the Corporation purchased the undertaking

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 155

and brought it under municipal direction. They effected
substantial improvements, and the Pier is steadily gaining
in popularity. It is not a profit-producing concern— but the
deficits which so far have had to be met year by year are
more than compensated for by other advantages conferred
upon the ratepayers.

Another important factor in the development of Boscombe
was the erection of the Boscombe Arcade, Theatre, and other
buildings by the late Mr. Archibald Beckett, The Arcade
was formally opened by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught
on the 19th December, 1892. Fiu'ther impetus to the advance
of the district was given by the provision of the various
recreation grounds— including the delightful Cliff Garden
overlooking the Bay— the development of a portion of the
Boscombe Manor Estate, and the laying out of building estates
north of the Christchurch Road.

In 1884 there was a second extension of the Commissioners'
district, eastward, northward, and westward, to the amount
of 771 acres, and in 1885 a further increase north-eastwards
to the extent of 178 acres, the districts thus annexed including
Freemantle, Malmesbmy Park, Meyrick Park, and West-
bourne. The last named had, like Boscombe, become a
centre of population, with the prospect of large development,
though with little hope of ever being sufficiently large to
become a self-governing area of itself. It was wedged in
between Bournemouth on the east and the Dorset boundary
on the west ; it was part of the Rural District of Christ-
church, but could only be approached through Bournemouth.
Annexation to Bournemouth was both natm'al and inevit-
able, and came in due course in 1884. A quarter of a century
earlier Westbourne comprised only some half a dozen hovises,
including one on the Poole Road occupied as a boarding
school. The mansion at Alum Chine now owned by Lord
Wimborne, known as Branksome Dene, was built, as already
shown, in 1860, and the Herbert Convalescent Home was
erected in 1865. At that time an open heathland stretched
right awajr from the top of Poole Hill— where the Pembroke
Hotel now stands— to Alum Chine, without a house interven-
ing, and land in what is now the Middle Road was let out in
allotments. Mr. Henry Joy repeated his experiment in

156 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Arcade building, but not with the same phenomenal success
that rewarded his effort in the centre of the town. The laying
out of the Chines and Pleasure Gardens, and the construction
of the West Cliff Drive, have helped the district immensely.
The various suggestions for the erection of a Pier have all
been set aside, but the Centenary year sees the provision
of a landing place for small boats.

Malmesbury Park takes its name after its ground landlord.
Under the Enclosure Award of 1805 certain lands lying
between Holdenhurst Road and Charminster Road were
allotted to James, Earl of Malmesbury, in lieu of tithes,
and additions were subsequently made to the estate by pur-
chase and exchange. During the life time of the third Earl an
artizan district was established between the two thoroughfares
named. Since that period important additions have been
made, and the title of Malmesbury Park has been given to
one of the municipal wards, which also includes lands on the
estate of Mr. Cooper Dean. The ward stretches away to
Queen's Park, and between Malmesbury Park proper and
that popular resort there has latterly grown up a very
fine residential neighbourhood, the amenities of which have
been considerably advanced by the proximity of the Golf
Links, by the liberality of the present Earl of Malmesbury
in the transfer to the Corporation of lands for the further
extension of the Queen's Park, and by the very favourable
terms upon which the Council were able to acquire, from
the same noble owner, the large tract of land now known as
theWinton Recreation Ground, with its football and cricket
grounds, its tenjiis courts, its bowling green, and other
facilities for healthy recreation. The development of his
lordship's estate is now extending beyond Qiieen's Park,
and the magnificent pine wood avenue which has been con-
strncted from Charminster Road to Littledown forms one
of the most delightful drives of the neighbourhood. It
skirts the Park, and gives the traveller— pedestrian or
equestrian, and the equestrian must not be forgotten, for
there is a good trotting ground here— the opportunity to
watch some of the most interesting play.

When they gave up the reins of ofilce in 1890, the Com-
nussioners handed over to their successors the care of an

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 157

area comprising 2,592 acres. This remained the area of
the new municipal borough down to 1901— a year after
Bournemouth had become a County Borough— when a
new extension took place which more than doubled the total
area— bringing it up to 5,850 acres. The districts thus
incorporated were Pokesdown, Winton, and Southboiurne.
Pokesdown was the centre of one of those artizan communities
which we have already referred to as springing up on the
confines of the borough in the middle of the last century.
On the passing of the Local Government Act of 1894, it
elected its first Parish Council, which a year later Avas super-
seded by an Urban District Council. Long before that there
had been agitation for the inclusion of Pokesdown within
the Borough of Bournemouth, and in 1892, the Town Council,
by ten votes to three (six not voting) passed a resolution
favouring the inclusion of both Pokesdown and Winton.
But having done that, they waited so long that the Pokes-
down people became impatient, and petitioned for the estab-
lishment of an Urban Council of their own, which they secured,
as stated, in 1895. To the credit of that Authority it may
be mentioned, that they so improved the amenities of the
district that the population considerably more than doubled
itself in the decade— 1891 to 1901— for whereas at the former
Census the emuneration showed 2,239 souls, at the latter
the total was no less than 4,930.

The district of Winton, like Pokesdown, came under the
direction of a Parish Council in 1894, but it was not till
four years later that it secured the larger powers of an Urban
District Council. In 1893, the Bournemouth Town Council,
by the casting vote of the Mayor, negatived a proposition
for the inclusion of Winton within the borough area. Three
years later they made application for authority to annex
the Talbot Woods, but this was vigorously resisted by the
people of Winton, and promptly sat upon by the Local
Government Board, who refused to sanction any scheme
which did not comprise the whole district— a policy which
they had previously, but without effect, pressed upon the
Corporation. So matters remained till Bournemouth became
a County Borough in 1900, when a resolution was carried
for the inclusion of Winton, as well as of Pokesdown and

158 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Southbourne, and a large tract of land just then ripe for
development at Richmond Park. This extension was duly
effected in November, 1901.

In connection with this chronicle of Winton, it is but right
we should mention how nmch this and the adjacent district
was indebted to the late Miss Georgina Talbot, of Hinton
Wood House, Bournemouth, who more than half a century
ago, built a number of model cottages and established the
model village which bears her name. As set forth on the
memorial cross in St. Mark's Churchyard, Talbot Village,
" she came of an ancient race, and possessed in herself that
nobility of mind which delighted in the happiness of her
fellow creatures. ... In the neighbourhood of the
village, she passed 25 years of a blameless life, giving up
time and fortune to bettering the condition of the poorer
classes, seeking to minister to their temporal and spiritual
welfare, and erecting habitations suitable to their position
in life, herself enjoying a peaceful and happy existence in
doing good, awaiting the end." Her sister followed in her
steps, and on succeeding to the estates the late Earl of Leven
and Melville (and afterwards his son, the present Earl)
continued the generous policy which has for so long given
the public free enjoyment of the beautiful Talbot Woods—
the largest and most characteristic of the pine woods
standing within the borough. The time has arrived now
for some considerable development as a building estate, but
a bold, enlightened policy is being followed, and the magni-
ficent avenue leading off the Wimborne Road to the Talbot
Road— with its strips of pines and rhododendrons interposed
between the side walks and the carriage road— will, in the
future, go a long way to compensate for the inevitable loss
occasioned by building.

Southbourne had its Parish Council from 1894, but never
got beyond that stage till it was incorporated with the
borough, when it had the honour of giving its name to one
of the new municipal wards, comprising not only South-
bourne itself, but the populous district of Pokesdown. South-
bourne had long been " boomed " as a peculiarly bracing
and delightful neighbourhood for residential purposes. But
it was slow in coming to its own— notwithstanding the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 159

-enterprise of certain of its landed proprietors (particularly
Dr. Compton), the provision of a Winter Garden as a place
of entertainment and assembly, the construction of an
Undercliff Esplanade and the provision of a small Promenade
Pier. These two last undertakings were very imfortunate :
the Esplanade was eventually broken up by the sea, the
houses buUt on the Undercliff Drive had to be taken down,
and the Pier was damaged again and again, and at last
entirely destroyed. But Southbourne itself within the last
few years has prospered amazingly. Its growth has only
been equalled by that of the Malmesbury Park district.
With the means of communication, both with the centre of
Bournemouth and with Christchurch, which the Municipal
Tramways now provide, combined with its own natural
advantages, it is year by year becoming increasingly popular,
and is the district in which the greatest increase of population
Tnust be looked for in the near future. The ward has an
exceptionally long sea frontage ; with a broad, breezy table-
land which slopes away to the east into the valley of the
Stour. For a considerable portion of its coxirse— from a
point above Tuckton Bridge, right down to Hengistbury
Head, the borough boundary is an imaginary line running
down the centre of the streanti. The little village on the
banks of the Bourne has so spread itself out that it has
become a Great Town on the Stour— far and away the largest
and most important centre of population in the district
watered by that stream in its cotu'se through the counties
■of Wilts, Dorset, and Hants. The Stour, we may add, like
the Avon, has long been renowned for its salmon— in former
times found here in such abundance that there is local tradi-
tion that in the indentures of Christchurch apprentices
provision was commonly made that they should not be
required to eat salmon more than twice a week. The Rev.
Richard Warner says that at Claypool, where the Stour meets
the Avon, he once saw 95 salmon taken at a draught ! Wonder-
ful are the chronicles of the fisherman, but nothing to equal
this has been paralleled within the last half century. In
1851, however, a sturgeon was caught in the Stour at Iford,
measuring over 7ft. in length and weighing 109lbs.

CHAPTER XV.

The Pier— And Other Sea-Front Developments.

A New Piek Ekected — State Visit of the Lord Mayob of London —
Pies, Extension in 1909 — Visit from Another Lord Mayor op London
— Interesting Personal Reminiscences — Bournemouth Described
AS A Citt of Villa Residences — Pier Prophecies — Cliff Development
— Promenades and Overclipf Drives — Undercliff Drive Schemes —
A " Flyinq Squadron " and Their Report — New Drive Constructed
AND Opened — Commemorative Gifts by Mr. and Mas. Merton Russell
Cotes — Visit by the Emperor op Germany.

In a previous chapter we have told the story of the chequered
career of the " Wooden Pier," which, opened in 1S61, was
again and again wrecked, encountering such a series of mis-
fortunes that the Commissioners eventually came to the
conclusion the only thing to be done was to erect a new
structure of more substantial character, fixed more firmly
in the bed of the sea, better equipped for the buffetings of
wintry storms, and adequate to the new demands which
were continually being made by the rapidly increasing
population of Bournemouth.

As we have already chronicled, a Promenade Pier Company
was promoted, and a Provisional Order actually obtained in
1875. But the Company and the Commissioners were unable
to come to terms with regard to the old structure, the powers
of the former lapsed, and the Commissioners came to the
conclusion that the interest of the community which they
represented would be best served by prompt and energetic
action on their part. Accordingly, in 1878, they obtained
new Parliamentary powers, and the same year the present
Pier was commenced. The engineer was the late Mr. E.
Birch, who submitted three sets of plans, the first for a pier
(60 feet in width) costing £.52,382 ; the second for one (45
feet in width) costing £38,075 ; and the third for one esti-
mated at £27,500, The Board decided to accept Scheme
No. 2, with modifications ; they elected, for instance, to
omit the proposed pavilion, but they agreed to obtain
Parliamentary powers to add such a structure if required

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 161

at a later date. They obtained authority to spend a sum
not exceeding £40,000, though their present proposal was
for an outlay of about £20,000. The Company's scheme
had been for the erection of a Pier at a cost not exceeding
£17,000, and there were some leading townsmen who regarded
the Commissioners' proposals as grossly extravagant and
likely to be burdensome to the ratepayers. At the Local
Government Board Inquiry one gentleman gravely declared
that " an extra rate of Is. in the £ would be necessary to
pay the cost," and another made himself responsible for a
statement that " almost all the best plots of land were now
built upon at Bournemouth " ! Even in 1879, we find one
of the old Commissioners in an election address declaring
that " the construction of this Pier would have been better
left to the venturesome enterprise of a private company.
In that case those residents who might use the Pier would
have had to pay no more than the tolls fixed by the Com-
pany." '

But the Commissioners went forward, the new Pier was
erected, and on the 11th August, 1880, it was formally
opened by the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of London (the
late Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott), who paid Bournemouth a
state visit for the occasion, accompanied by the Sheriffs of
London and Middlesex (described by one of themselves as
the " satellites of the Lord Mayor "). Memories of that
interesting event were revived last year (1909), when Bourne-
mouth was again honoured with a visit from the Lord Mayor
and Sheriffs of London, and, by a happy coincidence, the
Lord Mayor of 1909 (Sir George Wyatt Truscott), who opened
the Pier extension of that day, was a son of the Lord Mayor
who, with so much state and ceremony, opened the Pier
in 1880. Sir Francis Truscott in 1880 described Bournemouth
as " the Garden City of the South." His son. Sir George,
visiting the place in 1909— not for the first time— was able
to declare that that reputation has been maintained. " In
spite of the fact that the town has grown, you have known
how to preserve its sylvan beauties. You have made it a
City of Villa Residences, surrounded with beautiful gardens."
Of the growth of Bournemouth in the interval illustration
was given in a memorial presented to Sir George by the

162 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

Corporation : " The population of Bournemouth at that
time was 18,000. To-day it is 76,000. Its rateable value
was £117,000. It is now £617,000. And we venture to believe
that with all this growth and extension, unequalled, so far
as we are aware, in the United Kingdom, Bournemouth has
not lost its right to the name given to it by his lordship.
It is still, and, we believe, will ever remain, a Garden City."
Other personal incidents were recalled. The gold key pre-
sented in 1880 has become an heirloom in the family, to be
treasiured up with the corresponding gift made by the Cor-
poration of Bournemouth on the 5th June, 1909. The key
was, in fact, produced at the ceremony on the Pier-head.
But, perhaps, the most interesting reminiscence evolved by
the occasion was the reference by the son to one of the
speeches of the father. In 1880, replying to a toast on
behalf of the Lady Mayoress, Sir Francis Truscott said :
" The Lady Mayoress has a lively recollection of Bournemouth
some fifteen years ago, when one of her children was very
ill. I believe it was mainly due to the air of this place that
he regained his health, and was, I believe, saved under the
blessing of God." " That child " (said Sir George Truscott,
speaking at the luncheon party at the Winter Gardens on
the .5th June, 1909) " stands before you to-day— a testimonial
to Bournemouth and an example of the devotion of an
ideal mother."

Passing over other details of these later events, we may
mention that the Pier, as erected in 1880, had a total length
of 83.5 feet, with a width for about 650 feet of 35 feet, and
of 110 feet for the remainder. Since that date the broad
seaward end has been extended, making the total length
nearly 1,000 feet ; shelters have been erected, and the new
and improved landing-stage, naore adequate to the growing
demands of our large steamboat traffic, added last year,
has brought the total expenditure upon the structure up to
approximately £50,000.

At the meeting held at the Belle Vue Assembly Rooms in
January, 1859, when Bournemouth ratepayers gave their
first formal assent to the Commissioners' proposal for the
establishment of a Pier, there was a " prophetic " declaration
that a Pier would never pay, together with some reasoned

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 163

argument that a Pier was not wanted, that it would destroy
the privacy and retirement which attracted many people
hither, and that it would result in the coming of excursionists
and the strewing of the whole place with " paper and chicken
bones." Experience has falsified the prophecy. As we have
shown, one Pier has followed another, and there has been
steady and continuous advance, both in popularity and
utility. Its popularity may be illustrated by a few figures,
which will show how groundless were the fears of those who
imagined the Pier would be in any sense a burden to the
town. For the year ended in March, 1882, the first complete
year after the opening of the new structure, the receipts
totalled £2,225 ; by 1890 they had gone up to £5,101, and
by 1900 the total reached £8,621. Since that period there
has been further steady and continuous progress, and the
total for the last two years has been nearly £10,000 per
annum. The new landing-stages have wonderfully improved
the facilities for steamboat traffic, and the laying of a teak
floor has added the attraction of a place for roller-skating
in the early and late months of the year, when such sport
can be enjoyed without undue interference with the use of
the Pier as a place of popular promenade.

Reference has been made in some previous chapters
to early efforts to secure popular promenades on the Cliff
front. As far back as 1845, Mr. Decimus Burton, in one
of his many reports to Sir George Gervis, advised that "walks
and drives " should be liberally provided, and suggested
"a wide Esplanade on the Cliff," extending from Boscombe
Chine to the county boundary westward, and " even farther
if it could be effected." A subsequent document shows
it was intended there should be a width of 100ft. from pro-
perty enclosures to the edge of the cliff, " which is constantly
crumbling away." Paths were laid, but down to a
•omparatively recent period the greater part of the Cliff
front, both East and West, was retained in a state of nature,
the sand dunes forming picturesque objects in the landscape,
and the heather adding welcome touches of colour to the
scene. But with the growth of the population changes became
necessary, walks and drives of more formal character had
to be provided. The late Mr. Clapcott Dean planted part

164 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

of the West Cliff— where certain pine- wood walks were
designated as " The Maze "—and there were paths both
East and West. Subsequently the Local Authority acquired
control of Durley Chine, and opened up a new means of
access to the sea. As a later stage the East Cliff Promenade
was extended and a Drive carried right along the Cliff front
to a point overlooking Boscombe Chine, where— if fore-
shadowed proposals are carried into effect — it will some
day be brought into association with an eastward extension
of the Undercliff Drive. In 1901-2 another great develop-
ment took place in the construction of the West Overeliff
Drive, extending from Durley Chine on the East to Alum
Chine on the West— a total length of about a mile. The
Drive winds along the western bank of Durlej'^ Chine, passes
inland along the eastern side of Middle Chine, crosses the
upper part of the Chine on a broad, ornamental iron bridge,
then along the western bank of Middle Chine and by the
Cliff front, a last inland turn leading along the eastern bank
of Alum Chine to Westbourne. This important work was
carried out bj' the Corporation, with the co-operation of
the ground landlord, Mr. Cooper Dean, who granted them
a 999 years' lease of the Cliff and Chine slopes and all the
land necessary for the Drive. At the same time he leased
them two acres of land for a recreation ground— now known
as the Argyll Pleasure Garden— at a rental of £50 per annum.
The Council likewise acquired the right, if and when found
desirable, to construct a bridge across Durley Chine, and
to continue the Drive eastward to the end of St. Michael's
Road— a point not very far from the Pier. These, however,
are developments which it has not yet been found expedient
to press forward. The opening of the new Drive took place
with appropriate civic ceremonial on the 6th November,
1902, Mr. Cooper Dean handing the formal dedication to
the Mayor (Councillor G. Frost), and the Mayor declaring
the Drive open for the use and enjoyment of the public.
The attractions of the Drive, and its utility— so far as con-
cerns large sections of the population— were subsequently
increased by the construction of a Suspension Bridge (for
foot passengers only) over Alum Chine. Other sea-front
developments of important character have included the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 165

laying out of the various Chines as Pleasure Gardens ; the
provision of delightful Cliff Gardens at Boscombe and Alum
Chine ; the throwing open of some acres of Cliff frontage at
Southbourne, with a zig-zag path from the end of Fisherman's
Walk to the Beach ; and last, but certainly not least, the
construction of the Undercliff Drive and Promenade.

It may be convenient, perhaps, at this *stage to make
some personal reference to the part which the successive
owners of the Dean Estate have borne in the development
of Bournemouth. Reference has been made to the leading
part which Mr. William Clapcott took in connection with the
Enclosure Act and Award, and more could be quoted, were
it necessary, to show the influence which he exercised in
the neighbourhood. Mr. Clapcott was a member of the
firm of Dean, Clapcott, and Castleman, who were bankers
at Wimborne— and one of the counters of the old Bank,
transformed into a sideboard, now does duty in the house
of Mr. Cooper Dean at Littledown. Mr. Clapcott's son William
took the old family name of Dean, and succeeded to property
which his uncle (Mr. Wm. Dean) had acquired in Bournemouth
and neighbourhood. He settled at Littledown, within a
mUe or so of his birthplace, and there passed a long and
honoured life. He was noted, particularly, for his extreme
love of animals, and when he died it was found that his
will contained provision for the care of all his horses and
dogs till natural death should overtake them. Mr. Clapcott
Dean became one of the largest land-proprietors in the
Bournemouth area, his estate, as shown elsewhere, including
large tracts of valuable land on the West Cliff, east of the
Sqiiare, along Holdenhurst Road, and also in the Wimborne
and Charminster Road. His Surveyor was Mr. C. C. Creeke,
and the policy laid down for the Estate by Mr. Clapcott
Dean, under Mr. Creeke's advice, was one which aimed at
steady development, with judicious tree-planting, and no
overcrowding. It was consistently followed throughout
the whole of Mr. Clapcott Dean's life, and is still the rule
of the Estate. Various incidental references have been
made to the assistance given to public institutions, churches,
etc. Of equal if not of greater moment to the interests
of the town as a whole was the reservation of the large tract

166 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

of land in the Christchurch Road, known as the Horse Shoe.
That has now passed into the control of the Corporation, and
the only " development " that can proceed there is limited
to the erection of Municipal Offices, etc. The whole of the
remaining part of that large area must be maintained as a
Pleasiu:e Garden. On Mr. Clapcott Dean's death, he was
succeeded by his nephew, Mr. Cooper Dean, and it was through
that gentleman's enterprise and co-operation, as we have
explained, that the Undercliff Drive was constructed. Mr.
Clapcott Dean, by the way, had many years before, in reply
to a petition presented by Mr. Joseph Cutler, promised to
consider a plan for a Cliff Drive to Westboiu'ne, and some
substantial progress was made in the consideration of plans
when the scheme dropped through the opposition of a section
of ratepayers. But the work was completed at last, and Mr.
Cooper Dean signalised the opening by giving a large luncheon
party at Bourne Hall.

The provision of an Undercliff Drive was a matter of
animated controversy in Bournemouth for more than thirty
years ; not till November, 1907, was the town placed in
possession and enjoyment of the first instalment of the
scheme. We ought not, perhaps, to speak of " the scheme,"
for there have been schemes many and various : schemes
formulated by successive engineers to the Local Authority,
the late Mr. C. C. Creeke, the late Mr. G. R. Andrews, and
Mr. F. W. Lacey ; schemes fathered by engineers of wider
renown, like the late Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the late
Mr. E. Birch ; suggestions, proposals, and criticisms by
all sorts of amateur engineers ; and, to mention no others,
the grandiose, comprehensive scheme put forward by the
late Mr. Archibald Beckett, based on plans by Messrs. Lawson
and Reynolds, backed with the professional authority of
Sir Douglas Fox, C.E., and others. The records of the
local Press show that the Undercliff Drive— its desirability
and its feasibility— was under discussion by the Local
Authority, the old Board of Improvement Commissioners,
as far back as 1878, and we find it reported that the majority
of the Commissioners were in favour of the proposal. The
" scheme " of that day was one " contrived a double debt
to pay." There was to be a fore-shore esplanade— which,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 167

it was argued, would be a great attraction and benefit both
to winter and summer visitors ; and beneath the esplanade
there was to be a sewer, serving the utilitarian purpose of
conveying the town's sewage along under the cliff-front
to a new outfall which it was proposed to take out to sea
from a point midway between Bournemouth Pier and Bos-
combe Chine. A majority of Commissioners, as we have
said, favoured the scheme ; but there was a strong minority,
and a considerable section of townspeople rose in rebellion
against the whole thing. They memorialised the Local
Government Board, and they held an indignation meeting
in the town itself ; the "Directory" report describes it as a
" great meeting." There was a " crowded attendance, and
it was of a " stormy character." The late Mr. John Tregon-
well moved a resolution expressing disapproval of the pro-
posal " as involving an unnecessary and wasteful addition
to the debts and liabilities which have already been con-
tracted by the Commissioners at the expense of the rate-
payers and to the detriment of house property in this place " !
He carried his resolution, and the plan was dropped.

In 1882, the late Mr. E. Birch, C.E., who had recently
constructed the Bournemouth Pier, came on the scene with
a scheme for providing an Undercliff Drive, Promenade
and other attractions, without cost to the ratepayers, but
this, too, failed to secure the requisite support. Mr. Birch
unfolded his plans at a meeting held early in the year. The
scheme, he explained, was one for the construction of a
pleasure Drive along the Beach from the Pier to Durley
Chine, with certain buildings on the landward side such as
would be remunerative and enable the promoters to pay for
the sea-wall and the Drive in front. These buildings were
to include an " efficient bathing establishment," a museum,
boathouse, and the establishment of a court devoted to
science and art and gymnastic exercises. For none of these
things were the ratepayers of Bournemouth expected to
contribute a penny ; they were asked to give the scheme
their benediction and moral support. Everything else was
to be accomplished by the kind co-operation of the ground
landlords and the enterprise of investors in the Money Market.
An inclined liftway from the Cliff to the Beach, near the

168 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

HighcUff Mansions, was to be one of the features of the
scheme, but Mr. Birch gave warning that, " if a large price
were asked for the land it would simply destroy the chance
of carrying out the plan." We don't know that the land-
owners asked " a large price," but they were unsymipathetic,
and this scheme also fell to the ground. The promoters'
estimate of probable cost, we may remark, was from £70,000
to £100,000, and among other advantages, it was urged that
the scheme would preserve the cliffs without destroying their
picturesqueness. The need of " saving the cliff " had, even
at that time, been appreciated by the Local Authority,
and serious representation had been made to the ground
landlords.

In 1884, the Commissioners were again considering the
desirability of action, being moved thereto not merely by
the view that an Undercliff Drive would be a valuable acquisi-
tion—a new attraction to visitors and residents— but by
the almost daily recurring evidence of the necessity of pro-
tective measures for securing the cliffs. This became a
" test question " at local elections, and discussion assimied
a serious phase. The late Sir George Meyrick, the principal
ground landlord, offered to contribute a sum of £4,000
towards the capital cost. The late Mr. Clapcott Dean, the
owner of the cliffs westward of the Highcliff, resolutely
opposed the whole project, and his opposition and, later on,
that of his successor, Mr. Cooper Dean, led to the abandon-
ment of any idea of carrying a Drive westward of the High-
cliff. But the schemes of the early eighties contemplated
a Drive extending right away from Alum Chine to Boscombe
— a distance of something like two and a half miles. The
Commissioners showed that they meant business by offering
substantial premiums for competitive plans. The plans
were duly received ; they were examined and approved by
the late Sir George Meyrick, and then there came another
wave of antagonistic feeling — and everything was shunted.
The plan contemplated at that time would have entailed
a cost of about £35,000— but it was set aside. Even when
the South Western Railway Company secured Parliamentary
powers to contribute a sum of £10,000 to the cost, there was
not sufficient " driving power " to secure progress. The

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 169

Undercliff Drive still remained the stock subject of local
controversy.

In 1892 Mr. F. W. Lacey, the Borough Engineer, presented
a new scheme— for a Drive costing £60,000— and there
were renewed negociations with the ground landlords, new
protests and expostulations, new organisations formed to
advance or to prevent the work. So things went on till
1897, when the Town Council, by a majority of twelve to
nine, passed the following resolution : " That the scheme
submitted by the Surveyor for the preservation of the cliffs
and construction of the Undercliff Drive, be and is hereby
approved, and that it be submitted to Sir George Meyrick
for his approval, and that Sir George Meyrick and the directors
of the London and South-Western Railway Company be
approached, to secure their co-operation in carrying it out."
Then came further trouble : Sir George Meyrick, like the
Town Council, was anxious to preserve the cliffs, but his
lessees made representation that an Undercliff Drive was
not essential to effective cliff preservation, and the Council's
own, and frequent, wavering seems to have led Sir George
to hesitate as to his final reply.

At the end of the year the " Directory " made the sudden
and startling announcement that the late Mr. Beckett had
made a provisional arrangement with Sir George, whereby
Mr. Beckett was to have the right— subject to the approval
of plans and conditions— to construct an Undercliff Drive
right away from the Highcliff Hotel to Boscombe Pier, with
shops and other buildings along such portions as it might
be thought desirable so to develop. A remarkable change
of opinion soon manifested itself. Many of the most strenuous
opponents saw that an Undercliff Drive — for weal or woe —
was bound to come, and the scheme foreshadowed by Mr.
Beckett included so many objectionable features that they
themselves memorialised the Council to re-open negociations
with Sir George, submitting that " the control of any Under-
cliff Drive should be entirely in the hands of the Town
Authority," and respectfully asking them to take such steps
as in their judgment might " seem most fitting to protect
the best interests of the town in this matter." The Council
appealed to Sir George accordingly, and after protracted

170 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

correspondence an arrangement was made whereby Mr.
Beckett abandoned his claim, the Council, through Sir
George, paying a sum sufficient to cover his disbursements —
and the whole control of the cliff and foreshore was vested
in the Council, with the " exclusive right," within a definite
period, to make an Undercliff Drive from Bournemouth Pier
to Boscombe. In pursuance of the powers thus obtained
the Council extended the old East Cliff (Overcliff) Promenade
from what used to be known as the Manor Plot to Boscombe ;
erected shelters, refreshment pavilions and public conveni-
ences on the Beath ; undertook the regulation of amusements,
etc., on the foreshore ; effected substantial improvement in
the general amenities of the sea front, securing ownership and
control of the bathing machines ; and, at last, constructed
the first—" experimental "—section of the long talked of
Undercliff Drive from Bournemouth Pier to Boscombe.

But before the last mentioned and most important step
was taken, the Council appointed a deputation— a " Flying
Squadron " as it was called— to visit various Continental
and other resorts where sea-defence and cliff protection
works had been constructed, and this deputation, after
visiting Belgium and Holland, placed on record their opinion
that " as regards sea walls the diftlculties to be faced in
Bournemouth are much less than those successfully over-
come at other places," and chronicled the fact that " the
practice of other seaside resorts shows a unanimous con-
sensus of opinion that, even where they are Overcliff Drives,
it is worth while to spend large sums on Undercliff Promen-
ades, and where, as here, there is space, Undercliff Drives—
at the sea level— in order to get within sight, sound, and
smell of the breaking sea." And " as the general result of
their experience," they expressed their strong opinion that,
if the Council decided to fulfil their obligations to Sir George
Mcyrick, " to protect the cliffs and render possible Overcliff
Drives, by a comprehensive Undercliff Drive scheme," they
would " not only be following the universal practice at
seaside places which have to protect their cliffs," but would,
as compared with other places, "do so at far less cost, with
far greater security, and with the certainty of a far more
valuable return in the shape of attraction to visitors."

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 171

In August, 1904, the Council gave instructions to Mr.
Lacey to prepare a scheme and approximate estimate of
cost for an Undercliff Drive along that part of the sea front
where the ground landlords had given their sanction, and
in due course the Borough Engineer submitted a scheme
providing for a Carriage Drive 30ft. wide and a Promenade
20ft. wide, with a sea wall seven feet above high water
mark, or about ten feet above mean tide level. Notwith-
standing all the expert advice that had been obtained, old
fears were revived, and argument was again pressed that
work such as was recommended would entail unknown
expenditure, would be doubtful in its result as a means of
cliff protection, would certainly spoil the Beach, and instead
of advancing would be gravely prejudicial to the interests
of the borough. To meet objection and secure progress
the Council decided to proceed with a section of the work
only, and accepted a tender from Messrs. J. W. Harrison
and Co. for the construction of a Drive and Promenade
extending eastward from the Pier to a point just below
the end of Meyrick Road. This was formally opened by
the late Alderman J. A. Parsons, J.P., Mayor of the Borough,
on the 6th November, 1907— a day which is memorable in
local annals, not only because it saw the actual completion
of a work so long advocated, but because of two remarkable
gifts made to the town by Mr. and Mrs. Merton Russell
Cotes (now Sir Merton and Lady Russell Cotes). The former
had been one of the foremost and most persistent advocates
of the Drive ; he regarded its accomplishment as a personal
triumph, and he signalised the occasion by presenting the
town with the collection of paintings and other works of art,
curiosities, etc., which he had collected from all parts of the
world, his wife at the same time asking the town's acceptance
of the residence. East Cliff Hall, where these valuable works
are at present housed. Sir Merton and Lady Russell Cotes
are to have possession during their life-time, but on their
death the gifts v/ill be free for the full enjoyment of the
public. They are already vested in trustees. This is not the
occasion, or the place, for eulogy — but a history of Bourne-
mouth v/hich lacked mention of such beneficence as this
would be imperfect and unjust. Official appreciation was

172 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

shown by the presentation of the honorary freedom of the
borough to both Mr. and Mrs. Merton Riissell Cotes, and
at a later stage the burgesses were able to congratulate
them on the former having received the distinction of knight-
hood and the accolade of his Majesty King Edward VII.

We may add that within a few days of the opening of the
Drive it was visited by his Imperial Majesty the Emperor
of Germany, then staying at Highcliff.

After the construction of the Undercliff Drive, the Town
Council proceeded with other work for the preservation
of the Cliffs, and the provision of Lifts, so that the public
convenience might be met as fully as circumstances would
permit. The cliff works included the making of a new zig-
zag path from the top of the East Cliff to the Drive, and an
electric lift for conveying passengers from the end of
Meyrick Road to the Drive, and vice versa. The Lift was
formally opened by Lady Meyrick on the 16th April, 1908,
and on August 1st, in the same year, a similar Lift was
opened on the West Cliff, in association with the Undercliff
Promenade west of the Pier.

The plans of the Council have not provided for any Under-
cliff Drive west of the Pier, but the success which attended
a temporary Undercliff Promenade led in 1909 to a decision
to make that work permanent, and that has now been carried
out. Refreshment Pavilions, shelter accommodation, and
public lavatories have been provided, and another very
interesting development has been the construction of small
wooden huts along the Promenades. For these there has
been good demand, at reasonable rentals. These places have,
indeed, become immensel}^ popular with that class of people
who, in the summer months particularly, like to spend their
whole time by the seaside. Here they are able to establish
little homes where, if in but a modest way, they can supply
their own requirements from morning till evening, and meet
their friends and acquaintances. The huts— located at
various points between Alum Chine and Boscombe Chine —
all of uniform size and pattern, but fiu-nishing and decora-
tion afford fine scope for the display of the taste and individ-
uality of the different tenants.

An examination of the published accounts of the Corpora-

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 173

tion shows the capital expenditure in connection with the
various works enumerated above to have been as follows : —
East Overcliff Drive, £3,328 ; West Overcliff Drive (including
the laying out of Middle Chine, the construction of the
carriage bridge, the laying out of the Argyll Pleasure Garden,
and other incidental work), £15,233 ; the Undercliff Drive,
£17,955, and the CHff Lifts, £7,626, while the (estimated) cost
of the Undercliff Promenade is put at £7,000.

CHAPTER XVI.

The Municipal Tramways.

A Huge Commebciai. TJndertakinq — Early Tramway Schemes — The
Coming of the B.E.T.C. — Applications to the Light Railway Com-
MissioNEBS — Appeals to Parliament — Litigation — What is a
" Substantial Commencement of Works ? " — Judgment Against the
Corporation — Contemplated Appeal to the House op Lords —
Arrangement to Purchase the Poole Undertaking — Arbitration
— A Claim for Over *400,000 — Award — The Tramway Undertaking
Described — Cost op Construction — Loan Charges, etc. — Street
Improvements and Their Cost.

The Bournemouth Municipal Tramways give employment
to four hundred and fifty men, produce an income approximat-
ing £90,000 per annum, and constitute not only the largest
commercial undertaking under the direction of the County
Borough Council, but also one of the most important organiza-
tions of its class in the South of England. Consequent
upon certain circumstances in its history, leading both to
litigation and to legislation, and because also of experiments
of a peculiarly interesting character, it has attracted an
amount of public attention which its mileage and revenues
would not alone have obtained, and its fortunes are carefully
followed by the representatives of many other Tramway
Authorities as well as by the burgesses of Bournemouth.

The first definite proposal for the establishment of Tram-
ways in Bournemouth was made nearly thirty years ago,
and in November, 1881, the late Mr. W. Mate presided over
a meeting held at the London Hotel, Poole, in support of
a scheme which a firm of London Engineers were then sub-
mitting to the Local Authorities of Poole and Bournemouth,
the idea being the running of a line from the " East " Station
through the centre of Bournemouth and on to Poole. The
view at that time apparently was that Tramways were more
required as a means of communication between the two towns
than between the various parts of Bournemouth itself.
Nothing came of the proposal. Some few years later other
promoters came on the scene and succeeded in obtaining
powers— their scheme also being one for a line between Poole

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 175

and Bournemouth. Still, nothing was done ; the Order was
again and again extended, but capitalists seemed to be shy
of the venture, and after a long interval the promoters
abandoned their scheme, and withdrew the deposit which
they had lodged with the Board of Trade.

In 1897 that well known and powerful organization, the
British Electric Traction Company, appeared and commenced
an energetic and organized propaganda. Public opinion
at that time was very much divided ; it was admitted, of
course, that Tramways would afford a convenient means of
getting from place to place, but, on the other hand, there were
many objections urged : the streets were too narrow and
Tramways would, it was argued, work more to the detriment
than to the advantage of Bournemouth. The Town Council
opposed the scheme, passing a resolution that Tramways
were unsuitable to Bournemouth, and hinting that, if and
when required, they would desire to themselves supply the
demand. Rival competitors submitted schemes, and the
Light Railway Commissioners held two distinct local in-
quiries. On the first occasion they rejected all the schemes ;
on the second they approved of a line from Poole to the
County Gates, Westbourne, the Poole and Branksome
Authorities supporting the proposal, and the Commissioners
seeing no reason to penalise those districts because the
Bournemouth Council objected to Tramways within the
Borough of Bournemouth. The British Electric Traction
Company in due course obtained their Order, and a Subsidiary
Companj' was formed under the title of the Poole and Dis-
trict Light Railway Company, Limited. The " Light Rail-
way " was constructed in 1900 and opened in April, 1901.

Repulsed in their efforts to secure an Order under the
Light Railways Act for the construction of lines within
Bournemouth, the Traction Company promoted a Bill in
Parliament, their scheme including a line from Christchurch
to the Hotel Metropole. Realising the danger of this attack,
the Town Council formulated a comprehensive scheme of
their own, with the result that the session of 1900 saw a big
fight in the Parliamentary Committee rooms. In the result
the Corporation secured their complete scheme, while the
Company obtained all the necessary powers for the construe-

176 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

tion of their proposed lines outside the borough, and the
right to extend their system westward from the boroug'h
boundary at Boseombe to the Metropole, if the Council did
not, within two years, complete and equip the line which
they were promoting. " Running powers " over each other's
undertakings were given both to the Council and the Com-
pany.

Early in 1902, the Company intimated to the Corporation
that as they had not made a " substantial commencement
of works " within the period required by Section 18 of the
Tramways Act, their powers had lapsed, and the Company
asked for an undertaking that the Corporation would not
proceed with the laying of tramways in the roads until they
had come to an agreement — in view of the rights which
would be theirs when the suspensory clause ceased to operate.
As the Council had entered into contracts involving expendi-
ture running up to nearly £200,000, they considered they
had made a " substantial commencement of works," and
refused to enter into any agreement. Then litigation com-
menced. On the case being taken to the Divisional Court,
Mr. .Justice Swinfen Eady ruled in favour of the Corporation ;
the Company, however, appealed, and the Court of Appeal,
consisting of Lord Justices Vaughan Williams, Romer, and
Stirling reversed the decision. The Council at once con-
sulted the bm-gesses, who gave them such substantial backing
that steps were taken for appeal to the House of Lords, and,
if necessary, for seeking redress by means of a Parliamentary
Bill. The sympathy of other Municipal Corporations was
sought, and preparations made for a determined struggle
with what was realised to be an organization of colossal
power. But this great fight never came off ; arrangement
was made for the purchase of the Company's undertaking
and privileges, and eventually an agreement was completed
whereby the Bournemouth Corporation acquired all the
rights and privileges of the Company as regards Bournemouth
and the district east of the borough, and the Poole Corpora-
tion became the purchasers of the lines, etc., within the
Poole and Branksome area, the Bournemouth Authority
undertaking to lease the same on specified terms. These
results, however, were not achieved till after arbitration

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 177

proceedings, in which the Company claimed a sura of upwards
of £400,000 ! The award of the arbitrator was for £112,000 —
exclusive of certain minor claims which had subsequently
to be adjusted.

The scheme of Tramways adopted by the Corporation
was one of a comprehensive character, designed, as far as
practicable, to meet the requirements of all parts of the
borough area. It included through communication from
Boscombe East to the County Gates at Westbourne, and
the Council resolutely faced the question of street widening
and other improvements and arranged that these should be
carried out in conjunction with the Tramway work. From
Lansdowne they provided for a line traversing Holdenhurst
Road and Ashley Road, to the main line at Boscombe,
and a further line from Holdenhurst Road to Wimborne
Road near the Cemetery Gates. From the Square they pro-
vided lines running to Winton and Moordown ; to Char-
minster Road and Holdenhurst Road (via Capstone Road).
At a later period— after the settlement of affairs with the
Traction Company— they constructed an extension from
Boscombe East through Pokesdown and Southbourne to
Christchurch— building a new bridge at Tuckton, to carry
traffic over the Stour. They linked up their system with
the Poole and Branksome line at Westbourne, and later on
constructed a new line from Bourne Valley, through Lower
Parkstone, to a junction with the existing line at Park Gates
East (Poole).

The Overhead Trolley system of traction was adopted for
the greater part of the route, with the side-slot conduit system
for about two and three-quarter miles of track through the
central parts of the town. A generating station was provided
in the Southcote Road, equipped with dynamos, motor
generators, and other powerful machinery ; and car sheds
were erected at Southcote Road, Pokesdown, and Winton.
On taking over the Company's undertaking the Corporation
acquired the cars, sheds, etc., which had been erected at
Upper Parkstone, and took the benefit of the agreement for
current which the Electricity Supply Company had entered
into. The scheme was designed by the Borough Engineer
(Mr. F. W. Lacey) in conjunction with Messrs. Lacey, Clire-

178 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

hugh, and Sillar, electrical and tramway engineers. From
the generating station in the Southcote Road is supplied,
not only cm-rent for the cars, but also for the electric lighting
of some of the principal thoroughfares. The cars— and,
indeed, the services generally— have been designed with the
view of meeting the special circumstances of Bournemouth
as a high-class health and pleasure resort.

The first section of the Tramways— from Boscombe East
to the Metropole— was opened in July, 1902 ; the conduit
system and the extension to Westbourne in December of the
same year ; and the Winton and other lines within the
borough shortly afterwards. The extension to Christchurch
was completed in 1905, and the Lower Parkstone line in
1908. The Authority's career has been a somewhat chequered
one. Speaking generally, the Tramways have been exceed-
ingly popular ; but there has been almost endless controversy
with regard to fares, and also as to the advisability or other-
wise of a Sunday service. As already shown, there has been
costly litigation, and though the arbitration settled the
dispute with the Traction Company, the Corporation were
left with charges in respect of the outside services which are
not fully met by the revenues from these parts of the under-
taking. Then, in May, 1908, there was a serious accident
by which seven persons lost their lives, and others were
seriously injured.

The Tramway system covers a total length of nearly
thirty miles of track, with a route mileage of rather less
than twenty-three miles. The number of passengers carried
totals about fourteen million per annum, and the last report
of mileage traversed gives a total of 1,795,000, with average
receipts of 11 id. per car mile. Upwards of eighty cars are
used for the service, the large bogie cars having a carrying
capacity of 62 and the smaller cars 42 passengers. The
Corporation vforks are fitted up with great completeness ;
not only can all repairs be satisfactorily executed on the
premises, but new cars constructed, if required.

Now as to the question of cost. The Capital expenditure
to 31st March, 1910, for the Tramways owned as well as
worked by the Corporation, has been £863,407 12s. lid.,
to which has to be added the sum of £29,020 7s. 6d. in respect

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 179

of arbitration expenses, the purchase of powers acquired
by the Traction Company and the discharge of outstanding
habilities, making up the gross amount £392,438 Os. 5d.
Discount and costs in the issue of Stock have entailed a
further liability of £30,371 Os. lid., but that, of course, is
an expenditure for which the Authority receive advantage
in the shape of reduced charge for interest, with the prob-
abilitj'^ also of being able to re-purchase for extinction at
less than par value. The total loan charges on the under-
taking amount to £24,334 13s. 8d. per annum. The total
cost of the Poole undertaking, including the Lower Park-
stone extension, has been £130,330, and the rent charge
which the Corporation paid to the Poole Town Council
in the year ended March, 1910, was £7,737 8s.

In connection with the institution of Tramways, the
Town Council, as already explained, embarked on a large
scheme of street improvement, including the purchase of
a considerable amount of property. The charge remaining
on the books at the end of March, 1910 (exclusive of the
discoimt on Stock) was £40,313 9s. 5d., in respect of non-
productive street improvements, and a further net sum of
£56,499 15s. in respect of house and other properties under
the administration of the Estates Committee, and from which
substantial revenues are being realised.

The Tramways are under the direction of a Standing Com-
mittee of the Town Council— the Tramways and Parlia-
mentary Committee— of which Councillor F. J. Bell is
Chairman. The General Manager of the undertaking is Mr.
C. W. Hill, A.M.I.E.E.

CHAPTER XVII.

Other Public Services.

■R'ATER Supply— The Ixtroduction of Gas — Huge De\telopments — Pike
Protection and the Pibe Bkioadk— The iNTRODtJCTTON op Electric
Lighting : " The Latest Scientific Novelty " — Commemorative
ilEDALS — The Electricity Supply Company — Messrs. Bayi,ey and
Sons' Telephones— The National Telephone Company's Undertaking.

The need of a good water supply for Bournemouth was
early recognised, and in 1858 a company was projected
under the title of the Poole and Bournemouth Waterworks
Company, the idea being the establishment of an undertaking
to serve the joint purposes of the two towns. Four sources
of supply were to be utilised, " if found expedient " : the
conduit piece on Constitution Hill, the springs cropping
out further up on the west and north side of the same range
of hills, the mill-stream at Parkstone, and the Bourne stream
at or near one of its sources adjoining the Bourne Valley
Pottery. The Commissioners, however, passed a resolution
that they " could not but view with serious misgiving any
intention to connect the Bournemouth stream with a water
supply to Poole, Parkstone, and Bournemouth," and their
opposition led to such a modification as left the way clear
for other effort.

In 1859 a Mr. Wansbrocht submitted a scheme for providing
Bournemouth with gas, but was informed that unless the
Company also undertook the supply of water the suggestion
could not be entertained. Another scheme was put forward
by a Mr. Bennett in 1861, but the Commissioners regretted
that the means at their disposal did not permit them to
provide public lights for the district, and, presumably from
this lack of encouragement, this scheme also passed away.
In the following year a draft agreement was prepared with
Messrs. Stears, but the firm could not undertake the provision
of water, and the opposition of the Commissioners led to that
being also abandoned. It was not long, however, before
substantial progress was made, the Bournemouth Gas and

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 181

Water Company being established in 1863, and making such
excellent progress that by the 16th September, 1864 —
exactly fifty years after the introduction of gaslight in
London— Bournemouth was placed in enjoj^ment of the
same illuminant.

The Company's original works were situate at Bourne
Valley, and the water was first derived from brooks supplied
by springs rising on the moors above the works. This supply
was afterwards supplemented by means of a well, about
60 feet deep, sunk in the gravel on the works. For years this
satisfied the needs of the neighbourhood, but in 1885, to
meet growing requirements, the Company went to Longham,
where they expended a large sum in obtaining an excellent
supply from the water-bearing gravel beds adjoining the river
Stour. At the same time the existing reservoir and filter
station at Alderney was established, and the supply from
the brooks entirely discontinued. In 1896, the population
of Bournemouth was increasing so rapidly that the directors
of the Company decided to take steps to secure such a supply
as would safeguard the town for all time, and they therefore
commenced operations with a view to obtaining a supply of
water from the chalk. With this end in view a site at Walsford,
some mile or so beyond Wimborne, was obtained, and a
boring was sunk into the chalk, 10 feet diameter by 200 feet
deep, and lined with iron tubes to a depth of 170 feet to
prevent any chance of surface water entering the boring.
The water from this well is lifted by means of large pumps,
which also force the water right up to the filter and reservoir
station at Alderney, some eight miles away, from Avhence it
flows into the town by gravitation. This chalk water is of
great organic purity. As it comes from the well it is some-
what hard, but before it is sent to the reservoirs this hardness
is reduced to less than ten degrees, by means of one of the
largest water softening plants in the cou try. Bournemouth
has the distinction of being the first watering place to soften
its water supply. At the present time over 800 million
gallons of water are supplied to Bournemouth per annum.
The Company's charges to consumers are as follows : Where
the rateable value does not exceed £12 per annum, 2d. per
week ; premises rated at £12 but not exceeding £20 per

182 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

annum, 4.f per cent, on rateable value ; above £20 per annum,
5 per cent.

The gas supply side of the undertaking has increased even
more rapidly than the water undertaking. During the first
few years after its establishment the growth was very slow,
and in the year 1880 the gas made was only 47 million cubic
feet ; this had increased to 172 millions in 1890, to 357 millions
in 1900, and in 1909 the gas made was 779 million cubic feet.

The price of gas in 1878 was 6s. 6d. per 1,000 cubic feet,
but in 1887 this had been reduced to 4s. per 1,000, while
at the present time the price is only 2s. 7d. per 1,000, which
figure will compare very favourably with any town of the
size of Bournemouth situated at a corresponding distance
from the coal-fields.

In 1903 the Company purchased the undertaking of the
Poole Gas Co., and in 1906 erected a complete new and
up-to-date Gasworks, fully equipped with the latest machinery,
on the site of the old Poole Gasworks, the proximity of which
to Poole Quay gives great facilities for the economical
and rapid handling of coal and other material, while the
possibility of obtaining goods by sea and so saving the cost
of railway carriage enables the Company to supply gas cheaply.

The capital of the Company, which stood at £125,000
in 1878, has now reached the substantial figure of £651,000.

The Company's district of supply has been extended from
time to time and now covers an area stretching from South-
bourne on the east to Broadstone on the west for gas, and
from Pokesdown to Longham and Ferndown in the case of
water. The General Manager to the Company is Mr. H.
W. Woodall.

The Local Authority, it should here be mentioned, have
always kept very keen watch on the water supply ; from
the first they have taken care to have frequent analyses
made, and the vigilance of their Medical Officer of Health
(Dr. Nunn) has always been appreciated, alike by the Com-
pany and the public. In 1889, the question of the Local
Authority acquiring the Company's undertaking—" lock,
stock and barrel "—was under public discussion, and terms
of purchase— now generally admitted to have been very
fair— were provisionally arranged. A poll of the town was

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 183

however, demanded, and by a small majority the agreement
was set aside.

Associated with this matter of water supply, reference
may here be appropriately made to the town's provision for
the suppression and extinction of fire, the first essential
for which is, of course, an abundance of water. As far back
as June, 1838, a proposal was made for the acquirement of a
fire engine, but there was then no water supply other than
what could be obtained from the Brook or from various
wells. The matter came up again in 1868, but nothing tangible
was done respecting the establishment of a Fire Brigade
until April, 1870, when Mr. McWilliam was authorised to
purchase a hose and reel, and make enquiries as to the best
means of obtaining a fire engine. Once the idea was started
much energy was displayed, for we find that in the following
month a hose and reel was purchased for £67 13s. 6d., and
a good engine was offered for £65, which it was resolved to
secure ; and later, " that belts, axes, hose wrenches and life
lines should be procured to equip 20 ' superintendents ' of the
Fire Brigade." Long after that there were still occasional
difficulties as regards water supply. But the Fire Brigade
quickly became a very useful institution, and the good work
voluntarily undertaken by officers and men was, and is now,
done in a whole-hearted and loyal manner, deserving the
very highest praise. The Bournemouth Brigade stands high
in the ranks of similar volunteer organizations, and in most
years is eminently successful in national and other competi-
tions. During the early years the cost was not very con-
siderable, for we find that the disbursements were only
£6 17s. for the whole of the year 1874. The first Captain was
Mr. J. McWilliam, who acted from 1870 to January, 1875,
when he resigned, his place being taken by Mr. W. B. Rogers,
who was succeeded in 1882 by the late Mr. W. J. Worth.
The present chief of the Brigade is Mr. E. L. Lane, with
Alderman Robson as Second, and Mr, C. R. Welch as Third
Officer.

Electric Lighting was first introduced to the notice of
the people of Bournemouth in 1878, through the enterprise
of Messrs. O. C. Mootham and E. Barnes, who arranged for a
grand exhibition of arc lighting at the Dean Park Cricket

184 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Ground, on the 25th and 26th November. Nearly 3,000
persons are reported to have attended to witness " the latest
scientific novelty," and for the first evening Messrs. Mootham
and Barnes provided the additional attraction of a series of
cycle races. On the second evening there was a football
match between teams representing Bournemouth and Christ-
church respectively, the Bournemouth men being captained
by Mr. J. A. Nethercoate and the Christchurch team by Mr.
A. H. Milledge. The " Rovers " scored four goals to their
opponents two, and were each presented with a silver medal
inscribed : "In commemoration of the first electric light
exhibition in Bournemouth, November, 1878."

In 1889, an electric light undertaking for Bom-nemouth was
initiated, and in the following year two Provisional Orders
were obtained. The Bournemouth and District Electric
Lighting Company was duly formed in 1891, and the chronicles
of that year show that the Company then had approximately
3,000 8 c.p. lamps, with 60 consumers. Developments
proceeded steadily, and in 1897 the Town Council negotiated
for the acquirement of the undertaking. The Company
asked for the sum of £135,000 ; this was declined, and the
matter of purchase dropped for some years. When it was
revived, the Company asked for a very much larger price—
for the undertaking, of course, had developed, and had huge
possibilities before it. Again the negotiations fell through.
In 1897 the number of consumers was 800, and the number
of lamps connected 23,000. The capital expenditure at that
date was approximately £83,000, with a gross income of
£8,250. With the rapid increase in population the last few
years have shown a very marked advance, and the capital
expenditure throughout the Company's area of supply—
which covers about 42 square mUes, and includes Poole,
Bournemouth, Christchurch, Winton and district— at the
end of last year amounted to £443,000, the revenue from
the sale of current in the district being £50,000.

The Bournemouth and District Company was taken over
by the Bournemouth and Poole Electricity Supply Company at
the latter end of 1897, and is now concerned, not only with
lighting, but with power supply, its largest customer
being the Bournemouth Corporation, for power for the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 185

working of the Tramways outside the borough area. Mr.
A. H. Sanderson, J.P., has been Chairman of the Company
since its formation, and Dr. J. A. Hosker a Director for the
same period.

For the first experimental and practical demonstration
of Telephony, as of Electric Lighting, Bournemouth was also
indebted to individual enterprise, the pioneers in this case
being Messrs. Bayley and Sons, of Bournemouth and Poole.
That firm carried out experimental works of their own in
1884, and in the following year they had, among others, a line
from the printing and pubhshing offices of Messrs. Mate and
Sons at Bournemouth to their offices at Poole. Messrs.
Bayley had given some notable electric lighting demonstra-
tions at Poole, and they developed a fairly considerable
telephonic business, meeting public convenience till a more
powerful organization appeared on the scene. Here we may
remark that some few years ago the Bournemouth Corpora-
tion seriously contemplated the establishment of a Municipal
Telephone Exchange, and went so far as to secure expert
advice as to the cost of installation, methods of working,
and the prospects of success. Developments were, however,
foreshadowed by the Postal Authorities which gave occa-
sion for second thoughts, and the project dropped.

Bournemouth is now included in the Hants and Dorset
District of the National Telephone Company, and is the
centre of a system which includes Exchanges at Southbourne,
Christchurch, and Highcliffe ; at Longham and Ferndown ;
at Wimborne and Broadstone ; at Poole, Parkstone and
Lilliput ; at Wareham and Swanage. It is making rapid
extension year by year, and the thirteen Exchanges cover
an area of upwards of 80 square miles. An electrophone
service is provided to the Winter Gardens, the Theatre, and
some of the leading Churches.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Municipal Government.

BouRNBMonTii IN 1856 : Not E'S'en a " Parish Meeting. " — TiiB Establiah-
ment op the oommissionees in 1s56 — incorporation in 1890 — the
Incorporation Association — The Ohartbp. Received — The First
Election op Councillors — Vppointment op :\[ayor and Aldermen —
A Grant op Arms — Civic Beqalta. — Handsome Oipts : Mace, Mayoral
CH.iiN and Badge, anj> Mayoress' Chain and Badge — First JIlection
op County Councillors — The Local Government Act, 189-1, and
Representation on Board op Guardians — The Town's Appeal fob
" The .Most Ample Forms of Selp-Govep.nmsnt " — A Borough Bench
AND Court op Quarter Sessions — BorBNEMOUTH Made a County
Borough — Further Extension op area — Incorporation of Winton

AND MOORDOWN, POKESDOWN AND SOUTIIBOUKNE — BE-ARRANGEMENT

op W.ards — A General Election op Aldermen and Councillors —
Further Power? and Responsibilities Conferred by New Legisla-
tion — Some Chief Oppicials.

Bournemouth dates its history as " a watering place "
from the visit of Mr. Lewis Tregonwell in 1810, and the
erection of the first " Mansion " in what has since become,
in the memorable phrase of the great Wessex novelist— a
" Pleasure City of Detached Mansions." But Bournemouth's
history as a town dates only from 1856— from the period
of the establishment of the Board of Improvement Com-
missioners, the first body to whom was committed power
and responsibility for the administration of local affairs
within the very restricted area of the " marine village of
Bom-ne," then steadily creeping into public favour, but still
numbering a population of only a few hundreds. Prior
to 1856, the residents of Bournemouth had less of the privileges
of local self-government than the meanest village in the
land now possesses. The smallest area now, at least, has
its Parish Meeting, with opportunity, at all events, for the
ventilation of public grievance ; Bournemouth before 1856
had not even that, nor anything corresponding to it. House-
holders had, it is true, the right to attend the Vestries at
Holdenhurst or Christchurch ; but the exercise of this
privilege, meant a journey from " the place " and could not
be counted as of much, if any, value.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 187

Then, in 1856, the Improvement Commissioners were
established, and then began Bournemouth's history as a
town. We have already chronicled the circumstances under
which the Board was inaugurated, and told something of
its trials and difficulties, its work and achievement ; we
have given illustration of the remarkable progress which
the town made under its earnest and judicious administra-
tion ; and we have shown how, time after time, the area of
its district was extended and its responsibilities increased—
in short, how the way was prepared for the eventual vesting
of the town's affairs in the hands of an Authority with larger
powers and privileges, and for Bournemouth to take an
honoured place among the municipalities of the United
Kingdom.

A great change came in 1890, when a Charter of Incorpora-
tion was received and the town became a Municipal Borough.
Incorporation had been advocated for a period of some
seven or eight years, and various petitions had been addressed
to the Queen in Council praying for a Charter. An Incorpora-
tion Association was formed, and, of course, there was a
rival organization, which, by the way, had not only large
but specially influential support. In consequence of the
opposition, for a long time no success crowned the efforts of
the promoters, and not till after the matter had been made
a test question at various elections, the Commissioners
had endorsed the application, and the opinion of the rate-
payers been shown to be overwhelmingly in favoiur of the
desired change, was the petition granted. There is no need
to review in detail the arguments either of promoters or
opponents ; briefly stated, they came to this : the promoters
believed that Incorporation was the natural evolution of a
growing town and that Bournemouth's continued develop-
ment and prosperity demanded the larger administrative
powers, improved status, and more direct representation of
the popular will that Incorporation alone could secure ;
the opponents thought that, if change would be ultimately
desirable, the time was not yet ripe. The Incorporation
Association had at one period a considerable membership ;
very few remain associated directly or indirectly with the
public life of to-day, but, referring to old " Directory "

188 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

records, we find, among others, the names of Messrs. C. T.
Miles, J. Donkin, J. G. Lawson, C. H. Mate, W. Mattocks,
C. A. D. George, W. Dunn, D. Sydenham, H. Newman, and
A. J. Abbott.

The Charter was signed by her Majesty the late Queen
Victoria on the 10th June, 1890, and was brought to Bourne-
mouth by a specially appointed deputation on Wednesday,
the 27th August, which day was observed as a public holiday
and made an occasion of rejoicing and festivity. The late
Mr. J. McWilliam was nominated in the Charter as Provisional
Mayor, and the first municipal elections in the borough of
Bournemouth were carried out under his direction, with
Mr. J. Druitt, the Clerk of the Commissioners, acting as his
legal adviser. Provision was made dividing the town into
six wards, and the system of election was entirely revolution-
ised. In the early days of the Commissioners the system
of election had been one of open voting, with the plural vote,
and there is record of a contest in September, 1868, when,
though there were six candidates pressing for their suffrages,
less than fifty electors went to the poll ! Later, the system
was changed ; polling papers were taken to the houses of
the electors— ratepayers and owners of property— who had
one or more votes, according to their assessment. Incorpora-
tion altered all that : it introduced the system of the Ballot,
with separate elections in each ward, instead of one for the
whole area. The ownership franchise passed away, and
the rule for the newly-created burgesses was " one man, one
vote," " man " in this case including " woman." And the
ladies, we may remark, have always formed a very consider-
able proportion of the Bournemouth municipal electorate.

In an Appendix we give a complete list of gentlemen
who at various periods held office as Commissioners, but
it may be convenient and appropriate here to mention that
the last Board comprised the following :— Messrs. W. Fisher
(Chairman), T. J. Hankinson, E. W. Rebbeck, H. W. Jenkins,
H. T. Trevanion, T. Beechey, R. Sworn, J. R. Ridley, H.
Newlyn, J. Cutler, J. H. Moore, H. N. Jenkins, G. M. Hirons,
C. A. D. George and J. C. Webber, with the Lord of the
Manor (Sir George Meyrick) and his nominee (Mr. T. Arnold).

The first election of Councillors took jjlace on the 1st

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910, 189

November, 1890, and the candidates elected were :— West
Cliff Ward-Messrs. H. T. Trevanion, M. J. Roker and S.
Brown ; Branksome Ward- Messrs. T. J. Hankinson, J. A.
Fyler and A. Davis ; Central Ward- Messrs. E. W. Rebbeck,
H. N. Jenkins and H. Newlyn ; East Cliff Ward- Messrs. W.
Fisher, E. Dyke and H. Ellison ; Boscombe Ward- Messrs.
J. A. Hosker, H. C. Stockley and G. M. Hirons ; and Spring-
bourne Ward— Messrs. W. Hoare, G. J. Lawson and J. C.
Webber. At their first meeting the Councillors elected Mr.
T. J. Hankinson as the first Mayor of the borough, and
Messrs. G. M. Hirons, T. Beechey, H. Newlyn, H. W. Jenkins,
C. A. D. George and J. R. Ridley were appointed as the first
Aldermen. The vacancies created in the ranks of the Coun-
cillors were filled by the election of Messrs. E. Offer (Central)
and G. Mitchell (Boscombe).

The Town Council had, of course, to provide new machinery
of administration. They " took over," however, all the
officers of the old Board, and Mr. Druitt, the legal adviser
to the Commissioners, became the first Town Clerk, his
appointment being not only a personal compliment and
fitting recognition of long and faithful service, but an indica-
tion of the new Authority's desire to observe a continuity
of policy, and not needlessly to interfere with any of the
work initiated by their predecessors. After much delibera-
tion, and some criticism, the Council adopted as the town's
motto, " Pulchritudo et Salubritas " — indicating two of
its chief characteristics and principal claims to renown.
Application was made to the Heralds College for a grant of
arms, and after due investigation of local circumstances and
history, the grant asked for was made. Heraldry in
England, as being an exact science, is always held to express
some leading facts in the history of an individual or locality,
and, in the case of the latter, to display some distinctive
features which mark it out from other places around it.
In accord with these principles the Arms of Bournemouth
were constructed.

The whole district in which Bournemouth stands was
originally a Royal Demesne of King Edward the Confessor.
As this is the first existing item of authentic history relative
to the place, it was felt that the Arms of that Monarch would

190 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

properly form the field or basis of the Corporate shield.
This consisted of a " Gold cross fleurie," or floriated at the
ends, upon a field of azure. In heraldly, however, such a
shield could not correctly be adopted by any other than the
original without important change, styled " Differencing."
This change must be such as will still render its origin clear
to the Heralds. In the Bournemouth shield there is a division
into four parts, termed " Quarterly." This gives the oppor-
tunity for a beautiful change or " Difference." The cross
of Edward the Confessor and the field are " Counterchanged."
Thus, the first and the fourth quarters of the shield are gold
(or) and the parts of the cross falling in that division are
azure ; while in the second and third quarters the process
is reversed. This also enables the four divisions to become
more completely historical. The British Lion is displayed
upon the first and fourth quarters, but it is " Differenced,"
as it is a Royal charge. It is shown " Rampant," as indicating
the constant calls to arms necessary in all that coast during
the middle ages ; and on the rules of " Differencing " is
Azure, thus following the principle of " Counterchanging "
adopted throughout the shield. The Lion holds in his pre-
paws a rose relating the shield to the crest. In the second
quartering an interesting use is made of the " Martlets "
which are given in the ancient shield of Edward the Con-
fessor. They are grouped, and one added as a variation ;
so that while still reminding a student of heraldry of the
source from which they come, they suggest important local
features. The sand-cliffs of Bournemouth are distinct
sources of its beauty, and thus the group of sand-martins, or
" Martlets " as they are styled in heraldry, fitly indicates this.
The azure field naay express the blue sky, while the third
quarter below as fitly suggests the blue sea beneath, an
idea which the fishes (salmon) moving iipon it completes.

The crest is a pine tree (proper) on a green mountain (mount
vert) with, in front, four roses (or), the whole being on a
wreath of the colours— gold and blue (or and azure). The pine
tree on the green mountain may be taken as indicating the
salubrity of the climate and the rose is not only a Royal
Emblem and the emblem of Hampshire, in which County
Bournemouth is geographically situate, but as the queen of

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 191

flowers, emphasises the motto " For beauty and sahibrity."
Thus crest and motto combine to state the claims of Bourne-
mouth upon the British pubhc as a resort for health and
pleasure.

No charge upon public funds was needed for the provision
of civic regalia : all the requirements of the time were met—
and very handsomely met— by private liberality. The
members of the Council themselves subscribed for an 18-
carat gold chain of office, for the use of the Mayor. This com-
prises twenty-four links of equal size, being pointed oval
shields attached to each other by a representation of the
Hampshire Rose, each shield bearing the name of one of
the original Aldermen or Councillors, or of the Town Clerk,
and a large centre link, with sword, mace, and mural crown,
and the letters " B.B." raised upon a ground of blue enamel.
This link is engraved upon the back : " T. J. Hankinson,
F.S.I., first Mayor, 1890-91," and was given by that gentle-
man. The 18-carat gold and enamel badge — worn either
attached to the chain or separately with a ribbon— was the
gift of Mrs. Merton Russell Cotes, whose husband (now Sir
Merton Russell Cotes) on the same occasion presented the
borough with a handsome silver-gilt mace. The mace is
32 inches in length, and is in three parts, the shaft having
a terminal in the form of a pine cone and bosses of fern and
cones. The head is cup-shaped and finely engraved with
the royal and borough arms, with representations also of
ferns, pine branches and cones. The top forms an open
crown, and is removable in order that the head may be used
as a loving cup— if required. The Mayoress' chain was
the gift of the Aldermen and Councillors (with the Town Clerk
and Borough Sm^veyor) of the first Council of Greater Bourne-
mouth—as extended in 1901— and is composed of links
representing respectively the English and the Hampshire
Rose, connected with a rope pattern. The English Rose
is enamelled in true heraldic colours, red and white alter-
nately, and the Hampshire Rose is of gold. The centre link
comprises an artistic shield, on which is engraved : " County
Borough of Bourrx- mouth," surrounded by dolphins resting
on the civic emblems (mace, sword, and battleaxe). The
outline of the badge is formed by a graceful line of dolphins,

192 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

correctly modelled. On the lower part is introduced an
anchor and trident combined — indicating the nautical char-
acter of the district. On the anchor appears the letter
" B." set with diamonds, and the trident occupies a position
at the top. A mural crown, symbolical of civic dignity,
surmounts the badge, and in the centre are the arms, motto,
and crest of Bournemouth, richly enamelled in heraldic
colours, and the whole is richly enwreathed in gold. The
badge is further festooned with pearls and rubies, the whole
forming a very handsome pendant. The back of the civic
link is engraved : " Presented by the Mayor (Councillor
Frost, M.D.), 1901." On the back of the badge the inscrip-
tion is as follows : " Given by the first eleven Aldermen of
the enlarged Borough, 1901," with the names of the respective
Aldermen. The names of the Councillors and of the two
subscribing officials appear on the links. Except as other-
wise indicated above, the chain and badge are entirely of
solid 18-carat gold.

The new Municipal Borough was of the same area as
the Commissioners' district at the time of the transfer —
2,593 acres, as against the 1,140 acres when the Board was
first established in 1856. With the exception of the addition
of a smaller area of about 178 acres in 1895, there was no
further addition of area till the great extension of 1901— of
which more anon. Some very important changes with
regard to local administration were, however, effected by
legislation. Under the provisions of the Local Government
Act of 1888, the Hampshire County Council was established,
and Bournemouth, in common with other places, for the
first time became entitled to some representative control
of County affairs. The borough was divided into three
divisions, each to elect one representative, and a Westover
Division was similarly established— including the districts
of Winton, Pokesdown, Southbourne and Holdenhurst.
The first County Councillors elected for Bournemouth were : —
East Cliff-Dr. J. Roberts Thomson, J.P. ; West Cliff-
Mr. W. W. Moore, J.P. ; and Boscombe, Springbourne and
Malmesbury Park— Mr. G. J. Lawson ; the late Mr. J.
McWilliam being at the same time returned as the repre-
sentative of Westover. In 1901, Mr. J. C. Webber displaced

'^^.^"^."fi

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 193

Mr. Lawson in the representation of Boscombe, Springbourne
and Malmesbury Park, but the latter recaptured the seat
three years later, and held it till the division of the district
in 1899, when he elected to sit for the new Springbourne and
Malmesbury Park division, and Dr. J. A. Hosker was returned
to represent the Boscombe area. Mr. Moore retired in 1891,
and his place was taken by Mr. C. Gifford, who remained a
representative of the division till Bournemouth became a
County Borough in 1900, Dr. Roberts Thomson, after his
first election, was never called upon to face a contest ; in 1900,
he was appointed a County Alderman, and, notwithstanding
that Bournemouth has long since ceased to have any claim
upon the County Authority, he still occupies that honourable
position, having been re-appointed in 1904, and again in 1910.

Another important measure affecting the administration
of local affairs was the Local Government Act of 1894 —
commonly known as the Parish Councils Act. Under this
Act Winton and Pokesdown came each under the direction,
first of a Parish Council, and afterwards of an Urban District
Council, and Bournemouth itself, for the first time, was
constituted a civil parish. Prior to that period, as explained
elsewhere, Christchurch and Holdenhurst were the two
centres for all parochial business. But on the 30th October,
1894, the Local Government Board issued an Order con-
stituting Bournemouth a separate parish, with six Wards
(corresponding with the municipal wards of the borough),
each to return three representatives to the Board of Guar-
dians. In March of the following year a further Order was
made, transferring to the Town Council the power and duty
of appointing Overseers for the parish, and in the following
November yet another Order was issued, giving the Council
the power of appointing Assistant Overseers.

Still, the town's local government was far from simple.
The Civil Vestries were abolished, but many and various
were the Authorities exercising jurisdiction within the borough
area. First of all, there was the Town Council. There was
the Board of Guardians responsible for the administration
of the Poor Laws. There was the old Burial Board (estab-
lished in 1872), supplemented from 1891 onward by the
Town Council (through their Cemetery Committee) managing

194 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

the Burial Ground established under the Bournemouth East
Cemetery Act, 1891. There was the County Council respon-
sible for the maintenance of main roads, the provision and
maintenance of asylum accommodation for lunatics, the
organization and aid of technical and secondary education,
and a great variety of other matters. There was a Standing
Joint Committee— partly appointed by the County Council
and partly by the Court of Quarter Sessions— controlling
the County Police. There was the Court of Quarter Sessions
itself responsible for the administration of justice and acting
as a Licensing Appeal Authority. And Bournemouth, not-
withstanding its large development, for magisterial purposes,
was still but a sub-division of the Ringwood Division of the
County. Progress had been made, but much yet remained
to be accomplished. Simplification was necessary,— and
Bournemouth had reached such a stage that it might well
demand the more extended powers and improved status—
in short, " the highest form of government and the most
complete local autonomy " secured to County Boroughs.
There was dissatisfaction with the degree of representation
given to the town on the County Authority ; but there was,
it was thought, ground for action quite apart from that. The
records of the Council show that on the 28th July, 1898,
Councillor Mate accordingly moved : " That a Special Com-
mittee be appointed to consider the desirability of taking
such steps as may be necessary for securing for Bourne-
mouth, at an early date, the status and privileges of a County
Borough, and the advantages of a Court of Quarter Sessions."
The Council approved, a Special Committee, of which Coun-
cillor Lawson was nominated Chairman, was appointed,
the advisability of action was affirmed, and in due course
three petitions were prepared, formally sealed, and presented.
The first was to the Local Government Board, praying that
Bournemouth might be constituted a County Borough ;
the second to her Majesty the Queen, asking for a separate
Commission of the Peace ; and the third to the Privy Council,
praying that " a separate Court of Quarter Sessions be
holden in and for the Borough of Bournemouth," it being
" the wish of the inhabitants to secure the most ample forms
of self-government." A favourable response was received

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 195

to each appeal. A separate Commission of the Peace was
issued on the 16th June, 1899, on the 29th August the borough
was granted the further privilege of having its own Court of
Quarter Sessions, and on the 1st April, 1900, Bournemouth
became a County Borough— thereby realising its ambition
of securing " the most ample forms of self-government."

Accession to the status of a County Borough made no
change in the constitution of the Municipal Authority ;
it added, however, to their duties, privileges, and responsi-
bilities, and indirectly promoted the large extension of area
which was brought about in the following year, when Winton
and Moordown, Pokesdown and Southbourne, and some
other districts, were all brought into the borough, under
circumstances already narrated.

Various important changes were effected. The Pokes-
down and Winton Urban Councils and the Southbourne
Parish Coimcil were abolished ; there was a re-arrangement
of wards, all seats on the Council were vacated, and provision
was made for the election of a new Council of thirty-three
members — three for each of eleven wards — supplemented by
the appointment of eleven Aldermen. The election of the
first Councillors for Greater Bournemouth took place on
the 1st November, 1901 ; the election of Mayor and the
appointment of Aldermen on the 9th of the same month.
Under the provisions of the Order the work of the old Burial
Board was transferred to the Council, and then placed under
the direction of the Committee administering the East (or
Boscombe) Cemetery, formed some years previous on land
which was part of one of the old Turbary allotments. Here
it may be convenient to add a remark with regard to the
long service of the Burial Board and the many difficulties
which they had to face in the early stages of their career.
It was no easy matter to obtain land for their purpose.
A proposal was mooted for the utilisation— subject, of
course, to Parliamentary authority— of land which now
forms part of Meyrick Park, and negotiations were conducted,
and all but completed, for the acquirement of a large tract
of land on the Poole Road, near the West Station ! This
had to be set aside on account of springs of water ; but at
last the Board were able to make arrangement for the pur-

196 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

chase of suitable land at Rush Corner, Wimborne Road,
from the late Mr. W. Clapcott Dean, who, according to the
Chairman of the Board, " acted very handsomely towards
them." Mr. C. C. Creeke, for so many years Surveyor to the
Commissioners, was Architect and Surveyor also to the Burial
Board, and the Bournemouth Cemetery— with its wonderful
avenue of Auricarias— in a few years became one of the
most beautiful places of its kind in the country. The East
Cemetery was laid out by Mr. F. W. Lacey, and the handsome
stone buildings erected from his designs. The " Bourne-
mouth " Cemetery was opened in 1878 ; the " East " Ceme-
tery in 1897.

For the discharge of duties heretofore performed by the
County Council it became necessary for the new County
Borough Council to make other arrangement. They pro-
ceeded forthwith to nominate a Technical Instruction Com-
mittee, and they appointed their full body as the Authority
for the " licensing of houses or places for the public perform-
ance of stage plays," music and dancing. Similarly, they
became responsible for the administration of the Explosives
Act— including the issue of licenses for the sale or manufac-
ture of gunpowder— and of the Food and Drugs Act ; for
regulations for the protection of wild birds, etc., for the
issue of game licenses, the certifying and recording of places
of religious worship, for registrations of various character—
including the complete list of members of all secret societies—
and a number of minor matters. They became the Police
Authority for the area, but after due consideration, and
discussion again and again renewed, have made arrangement
for the policing of the Borough by the County Constabulary,
on terms agreed upon, the Local Authority having the
privilege of nominating four representatives to sit with the
Standing Joint Committee and safeguard their interests.
Joint action has also been discussed, and is in contemplation,
with regard to the provision of Asylum accommodation and
management. The " financial adjustment " contemplated
by the County Councils Act has not yet been effected, though
more than nine years have passed since Bournemouth
attained to its new dignity ; the difficulties which for long
blocked the way to a settlement, have, however, now been

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 197

removed, and it is expected that the "adjustment" will
be amicably arranged.

Following upon the extension of the borough which took
place in 1901 the County Justices ceased to sit in Bourne-
mouth, and the Police Court in the Littledown Road was, by
arrangement, handed over for the use of the Borough Bench.
The accommodation for magisterial pturposes is inadequate ;
no provision whatever is afforded for the Coxu-t of Quarter
Sessions or the sittings of the County Court Judge, and there
has been much complaint of the defect. But plans are now
prepared and new buildings are to be erected which, it is
hoped, will "satisfy the requirements of the Courts, {though
Bournemouth may still be left without those other Public
Offices which the growing volume of its public affairs impera-
tively demands.

Within the last few years legislation has cast new burdens
of important character upon the Council, as upon other Local
Authorities, and the municipal machinery has needed adjust-
ment to meet the new demands. A Libraries Committee —
consisting, as regards one half, of members of the Local
Authority, and, as regards the other, of persons nominated
by them — was first appointed on the adoption of the Libraries
Act in 1893. The establishment of an Education Committee —
superseding the old Technical Instruction Committee— came
in 1903— following the passing of the Education Act of
1902. The Committee consists of 24 members— including
16 members of the Local Authority and eight others selected
on account of experience in connection with various phases
of educational work. Under the Unemployed Workmen
Act, 1905, a Distress Committee has been formed comprising
12 members of the Council, eight members selected by the
Board of Guardians, and five persons " experienced in the
relief of distress." The whole body of the Coimcil acts
as the Committee under the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908,
but the details of work are left to a sub-committee of nine,
with Councillor Lickfold as Chairman. The Members of the
Finance Committee are a Committee under the Small
Holdings and Allotments Act. The variety and extent of
the Council's work may, perhaps, be sufficiently emphasised
by the emuneration of the Standing Committees as appointed

198 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

on the 9th November, 1909. These are as follows :— Finance
Committee (Alderman Youngman, Chairman) ; General
Purposes Committee (The Mayor) ; Beach, Cliffs and Fore-
shore Committee (Alderman Robson) ; Buildings Committee
(Alderman J. Allen) ; Estates Committee (Councillor W.
Sheppard) ; Horse, Hackney Carriage and Diseases of
Animals Act Committee (Councillor J. Trowbridge) ; Light-
ing Committee (Alderman T. Slade) ; Parks and Pleasure
Grounds Committee (Councillor Mitchell) ; Pier, Winter
Gardens and Band Committee (Alderman J. C. Webber) ;
Roads Committee (Councillor W. E. Jones) ; Sanitary Com-
mittee (Alderman J. E. Beale) ; Tramways and Parliamentary
Committee (Councillor F. J. Bell) ; Watch Committee (the
Mayor) ; Public Libraries Committee (Alderman R. Y.
Banks) ; and Education Committee (Alderman C. H. Mate).
The Council nominates representatives to serve on the
Governorship and Council of Hartley University College,
Southampton ; on the Standing Joint Committee for Hamp-
shire ; on the Hampshire Territorial Association ; on the
Southern Sea Fisheries District Committee ; and on the
Municipal Corporations Association. It has representation
also on the School Management of Non-Provided Elementary
Schools, under the Education Acts, and on various Secondary
Schools, with the controlling power of " Bournemouth School,"
the majority of Governors being appointed by the Bourne-
mouth Authority, through its Education Committee.

The position of legal adviser to the Corporation, as already
mentioned, has since 1902 been filled by Mi-. G. W. Bailey,
the Town Clerk, who fortunately had, before coming to
Bournemouth, long and varied training in municipal work
in some of the most enterprising boroughs of the north.
He was consequentlj^ able to apply himself with great success
to problems of most difficult character relative to the
Tramway undertaking, the County Borough settlement,
the general question of finance, and matters relating to
various important schemes which from time to time have
required the attention of the Town Council. Mr. Bailey
has as his " lieutenants " Mr. C. Stacey Hall, whose long ser-
rvice in connection with the town's affairs was appropriately
acknowledged upon the reorganization in 1902 by his appoint-

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 199

ment as Assistant Town Clerk, and Mr. H. Gorringe Smith,
the Assistant Solicitor to the Council. The chief executive
ofl&cer is Mr. F. W. Lacey, the Borough Engineer and Archi-
tect, who entered the service of the Local Authority in 1889,
and has had responsibility for much of the later development
of Bournemouth. Comment has been made upon the good
fortune of the Commissioners in securing Mr. C. C. Creeke
as their first Surveyor ; in Mr. Lacey the Town Council
have found an official of equal versatility, with the same
enthusiasm for artistic development, and for securing the
highest practicable standard of comfort, convenience, and
utility. Mr. Creeke was able to render double service to
the town's interest from the fact that he was not only Sur-
veyor to the Commissioners, but Surveyor and adviser to
some of the principal estates of the town and neighbour-
hood. The Corporation make exclusive demands upon
]VIi'. Lacey's time and attention, but his opportunities for
impressing a distinctive character upon Bournemouth have
not been less than those of his predecessor, nor have they
been less ably or less fully responded to. The volume
of his work was incidentally illustrated at a Local Govern-
ment Board Inquiry in 1909, when it was mentioned that he
had been concerned in the preparation and carrying out of
schemes in Bournemouth involving an expenditure of about
a million sterling ! Under the Town Planning Act, the office
which Mr. Lacey holds will be one of yet greater power and
responsibility. It is satisfactory to know that he appreciates
the importance of maintaining the pinewood surroundings
and other distinctive features which have made Bournemouth
unique among British health resorts. Dr. P. W. G. Nuim,
the Medical Officer of Health, as the head of the Sanitary
Department, through a long period of years, has had the
responsibility of advising and directing all measures for the
proper safeguarding of the health of the people, and the
town's general healthfulness, as well as its wonderful im-
munity from zymotic disease, prove the wisdom, the appro-
priateness and the adequacy of the methods adopted. Bourne-
mouth has grudged no expenditure on sanitary insurance,
and it has reaped the reward of its liberality. Mr. Dan
Godfrey, as Musical Director, superintends another depart-

200 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

ment of the town's administrative affairs ; Mr. F. W. Ibbett
is Secretary to the Education Authority and adviser in all
matters educational ; and Mr. C. W. Hill is the General
Manager of the Tramways. To each of those officials, however,
reference has already Ibeen made. Mr. C. Riddle superintends
the Library Department ; Mr. C. R. Haley is the Borough
Accountant ; and Mr. A. Durance George (Manager of the
Bournemouth branch of the National Provincial Bank), is the
Borough Treasurer. Mr. J. Selley is Clerk to the Borough
Magistrates, and Mr. C. J. Haydon is the Clerk of the Peace.
The Corporation of Bournemouth comprises " the Mayor,
Aldermen, and Burgesses." But the municipal registers
contain the record of yet another class— not necessarily
Aldermen, Councillors, or Burgesses. We refer to the Hon-
orary Freemen appointed under the provisions of the Statute,
48 and 49 Vict., Cap. 29, intituled, " An Act to enable
Municipal Corporations to confer the Honorary Freedom
of Boroughs upon Persons of Distinction." The Bournemouth
Council first availed themselves of the powers of this Act in
1902, when on the conclusion of the South African War they
conferred the distinction of being their first Honorary Free-
man upon Lord Roberts, " in recognition and appreciation of
the distinguished services which, during a long and brilliant
military career, he has rendered to the nation, and in admira-
tion and acknowledgment of the way in which, under circum-
stances of exceptional stress and difficulty, and setting aside
all personal considerations, he undertook and carried to a
successful issue the arduous operations in South Africa."
The second occasion of the conferment of this honour was in
1906, and the recipient on that occasion was Alderman J. E.
Beale, J. P., the occasion of the presentation being the
completion of three years' tenure " of the important and
honourable office of Mayor and Chief Magistrate " — a period
which, according to the terms of the resolution, he had made
" memorable in the annals of the borough," ensuring on his
retirement " the sincere and lasting regard and good will of
all sections of the community." This " good will," we may
remark, was emphasised by a town's presentation, com-
prising a very fine portrait of Alderman Beale in Mayoral
robes, by Mr. W. Llewellyn, to hang in the Council Chamber,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 201

and a replica for Mr. Beale s own house, with a corresponding
picture of Mrs. Beale (by Mr. Frank Richards). The two other
Honorary Freemen are Sir Merton and Lady Russell Cotes,
and the honour in this case was prompted particularly by
gratitude for the announcement made on the occasion of the
opening of the Undercliff Drive. The resolution of the
Council sets out that it is " in recognition and appreciation
of their great generosity and genuine and unselfish local
patriotism in conjointly presenting to the Corporation, as a
free gift, their valuable residence, East Cliff Hall, together
with a splendid collection of pictures, curios, bric-a-brac,
sculpture, and other art property therein, for use as an
Art Gallery and Museum for the enjoyment of the public of
Bournemouth, and visitors to the town, in perpetuity, and
further, to signify the Council's feeling that so public-
spirited an act of liberality entitles them to the lasting good
will and regard of their fellow townspeople, and also to
have their names recorded high upon the scroll of those whom
the Council and town have been proud to honour." In
each case the certificate of freedom has been beautifully and
appropriately illuminated and presented in a handsome and
valuable casket. It may be added, as regards Sir Merton
Russell Cotes, that he has been officially recognised as the
first person who suggested the construction of the "Direct"
line of railway between Brockenhurst and Bournemouth, the
source of so much of the town's recent prosperity.

The portrait of Alderman Beale now hangs in the Council
Chamber, Yelverton Road, where also are paintings repre-
senting the Founder of Bournemouth ; Mr. C. C. Creeke,
the first Survej^or to the Commissioners ; Mr. J. Cunnington,
a former Commissioner ; and Mr. J. Cutler, who was both
a Commissioner and a member of the Town Council. The
walls are further adorned with a fine crayon drawing of his late
Majesty King Edward VII., and other ornamentation of the
Chamber is provided by busts of Queen Victoria and of Mr.
C. C. Creeke (presented by Sir Merton Russell Cotes), and of
Sir Merton Russell Cotes (presented by Lady Cotes), and in
the adjoining Mayor's Parlour is a complete series of photo-
graphic portraits of Mayors who have held office since the In-
corporation of the borough in 1890.

CHAPTER XIX.

Volunteers and Territorials.

A Volunteer Jubii.ee — The Calt. to Arms in 1859 — Loc.\i, Response —

" SWEARINQ-IN " OP BOURNEMOUTH RiFI.EMEN IN 1860 — PERSONAI.

Recruiting by the Vicar of St. Peter's — Three Generations of
Volunteers — The First Parade in Bournemouth — Sham Fights
IN THE Pleasure Grounds — Artillery Corps Formed — Changes op
Name and Style — Veterans in the Service — Bournemouth and the
South African War — Carabineers and Frontiersmen.

The Centenary of the " founding " of Bournemouth is the
Jubilee of the Local Volunteers, for it was in September,
1860, that the first Rifle Corps was formed. In an earlier
chapter reference has been made to the spirited efforts
made by dwellers along the Hants and Dorset coast— led
by men like Mr. Lewis Tregonwell, the Founder of Bourne-
mouth—to prepare themselves to repel threatened attack
by Napoleon Buonaparte. Half a century or so later, the
great military and naval activity of France, under Louis
JJapoleon, the nephew of the " great " Napoleon, again
aroused the people of this country to the folly of unprepared-
ness for the dread eventuality of war. Then it was that by
a popular impulse, the Volunteer Force in a permanent
form was created, and the famous letter of General Peel,
Secretary of State for War, was issued (May 12th, 1859) to
Lords-Lieutenant of the various counties, authorising the
formation of corps. Bournemouth at that time was a place
of very moderate dimensions, but proposals for the forming
of a local corps were immediately taken into^consideration.
A suggestion was made for the establishment of an Artillery
Corps, but difficulties arose with regard to training and other
matters, and the proposal was abandoned in favour of one
for a Rifle Corps. The then Earl of Malmesbury, who had
till recently been serving her Majesty Queen Victoria as
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, undertook the organiza-
tion of a Christchurch and Bournemouth Company ; but a
little further consideration showed that the arrangement
would be an inconvenient one, and that the better plan would

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 203

be for Bournemouth to have a sub-division of its own. The
change of plan occasioned some delay, with the result that
while the Christchurch men took the oath of allegiance on the
23rd March (and became known as the 10th Hants Rifle
Volunteers), it was not till the 4th September that the
19th Hants (Bournemouth) sub-division was formed. The
" swearing in " took place at the Belle Vue Assembly Rooms,
before the late Mr. W. Clapcott Dean, J.P. Mr. C. A. King,
of Branksome Dene, was elected to the command, with Mr.
H. Ledgard as Lieutenant, Dr. W. Allis Smith as Hon.
Surgeon, and the Rev. A. M. Bennett (the " Founder" of St.
Peter's) as Chaplain. The last-named, by the way, was
one of the most energetic promoters of the movement ;
he presided at several of the meetings held, and is credited
also with having done a considerable amount of personal
recruiting. Of the thirty-five " effective " members who
were present at the meeting in September, 1860, there are,
we beUeve, only two surviving— Dr. Allis Smith, already
referred to, and Mr. E. W. Rebbeck (now Lieutenant-Colonel
Rebbeck, V.D.). Mr. Rebbeck had his father, the late Mr.
W. E. Rebbeck— who, like his son, attained to the honoured
place of Chairman of the Commissioners— as a " brother-in-
arms," and the Captain Rebbeck who is now associated
with the Territorials is a member of the same family. Thus
we have three generations associated with one corps—
an interesting and probably a unique record in Volunteer
annals.

A few weeks later we find the " Directory " announcing
that " the Volunteers are most assiduous in their attention
to drill. . . . The bugle sounds daily, and the sound
of its martial notes is quite a novel feature in this hitherto
quiet place." In February, 1861, there was a statement that
" the return of sunshine and fair weather will witness the
Bournemouth Corps fully equipped and ready to take the
field. . . . This establishment of a Rifle Corps is another
instance of what may be denominated the pluck of this place,
many towns of considerable size not having been able to
contribute to that highly popular branch of the National
defence— the Volunteer Army." Within less than a year the
" sub-division " became a full corps, and several ladies, with

204 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Mrs. Bayly, Mrs. Rogers, and Miss Rebbeck as chief collectors,
started a subscription for the purpose of providing the gallant
Riflemen with a Band " to enliven their parades and marches,
and at the same time testify the high appreciation in which
the services of the Volunteers are held by the fair sex."
Mr. C. C. Creeke succeeded Mr. King as Commandant, Mr.
A. H. Parken took the post of Lieutenant, Mr. John Jefferies
—brother to the late Deputy Speaker of the House of
Commons— became Ensign, Mr. W. B. Rogers was made
Quarter-Master-Sergeant, and Mr. J. McWilliam, Colour-
Sergeant.

But the first Volunteer parade in Bournemouth was not a
parade of Bournemouth Volunteers. Poole had succeeded
in establishing a Rifle Corps at a very early date, and on
Easter Monday of 1860 the men marched over to Bourne-
mouth under command of Captain Parr, Lieutenant Cox,
and Ensign G. B. Aldridge, accompanied by two bands !
They were " greatly admired " and " highly complimented,"
and subsequently they visited Bournemouth again and again,
taking part with the Bournemouth Volunteers and the
Coastguard in various " sham fights " in the meadows, now
the Lower Pleasure Gardens.

An Artillery Corps was formed in 1866 under the Captaincy
of Mr. J. Haggard, and a body of men, about sixty in number,
were sworn in by Lieutenant-Colonel Richards at a meeting
held at the Belle Vue Assembly Rooms on the 14th November.
A site for the purpose of a Battery— at Tuckton— was given
by Sir George Meyrick, and the corps rapidly increased in
nimibers and popularity. Mr. E. W. Rebbeck, who had
been a member of the Rifle Corps, took a Lieutenancy under
Captain Haggard, and subsequently attained to the local
command, which he held for many years, retiring with the
rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and with the much-prized " V.D."
distinction. Mr. C. F. Hawker similarly served for some
thirty-six years, and retired with the rank of Captain and
with the " V.D." decoration. The " 4th " were for a long
time brigaded with Hampshire ; then came a transfer to
the neighbouring county, and enrolment as companies of the
Royal Dorset Garrison Artillery, blossoming forth at last
as the 6th Hants Battery of the Royal Field Artillery under

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 205

the new Territorial scheme, with Major D. D. Arderne as
officer in command. The Victoria Drill Hall, Lansdowne
Road, where the men assemble, is a capacious building, which
was opened by Field-Marshall Lord Roberts on the occasion
of his visit to receive the Freedom of the borough in 1902.

Going back again to the Rifles, we may mention that they,
too, like the other arm of the Service, have undergone many
changes. At first they were attached to the 4th Administra-
tion Battalion of Hampshire Rifle Volunteers, under the
command of the late Su- Brooke Pechell, Bart. Subsequently
the battalion became known as the 2nd Hants ; then, in
1885, the Bournemouth and New Forest Companies were
detached to form the nucleus of a new battalion— the 4th
V.B. Hampshire Regiment, with the late Colonel J. O.
Vandeleur as Commandant. To him succeeded Dr. J.
Roberts Thomson, who in 1899, on the occasion of a brigade
camp at Ashey, in the Isle of Wight, had the honour of
leading the corps past the late Queen Victoria, who had
invited the Brigade over to Osborne for special review.
On the retirement of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomson, V.D.,
Major George, V.D., succeeded to the command of the
Bournemouth (Headquarters) Companies, and Lord Montagu
of BeauKeu to the charge of the battalion. Major George,
fey the way, joined the Corps as far back as 1869, and served
for a record period of 45 years, whilst Captain Day, V.D.,
" put in " a total of 36 years' service. The " Rifles " are
now incorporated with the Territorials, with Lord Montagu
as Commandant of the 7th Battalion Hampshire Regiment,
and Captain S. G. Smith as officer in charge of the head-
quarter companies.

At the time of the South African War, Bournemouth sent
out two strong detachments. Lieutenant Thomson— a son of
the gallant Colonel— accompanying them. The men had a
somewhat strange experience. They were detailed for work
in connection with the line of communications ; this brought
them under fire, though they never actually saw the enemy,
and had no chance of making effective reply. Unfortunately,
they were involved in the Barberton railway accident, and
one, at least, of them sustained serious injuries. On their
return, they were given an official welcome by the Town

206 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Council, and a tablet recording their services has been placed
on the walls of the Rifle Drill Hall,— which building, we
may add, was the gift of a lady admirer of the Force, Miss
Mitchel.

Besides a strong representation of Artillery and Infantry,
Bournemouth also has its Troop of Cavalry, associated with
the Hants Carabineers, and a local Company of the Legion
of Frontiersmen was formed in January, 1908.

In connection with a review of local Volunteering, it is
interesting to recall the fact that Sir John Bucknill, honoured
as the founder of the modern Volunteer Force, spent his
closing years at Bournemouth, which was also, and for a
long period, the home of the late Admiral Sir James B.
Sulivan, who as far back as December, 1851, at the late
Professor Darwin's dinner table, pointed out to a party of
country gentlemen the defenceless state of the country, and
how easily a small invading force might overrun our south-
eastern counties— that nothing but the establishment of
Volunteer Corps, in addition to a regular Militia force, would
ensure safety. Those present urged him to write to the
papers on the subject. He did so, his letters appearing
in the " Naval and Military Gazette " for January 10th and
31st, 1852. The outcome of this and some other corres-
pondence—by Colonel Napier— was the offer of several
Volunteer Corps to the Government, the first accepted being
the South Devon one of Sir John Bucknill.

CHAPTER XX.

Music and the Drama.

The Drama : Sir Percy Shelley and Boscombe Manor — Some Noted
Actors — Mb. Grantley Berkeley's Proposed Comedy : "A Trip to

BOURNEMOtlTH " — ThE PROLOGUE ADDRESSED TO THE LADIES OP BOURNE-
MOUTH — No " Den op Thieves " at Bournemouth — The Bournemouth
Amateur Dramatic Society — Bournemouth Lyric Club — The Theatre
— The Hippodrome — Music — Bournemouth Amateur Musical Society
— Bournemouth Philharmonic Society — Madame Newling's Choir —
Royal Italian Band — Volunteers and Old Town Band — Municipal
Orchestra.

To the late Sir Florence Percy and Lady Shelley belongs
the credit of being the first to cater for the amusement of
the people of Bournemouth and neighbourhood by means
of dramatic entertainments. Sir Percy and Lady Shelley
were both of them artistes of very considerable ability ; they
had a great enthusiasm for the Drama, and in dramatic
circles they were both well known and highly esteemed.
When he first settled at Boscombe, Sir Percy had the oppor-
tunity given him of acquiring the whole of the sea front
from Boscombe Chine to Southbourne, but he thought an
estate of 400 acres was enough for his purpose ; and the
delightful marine estate eastward of Boscombe Manor became
the property of Lord Portman, by whom it is still held.
In the garden, detached from the house, Sir Percy built a
little theatre of his own ; but later on this was superseded
by a theatre attached to the house, which still stands, though
now devoted to other purposes. Lord Abinger has in his
possession at Boscombe Manor quite a large collection of
play-bills, relating to entertainments given either at Boscombe
Manor or at the Theatre which Sir Percy built for himself
on the Thames Embankment. They are wonderfully interest-
ing ; they range from 1852 onward, and included among the
actors we find, besides Sir Percy and Lady Shelley, the
names of Captain Wingfield, Mr. J. A. Rolls (now Lord
Llangattock), Dr. Gully (father of the late Speaker of the
House of Commons), Mr. Palgrave Simpson, Mr. F. C.
Burnand, Mr. Herbert Gardner (now Lord Burghclere),
Captain (afterwards Colonel) Scarlett, Admiral Sir William
Wiseman, Sir Charles Young (author of " Jim the Penman "),

208 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

the Hon. Grantley Berkeley, Mr. and Mrs. German Reed,
Mr. Hamilton Aide, Mr. Arthur a'Beckett, and others. Sir
Percy was an author as well as an actor, for we find his
name appearing as the writer of " A Fairy Tale," played at
Easter, 1871, and " A Hidden Treasure," a melodrama in
three acts, written by Mr. Watkin Wingfield, and first pro-
duced in 1859, was remodelled and partially re-written by
Sir Percy for performance in 1877. A Christmas annual,
" The Doom of San Querec," written by the late Mr. Arthur
a'Beckett, was dramiatised by Mr. Herbert Gardner, and
that also was presented, together with a number of other
plays — " Caste " was one which was particularly well given,
— the performances providing most delightful entertainment
for the friends invited to attend, and frequently also being
made a means of raising money in aid of local institutions.

In a previous chapter reference has been made to the
curious coincidence attending the presentation of " The
Wreck at Sea " on the 26th December, 1852, when a ship
actually came ashore at the very time the play was proceed-
ing. We may go on to refer to a play which, perhaps, was
never presented— which naay, indeed, never have been
written, but which the Hon. Grantley Berkeley declared an
intention to write, with a prologue addressed to the ladies of
Bournemouth. Discussing traits of life at watering places
in the middle of the last century, Mr. Berkeley incidentally
mentions Sheridan's " Trip to Scarborough," the prologue
to which sets out the caprices of fashion nearly a hundred
years earlier. He goes on : — " I have an idea in my head
of writing a comedy, on the Sheridanean model, of coiirse,
illustrating seaside life. I shall call it ' A Trip to Bourne-
mouth.' All the dramatis 'personce are in readiness— the
scenes and situations of each of the five acts (the interest
working up to an astonishing climax in the last) all carefully
imagined, and not even the wildness of the residents for-
gotten." He quotes his proposed Prologue, concluding with
the following lines addressed to the ladies of Bournemouth :—

" Cease to seem over fair or over good.
Care not to join the Pharisaic brood.
Laden with cross and rows of jetty beads,
Who glide like ghosts, restless from naughty deeds.
Slippers embroider not — nor paint on scrolls
Gaudy appeals to unrepentant souls.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 209

Ji!nJoy your bath, your walk, vour crociuet game,
And archery practise without tear or shame ;
Have your flirtations in a harmless way,
Whether at concert, promenade, or play,
Pic-nic, or yacht excursion in the Bay,
And cease to go to Church three Umes a day.
Eemember you need heed no harsh complaints.
Those who are Anoels never need be Saints.

" I can fancy myself delivering this," he says, " to a crowded
and fashionable audience (for I think it would be a pleasant
innovation for an author thus to introduce his own plays)
at my friend Sir Percy Shelley's new and very pretty theatre
at Boscombe, an evergreen oasis in that desert of dulness,
the fashionable watering place in its vicinity. I have more
than once taken a modest share in the private theatricals
there, so admirably got up by Sir Percy and my lady, who
both on the stage and in the house are hosts in themselves.
And then I can fancy the glorious recompense I should be
sure to receive from the fair enthusiasts who would be
present, in being smothered under an avalanche of bouquets.
To ' die of a rose in aromatic pain ' may be ecstacy enough
for small poets, but to die of a mountain of roses and lilies
of the valley, verbenas, syringas, camellias, calceolarias, and
choice exotics in endless variety of beauty and fragrance,
must be a far more covetable form of annihilation, and I
think I should like it considerably better than any of the
fatal ills that flesh is heir to. However— sufficient for the
day is the good thereof —when my comedy is announced we
shall see, and so will Bournemouth ; such a picture of the
caprices of fashionable religion will then— I think I may
venture to say— never have been exhibited before.

" There is a clergyman at a funeral in one of Hogarth's
pictures, that I shall paint to the life in my play : there
is one, did I say, there are indeed some dozens whom I shall
make to strut their hour on the stage. Time was when
congregations were content with one ; now we must have
a clerical regiment ranked on either side the way to the
altar, all doing little bits of the service, as if sinners could
not be saved unless by a ladder of divines on whom to ascend
to heaven.

" There is a couplet in ' Hudibras ' which I never could
quite comprehend—

510 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

" \^'hat makes a den of thieves ?
A Dean, a Chapter, and lawn sleeves."

"It has often entered my head at Bournemouth, I suppose
-of course in opposition to the estabHshed fact, that in
Bournemouth there could not be a den of thieves, as, so
to speak, our clergy, good men at times, have made it their
den, and though not adopting the enmity of the fox to the
badger, they have so washed the site with holy water that
sin ought to have fled and virtue become triumphant."

Mr. Berkeley, as we have before shown, was not enamoured
of Bournemouth ; in the days when it was a High Church
colony, he found it dull and much too prim, the ladies
" bobbing about from dell to dell as if they thought every
bush concealed a serpent and a tempting apple, and that
they were never safe unless at church."
>;■ Thirty-five to forty years ago Bournemouth possessed two
amateur societies who vied with each other in their musical
and dramatic productions for the amusement and entertain-
ment of the Bournemouth public. These two societies
came to be known locally as the B.A.D.S. and the B.A.M.S.,
and we have pleasure in recording here a few particulars
of their doings.

The BouBNEMOUTH Amateur Dramatic Society owed its
inception to a meeting held at Mr. Nesbit's Studio on the
18th September, 1876, under the presidency of Mr. James
Stevens. Mr. Harry Nash, whose services in all such matters
were greatly esteemed, was asked to co-operate with the
newly formed society, and assist in the commencement of
a subscription list, whereby a fund should be raised by
donations of one guinea for non-acting, and half a guinea
for acting subscribers. At a later period the valuable services
of Sir Percy Shelley were secured as President, and Sir
B. D. Wolff, M.P., became Vice-President. Encouraged by
the assistance of the former gentleman, himself a famous
performer on the amateur stage, and borne along by the
enthusiasm of a membership that included many influential
residents, the aspirants to histrionic fame had, in a very
short time in which to overcome the elementary difficulties,
established themselves in a sound financial position, and
prepared for a trying dramatic performance. Part of the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 211

properties were purchased, the remainder being kindly lent,
by the President, The first performance duly took place,
a contemporary critic describing it as being far above the
average run of amateur work. The drama " The Dream at
Sea," and the farce " Turn Him Out " were acted by full
casts, all members of the Society. The gentlemen taking
the parts of " Launce Lynwood " and " William " in the
former, and " Nicodemus Nobbs " in the latter, are still
well known and respected residents of the town. It is
pleasing to record that the B.A.D.S. continued their per-
formances in the Town Hall for some years, with varying
success.

Many years afterwards the Bouknemouth Lyric Club
established themselves as a really first-class amateur society,
but differing in this respect from the Society previously
referred to, that the Society for which Mr. Herbert Jennings
and others worked so assiduously was more operatic, under-
taking such difficult productions as " The Gondoliers,"
"Dorothy," "Yeomen of the Guard," " Les Cloches de
Corneville," etc. It should be recorded in respect to the
last production that the opinion was freely expressed by
well-known critics that, if not approaching in merit the
acting of Shell Barry, Mr. Jennings' impersonation of " The
Miser " was the best amateur production seen on the stage
in any town. Similar compliment should be paid to Mr.
S. W. Riddett, who was the equal, sometimes the superior,
of members of the legitimate stage. No matter how difficult
a part in acting or in singing, whether male or female, the
" Lyrics " through their talented conductor found local
talent equal to the difficulties to be surmounted. The
present Society, with a slightly altered name, and quite
different management, is a successor of the old Lyric Club,
but without the array of talent which the old Society pos-
sessed, some of whom, it should be mentioned, have graduated
on to the professional stage.

The fact of the existence of so much musical and dramatic
talent in the town emphasised the necessity for a regular
theatre where plays by well-known professional companies
could be witnessed. Following on periodical plays in the
old Town Hall, the Bournemouth Theatre was erected.

212 ' I BOURNEMOUTH : 1810-1910.

the opening taking place on the 7th Deeentiber, 1882. The
original building— the Theatre has been altered many times
—was erected from plans prepared by Messrs. Kemp-Welch
and Pinder, of Bournemouth, and Mr. W. Nightingale, of
London, and was built by Mr. W. Stanley, of London, and
cost about £10,000 ; the decorations were executed by Mr.
Walter Bevis, of Bournemouth, from the designs of Mr.
R. T. Sims, of London, and were described as being exceed-
ingly beautiful. The building was estimated to accommodate
800 persons. The whole of the general arrangements, both
of stage and theatre generally, were carried out under the
direction of Mr. Harry Nash, who had taken the most recently
constructed theatres of London and the Continent as his
model. The programme on the opening night commenced
with Mr. and Mrs. German Reed's entertainment, after a
few words of appropriate introduction had been said by
Mr. Corney Grain, in the course of which he paid a high
compliment to Mr. Nash and to the charming theatre. " The
Turquoise Ring " and a musical sketch entitled " En Route "
formed the entertainment occupying the remainder of the
evening. An excellent orchestra was provided, under the
conductorship of Signor E. Bertini. As we have said, many
changes in the building have been made since 1882 ; the
most recent addition— an innovation for provincial theatres
— was that of a handsome and substantially furnished Foyer,
which has proved an important acquisition, and tends to
ensure the greater comfort of the patrons.

To provide entertainment for the east end of the town
Mr. Archibald Beckett conceived the idea of erecting, in
conjunction with his large scheme of Arcade Buildings, a
building capable of utilization as a theatre, music hall, or
circus, which was designed by Messrs. Lawson and Donkin
on those lines. The building was opened on the 27th May,
1895, and for some years it had a varied career, eventually
being purchased by Messrs. Morell and Mouillot, by whom
it was run as a Music Hall, and later as a Hippodrome,
which is probably a distinction without a difference. The
interior was remodelled at the latter end of 1908, the building
now being a handsome and commodious structure capable
of seating 2,000 persons.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 15i fl 213

Previous to the opening of the Town Hall in 1875 musical
performances were held periodically in the only hall in the
town— the Belle Vue Assembly Rooms. Erected by Mr.
Creeke shortly before the institution of the Board of Com-
missioners, this building served for a multitude of purposes,
all concerts and meetings of a public character being held
there. Mr. Sims Reeves and many other famous singers
have used this hall, which it is scarcely necessary to point
out is very small, and is now considered of no consequence
as a public hall. At present it is in the occupation of the
Jewish community, who use it as a temporary Synagogue.

As soon as a good hall was erected various Societies sprang
into existence, and from that time (January, 1875) dates the
actual commencement of the town's notoriety for good
music, although there was an excellent Society established
about 1870— the Bournemouth Amateur Musical Society,
locally known as the B.A.M.S. The Society, with a member-
ship drawn from the principal residents, gave frequent
concerts at the Town Hall. Mr. T. A. Burton, the organist
of St. Peter's, and the Rev. A. S. Bennett took active parts
in the entertainments, as also did Mr. Charles Fletcher, the
noted and talented local violinist, who has done so much
for music in Bournemouth. The soloists were usually mem-
bers of the Society, and the works attempted were always
creditably performed.

The Bournemouth Philharmonic Society, more pre-
tentious in their aims, undertook the performance of such
works as the " Messiah," " Elijah," " Rose Maiden," and
" Creation." The " Messiah " was performed at the Town
Hall on the 25th November, 1875, under the able manage-
ment of Mr. Harry Nash, and was pronounced a great success.
The " Creation " was given at least three times in the Town
Hall, and twice in the Winter Gardens in the spring of 1877—
then recently opened. It may interest some to know that the
choir consisted of 92 voices, with an orchestra of about
twenty performers. This Society, as most musical societies
generally do, ceased to exist, and for many years Bourne-
mouth was without a good, regularly established philhar-
monic society, until the present organization, established
some years ago by Madame Newling, supplied a want that

214 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

was keenly felt by the large number of local singers. Madame
Newling's Choir has been very successful. Its members are
mainly drawn from the choirs of the local churches. Many
highly creditable and excellent performances have been
given in the Winter Gardens of most difficult works, but,
aided by the advice and the conductorship of Mr. Dan
Godfrey, and the instrumental assistance of the Municipal
Orchestra, the occasions when oratorios are given are looked
forward to with intense interest by Bournemouth people.
Such a difficult work as Elgar's " Dream of Gerontius " has
twice been given with great credit to all concerned, considering
the comparative meagreness of the ,Choir for so heavy a
work.

Respecting the establishment of professional Orchestral
Music, we must go back to the year 1876, when the Italian
Band came here after completing an engagement at Bath.
This visit marked the founding of concerted music by a
regularly organised band of professional instrumentalists,
and paved the way for our present Municipal Orchestra,
for there has been an unbroken sequence of orchestral music
since November, 1876, when the Band arrived here. The
Band consisted of 16 performers, all of whom had served in
the Italian Army, and were thus entitled to wear Italian
military costumes. The original intention was to spend
here the winter of 1876-77 only, but when appealed to the
Bournemouth townspeople generously subscribed in various
ways, which enabled them to retain the services of the Band
right up to the time of the establishment of the Municipal
Orchestra in 1892-3. Having been summoned to play at
Crichel before his late Majesty King Edward VII. (then
Prince of Wales), the title " Royal " was assumed, a distinc-
tion which the members of the Band were naturally proud of.
It is needless to record that the performers were all masters
of their instruments ; so that we can safely assert that
Bournemouth has had a really first-class professional orchestra
during the past 34 years. One of the instrumentalists,
Signor Scacchi, was also an excellent vocalist, and very
frequently the programme included a solo by that artiste.
Signors Zanetti and Cantini are the only two survivors
of the original 16, while several of those who came in 1878

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 215

and onwards still remain, some in the Municipal Orchestra
and others as professional tutors.

While referring at length to the Royal Italian Band, we
should not omit to refer to the excellent services rendered
by the well organised Volunteer Bands of the same period,
as well as the old Town Band which preceded the first-named.

Reference has already been made to the Corporation's
ownership of the Winter Gardens and the establishment of
the first Municipal Orchestra in the country. In further
extension of that reference we wish to record that this is,
undoubtedly, one of the town's greatest assets, and the
Council's decision in 1893 to establish an Orchestra was a
step that has never been regretted, for, despite the fact that
financially the Winter Gardens are sometimes a slightly losing
concern, municipally nothing but success has been the result:
of the local authority's efforts in the direction of the provision,
of the highest and best in the musical world. There is scarcely
any noted conductor, singer, or instrumentalist who has
not appeared here. Apart from the purely musical portions
of the programmes, ample provision is also made for enter-
tainments of a higher character, as well as lectures by famous
explorers and others of an equally interesting character.
It is much to be regretted that Bournemouth does not possess
a hall more suitable, more dignified, or more in keeping
with the performances at the high-class entertainments we
are accustomed to ; and we trust that very shortly a hall
more suited and with better acoustic properties, conducing
to the better enjoyment of the excellent music, will be
provided.

Many other excellent organizations have been in existence
than those referred to, but it must be obvious that many
matters, more or less important, must unavoidably be omitted
from this record of local history.

CHAPTER XXI.

Parks and Pleasure Grounds : Municipal and Other

Sports.

The Acquibement and Latinq Out op the Central Gakdens — The Upper

Gabdexs — Tiw. Kntebprise and Generosity of the Purrant Estate

Golf Tanks at Mkyrick Park and Queen's Park — Bowls — Cricket —

Croquet — Football — Hockey — Lawn Tennis — Quoits — Rowing

Roller Skating — Rifle Shooting.

From the earliest times the inhabitants of Bournemouth
have had the undisturbed use of the Lower Pleasure Gardens—
thanks to the successive owners of the Meyrick Estate.
Negotiations for public control commenced in 1856, while the
land was still in a boggy, undrained condition. The West-
over Gardens, including the Invalids' Walk, were, however,
as already shown, in good condition, and, subject to not very
onerous restrictions, were open to the use of the people.
Many attempts were made to complete the arrangements
for acquiring the meadows, and so long ago as August, 1859,
a provisional lease for 21 years was granted with the option
of a 99 years' lease if the Commissioners would undertake,
within a certain number of years, to expend a sum of £3,000
upon buildings of a public nature. On Counsel's opinion
being obtained, it was found that the Commissioners had no
power to accept a lease for the longer term for building
purposes ; however, as Sir George Gervis would grant, and
the Board had power to take, a lease for 21 years on the
terms previously proposed, the Commissioners assented to
the shorter period. Shortly afterwards Dr. Burslem's scheme
already referred to was brought forward, which eventually
meant the abandonment of negotiations for the time being.
Draft leases were prepared in 1862 and 1864, the Com-
missioners' seal being affixed on the 7th February, 1865.
In spite of the official sealing of the lease the matter was
not amicably settled, and in fact the whole scheme was once
more abandoned. In 1868 further proposals were made,
without there being, however, any tangible result. With

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 217

Sir George's consent footpaths were made on each side of
the Brook in July, 1869 ; and in 1870 two seats were placed
in the Pleasure Gardens ! While not being finally agreed
upon until 1873 matters were at least in a forward state in
1870, as in that year designs were invited for laying out
the intended new Pleasure Gardens, and a premium of £30
was offered for the plan which the Commissioners decided
to adopt, and £15 for the second. The designs were displayed
at the Belle Vue Hotel for the inspection of the Board, when
the first prize was awarded to Mr. Philip Henry Tree, St.
Leonards-on-Sea, and the second to Mr. Alexander Gordon
Hemmell, Bedford Row, London. In June, 1871, it was
decided to take immediate steps to complete the negotia-
tions respecting the lease, and later in that year a deputation
was appointed to wait on Sir George Gervis to represent
to him the wishes of the Bournemouth public on the subject,
which resulted in a letter being received with Sir George's
consent to the land in the valley being appropriated to
the purposes of pleasure grounds. Even then the question was
not definitely settled. The ratepayers became irritated at
the delay, and sent a deputation to the Commissioners in
February, 1872, following on which the Board, although
disposed to accept the terms, hoped that they would be
allowed, if they should wish it, to erect a building for public
purposes on a part of the ground to be approved by Sir
George. In June of the same year a good part of the Gardens
was fenced, and it is an interesting fact to mention that
much of the original fencing remains, in spite of the frequent
alterations, surrounding the Lower and Upper Gardens,
particularly in the neighboiu-hood of the Square. The drain-
age of the boggy land was next taken in hand, and proved a
long and difficult task. Superintended by Mr. Proudley, the
work was executed by men employed by the Board. Previous
to the final settlement of the lease, Mr. John Tregonwell
made a claim for £350, being for his interest in the meadows
on the west side of the central walk, which amount was paid,
and the smrender sealed, on the 12th August, 1873.

In December, 1864, Mr. Durrant was asked to give to
the public the roadway across his meadow (from the London
Hotel), to which request he acceded. At the end of 1871

218 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Mr. Durrant through his agent, Mr. T. J. Hankinson, asked
the Commissioners what was their intention in respect to the
Upper Pleasure Gardens, and in reply the Board expressed
their willingness to take the land from Christmas, and imme-
diately proceed to lay out the grounds as Pleasure Gardens.
In February of the following year Mr. Durrant made an
excellent offer of his land, for the purpose named, at £3 an
acre, on condition that the Grounds were formed within six
months, and laid out in twelve months. It is needless to
say that such an excellent offer was immediately accepted,
and Mr. Durrant received the special thanks of the Com-
missioners for his liberality. He was asked, however, if
he would be so good as to extend the time limit, it being
pointed out that it would be necessary to proceed by special
order. The inunediate response to this request was the
granting of a lease of the land lying between the Sanatorium
Bridge and the Square upon certain conditions. Again the
thanks of the Commissioners were extended ; and it was
considered desirable the offer should be accepted. The
counterpart of the lease was executed in July, 1872, and
the land proposed to be taken over formed part of the Brank-
some Estate, previously Coy Pond Meadow, and consisted
of over nine acres ; also a further parcel of land higher up
the valley, amounting to more than five acres. The only
reason for the negotiations not being at once completed was
probably that the Commissioners were not quite in a posi-
tion to lay out the Grounds in compliance with the covenants ;
the time limit was consequently extended to the 24th June,
1873. However, the seal of the Board was affixed to the
conveyance and a cheque value £550 was signed for the
purchase on the 18th June, 1873. The business-like manner
in which this matter was negotiated calls for the highest
praise to all concerned. The acquisition of the Upper Gardens
was a piece of work showing clearly the foresight of the
authorities, and now no more valuable open space is owned
by the town. The part lying between the Square and the
footpath leading to the Sanatorium Road has been beautifully
laid out, and at all times is a veritable " Paradise," a name
we have frequently heard given to it.

The Upper Pleasure Grounds— beyond the Queen's Road—

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

219

were laid out by the late Mr. George Durrant, the generous
proprietor of the Branksome Estate, and they have been
maintained by him, and since his death by his daughter,
Miss Durrant, without charge upon any pubHc fund, though
the public have practically unfettered use of them, and the
Gardens are kept up to the highest standard of beauty and
efficiency.

GD

« =
^

n
m

o

K

I

O

W

1

o

Meyrick Park

6

3

1

2

2

1

King's Park

5

3

2

6

—

Winton Eecreation Ground

6

9.

1

2

1

Boscombe Cliff Gardens . .

6

1

2

—

Alum Chine Gardens

3

1

Argyll Gardens

6

1

Knyveton Gardens

—

—

o

—

Central Gardens

—

—

—

—

—

6

—

Total

33

10

3

6

4

20

1

%* Also two 18-hole Golf Coubses ; A 9-hole CotrnsE for Ladies; one
Rifle Range ; Skatinq on the Pier during the Winter, and in the
Winter Gardens.

[A Bowling Green at Soathboume is in preparation, and will be opened during
the present season].

The principal open spaces owned and leased by the Corpora-
tion are the following : —

Boscombe Gardens. — 9 acres. Held under leases from
Sir H. D. Wolff and Sir George Meyrick at a total rental of
£80.

Boscombe Cliff Gardens. —About 6 acres. Presented to the
town by Mr. R. B. S. Scarlett.

Lower and Upper Pleasure Gardens.— About 29 acres,
under leases from Sir George Meyrick and the late Mr. George
Durrant at a total rental of £237.

Meyrick Park. — About 118 acres, acquired under Par-
liamentary powers on Sir George Meyrick presenting the
town with his rights as Lord of the Manor.

King's Park. — 58 acres. Under the provisions of the
Bournemouth Corporation Act, 1900.

Queen's Park.— 173 acres. Ditto.

Dean Park Horse Shoe.— 2 acres, freehold, 12 acres lease-
hold.

220 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Knyveton Gardens.— 4 acres. Held under leases from
Sir George Meyrick and the Trustees of Mr. W. J. Trehearne
at a total rental of £140.

Winton Pleasure Grounds. — 14 acres.

Redhill Common.— 45| acres.

The Chines (three).— 36 acres.

The approximate area of the Parks and Pleasure Grounds
within the Borough is 620 acres.

The history of Cricket in Bournemouth, though some-
what scanty in certain periods, is of great interest to followers
of the national pastime. About the year 1852 cricket matches
were played in the meadows, now called the Upper Pleasure
Gardens, the teams making the " London and Commercial
Hotel " their headquarters. In 1858, however, a regularly
organised " pitch " was used in connection with the Rev. J. H.
Wanklyn's Collegiate School, Exeter House. Previous to the
building of the houses in Exeter Park there was ample
space for a cricket ground ; indeed, regular matches were
played from the first match on the 20th September, 1858,
between elevens composed solely of inhabitants and styled
Rev. J. H. Wanklyn's Pupils v. Allcomers. In the 29th of
the same month the return match was played. Up to 1867
this ground was the only one available for local devotees
of the game. On the 1st April of that year a meeting was
held at " The Glen," there being present the Rev. J. H.
Wanklyn, Rev. E. Wanklyn, Mr. E. W. Rebbeck, and Mr.
Thickpenny. At that meeting an offer was made by Mr.
P. Tuck of a piece of ground at Springbourne for the purpose
of a cricket field. The offer was accepted and resulted in
the laying down of the first Cricket Ground at Bournemouth,
in which ground the Bournemouth Cricket Club formed its
home and centre of operations. The Springbourne ground
was soon found to be too small, so negotiations were com-
menced in February, 1869, for the magnificent piece of land,
about six and a half acres in extent, situated at the north
east corner of the Dean Park Estate, the property of Mr.
Clapcott Dean, which is the present ground of the Club.
It is a fine piece of table land, presenting almost a dead
level surface, and having an excellent light. The laying-out,
turfing, construction of bowling green (now non-existent),

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 221

lawn tennis courts, and the erection of the pavilion (Sep-
tember, 1875) cost originally £800. Within recent years
a handsome new pavilion and terrace, as well as many excellent
improvements, have been added, which conduce to the comfort
of visitors. The ground was used for the first time for athletic
sports in connection with the B.C.C. in the spring of 1871 ;
and the first match was played on the 30th June of that
year against the Artillery Officers stationed at Christchurch.
Since that time it has been in constant use for cricket, foot-
ball, lawn tennis, athletic sports ; and also for Volunteer
Inspections, Drills, Sunday School Treats, Oddfellows' and
Foresters' Fetes, and various other public recreations. It
should be mentioned that co-incident with the Corporation's
establishment of sports in the public parks the Dean Park
Cricket Ground was only used for club and county cricket,
lawn tennis, and croquet. Many years ago a cinder track
was made, but after a comparatively short existence it
was abolished. The excellence of the ground and its holding
capacity eventually received its due reward, for in 1898 the
county authorities, as an experiment, held a county match
here. In the previous year the Gentlemen of Philadelphia
were entertained. The success attending that experiment
was so great that the Hampshire County Cricket Club, from
1900, have given us at least two fixtures every year ; and the
annual " Bournemouth Week " has become a permanent fix-
ture. Important matches such as Gentlemen v. Players are
occasionally played at Dean Park ; while in the years 1902
and 1905 the Australians played against strong teams. An
interesting fact worthy of record is that Prince Ranjitsinghi
was a regular player at Dean Park ; in fact, it is asserted that
it was here he received the principal part of his early cricket
training which iiltimately made him the world's greatest
exponent of the game.

Without going deeply into the fiu-ther history of local
cricket we should mention that various leagues are in active
operation, thanks mainly to the opportunities afforded by a
thoroughly practical and beneficent Town Council. On
referring to the table of the provision made our meaning will
be more fully appreciated.

The Town Council's decision to establish a precedent

222 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

in the way of municipal sports, namely, that of the provision
of Golf Links, marks an era in the history of the town worthy
of notice. When in 1894, the Lord of the Manor, the late
Sir George Eliott Meyrick Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick, presented
the town with all his rights as Lord of the Manor in Common
59, the complimentary title of Meyrick Park was given to it.
It was opened on the 28th November, 1894, by Mrs. (now
Lady) Meyrick. The establishment of Municipal Golf Links in
England had up to that time never been attempted. Since the
Bournemouth Links were opened, other municipalities have
followed the example set, with varying success. We can safely
assert, however, that no town owns two full golf courses (and
one nine-hole course for ladies) under local control in the same
way as those of the Bournemouth Corporation. The Meyrick
Park Links were laid out by the late Mr. Tom Dunn in 1894,
and are three miles in extent. As well as a public pavilion,
there are club houses belonging to the three clubs originally
established. Recognising that the provision of golf for the
visitors should be fostered and encouraged, the Corporation,
in 1905, on acquiring the extensive Queen's Park engaged
Mr. J. H. Taylor, four times Open Champion, to lay out
another full course of eighteen holes. These links, much
more difficult than those at Meyrick Park, are 3| miles in
extent, and are charmingly situated at the north-eastern
part of the Borough. The course was opened by Alderman
J. E. Beale, J.P., on the 25th October, 1905. It should be
recorded that so popular is the game in Bournemouth that
its provision makes no demand on the rates. A public
pavilion is also provided for the use of visitors, erected at a
cost of £3,000. The Meyrick and Queen's Park Club have a
palatial Club House adjoining, fitted up with every regard
to comfort. There are lawn tennis and croquet grounds, as
well as a full-size bowling green for the use of members.

The principal swimming club— the Bournemouth Swim-
ming Club— was established in 1889, two years after the
erection of the Swimming Baths so excellently and courteously
managed by Mr. A. H. Milledge, than whom no one has done
more for swimming in Bournemouth. Previous to that year
there was, of course^ regular bathing from the Pier in the
early morning, the Rowing Club Boathouse, andthe Y.M.C.A.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 223

Boathouse. The B.S.C. has had an honourable career,
claiming as its members many excellent swimmers and water
polo players, many of whom have migrated to other parts
of the country carrying with them that delightfully clean
variety of the trudgeon stroke which is essentially the
" Bournemouth Stroke." The Club has always been managed
by keen supporters of the art of natation, and they have
ungrudgingly devoted much time and energy to the teaching
of the young in an art which should be in the curriculum
of every Elementary School. Many exciting contests have
been witnessed here, especially since water polo became the
highly scientific game it has in recent years developed into.
During the present year the Committee of the B.S.C. con-
template celebrating in a fitting manner the 21st anniversary
of its existence.

The game of water polo had its commencement off the
Bournemouth Pier by a mmiber of ardent young swimmers
forming themselves into the " Bournemouth Handball
Players." A full account of the origin of the present-day
scientific game is given in the Badminton " Swimming," to
which we refer anyone interested in this form of sport.

In 1902 the Corporation acquired land in the Malmesbury
Park district with the object of erecting Baths, which scheme,
however, never matured, although it cannot be said that the
project is finally abandoned. The local authority negotiated
for the purchase of Messrs. Roberts and Co.'s Baths, previously
referred to, without, however, coming to any definite agree-
ment. The bathing machines were acquired from the same
firm, the Corporation now controlling the whole of the sea
bathing immediately contiguous to the Pier on either side.

Football in the district has been played regularly for
years. Our earliest record of a club is that of the Bourne-
mouth Football Club established in 1875.

Since that time the clubs of the town, without attaining
greatness, have made a certain degree of fame for themselves
by their appearances in competitions principally connected
•with the county. We cannot avoid expressing our pleasure
that our local clubs are still amateur organizations and not
professional. Geographically situated as we are it is very

224 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

doubtful if a professional team of any consequence will ever
be established here.

The history of rowing in the locality is practically a thing
of the past. In the years 1870 to 1880 two strong clubs were
in existence of which the principal residents were members.
Rivalry was keen ; in fact, at times the keenness became
bitter and acrimonious, until at length peace was declared
and an amalgamation decided on. From that time until
about 1905 it can be safely said that our local oarsmen were
able to hold their own with the best that could be found on the
whole of the South Coast. It is a matter for extreme regret
that, excepting the Y.M.C.A., the sport of rowing is non-
existent in Bournemouth.

When the Meyrick Park was opened in 1894 a bowling
green was laid down by the Corporation, but beyond the
spasmodic play by a few ardent enthusiasts for a season
or two, the green was allowed to fall into desuetude. In 1904,
on the formation of the Bournemouth Bowling Club, interest
in the pastime became more popular, brought about by a
direct result of friendly rivalry; and the establishment of
greens in various parts of the Borough by the Corporation
eventuated in the formation of the Bournemouth Bowling
Association, composed of clubs playing on Corporation Greens
in the Borough, although this year that limit has been
extended to Poole, where the Corporation have laid down
a green in Poole Park. It can be safely said that all the local
clubs are successful, in point of numbers as well as in financial
matters, so that bowling in Bournemouth is catered for and
is indulged in by very large numbers of residents and visitors.
The other local clubs are Richmond Park, playing on the
Winton Recreation Ground ; Boscombe Cliff, who use the
green in the Cliff Recreation Grounds ; King's Park, in the
Park of that name ; and Argyll, who play in the Argyll
Gardens on the West Cliff Drive. Another club not in
the Association utilises the Alum Chine Green.

The most successful club, owing no doubt to its ability to
draw on a larger number of expert players, has been the
B.B.C. Having won the B.B.A. Trophy (a 20 guinea cup)
every year since its institution in 1906, despite the efforts
made to wrest it from them, the Club has also held the Single-

T""^

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 225

handed Championship Shield on two of the three occasions
it has been contested for, the only other Club to hold it being
Boscombe Cliff. The Rink Competition for a silver cup was
held by Richmond Park in 1908, and by the B.B.C. in 1909.

A very successful Tournament was held at Meyrick Park
in 1909, entirely managed by the Senior Club ; another, on
a much larger scale, is this year to be under the auspices of
the Bournemouth Bowling Association.

Roller Skating is catered for by the Corporation on the
Piers, and at the Winter Gardens on certain evenings during
the winter. There are many excellent opportunities for
indulging in this pastime, and ample provision is made by
private companies at their various rinks.

A Rifle Range is owned by the Council and is situated
on the outskirts of the Borough adjacent to Queen's Park.
Owing probably to its inaccessibility, this department of
miniature rifle shooting is, it must be freely admitted, a
great financial loss. Miniature rifle shooting is popular in
Bournemouth among the different Clubs, especially in the
League instituted for the purpose of competing for the
Walter C. Clark Shield, which is contested by clubs whose
ranges are on unlicensed premises.

Cycling and Athletics have always been popular in the
district. The excellent ground at Dean Park has undoubtedly
been the direct reason for this, and the Committee of the
Boiu-nemouth Cricket Club established Sports as far back
as 1866— five years before Dean Park was laid out. The
Bournemouth Bicycle Club held sports for twenty-four years
in succession, until the general waning of athletics and cycling
—principally the latter— some years ago compelled their
cessation.

CHAPTER XXII.

Medical and Philanthropic Institutions.

The Sanatorium — Bournemouth Public Dispensary, aftekwabds the
RoTAi. Yictoeia Hospital — Boscombe Provident Infirmary, after-
wards THE TlOYAL Boscombe and West Hants Hospital — St. Joseph's
Home — Society op St. Vincent de Paul — Hahnemann Convalescent
Home — The Herbert Home — Firs Home — St. Mary's Home fob
Invalid Ladies — The Cripples' Home — The " House Beauthtjl."

Probably Bournemouth is unique in its possession of so
many philanthropic institutions. One reason for this is the
undoubted curative properties of the Bournemouth air,
and the sheltered situation of the town from the North and
East winds. As will be seen from the following brief resume
of the different Sanatoria, Bournemouth was selected in the
early days by the most eminent medical authorities as the
one spot in England where a Sanatorium should be estab-
lished. Specially favoured by its visitors, the Bournemouth
institutions have been liberally subscribed to by the numerous
generous persons who, either out of the goodness of their
hearts, or in thanksgiving for the restoration of that priceless
treasure— health— to themselves or their relatives, it is
unquestionably in a good measure due to the visiting popula-
tion that many of the excellent homes and hospitals are
maintained. It will readily be seen that no permanent
community could be reasonably expected to wholly support
so many institutions ; in fact, the number and size of such
places are out of all proportion to an ordinary population of
a town similar in size to Bournemouth.

Nearly sixty years ago, recognising the peculiar advantages
Bournemouth had towards the treatment of chest complaints,
the Governors of the Brompton Hospital decided to establish
a Sanatorium for consumption and diseases of the chest.
The decision to erect a building was arrived at in January,
1852, and a local Committee was formed to carry on the
work. To aid in the scheme concerts and bazaars were
held in London, at Branksea Castle, at Boscombe Manor,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 227

and after being opened, at the Sanatorium itself. On the
1st July, 1855, an amateur dramatic performance was held
at Campden House, Kensington, in aid of the National
Sanatorium, Mr. Charles Dickens conducting. Those taking
part included Mi*. Mark Lemon, Mr. Wilkie Collins, Mr.
Augustus Egg, A.R.A., Miss Hogarth and Miss Dickens
assisting. The original building was designed by Sir Arthur
W. Blomfield, and cost about £15,000. The Openmg Cere-
many took place on the 2nd October, 1855, when the Rev.
J. McGuire, of East Harnham, near Salisbury, preached a
special sermon at St. Peter's. The land was generously
given by Mr. George Durrant, who, it should be noted, was
a generous benefactor to Bournemouth in numerous ways.
In its early days the Sanatorium was imder the charge of
Dr. Burslem, to whom reference has been previously made in
connection with another project. Shortly after the opening
of the Sanatoriiun the central body in London found that
their means would not admit them to further maintain the
new institution, which was thus threatened with extinction.
Fortunately such a catastrophe was avoided through the
munificence of Mr. Charles Lavington Pannel, of Guildford.
The whole property was taken over by him, and despite the
great difficvdties in the way he succeeded in re-establishing the
Institution on a sound basis, formed a new Conunittee, and
vested the property in trustees. The success of the Sanatorium
was thus assured, the building becoming the principal pro-
vincial consumption home at that time. A new wing was
added on the 22nd June, 1863, the foundation stone being
laid by Mrs. Falls. The chapel was erected in 1865, Mr. C. W.
Packe laying the foundation stone in June of that year.
The foundation stone of a further wing was laid by Lord
Mount Edgcumbe in April, 1870 ; while so recently as 1904
other additions were made. His late Majesty King Edward
VII. was patron of the Institution, in succession to the late
Queen Victoria.

In January, 1859, a public meeting was held at the Belle
Vue Hotel to consider the advisability of establishing a
public dispensary for the purpose of gratuitously affording
medical and surgical advice and medicine to the poor of
Bournemouth and its neighbourhood. It was then resolved

228 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

to found the Bournemouth Public Dispensary, and to
further its objects a Committee was appointed, who met
on the 17th February at Eastington House. In June the
Rules and Regulations were approved and a Committee of
Management appointed, resulting in the establishment
of this useful public institution at 2, Granville Cottages,
on the 17th October, 1859. The Committee continued to do
useful work until they found that to adequately cope with
the needs of the district a new and more permanent building
was required. In 1865 efforts were made to secure a site ;
but it was not till 1868 that a suitable site was purchased
from Mr. Robert Kerley on which a building was erected and
opened on the 19th May, 1869 ; the cost was £1,400, and by
the aid of voluntary subscriptions the Institution was free of
debt when the doors were opened.

Conveniently situated close to Holy Trinity Church, the
Dispensary, which was practically a General Hospital, with
wards for male and female patients, as well as accident cases,
continued its excellent work until this building also was
found to be unsuited to the requirements of a growing town.
Meetings were held in November and December, 1886, in
support of the building which was destined to become the
Royal Victoria Hospital. The ladies of the district
formed Committees with the object of collecting subscrip-
tions ; and while this good work was in progress the sterner
sex were battling with the question of site, eventually over-
come by the generous offer of Mr. W. Clapcott Dean to
give the site on which the Hospital now stands. Valued at
£900 this gift was gratefully accepted and very keenly appre-
ciated by the inhabitants. By the time the foundation stone
was laid no less a sum than £5,164 had been subscribed by the
public, much of it through the instrumentality of the hard-
working ladies. The funds and property of the Committee
of the Dispensary, estimated at between £4,000 and £5,000,
passed into the hands of the Royal Victoria Hospital Com-
mittee, as agreed upon by the Joint Committee. A Bazaar
held during Easter week, 1889, realised the substantial
sum of £2,455 after all expenses were paid ; and at a later
sale of the surplus goods a further amount of £237 was raised.
The plans of the building, drawn by Messrs. Creeke and

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 229

Gifford, allowed for a frontage to the Poole Road of 215
feet, and depth, north to south, of 255 feet. The design is
Queen Anne style ; the building being erected by Messrs.
George and Harding at a cost of £8,300. When Prince of Wales
his late Majesty, King Edward VII., officially opened the
Hospital (the town's memorial of Queen Victoria's Jubilee)
on the 16th January, 1890, being accompanied by H.R.H.
Prince George (now King George V.). The opening day
was celebrated as a public holiday, the inhabitants vieing
with each other in the decoration of their private houses and
places of business. Lady Wimborne, who took a great and
active interest in the Hospital, was present, as were also the
Earl of Shaftesbury and Lord Randolph Churchill. A new
west wing was opened by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught
in 1892, and on the 17th January, 1903, a new Children's
Ward was formally opened by H.R.H. the Princess Louise,
Duchess of Argyll, who, with his Grace the Duke of Argyll,
was at that time on a visit to the Earl and Countess of Malmes-
biiry at Heron Court. It was on that occasion that his
Grace the Duke of Argyll impressed upon the Local Authority
the importance of judicious tree-planting, and in a letter
subsequently addressed to Lord Malmesbury, his Grace
stated that the Princess had " found it very pleasant to see
the wonderful advance in prosperity and importance made
by the Forest City of our Southern Sea."
'^ A Branch Hospital was erected on the East Common,
Malmesbury Park, in 1908, the foundation stone being
laid on the 18th January of that year by the Countess of
Malmesbury.

From very small beginnings the Royal Boscombe and
West Hants Hospital has grown into a very important
and invaluable Institution, having been originally started
in 1876 as the Provident Infirmary with temporary offices
(with four beds) at 4, Gervis Terrace, Christchurch Road.
The inception of this Hospital was the outcome of one of
the most peculiar circumstances it is possible to imagine
in a case of this kind. Following on a newspaper controversy
in 1876 respecting the ritual of St. Clement's Church, the
Vicar, the Rev. G. D. Tinling, thinking to end the discussion
by a friendly (jhat, called on his opponent, the Rev. H. C.

230 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Leonard, Pastor of the newly opened Baptist Church at
Lansdowne. Finding that each was an inveterate smoker,
pipes were lighted, and a conversation of a general character
took place, but not a word of the controversy was spoken !
The whole argument thus ended in smoke over the pipe of
peace ! The conversation turned on the provision of a
Provident Hospital and Dispensary for Boscombe, which
resulted in a meeting being called and held at Cunnington's
Skating Rink. As we have said, rooms were taken in the
main road ; and shortly afterwards a building erected
as a Fever Hospital in Shelley Road (but never used), was
purchased by great efforts on the part of the Committee
and opened as the Boscombe Hospital, with twelve beds.
The Hospital has had a succession of seven or eight distinct
titles, assuming the added title of " Royal " by permission
of her late Majesty Queen Victoria in 1900. The history of
the progress of this humanitarian movement at the east end
of the Borough is one of extreme interest, but which we
regretfully are precluded, owing to exigency of space, from
fmther dealing with. The Hospital has been nobly supported
—in the past by, among others. Sir Frederick and Lady Wills ;
and at the present time by Mr. Walter Child Clark, whose
benefactions during recent years have been of a generous
character.

Some years before her death. Lady Georgiana Fullerton
established and maintained at Blenheim House, Lansdowne
Road, a Convalescent Home for the sick and afflicted of all
creeds. This was threatened with extinction on her decease
in 1885. When the Dames de la Croix removed to Boscombe
a band of nuns (Sisters of Mercy) came here from the well-
known Hospital of St. John, Great Ormond Street, London,
and established themselves in the " Convent of the Cross,"
Branksome Wood Road, in August, 1887, and gradually
transformed the old convent into its present form of St.
Joseph's Home, where, at the earnest invitation of Mr. A. J.
Fullerton, they continued to maintain on a sound basis a
similar Charitable Home to that commenced by his wife
years before. Although conducted by Catholic nuns the
Home is open to all those who can secure the requisite
nomination.

BOURNEMOUTH : 1810-1910. 231

In connection with the Oratory of the Sacred Heart Church
a branch of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has been
in existence for many years. The parent society was estab-
Ushed in 1844 and the objects are the rehef of the poor,
without distinction of reUgion, in their own homes. The
local society works in a very quiet and unostentatious manner
yet doing much useful work in relief of the needy.

The Hahnemann Convalescent Home and Homoeopathic
Dispensary was established for such consumptive patients
as may be recommended to Bournemouth with a fair hope
of restoration or considerable improvement ; for such con-
valescent cases of a non-infectious character from the different
Homeopathic Hospitals and Dispensaries as may seem to be
suitable for admission into such an institution ; and for any
acute non -infectious cases as may occur in the practice of the
Dispensary, and which the medical officers may recommend
as suitable. Situated on the West Cliff, on a site granted
for 999 years at a nominal ground rent by Mr. W. Clapcott
Dean, the Home was founded on the 4th January, 1878,
the foundation stone being laid by the Right Hon. Earl
Cairns, and the building opened by the same nobleman on
the 3rd June, 1879.

The Herbert Home was built as a memorial to the late
Lord Herbert of Lea, who, we should mention, was the first
President of the National Volunteer Association, as well
as being a great promoter of sanitary reform in the Army.
The Home is a convalescent Hospital in conjunction with
the Salisbury General Infirmary, the Governing Body of that
Institution having the right to half of the beds provided in
the Herbert Home. Founded in 1865, when the Foundation
Stone was laid by the Earl of Pembroke, this Institution was
opened in October, 1867. Miss Florence Nightingale had
much to do with the establishment of the Home.

Most of the Homes referred to are for patients during
their convalescence, but the Firs Home is an Institution
primarily intended for consumptives whose cure at the
Sanatorium is despaired of. Founded by the late Rev. S. R.
Waddelow, it has proved of great usefulness to many invalids
in poor circimistances. The work is carried on by the aid of
voluntary subscriptions.

232 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

The St. Mary's Home for Invalid Ladies, Dean Park
Road, is limited to ten inmates. Founded as a home of rest
for ladies with limited means who are in the early or curable
stages of consumption and ideally situated adjoining the
Horse Shoe Common, the Home has every appearance of an
ordinary private house. The income is derived in part from
the patients, the remainder being raised by subscriptions
from the charitable.

The Victoria Home for Cripples, established at Alum
Chine, is a branch of the work of the Ragged School Union,
London, with which the Earl of Shaftesbury was so prom-
inently identified and which is now conducted with so much
wisdom and enthusiasm by Sir John Kirk.

The " House Beautiful " is another Institution for
London children— established in connection with the Sunday
School Union. It is, perhaps, more in the nature of a holiday
home than a hospital, but without question its work is a
beneficent one.

There are several other Institutions in Boiu:nemouth
more or less in the nature of charity organizations, some
of them being for the provision of nurses in medical and
surgical cases.

ti'-f

3

i"

CHAPTER XXIII.

Education and the Public Libraries.

The First Bebmentaky Schools in BouRNBMOUTn — Private Schools —
The Establishment op " Bournemoitth School " — The Science and
Art Schools — Changes Under the EDtrcATiON Act, 1902— Capital
AND Current Expenditure on Education — The Public Libraries
Acts : Polls op Ratepayers— Opening op the First Library and
Appointment op Librarian — Branch Libraries — Gifts by Mr. Carnegie
— The " Open Access " System.

The public educational work of Bournemouth is in the
hands of an Education Committee appointed by the County
Borough Council under the Education Act of 1902, and
given the full executive power permitted by that Statute.
Prior to the Act of 1902 coming into operation, the whole
of the educational work of the borough — with certain excep-
tions to be hereafter enumerated— was dependent upon
voluntary enterprise.

The first Elementary School established in the town
was that in connection with the Church and Parish of St.
Peter. The foundation stone was laid on the 30th June,
1850, by the Lady Louisa Ponsonby, and the school was
opened soon afterwards. We have referred in a previous
chapter to the support which St. Peter's gave in the erection
of churches and schools in what were then outlying districts,
and we may mention here that a Church School was opened
at Moordown as early as 1853. The first British School
was also established in " the fifties," in a building just off
the Commercial Road. It was conducted by a head mistress,
and managed by a mixed committee of ladies and gentlemen,
whose work some years later eventuated in the construction
and opening of new buildings at Lansdowne. Holy Trinity
Schools (now called the Central Schools), when first erected
were described as being " on the outskirts of the town, near
Holdenhujst Road." St. Michael's School was first estab-
lished in Orchard Street, and afterwards transferred to the
present site in West HUl Road. Others came in due course—
Church Schools at Southbourne, Boscombe, Winton, Pokes-

234 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

down, Springbourne, and Malmesbury Park ; British or
other undenominational schools in the corresponding areas ;
and Catholic Schools in the centre of the town and at Bos-
combe Park. Up to 1877, however, the few Catholic children
in the town received their schooling in one of the Windsor
Cottages, standing on the site now occupied by the Oratory
of the Sacred Heart. In 1877 a school was established at St-
Joseph's Home, Lansdowne Road ; two years later it was
transferred to Avenue Road, and in January, 1880, the present
site was obtained and St. Walburga's was erected on a spot
selected by the Lady Georgiana Fullerton.

The principal school of a higher grade character half a
century or so ago was one kept by the Rev. J. H. Wanklyn
at Exeter House (now the Royal Exeter Hotel) ; others
followed, and there has, of course, been very substantial
development since. We cannot, however, without unduly
expanding the limits of this volume, go into detail, either
with regard to this or other school developments under
private direction and management.

Some few years prior to the " Appointed Day " for the
Town Council taking up the duties and responsibilities
imposed upon them by the Act of 1902, the Council, acting
in conjunction with the Hants County Council, had established
the Bournemouth School for Boys, and the School had
already begun to make history. The School, which was
opened by the late Earl of Northbrook in January, 1901, is
under the direction of a Board of Governors appointed under
the provisions of a " Scheme " which has been twice amended
to meet changes of local circumstances. The controlling
power is practically in the hands of the Bournemouth Educa-
tion Authority, working through its Education Committee and
the Governors whom they nominate, but the County Council
still retain a share in the representation, and county scholars
still share in the privileges of the institution. Dr. Fenwick
has been the Head Master since the foundation of the School,
and Dr. J. Roberts Thomson, J.P., has filled the post of
Chairman of the Governors for the same period.

Science, Art, and Technical Schools and Classes were
first established under voluntary agency. A short time
prior to the ''Appointed Day " in July, 1903, the Town

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 235

Council, through their Technical Instruction Committee,
assumed a measure of responsibility, but they did not take
complete direction of the work till a later stage. Now, the
whole of the work has been thoroughly re-organised, with
special regard to the educational needs of the borough, and
brought into direct association with the other departments
of public educational effort. From the basis of the Ele-
mentary Schools the Committee have built up a system
extending through all grades upward to the Universities,
and they are understood to be proud of their achievement
in the few short years of their existence, and full of hope
of what may be accomplished in the time to come. The
Council and the burgesses have given them splendid sup-
port, and, besides important work in other departments,
they are now building a large Central School of Science,
Art, and Technical Isntruction, with a Central PubUc
Library attached to the same block. The whnle will form
the most imposing block of public buildings in the town.

In 1903, as already stated, all the Elementary Schools were
under voluntary management. The new Education Authority
accepted the transfer of the Lansdowne British School,
Malmesbury Park Free Church Council School, the Winton
British School, the Westbourne British School, Pokesdown
British School, and the Boscombe British School— assuming
in some cases the responsibility for a balance of unpaid ex-
penditiu-e, but in the cases of Winton and Westbourne
simply accepting the transfer of the school organizations.
A large new school, with accommodation for upwards of a
thousand children, has since been built at Alma Road,
Winton, a new Mixed and Infants' School has been built and
opened at Westbourne, and a new Girls' School has been
built and opened at Boscombe ; a large school with ac-
commodation for 1,250 children (boys, girls, and infants) is
in course of erection at Moordown, land has been obtained
for a large school in the new district of Stourfield, and other
extensions are in contemplation. The number of children
at present under instruction in the Bournemouth Elemen-
tary Schools is between 8,000 and 9,000, and is, of course,
continually increasing. The total capital expenditure to
which the Council has committed itself for educational

236 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

purposes since 1903 is upwards of £85,000. The Educational
organization gives employment— directly and indirectly— for
upwards of 450 persons, and the Committee have the expen-
diture of a total sum (including Government grants, etc.) of
more than £34,000 per annum. Alderman C. H. Mate, J.P.,
who had been previously Chairman of the Technical Instruc-
tion Committee, has been Chairman of the Committee from
the date of its first meeting down to the present, and the
important post of Secretary has during the same period been
held by Mr. F. W. Ibbett.

In an Appendix we give a complete list of all members
who are on, or have at any previous period rendered service
on the Town Council. It will be only fitting here to add the
names of the " selected " members of the Education Com-
mittee. Those at present serving comprise Dr. J. Roberts
Thomson, J.P., the Rev. A. E. Daldy, R.D., the Rev. Father
Strappini, S.J., Mr. C. J. Whitting, Mr. D. E. Hillier, Mr.
A. J. Abbott, J.P., Miss Alice Carr, and Miss Dora Vipan.
Former members have included Mrs. J. J. Norton (resigned
on account of ill health). Miss Punch (resigned on leaving
the town) ; and the Revs. Canon Eliot, R.D., Father
Greenan, S.J., G. D. Hooper, and W. Moncrieff, all of
whom have passed from this world to the next.

The first meeting towards the establishment of a Public
Library was held at Ascham House in May, 1885, when
the Rev. G. H. West presided over a company of about
thirty of the principal residents. A small sub-Committee was
formed to obtain all information as to the working of the
Public Libraries Acts in extension of the able account of the
functions of a Library Authority written by Dr. Martin
Reed. Following this clear and concise description of the
benefits to be derived by the adoption of the Act, the Com-
mittee placed the matter before the Commissioners on the
16th June, 1885, who at a later meeting agreed that the
question should be decided by means of voting papers, a
public meeting afterwards being held to discuss the arrange-
ments. Canon P. F. Eliot (now Dean of Windsor) presiding
over a large and influential audience. The usual opposition
was in evidence, and the stock arguments against public
libraries were advanced. The voting papers were issued

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 237

on the 24th July, 1885. Three days afterwards the Chair-
man of the Commissioners (Mr. H. Newlyn) announced that
there were 749 votes for the adoption and 914 against,
1,665 persons not voting. Losing by only 165 convinced the
Committee that the canvassing in the poorer districts had
not been thoroughly carried out. The subject was allowed
to rest for some years, to be again re-opened on the 25th
January, 1893, when a preliminary public meeting was held,
at which Mr. J. R. Ridley presided. An Executive Com-
mittee, composed of representatives from all parts of the
Borough, inunediately formulated a scheme of canvas, for,
profiting by past experience, nothing was to be left to chance.
Ward Committees were appointed, each with its Chairman
and Hon. Secretary, the whole being presided over by Mr.
Leveson Scarth, with Mr. C. J. Whitting as Hon. Secretary.
These latter gentlemen marshalled their forces in such an
efficient nnanner that the whole of the ground was covered,
and statements were prepared to meet all possible objections.
After two months of untiring labour the Mayor (Alderman
H. Newlyn) announced on the 11th March, 1893, that 2,062
were in favour and only 704 against.

The first Committee was appointed on the same day ;
the present Librarian and Secretary (Mr. C. Riddle) received his
appointment in June, 1894 ; and the first temporary library
was opened on the 1st January, 1895, at 6, Cumnor
Terrace, Old Christchurch Road, by the Mayor (Mr. Merton
Russell Cotes). The work exceeded all anticipations,
and the Committee were obliged to seek better accommoda-
tion at 2, Stanhope Gardens, Dean Park Road, which was
opened by the Mayor, Alderman G. J. Lawson, on the 21st
October, 1901. Up to the present time the work of the
Central Library has been carried on under most disadvan-
tageous circumstances, but fortunately this unsatisfactory
condition is soon to be altered, the Town Council having
recently sanctioned the erection of a Central Library on
part of the site purchased for the new Science and Art School
at Lansdowne. Securing the munificent offer of £10,000 for
branches from Mr. Andrew Carnegie in July, 1903, the Com-
mittee, although unable to immediately take advantage
of the offer, were ultimately in a position to build the Winton

238 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Branch on a site generously given by the late Earl of Leven
and Melville ; the Springbourne Branch on a site given
by the Corporation— part of the land purchased for Baths ;
and the Boscombe Branch, now approaching completion, on
land purchased by public subscription, Mr. Walter C. Clark
and the late Sir Frederick Wills being the donors of two-fifths
of the total cost. There now only remains the acquisition
of a site for Westbourne, and, notwithstanding difficulties
which at present seem insurmountable, the Committee are
hoping it will be secured at an early date. When the latter
part of the scheme is an accomplished fact, and the Central
Library erected, the whole of the Library System will be
complete, and the work carried on under much better condi-
tions. It should be recorded that all the Libraries are estab-
lished on the " Open Access " system. The Bournemouth
Central Library was the first Library to open with Open
Access, and the second to adopt it. Since May, 1894, when
the system was introduced into the Clerkenwell Public
Library (now Finsbury) over 100 libraries have adopted it.
The Town Council has annually nominated six of its
own members to serve on the Libraries Committee. Each
year also six non-Council members are appointed. Mr.
C. J. Whitting has had the distinction of serving on the
Committee the whole period of its existence, occupying the
post of Chairman for nearly 10 years. Other non-Council
members have included Mr. Leveson Scarth, (the first Chair-
man), the late Rev. Canon Eliot (also a former Chairman),
Canon Toyne, the Rev. E. J. Kennedy, the Rev. W. Venis
Robinson, the Rev. J. D. Jones, Messrs. E. Davies, H.
H. Odling, G. Galpin, C. T. Miles, J. A. Toone, A. J. Abbott
and W. C. Clark, Dr. Dixon, Dr. George, and Sir Matthew
Dodsworth.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Religious Life of Bournemouth,

Church op England : The Parish CHtmcH — St. Stephen's (Bennett
Memorial) — Holy Trinity — St. Michael's — Other Churches op the
Establishment — Catholic Churches — Wbsleyan Methodists — Con-
gregational — English Presbyterians — Baptists — The Society op
Friends — Other Nonconformist Churches — Unitarians.

The Religious life of Bournemouth enters very largely
into its history as a health and pleasure resort, principally
on account of the migratory character of the moving popula-
tion. Church authorities in seaside towns are obhged to
build churches of a much larger type than those towns
where the population is purely residential, and of a more
permanent nature. It should be said that visitors to Bourne-
mouth have generously recognised this fact, and it is to a
great extent due to them that so many handsome and com-
modious churches and chapels have been erected. In the
following sketch of the growth of the religious life of the town,
the whole of the information at our disposal has merely been
summarised, for a full description of each church and chapel
would be out of place in a work which aims at a general
review of the whole history of the town. In every case the
principal church of each denomination has been dealt with,
and the remainder briefly noticed, despite the beauty of the
majority, and the very interesting associations surrounding
them.

The history of St. Peter's Church is in many respects
the history of the town, for as Bournemouth has grown, new
portions have been added to the original Church, till we have
the grand and stately structure which is one of the town's
proudest possessions. To trace the growth of the Church we
must go back to our earhest record, that being the year
1838, when it is known that at the foot of Commercial Road
in the Square (present day names), there was a temporary
structure fitted up by Sir G. W. Tapps Gervis, which, it is
recorded in the family records, was not large enough to

240 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

contain two-thirds of the residents and visitors. On the map
of " Bourne Tregonwell," dated 1835, there is a building
shown which corresponds with the position and dimensions
of the temporary Church. Here, until the completion of
the new Church, services were regularly held twice every
Sunday, at 11 and 3, the officiating clergyman being the Rev.
Hugh Wyndham, and occasionally the Rev. W. Timson.
Sir George W. T. Gervis in the autumn of 1841 built the
shell of a new church, the original of the present St. Peter's,
which was promised to be completed and consecrated in the
month of May, 1842, but which still remained unfinished
at his death on the 26th August, 1842. The original scheme
was, nevertheless, carried out at the sole expense of the
Gervis Estate, and the Consecration ceremony was performed
by the Bishop of Winchester on the Vth August, 1845. The
Chtu-ch was endowed, the rent charge on the Estate being
£50 per annum. The accommodation provided for 270
worshippers, 150 on the floor and 90 in a gallery at the
western end. Not only was the Church provided by Sir
George Gervis, but the Churchyard adjoining, of most
liberal and ample proportions, was the gift of the same
generous benefactor. Being erected rather as a temporary
structure, the Church was small and ill-suited to the require-
ments of the residents and visitors. The style of the archi-
tecture, mock Gothic, was severely criticised by one authority,
who expressed the opinion that " the local builders seem to
have derived, if not ideas, at least sanction for various
barbarisms of style." The consecration ceremony co-incided
with the appointment of the first Vicar, the Rev. A. Morden
Bennett, of whom it may be safely said that to his energy
and generosity not only St. Peter's but the whole town and
district owes a deep debt of gratitude. From the moment
of his coming in 1845 till his death on the 19th January,
1880, the Vicar of St. Peter's devoted his whole time and
energy to the building up of the Church and town. No one
was more zealous of the town's welfare, or more untiring in
his efforts for its success. Reference having been made in
previous chapters to Mr. Bennett's work for the town, we
need only say that he laboured for 35 years in a whole-
hearted and devoted manner, and when his death came in

St. Peter's Church — Completkd December 18th, 187!)

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 241

1880 he was mourned by all. His death was not only a
loss to the Church, it was a sad and heavy loss to the town.

Five years after its consecration the Church proved too
small for the increasing congregation, as we find that in
1850 a fund was started for the first enlargement, which,
through the efforts of the zealous incumbent, enabled the
South aisle to be erected in May, 1851, the foundation stone
being laid by Lady Gervis. A short time afterwards the
North aisle was added. Then the nave was next lengthened
and increased in height with a clerestory. When the question
of enlargement was contemplated the Vicar and his wardens
very wisely secxired the services of that eminent architect,
Mr. G. E. Street, who designed the church as it would be when
completed, in fact as it is at the present day. This, by the
way, was called " the old-fashioned way of building by
degrees." The fact of Mr. Street having designed a complete
Church accounts for so many incorrect engravings showing
St. Peter's with a spire in the years 1850 onwards. As the
spire was not erected until 1879, it will be seen that no view
of the Church is genuine which shows that addition on it
previous to the latter year. The excellent plan, next to a
complete Church at one operation, adopted by the hard-
working Vicar, was that no new portion was proceeded with
until the money sufficient for its completion was forth-
coming. In this way the Church authorities were enabled to
build up the sacred edifice free of debt. By periodical addi-
tions the original fabric has been built around and up to, and
converted into the magnificent structure, which is justly
considered to be one of Mr. Street's most successful works
of ecclesiastical architecture. In July, 1860, a proposal
for further extension, giving accommodation for 1,000
persons, was proceeded with ; and on the 20th December,
1864, the new chancel and the extended burial ground were
consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester. The foundation
stone of the tower was laid on the 13th April, 1869 ; and
a peal of bells was dedicated on the 6th June, 1871. A
plate at the entrance, immediately under the tower, records
that : " To the glory of God, and as a mark of respect to
the Rev. A. M. Bennett, M.A., Vicar of St. Peter's district,
these bells were hung in this tower by the inhabitants of

242 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Bournemouth." The organ was opened in October, 1871 ;
and the foundation stone of the Western transept was laid
on the 21st April, 1874, and opened on the 6th December in
the same year. The final portion— the spire— was commenced
on the 25th March, 1879, the vane fixed in October, and the
whole work completed on the 18th December, 1879. One
month after the completion of the work of a lifetime the
Rev. A. M. Bennett passed away. Shortly afterwards a
memorial was promoted, which evenuated in the erection of
St. Stephen's, or the Bennett Memorial Church. Other addi-
tions to the Church of a more or less minor character have
been made. In 1908, however, the important addition of
the Keble Chapel was constructed.

A large window, illustrating the Te Deum, is a memorial
to the author of the " Christian Year," St. Peter's being the
Church in which he worshipped during the last four months
of his life. On the 7th August, 1880, Bishop Ryan was
inducted to the vacancy caused by the resignation of Pre-
bendary Harland, and an Ordination Service was held on
the; 19th December, 1880, when sixteen candidates were
ordained, and thirteen were made deacons. The relations
between Vicar and parishioners were somewhat peculiar
at this period, owing to the differences of opinion on matters
of ritual, which, however, it is not our intention to further
investigate. Bishop Ryan resigned in September, 1881,
being succeeded by the Rev. G. S. Ram, who remained until
his death, which occurred in October, 1899. He was followed
by Rev. Canon C. E. Fisher, who spent fourteen years at St.
Peter's, during the whole of which time he was an ardent
worker in the Church's cause, and he resigned on the 1st
June, 1904, when the present Vicar, the Rev. A. E. Daldy,
was appointed, the latter being inducted by the Bishop of
Southampton on the 28th July. The Mayor (Alderman J. E.
Beale) and Corporation attended in state to witness the
ceremony.

Enough has been said to show that the completed Church
is a beautiful structure, and is a fitting memorial to the
generosity of the congregation and visitors, as well as to the
remarkable energy of its first Vicar. As this is not intended
to be anything but a brief sketch of St. Peter's, we are

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 243

unable to enter more largely into its history, or give a fuller
description of its plan, memorial windows and tablets ;
but before concluding mention should be made, however,
of the windows erected " In memory of Marianne Elizabeth
Bennett, the beloved wife, and Elizabeth Ann Bennett, the
only daughter, of Alexander Morden Bennett, Incumbent of
this Church. These windows were presented to the Chiu'ch
by the congregation as a testimonial of esteem and token of
sympathy towards their Pastor in a season of affliction,
1852 " ; also to the window " In memory of Edmund Augustus
Monro, Captain H.E.I.C.S., second son of the late Lieutenant-
General William Hector Monro, who died at Bath suddenly,
October 2nd, 1852. This window was presented to the Church
in token of her lasting remembrance and regard, by his
elder brother's widow, Henrietta Lewina Monro."

The Chm-ch has now 1,250 sittings, of which 400 are free.

The Parsonage House, a large and substantial building,
standing on high ground commanding most extensive views,
was erected by the Rev. A. M. Bennett in 1846, from designs
by Mr. Pearce, architect, of Canford, who also furnished the
design for the schools shortly afterwards opened.

As we have mentioned, shortly after the death of the Rev.
A. M. Bennett in 1880, the project to commemorate his
memory resulted in the erection of St. Stephen's, known
as the Bennett Memorial Church, and situated in the St.
Stephen's Road, which runs parallel to Bourne Avenue.
The principal Bournemouth Churches had their beginnings
in temporary buildings, and in this case that method was
adopted. Bishop Harold Browne consecrated the temporary
Church on the 14th August, 1881, the memorial stone of the
permanent Church being laid on the same day, it being the
anniversary of Mr. Bennett's birth. Described as " a noble
piece of architectiure, and a fitting montunent to one whose
memory is so deservedly cherished by residents in Botirne-
mouth," St. Stephen's, now that it is completed, with the
exception of the spire, adds very considerably to the archi-
tecture of the district. From the point of view of quietude
the Chxirch is ideally situated, and the interior and exterior are
both handsome and pleasing. In style it is a transition of
Early English to Geometrical Decorated. We regret a

244 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

further description is impossible, much as this beautiful
Church merits it. The Rev. A. S. Bennett, son of the first
Vicar of Bournemouth, is the Incumbent, having been its
Vicar since the 14th August, 1881, when the temporary Church
was consecrated.

Just prior to the decade of Bournemouth's greatest pros-
perity the Churches of all the Denominations were feeling
the need for expansion, and this was especially the case with
the Church of England. In 1867 a second Church being
very much required, a distinct ecclesiastical district was
formed and a temporary Chiu-ch built, dedicated to the
Holy Trinity, which was opened for divine worship on the
1st December, 1867, the foundation stone having been laid
about three months previously by Mrs. John Tregonwell.
The completion of the Chiu^ch on the 4th September, 1878,
showed that it was " a bold and somewhat original design,
especially pleasing to the educated eye, if not to the casual
observer." In style it is Lombardo Gothic, though by a
writer of the period it was said to be lamentable " that the
public taste is insufficiently advanced to be able to appreciate
properly an architectural masterpiece, owing to its being in a
somewhat unfamiliar style." We are unable, owing to
exigencies of space, to further describe the Church, which
had as first Vicar the Rev. P. F. Eliot (now Dean of Windsor),
then his brother, the late Canon W. Eliot, the present Vicar
being the Rev. A. S. V. Blunt. Many memorials are placed
in the Church, one being to Mr. Robert Kerley, " the liberal
donor of the site of this Church, in testimony of his public
and private works."

The chief stone of St. Michael's and All Angels' Church,
Poole Road, was laid on the 8th August, 1866, the con-
secration ceremony taking place on the 9th December follow-
ing. The foundation stone of the present handsome Church
was laid on the 4th August, 1874, and consecrated on the
20th January, 1876. The addition of the tower adding
very considerably to its beauty, was erected in 1901. The
first Vicar was the Rev. Edward Wanklyn, whose decease
was followed by the appointment of the present Vicar,
Canon F. E. Toyne, on the 21st October, 1881.

Owing to the reasons before mentioned we are most regret-

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 245

fully obliged to give only the merest details of the other
Churches of the Establishment. The dates given in paren-
theses relate to the completion of each Church :— St. John's,
Moordown (temporary, 31st May, 1851 ; permanent, 14th
April, 1874) ; St. James', Pokesdown (30th December, 1858) ;
St. Clement's (15th April, 1873); St. Paul's (1887); St.
Swithun's, Chapel of Ease to St. Peter's (1891) ; St. Augus-
tin's (1892); St. Andrew's, Chapel of Ease to Holy Trinity
(1892) ; St. John's, Boscombe (1895) ; St. John's, Surrey
Road (1898) ; St. Luke's, Winton (1898) ; St. Ambrose (1900).
St. Katherine's, Southbourne (1900); All Saints', South-
bom-ne Road (1902) ; St. Alban's, Charminster Road (1909) ;
also the proprietary Chapel of Christ Church, Seamoor Road,
Westbourne.

Until the winter of 1861-2 the nearest Catholic Church
was that of St. Mary's, Poole. In that season a Mrs. Washing-
ton Hibbert, a visitor from London, resided at the Belle Vue
Hotel, where she formed a private oratory to which any
Catholics residing in Boiu-nemouth were welcome. It is
recorded that a Father Mochler, S.J., died here in 1862,
and as he was probably an invalid guest of Mrs. Hibbert's,
services would be conducted by him. The Lady Catherine
Petre was able to give similar opportunity during the winters
of 1868-4 and 1864-5, in the Oratory she established in the
Belle Vue Assembly Rooms. It is interesting to record that
in 1863, Mr. Thomas Long, now a retired and much respected
resident of this town, was the only Catholic permanently
living in Bournemouth. In Mrs. Hibbert's year Mr. Maurice
O'Connell was the only known Catholic resident, but leaving
the district temporarily, Mr. Long, then a youth, had that
distinction. In 1865-6 Mr. Thomas Weld Blundell had his
domestic Chaplain with him at Walton House, Richmond
Hill ; and in 1866-7 the late Lord Edward Fitzalan Howard
(of Glossop) also had his Chaplain with him at " Brunstath ''
on the East Cliff. At times of the year when these special
facilities were not afforded to the Catholics of the district,
they had to go to Poole, where it may be noted a mission
was started in 1839. In 1868, through the generosity of an
Irish gentleman visitor and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Harnett,
of County Kerry, a bus was provided, and the announcement

246 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

given out in the Poole Church was to the effect " that each
Sunday till further notice a bus will start from the Square,
Bournemouth, for this Church, at 9.30 a.m." In 1869
permanent provision was made for the religious needs of the
Boiirnemouth Catholics, when Fathers Brownbill and Eccles
established themselves at Astney Lodge, St. Stephen's
Road, which became the first public Chapel and Presbytery.
On the site of the present Chiu-ch stood a house in the occupa-
tion of Dr. Falls, which was burnt down in 1868. Here
was erected in 1870 a small wooden Chapel to accommodate
ninety worshippers, to which the remaining Windsor Cottage
served as a Presbytery until 1896, in which year it was
taken down for the purpose of extending the Church. Father
Maurice Mann, S.J., who was responsible for the building
of the Chapel, was the first regularly established Rector.
He died at Stony hurst in 1877.

The old Oratory of the Sacred Heart was begun by Father
A. Dignam, S. J., in the summer of 1873, and, after certain
variations in the structure, was opened by Dr. Dannell,
Bishop of Southwark, on the 5th February, 1875. From
that time to 1888 the number of Catholics in the town had
very considerably increased, the need for extension being
always a most pressing one, and in that year Father H. S.
Kerr, S.J., instituted a fund toward the erection of a new
Church, the plans for which were prepared by Mr. A. J.
Pilkington, of Lincolns Inn Fields. The foundations of the
new Church were laid in April, 1896, the late Father B.
Cooney, S.J., being then the Superior of the Mission. The
new portion was opened on the 10th March, 1900, and the
alterations to the old portion, to unite it with the new, were
next proceeded with, the ultimate result being a solemn
opening at Midnight Mass on 31st December, 1900, a fitting
commencement of the new century. Alterations and exten-
sions on the Presbytery side were afterwards completed,
the whole edifice making a handsome addition to the architec-
ture of the district. There were only about thirty Catholics
in Bournemouth in 1871 ; at the present time the number
is so large as to necessitate the provision of four churches.
A branch mission was estabUshed at Boscombe on the 1st
January, 1888, with Father C. de Lapasture, S.J., in charge ;

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 247

and in 1897, six months after the erection of the beautiful
Corpus Christi Church, the gift of the Baroness Pauline de
Hiigel, the missions were separated, the number of Catholics
being too large to be spiritually directed from Bournemouth.
As well as the establishment of a Mission at Westbourne in
1893, a magnificent Church has been built for the Catholics
of the Winton and Richmond Park districts at the sole cost
of Mrs. Coxon, from plans prepared by Mr, Gilbert Scott.
Mention should be made that the Convent of the Cross,
Parkwood Road, now housed in the magnificent pile of build-
ings—probably the largest and most stately structure in
Bournemouth— was first established in Branksome Wood
Road in 1871. In August, 1887, the Dames de la Croix
removed to Boscombe, where they are now conducting
a very successful Boarding School for Young Ladies, as well
as being in charge of the Elementary School under the local
Education Authority. Father A. Kopp, S.J., is the present
Superior of the Bournemouth Mission, and Father P. J.
Hayden, S.J., that of Boscombe.

The Wesleyan Methodists established themselves in a
temporary building in Orchard Place in November, 1859,
and when that became too small services were held at the
Belle Vue Assembly Rooms. A new Church being needed to
meet the growth of the Connexion, a project was set on
foot which eventuated in the erection of a handsome Gothic
building at the eastern part of Southbourne Terrace, the
foundation stone being laid by Sir Francis Lycett on the
21st May, 1866, and the Church opened for service on the
27th September, 1867. Peculiarly situated, this Church
was somewhat hidden by Southbourne Terrace on one side,
and the Tregonwell Arms on the other. It should here be
mentioned that the greater part of the frontages of the Church
and Inn occupied the site now the Post Office Road at the
Old Christchurch Road end. By 1883 the congregation
becoming too large for the Church, a project was established
to provide for a new building. A meeting was held in August
of that year to consider a difficulty that had arisen which,
fortunately, was overcome. The site of the old Church as
well as that of the Tregonwell Arms, the license having lapsed,
was sold for upwards of £20,000. The share of the Wesleyan

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 249

considerably damaged, and it was not until the 8th March,
1859, that the building was opened for service. Early
Gothic in style, the Chapel was designed by Mr. C. C. Creeke,
and was a plain but substantially built structure of Purbeck
stone, accommodating about 300, being 70ft. long and 43ft.
wide ; at a later period a gallery was added at the south-
west end, wherein the organ Avas placed. With the large
increase in membership it was found necessary to add to the
size of the building, and in 1872 a transept was added, being
68ft. long by 25ft. wide, and crossed the nave at the north-
east end ; by this addition the accommodation was doubled.
Including the tower, spire, classrooms and vestries, the total
cost was £3,000. Mr. H. T, Helyer, of Bournemouth, was
the architect for the new portion, on whom, as well as Mr.
Creeke, great credit was reflected. In 1874 the Manse was
erected from designs by Mr. T. Reynolds ; and in 1875 the
handsomely carved pulpit, the work of the late Mr. W. J.
Worth, was executed. The new ('hurch was opened on the
24th November, 1891, on the site of the old Church, the
main objects being the accommodation of a much larger
congregation and the provision of increased schoolrooms.
The main btiilding takes the form of a cruciform plan, and
designed in the spirit of a somewhat late period of Gothic.
The architects were Messrs. Lawson and Donkin. The
accommodation provides for 1,100, and the cost of the whole
structiire was about £12,000. The Rev. Ossian Davies was
Pastor of the Church during the years 1888 to 1898, when
he was succeeded by the present Pastor, the Rev. J. D. Jones,
M.A., B.D., who was Chairman of the Congregational Union
for 1909-10.

St. Andrew's Scotch Church was, excepting, of course,
St. Peter's, the only Church in the district for some years.
Being built of galvanized iron, its exterior was by no means
prepossessing, yet the interior arrangements were satisfactory.
Erected in 1857 at the foot of Richmond Hill, the accom-
modation was for 320 persons and cost £700, most of which
was raised by the indefatigable Pastor, the Rev. H. McMillan,
who, it should be mentioned, was presented with a gold
watch and appendage by his parishioners in April, 1861 ;
he resigned through ill-health in March, 1884. The iron

250 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

church did duly for fifteen years, when it was taken down,,
and a handsome stone building erected, the foundation stone
being laid by the Earl of Kintore on the 25th March, 1872, and
opened on the 19th November in the same year by the Rev.
Donald Fraser, D.D., of London. The Church was small,
though exceedingly well situated, and measured only 60 feet
by 37 feet. Here the Rev. James McGill was the Minister
after the resignation of Mr. McMillan. The cost of the building
including the site, was £4,000, a schoolroom and vestry being
under the Church.

In 1886 land was acquired in^ Exeter Road, where the
third and present handsome Church was erected. The land
on which the two earlier Churches stood became so valuable
that although only a very small piece o? ground the price of
£7,000 was obtained, or at the rate of £100,000 per acre. The
new Church and site cost about £12,000, which also includes
the provision of Sessions House, class and schoolroom.
The accommodation provides for aboiit 700 worshippers. The
Church is a handsome Gothic structure of Purbeck stone
and consists of nave, aisles, and tower, with spire 140 feet
in height. The local Presbyterians have been fortunate in
having a Pastor who has remained continuously with them
for 25 years— the Rev. J. W. Rodger being inducted to the
Pastorate on the 9th July, 1885. His brother, the Rev.
Hugh Rodger, joined him a few years ago, and shares the
burden of the work.

The Church of St. Mark, Bath Road, was opened in 1902.
The Pastor is the Rev. A. Morris Stewart, D.D.

The Baptist Church, designed by Mr. Creeke, is situated
in Lansdowne Road, and was opened on the 18th July, 1876,
the foundation stone having been laid in November of the
previous j^ear by Sir Morton Peto. The first Minister was
the Rev. H. C. Leonard ; the present Pastor being the Rev.
A. Corbet.

The Friends' Meeting House is a small but convenient
edifice, built in 1872, of red brick, the necessary funds being
raised by voluntary subscriptions among the members of
the Friends' Society in the country. The building accom-
modates about 100 persons, and the plans were prepared by
Mr. Creeke.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 251

Other Churches in the Borough not previously referred to
are as follows, the dates being those of opening :—

Congregational, : East Cliff Congregational Church,
Holdenhurst Road (1879) ; Westboiu-ne i Congregational
Church, Poole Road (1878) ; Charminster Road, in connec-
tion with Richmond Hill (1906) ; Christchurch Road, Bos-
combe (1887) ; Southbourne Road (1858) ; Malvern Road,
Moordown (1906) ; Wimborne Road, Winton (1884).

Wesleyan : Holdenhurst Road, Malmesbury Park (1907) ;
Darracott Road, Pokesdown (1907) ; Poole Road, Westbourne
(1898) ; Ashley Road, Boscombe (1893) ; Victoria Place,
Springbourne (1867) ; Wimborne Road, Winton.

Primitive Methodists : Commercial Road ; Boscombe
Grove Road ; Wimborne Road, Winton ; Hannington Road,
Pokesdown (1897) ; Nortoft Road, Malmesbury Park.

Baptists : Palmerston Road, Boscombe (1875) ; West
Cliff Tabernacle, Poole Road ; Harcourt Road, Pokesdown ;
Cardigan Road, Winton. < ' ' - " '

The Unitarian Church in West Hill Road was erected
in 1890, and has accommodation for 200 worshippers. The
Rev. C. C. Coe, F.R.G.S., is the Minister.

In addition to the foregoing there are numerous Parish
Halls, Mission Halls, and Mission Rooms in connection with
the various denominations, or as separate organizations.

CHAPTER XXV.

Parliamentary Representation.

Effort to Make Bournemouth a Paeliambntakt Borough — The Borouoh
OF Christchurch — Some Eminent Representatives — The Reform Bell
OF 1832 — Inclusion of Bournemouth — Mr. G-. W. Tapps Geevis the
First Member for the Extended Abea — Souvenirs of the 1844 and
1848 Elections — Sir Henry Wolff and the Bournemouth Reform
Bill — A Member Who Became a Judge— The Present Parliamentary
Electorate — Some Noted Statesmen : The Earl of Malmesbury —
The Earl of Shaftesbury — Lord Chancellor Cairns — The Right
Hon. W. H. Smith — Mb. Gladstone's Benediction.

Christchurch is the " mother town " of Bournemouth.
The Parhamentary borough bears also the name of Christ-
church, though more than four-fifths of the electors are
registered in the Bournemouth area. In 1885, at the time
when the last Redistribution Bill was under consideration,
the Board of Improvement Commissioners passed a resolu-
tion expressing their opinion that " the Parliamentary
Borough of Christchurch should in future be called the
Parliamentary Borough of Bournemouth," and Mr. Horace
(afterwards Lord) Davey was communicated with on the
matter. His reply was that an alteration would not come
within the scope of the authority of the Boundary Com-
missioners, and the matter could only be dealt with by
amendment moved to the Bill in " the House." He added :
" I doubt whether it would be consistent with the duty I
owe to all my constituents alike to moot it, and I don't
think such an amendment would be accepted by the Govern-
ment." Nothing resulted from the suggestion, and the
constituency continues to bear the title it has had for many
centuries.

Christchurch was summoned to send representatives to
the Parliament which met at Carlisle in 1307, in the reign
of Edward I., but the earliest record of actual representation
dates from the tiiirteenth year of the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth. Many of its members have been men of very marked
ability, who have occupied some of the highest and most

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 253

honourable positions in the country's service. In earlier
chapters reference has been made to Sir Peter Mews, who
built the mansion at Hinton Admiral, and to the accomplished
Mr. Banckes, son of the Sir Jacob Banckes who erected the
memorial to John Milton in Westminster Abbey, and who
had himself the distinction of having prompted the writing
of Hutchins' famous " History of Dorset." Then there was
Mr. Sturges Bourne, chiefly known for his Act regulating
Vestries ; Mr. Edward Hooper, Chairman of Customs, of
Heron Court, and his two distinguished relatives, James
Harris, " the amiable philosopher of Salisbury " (known
in current annals as " Hermes " Harris), and his son, the
great diplomatist, who became the first Earl of Malmesbury.
Of these two men Heron Court has many interesting mem-
orials : literary memorials of the former (the contemporary
and friend of Dr. Johnson), and quite a large collection of
valuable presents commemorating the services which the
latter rendered to the British Empire at the French, Russian,
Spanish, and Dutch Courts. These two— father and son—
at one period shared the representation between them,
for Christchurch at that time had the privilege of electing
two members. Mention must be made also of the " Roses " :
the Sir George Rose who in 1793 secured the passing of a
BUI— the Friendly Societies Charter of Liberty—" for the
protection and encouragement of friendly societies in the
Kingdom, for securing, by voluntary subscriptions of the
members, separate funds for the mutual relief and mainten-
ance of the members in sickness, old age, and infirmity " ;
the William Stewart Rose, the friend and host of Sir Walter
Scott ; and the Right Hon. George Henry Rose, who fought
the first contested election after Christchurch ceased to be
a " close " borough. Without pretending to observe any-
thing like strict chronological order, we may mention also
the eccentric Anthony Ettricke, Recorder of Poole— the
magistrate who sent the unfortunate Monmouth to London
after capture on Horton Heath. And we must not forget
Captain (afterwards Admiral) Harris, grandfather of the
present Earl of Malmesbury, who was twice elected — in
1844 and 1847— but resigned on being appointed Her
Majesty's Minister at Berne and the Hague.

254 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Up to the time of the passing of the Reform Bill in the
reign of William IV., notwithstanding that it was claimed
by the resident householders paying scot and lot, the right
of election was exercised exclusively by the Mayor and free
burgesses, resident and non-resident— that " Covporation "
whose standing toast was, " Prosperation to this Corpora-
tion," Mr. Hooper having the controlling power for the
long period of fifty years, and this being subsequently shared
between Lord Malmesbury and Mr. Rose. By the Act referred
to the privilege was extended to the £10 householders of
an enlarged district, which, by the Act 2nd and 3rd William
IV., Cap. 64, was for elective purposes incorporated with
the former borough. Then it was that the area which we
now know as Bournemouth first received representation as
part of the Parliamentary Borough of Christchurch, and the
first member elected under the new system was, as already
recorded, Mr. George William Tapps-Gervis, who originated
the " New Marine Village of Bourne."

We have before us two interesting souvenirs of the elections
in " the forties." The first is a record of the persons who
polled, and how they voted, in the election of March 28th,
1844, when Captain Harris and Mr. W. Tice were the candi-
dates, the former receiving 180 and the latter 96 votes.
The total nmnber of electors on the Register was 333, and of
these the following ten were apparently all who were resident
in any part of what is now the County Borough of Bourne-
mouth:— James Antle, Bourne; John Sydenham, Bourne-
mouth ; Wm. Castleman, Bournemouth ; George Rose,
Moredown ; John Sloman, Wick ; John Galton, Pokesdown ;
Robert Brinson, Tuckton ; Richard Dale, Tuckton ; James
Allen, Boscombe ; and Robert Best, jun., Pokesdown.
The second souvenir is the Register for 1848, from which we
note that the freemen had diminished from four to two (Mr.
Wm. Hiscock and the Right Hon. Sir George Henry Rose),
and the number of other electors to 311, including among
whom we notice the names of the Revs. A. M. Bennett, Mr.
James Lampard (of the Bath Hotel), Mr. James Lodge and
Mr. David Tuck (of Boscombe), the Rev. E. G. Bayly,
Messrs. J. Bell, M. Boyd, J. Domone, J. S. E. Drax, R. Elgie,

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 255

G. Fox, J. Hibidage, G. Ledgard, J. Sweatman, J. Sydenham,
and David and Peter Tuck.

Captain Harris was succeeded by Captain (afterwards
Admiral) J. E. Walcott, a cousin of the famous Lord Lyons,
and himseli a distinguished naval officer. Elected in 1852,
he held the seat till 1868, and is said to have been greatly
respected throughout the borough " for his genial and happy
disposition, and for his earnest endeavour to benefit his native
town and its neighbourhood." He was a liberal subscriber
to the building fund of Pokesdown Church, where a window
to his memory was erected in 1870.

In 1865, Admiral Walcott had as his Liberal opponent,
ilr. Edmund Haviland Burke, a family connection of the
well-known statesman, and father of the Mr. Haviland Burke
who now sits in " the House " as the representative of an
Irish constituency. This was the first election in which there
was a polling station in Bournemouth. The Admiral had
an easy victory, for he polled 211 votes as against his oppo-
nent's 143. But Mr. Burke found his opportunity in Novem-
ber, 1868, when he obtained the support of 609 electors, as
against the 560 votes recorded for Sir Henry Drummond
Wolff.

In his " Rambling Recollections," Sir Henry has told how
he began his exertions to repair his electioneering mishaps.
" From Lord Malmesbury I had purchased a small building
property near the sea, in the neighbourhood of Bourne-
mouth, and had there built a house, which I began to inhabit
in 1868." The borough of Christchurch, he adds, " was a
peculiar one. It covered an area of between thirty and
forty square miles, and comprised a large variety of interests.
There was the building interest at Bournemouth. There were
also fishermen and agriculturists ; and, to meet the require-
ments of this large population, the laundry interest had
great developments." " When a Reform Bill passed, pro-
hibiting the use, by candidates or their agents, of conveyances
to take voters to the poll, the agents of Christchurch and
Poole hit upon a notable expedient. The agent at Poole
conveyed the electors to Christchurch, and the Christchurch
agent conveyed the electors to Poole. This plan, however,
only lasted one election, I fear."

256 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Sir Henry wooed the electors with such effect that when
the next election came, in 1874, he secured return with the
handsome majority of 371. Thus commenced a most dis-
tinguished career, leading on from stage to stage to the
highest diplomatic appointments and also to great political
distinction. In 1875 Sir Henry brought in a Bill which was
called the " House Occupiers' Disqualification Removal
Bill," which was suggested to him by the condition of the
electorate at Bournemouth, and which Sir William Harcourt
dubbed " The Bournemouth Reform Bill." " By the law,
as it then stood, all householders were debarred from letting
their houses furnished without disqualifying themselves as
voters. This was a great grievance to persons of moderate
means. The Bill enabled owners of houses to let their tene-
ments furnished for four months in every year without having
their names taken off the register, and thus made it possible
for them to enjoy their annual holiday." " I believe— "
adds Sir Henry, in his work already quoted—" the Bill has
worked successfully." We cannot here attempt a long
review of Sir Henry's Parliamentary career : it will, perhaps,
be sufficient to say that he became recognised as one of the
ablest debaters in the House (as early as 1876 he " had
the honour of being answered by Mr. Gladstone himself "),
he is credited with having been the creator of the Primrose
League, and he was one of the members of the historic
" Fourth Party."

In 1880 Sir Henry was elected as M.P. for Portsmouth,
his place at Christchiirch being filled by Mr. Horace Davey,
who in a subsequent Parliament became Solicitor General,
and at a later stage was promoted to a Judgeship and raised to
the peerage as Lord Davey. Mr. Davey's candidature was
supposed to have frightened Sir Henry away from Christ-
church in 1880; but, however that may be, there is this
personal incident to record : In 1885 Sir Henry supported
Mr. Davey in an amendment which he moved to the Registra-
tion Bill, providing that medical or surgical attendance, or
the giving of medicine, should not be deemed to constitute
parochial relief within the meaning of the Representation
of the People Act. The proposal, however, was lost, the

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 257

Government not being able to accept it as an amendment to
a Registration Bill.

Mr. Davey, whose association with the Borough is com-
memorated on the Pier Clock, which he presented to the town
in 1880, was succeeded in 1885 by Mr. C. E. Baring Young,
who was re-elected in 1886. Mr. Abel Henry Smith, another
champion of the Conservative party, was elected in 1892
and again in 1895, after which he withdrew in response to an
invitation to represent a Hertfordshire constituency with
which his family had been long and honourably associated.
In 1900, Major Kenneth Balfour and the Hon. T. A. Brassey,
who had been school-boys together in Bournemouth, and
both of whom had been recently doing military service in
South Africa, were the two candidates, and the former won
by the narrow majority of three votes. In 1906 there was
such a swing of the pendulum that Mr. A. A. Allen— a gentle-
man who both before and since has rendered valuable service
on the London County Council — was returned with a majority
of 567 ; but he lost the seat in 1910, when there was another
violent swing of the pendulum, Mr. Henry Page Croft, one
of the active organizers of the Tariff Reform party, securing
election with a majority of 731.

The electorate of the Parliamentary Borough of Christ-
church totals 10,991, of whom no less than 9,347 are regis-
tered to poll in the Municipal borough of Bournemouth.

To this review of Parliamentary representation it may be
appropriate to add a reference to Bournemouth's associa-
tion with some of the great political leaders. In the Preface
of his Grace the Duke of Argyll mention is made of the fact
that " much of the history of England during the time of
Lord Derby's Administration was guided by the Earl of
Malmesbury," one of Bournemouth's ground landlords and
a near neighbour, and we have ourselves quoted from his
lordship's reminiscences of Bournemouth far back into the
last century, when he came hither as to " the most secluded
spot in England " with his friend and relative the " good "
Earl Shaftesbury. Lord Shaftesbiiry, we may add, was in
various ways associated with Bournemouth ; he took a
great interest in its development, and laid the foundation
stone of Holy Trinity Church in June, 1868. Ashley Road,

258 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Boscombe, was so named by some of his admirers, just
as a neighbouring road was named Palmerston Road in
commemoration of the great Statesman who formerly repre-
sented South Hants, in which county constituency Bourne-
mouth was included. Lord Shaftesbury's noble work for
the poor and for the general uplifting of humanity is com-
memorated also in the title— Shaftesbury Hall— given to
the great public meeting-place now owned by the Young
Men's Christian Association ; while an adjoining building—
the Cairns Memorial Hall— bears the honottred name of that
great lawyer and statesman, the first Earl Cairns, for many
years Lord Chancellor of England, who, even during the time
of his Chancellorship, found opportunity to conduct a Bible
Class in Bournemouth, and apparently esteemed such
comparatively lowly service as neither undignified nor
inconsistent with the highest duty towards an earthly
monarch. Lord Cairns lived at Bournemouth during the
whole time of his Chancellorship ; he died here, and was
laid to rest in the Cemetery, his funeral being attended,
among others, by his last political chief, the Marquis of
Salisbury. It was during Lord Cairns' first Chancellorship,
we may add, that Mr. Disraeli (afterwards Lord Beaconsfield)
paid the visit to Bournemouth to which reference has already
been made. The Right Hon. W. H. Smith, another great
Conservative statesman, was also at one time very promin-
ently associated with Bournemouth, as was also his father,
the founder of the well-known publishing firm, to whose
memory there is a beautiful tracery window in the Sanatorium
Chapel. We must recall the fact, too, that it was at Bourne-
mouth that Mr. Gladstone made his last public utterance—
those few brief words which were a benediction alike upon
the town and " the land we love." He had come here intend-
ing, if his life were spared, to remain for some time ; but
his sufferings increased, and, having at last consented to the
calling in of a speciaiist, the discovery was made that the
disease was mortal, and that the end would not be long
delayed. " The illustrious invalid," says Sir Wemyss Reid,
" received the announcement not so much with calmness as
with a serene joy. . . . The announcement that
his end was inevitable and near was hailed by him as a

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 259

prisoner hails the order of release . . . But his desire
was to die at home, amid the familiar surroundings of the
house where he had spent his best years, in the peaceful
seclusion of his family life. So, quickly following upon the
announcement of the surgeons, he made his last journey
from Bournemouth to Hawarden. One most pathetic
incident attended that journey. The news that he was
leaving Bournemouth spread abroad in the town, and some
inkling of the truth as to his condition had leaked out. When
he reached the railway station there was a crowd awaiting
his arrival, and as he walked with almost vigorous step
across the platform, someone called out, ' God bless you,
Sir.' Instantly he turned, and facing the uncovered crowd,
lifted his hat, and in the deep tones which men knew so well,
said ' God bless you all, and this place, and the land we love.'
This benediction was Mr. Gladstone's last utterance in
public."

CHAPTER XXVI.

Some Literary Associations.

The Poet Shelley — ^William and Mary Woij:.stoneckapt Godwin —
" Vindication of the Eights op Women " by " A Hyena in Petti-
coats " — The Romance op " Pbankenstein " — Shelley's Death in
THE Gulp op Spezzia — Mart Shelley's Bukial at Bournemouth —
Shelley's Heart — The Cenotaph at Christchurch Priory — Robert
Louis Stevenson at " Skebryvore " — Dedication op " Underwoods "
TO A Bournemouth Doctor — " The Strange Story op Dr. Jekyll
AND Mr. Hyde " — Sib Percy Shelley and " The Master op Ballan-
TBAE " — Stevenson and Thomas Hardy — Sir Henby Taylor and His
Amusing Description op Bournemouth in 1861 — James Payn's Adven-
ture — John Keble and Canon Twells — Dr. Johnson and " Hermes "
Harris.

Sir Percy Florence Shelley, who for a long period of years
resided at Boscombe Manor, was a son of the poet Percy
Bysshe Shelley, who was accidentally drowned while yachting
in the Gulf of Spezzia in 1822. The widow, Mary Wollstone-
craft Shelley, survived her husband for many years, and on
her death on the 1st February, 1851, her son caused the
body to be buried in a vault in St. Peter's Churchyard.
To this tomb he at the same time transferred from St. Pancras
Churchj'^ard the bodies of her father and mother, William
Godwin and Mary WoUstonecraft Godwin.

William Godwin was the author of a work entitled " Political
Justice," which, in its time, attracted much attention and
criticism. His wife's " Vindication of the Rights of Women,"
" temperate as it appears to-day, roused a very whirlwind
of abuse. Horace Walpole was only voicing the general
opinion when he called the author by the cruel name of a
' hyena in petticoats.' " Our quotation is from a recent work
on " Famous Blue Stockings," by Ethel Rolt Wheeler.
Professor Henry Morley, whose criticism is discriminating,
says that " the book, with a few touches characteristic
of its time, was wholesome and, indeed, essentially religious,
in its tone, the greater part of it having been justified by
the experience of after years. Its plea was almost wholly
for the rights of women to such education as would enable
them to win strength for right living, and would not confine

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 261

the means of intellectual and moral growth so commonly to
the training of men as to ' give a sex to virtue.' "

Mrs. Godwin died in giving birth to a daughter, who
survived and grew to womanhood, and married the poet
SheUey. Inheriting the literary instincts of her parents, at
the age of nineteen she wrote a remarkable and exciting
story entitled " Frankenstein," which Sir Walter Scott is
said to have "preferred to any of his ownromances." Included
in the " Treasm-e House of Tales by Great Authors " are
a number of other works by the same talented lady, respecting
whom Dr. Garnett comments as follows : " The artistic
merit of her tales will be diversely estimated, but no writer
will refuse the authoress facility of invention, or command of
language, or elevation of soul." Of " Frankenstein " he says :
"It is famous. It is full of faults venial in an author of
nineteen ; but apart from the wild grandetir of the conception,
it has that which even the maturity of some talent never
attains— the insight of genius which looks below the appear-
ance of things, perhaps even reverses its first conception by
the discovery of some underlying truth."

Sir Percy Shelley was desirous of rearing some further
memorial to his father and mother, and the beautiful marble
cenotaph which now stands in the tower of Christchurch
Priory was first offered to St. Peter's Church, but declined,
on the ground, so it is said, that it would make the church
into a show-place. Shelley, it will be remembered, was
drowned by the upsetting of a boat in the Gulf of Spezzia
in July, 1822. On his body being recovered, it was cremated
and the ashes reverently buried in the English Cemetery at
Rome. But the heart was snatched from the flames by
one of his friends, and for many years it was among the collec-
tion of relics of the great poet which Sir Percy and Lady
Shelley so lovingly cherished as Boscombe Manor. As men-
tioned above, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was buried in
St. Peter's Churchyard on her death in 1851. The occasion
thus inspired a Fordingbridge correspondent of the " Poole
Herald " :-

Oh, Mary, thou sleepest, far, far from thy lover,

The poet, thy husba.nd, the dear one to thee ;
With kisses the zephyrs his smooth bed e'er cover,

Whilst thou hear'st the wail of the sombre pine tree.

262 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

The dove cooeth for him a mournful regret,

Italia's green myrtles, too, over him wave ;
And so starry the blossoms around him are set.

His spirit seems changed to the flow'rs o'er his grave.

Sleep thou to the song of the hoarse-voiced water,—
To the buzz of the! wild bee, that wing'd minstrel elf ;

The bard's honoar'd wife, of talent a daughter,
Companion of genius, a genius thyself.

Ay, sleep, with thy white palms press'd close to thy sides.
While the heath purples o'er thy death frozen breast;

Smooth palms, that a Shelley once clasp'd as his bride's.
Soft breast that the lip of his infant once press'd.

And know that the angels can watch o'er thy bed.

Though seagulls flit round it, and wild tempests rave ;

While with lordly defiance each wave rears its head,
To part thee for aye from that lov'd southern grave.

But " Mary " and " her lover " sleep at last in the same
grave ; on the death of Sir Percy, the heart of the father was
placed in the coffin of the son ! William and Mary Godwin,
Percy Bysshe and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, and the
late Sir Percy and Lady Shelley are all interred in the one
vault in St. Peter's Churchyard.

At Boscombe Manor, Lord Abinger still has the original
cast of the cenotaph by Weeks, together with a collection
of letters by the Godwins and the Shelleys, by Samuel Rogers
(the banker poet), by Trelawney, by Keats, and others,
including the last letters which Keats wrote to Shelley on
going to Rome. Lord Abinger has also the manuscript of
" Frankenstein"— shown some years ago in the Keats-Shelley
Exhibition, —replicas of the portraits of Godwin and Mary
Wollstonecraft now in the National Portrait Gallery, a
portrait of Godwin by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and many other
souvenirs of writers whose true greatness has only been
appreciated since their death. Shelley's last home on the
Gulf of Spezzia, we may add, formed the subject of the
drop scene in the Boscombe Manor Theatre, where, as
already recorded, so many delightful entertainments were
formerly given.

Boiu-nemouth was for three years the home of Robert
Louis Stevenson, one of the most captivating and one of the
greatest novel writers of the nineteenth century. These
three years— 1884 to 1887— although in the matter of health
the worst and most trying of his life, were, in the matter of
work, some of the most active and successful. According to

BOURNEMOUTH : 1810-1910. 263

Mr. Colvin, Stevenson "found in the heaths and pinewoods
here some distant semblance of the landscape of his native
Scotland, and in the sandy curves of the Channel Coast
a passable substitute for the bays and promontories of his
beloved Mediterranean." For the first two or three months
the Stevensons occupied a lodging house on the West Cliff,
called " Wensleydale " ; for the next three or four, from
December, 1884, to March, 1885, they were tenants of a
house called " Bonallie Towers," pleasantly situated amid
the pinewoods at Branksome Park, and lastly, about Easter,
1885, they entered into occupation of a house of their own,
given by the elder Stevenson to his son, and re-named by the
latter " Skerryvore," in reminiscence of one of the great
lighthouse works carried out by the family firm off the Scottish
coast. Here he lived, according to his own description,
" like a weevil in a biscuit," and here it was that, notwith-
standing the almost perpetual handicap of serious ill-health,
he achieved some of his finest work. " Kidnapped " belongs
to this period ; so, too, does " Underwoods "—which he
dedicated to Dr. T. B. Scott and others of the medical profes-
sion—and the phenomenably successful story of " Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde " was also produced at Bournemouth. " A
subject much in his thought at this time," says Mr. Graham
Balfour, " was the duality of man's nature and the alternation
of good and evil ; and he was for a long while casting about
for a story to embody this central idea. Out of this frame
of mind had come the sombre imagination of ' Markheim,'
but that was not what he requued. The true story still
delayed, till suddenly one night he had a dream. He awoke,
and found himself in possession of two or rather three of
the scenes in the ' Strange Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde,' " " Skerryvore " was an ivy-covered house pleas-
antly situated at the head of Alum Chine, with a garden,
which was " an endless pleasure to Mrs. Stevenson." The
house, which stands at the foot of Middle Road, Westbourne,
still bears the same name. Some day, perhaps, an enlightened
authority will mark the spot with an appropriate tablet.

Among Stevenson's greatest friends at Bournemouth were
Sir Percy and Lady Shelley, the latter of whom took " the
greatest fancy " to him, and " discovering in him a close

264. BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

likeness to her renowned father-in-law, she forthwith claimed
him as her son." Away in far Samoa, Stevenson remembered
his old friends at Bournemouth, as is shown by the dedica-
tion of " The Master of Ballantrae " to his " fellow sea-farers
and sea-lovers," Sir Percy and Lady Shelley. Other Bourne-
mouth friends included Sir Henry Taylor and his wife and
daughters, and it is recorded that on Stevenson leaving
England his friends had to scour London one Sunday after-
noon to secure a copy of " The Woodlanders," by Thomas
Hardy— the only book he was anxious to take with him on
the voyage.

Sir Henry Taylor was a resident in Bournemouth for a
period of a quarter of a century, and wrote of it as being
" beautiful beyond any seaside place he had ever seen,"
except the Riviera. Of the " live beauties and the humani-
ties " he was not so enamoured, and we find him describing
the residents of 1861-62 as comprising " two clergymen, two
doctors, three widows, and six old maids. Of these, the
doctors and two of the widows have families. The clergymen
and the old maids have none." The " old maids " he describes
as " very various " ; of the widows he had at the time of
writing, only seen one : " she is all purity and refinement,
but has no more taste than the white of an egg."

Sir Henry Taylor was the author, among other works, of
" Philip Van Artevelde," one of the famous dramatic poems
of the last centixry, the subject of which is said to have been
suggested to him by his friend Robert Southey, Poet Laureate.
Sir Henry was for many years in the Colonial service,
and his work received the reward of a knighthood. Still
higher distinction was at one time contemplated, for it is re-
corded in his autobiography that Lord Russell designed for him
one of the peerages which it was proposed to create under
the "Life Peerage Bill" of 1869. The Bill referred to passed
second reading in the House of Lords, but was defeated on
third reading through the energy and persuasive power of
the Earl of Malmesbury, who offered the most vigorous
opposition, "converting to my views both my leaders and
many others who had supported the Bill.*

• "Memoirs of an Ex-Minister,"

\ '

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 265

James Payn was another penman who was a great admirer
of Bournemouth. His last visit was in the winter of 1893-4,
when, as he subsequently told the readers of the " Illustrated
London News," in one of his charming letters, he had an
experience which came very near to cutting short the thread
of life. He was staying at the time at Boscombe, and was
being professionally attended by Dr. Nunn. While riding
in Bournemouth he had a sudden and severe attack of
hemorrhage. He just managed to give the cabman the
address of his medical adviser, and inaugurated his arrival
by a fainting fit on the doorstep. For a time, we are told,
he himg between life and death ; but, later in the evening,
was sent home in an ambulance. " Our way," wrote Mr.
Payn, " lay under fir trees, with the crescent moon above
them, and as I looked up I said to myself (very unreasonably,
but I was not in a position to be logical), ' I am being buried,
and a very handsome collection of plumes has been provided
by the undertaker.' There was, indeed, a mile and a half
of them." " But," he added, " the whole expedition was
most successful."

John Keble, the author of " The Christian Year," spent
the last days of his sainted life at Bournemouth, and has
no less than three memorials : the " Minstrel Window " in
St. Peter's Church, erected shortly after his death ; the
Keble Chapel in the same building, dedicated only a short
time ago ; and a memorial tablet on the house where he
spent his last days— a house known as " Brookside," over-
looking the Lower Pleasure Gardens and the Pier Approach.
Canon Twells, who wrote the popular hymn " At even, ere
the sun was set," built and founded the Church of St.
Augustin, Wimborne Road, is appropriately commemorated
on a memorial cross fronting the building, and has been
succeeded in the vicariate by another hymnologist, the Rev.
S. C. Lowry.

Comment has been made elsewhere on the references to
Botu-nemouth— the " Pleasure City of Detached Mansions "
—in Thomas Hardy's " Tess of the D'Urbervilles," and in
Besant and Rice's " Seamy Side " and other works. " Local
colour " will also be found in works by R. D. Blackmore
(" Craddock Nowell "), Conan Doyle, Orme Angus, John

266 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

Oxenham, James Baker, and some others. The Rev.
Mackenzie Walcott, several times quoted in these pages as
a writer of local handbooks, was a son of Admiral Walcott,
formerly M.P. for Christchurch ; and the Rev. Richard
Warner lived for many years at Christchurch. Dr. George
Macdonald was for many years a resident at Bournemouth ;
" Rob Roy " Macgregor not only lived here, but took an active
interest in many local institutions ; his Majesty IGng Oscar
of Sweden and Norv/ay, who led a literary life unexampled
among European Royalty, twice visited the " Evergreen
Valley," and laid the foundation stone of the Hotel Mont
Dore ; Adeline Sergeant, Guy Boothby (the creator of the
famous " Dr. Nikola "), and Dr. Cunningham Geikie each spent
their closing days here ; M. Vladimir Tchertkoff, Tolstoy's
literary representative in this country, has had the superinten-
dence of the Russian colonj^ at Tuckton ; and "Rita" and
" Clive Holland " are well-known present-day residents. Men-
tion has been made of the Christmas letter Mr. Benjamin Disraeli
wrote to Thomas Carlyle from the Bath Hotel, and of Huxley's
letters written from a house overlooking Durley Chine. In
another chapter also reference has been made to William
Stewart Rose, friend and host of Sir Walter Scott, and
formerly M.P. for Christchurch, and to " Hermes " Harris, of
Heron Court, the great philosophical writer described by
Boswell as " a very learned man " and declared by Gold-
smith " to be what is much better," — " a worthy, humane
man." Dr. Johnson was not so sure as Boswell of Mr. Harris's
learning ; " his friends give him out as such, but I know not
who of his friends are able to judge of it." A lady member
of the family, we ^may add, avenged Johnson's slighting
observation by leaving record of her impression of Dr.
Johnson as a man who seemed to be possessed of no bene-
volence, to be beyond all description awkward, untidy in
dress and person, and a nasty and ferocious feeder !

CHAPTER XXVII.

Bournemouth in 1910.

Some Eemakkabee Contkasts : Population, Eateable VALtrRs, and
MtrNicrPAi Expenditure — Coeporation Employees — Capital Invest-
ments IN BoxTRXEMOUTn : Many Millions — The Wild Heathland
and swamp,';fof':!l810 contrasted "with the beauty op 1910, with
Modern Luxury antd Convenience — The Tree -Planting Policy op
Estate Owners and the Corporation — Bournemouth's Attraction —
A Development Yet to be Looked For : Bournemouth a City t

We come at last to a consideration of Bournemouth as we
find it in the year of grace 1910, on the eve of the grand
Centenary Fetes planned in celebration of the visit and
settlement of the first " proprietor resident " in 1810— that
Mr. Lewis Tregonwell to whom we have so frequently referred
as having been the first to " bring Bournemouth into notice
as a watering place." Marvellous are the changes which
have been effected in the century. Still more striking are
the contrasts presented if we limit our survey to the last
half-century, or to the period which has elapsed since the
passing of the Bournemouth Improvement and Pier Act
of 1856, and the first establishment of any system of local
government : the starting, if we may so describe it, of the
first piece of machinery for the administration of town
affairs in the general interest of the whole community.
Let us look for a moment at some of these developments
and what they connote.

The area of the Commissioners' district— the Bournemouth
as it then existed— in 1856, was, as we have shown, 1,140
acres, and the sea-frontage extended for two miles
along the Bay. To-day, the area of the County Borough
of Bournemouth is 5,850 acres, and the sea-frontage is
nearly six miles. In 1856, the population of Bournemouth
was a few hundred only ; in 1910 it is estimated at
nearly 80,000. The rateable value of the district in 1856
was about £5,000, and a shilling rate was estimated to
produce a sum of £282 13s. The last rate made by the
Borough Overseers (including provision for the levies of

268 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

the Board of Guardians as well as of the Town Council)
was for a sum of upwards of £161,000 ! The total Revenue
expenditure by the County Borough Council during the
year ended the 31st March, 1909, is reported by the Local
Government Board's District Auditor (Mr. Harold Locke),
— " inclusive of a sum of £34,530 3s. Id. expended on Higher
and Elementary Education,"— to have " amounted to
£315,989 10s. 4d "—approximately £1,000 a day for every
working day of the year, And this for a town which, in
1856, had a population of but a few hundred persons !

In a previous chapter we have quoted the number of
employees in the Tramways Department as over 450 ; the
staffs for whom the Education Committee have responsibility
total nearly as many— or slightly more if we include the
teaching staff of Bournemouth School and teachers, in
various departments, only rendering part-time service. The
gross total of employees— salaried and wage-earning— in all
departments is upwards of 1,600— or about double as many
as the total population of the town about fifty years ago.

Bournemouth, as we have shown, has risen through
various stages to the status of a County Borough. It is
also included in the list of places recognised as " Great
Towns " by the Registrar-General. It has a Municipal
electorate of about 11,500, of whom about 2,850 are ladies —
an unusually large proportion, even for a health and pleasure
resort ! The huge development which has been brought
about is the result not merely of initial natural advantage,
of judicious, persistent, and timely efiort both of private
and public enterprise, but of the unstinting expenditure of
money. The ratealsle value of the County Borough is now
upwards of £650,000— as compared with about £5,000 in
1856. We shall not, we believe, be over-estimating if we
assume that, including churches, chapels, and schools not
rated, this represents a capital investment of, say, ten
millions sterling. To this we have to add the expenditure
by the London and South Western Railway Company on
the provision of railway accommodation in and for Bourne-
mouth, the invested capital of the Gas and Water Company,
and the expenditure by the Electricity Supply Company
and the National Telephone Company, adding, say, another

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 269

two and a half millions. The direct expenditiire by the
Corporation itself has been enormous. The accounts for the
year ended the 31st March, 1910, show that at that date
the Municipal debt on reproductive undertakings totalled
£487,673, and that on non-productive undertakings £410,413,
making up a gross total of £898,086 as the balance at present
remaining undischarged of a very much larger investment.
In their early years the Commissioners were faced with
considerable difficulty through the poverty of their financial
resources, and upon one occasion had to apply to the National
Provincial Bank for a temporary loan of £200 to carry out
works most urgently necessary. At the present time—
pending a new issue of Corporation Stock— the same Bank
allows the Corporation an overdraft up to £250,000,— which,
coming from such a quarter, is very conclusive testimony
of Bournemouth's status in the Money Market.

Other comparisons are no less striking. Bournemouth in
1810 was a wild heathland— its central feature an undrained
swamp— practically without population, and rarely visited
except by a few sportsmen, an occasional pic-nic party from
Poole, Wimborne, or Christchurch, or by bands of smugglers
engaged in the illicit traffic which was then so common
along all our coasts. Nearly half a century after the coming
of Mr. Tregonwell, and more than half a centmry after the
planting of the first pine trees, Bournemouth was still a
mere village, remote from any railway station, lacking all
the conveniences of modern life (except a few bathing
machines— luxuries which, apparently, were first introduced
by the Tregonwells), and, beautiful though the sea-front
may have been, the Valley lacked all its present charm,
and, in its undrained, boggy condition could hardly have
been salubrious. To-day Bournemouth has one of the best
railway services in the Kingdom, bringing it into such
direct association with all the great centres of population
that one may travel, not only to and from the Metropolis,
but to and from the most distant towns in the North, and
from Scotland itself, without change of carriage, and with
all the luxury and convenience which corridor cars and
luncheon and dining saloons afford. Well organised steam-
boat services give communication with places along the

270 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

coast, east and west, and occasionally across the Channel
to France or the Channel Islands. Upwards of 600 acres of
Parks, Pleasure Grounds, and other open spaces provide
for the recreation of the people. The Valley, for something
like two miles inland from the sea, is one continuous pano-
rama of ever-changing beauty ; while Piers and Skating
Rinks, Municipal Golf Links, Cricket and Football Grounds,
tennis and croquet lawns, hockey grounds and bowling greens,
provide abundance of other means of amusement and recrea-
tion. There are Theatres and other places of entertainment,
and the Symphony and Orchestral Concerts, which are the
prominent features of the Winter Gardens entertainments,
are unrivalled by any provincial town in the Kingdom.
Nor is there any lack of provision for the moral and intellectual
life of the people. Bournemouth's expenditure on Churches
has been of the most liberal— we might almost say lavish —
character ; it has established, and is still developing, its
Public Libraries ; and its expenditure on institutions for the
education of the people— at first, almost exclusively from
funds voluntarily subscribed, and latterly from the public
revenues— has been marked with the same appreciation
of the wisdom of thoroughness and of such provision as will
meet, and adequately and properly meet, all the reasonable
requirements of the growing population.

Here we would like to emphasise a fact which is not, we
fear, always recognised. As the years have rolled by, Bourne-
mouth has grown, not less, but increasingly beautiful. The
planting of the pine trees laid the foundation of much of the
prosperity which Bournemouth has attained. But the
suggestion one sometimes hears that Bournemouth is being
ruined by the destruction of its pine trees is entirely mis-
leading. We may all regret the loss of the pine woods ; but
the pine trees are with us still, and, taking the whole area of
what we now call Bournemouth, probably the trees are more
in number than they were, say, sixty or seventy years ago.
All the large estate owners and the Corporation have what we
may call a tree-planting policy. Trees have to be cut down
to make room for the building of houses ; but the detached
system of building is still the general rule, and every
garden has its trees. They are not all pine trees, and

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 271

it is fortunate that they are not, for the pine, with all its
good qualities, unrelieved by other foliage, presents
a sombrous appearance. Acacia and " May," laburnum
and mountain ash, copper beech and silver birch, give welcome
relief to the monotony of the pines, and the rhododendron
completes the charm. And the tree-planting still goes on.
In the Chines, for instance— where rusticity has not been
entirely lost, but much beauty added, as well as convenience
and accessibility. What wonder that a place with this charm
is so popular a rendezvous for the conferences of important
bodies such as the British Medical Association, the Institute
of Journalists, the Association of Municipal Treasurers and
Accountants, the Congregational Union of England and
Wales, the Grocers' Federation, the High Court of the
Ancient Order of Foresters, various Brigades of Volun-
teers, for occasional meetings of the Royal Counties' Agri-
cultural Society, or as a Rendezvous for his Majesty's Fleets—
—as in 1907, when the Home Fleet anchored in the Bay
for some days, receiving a hearty civic welcome from the
Mvmicipal Authority !

And with it all Bournemouth remains true to its descrip-
tion as " a new world within an old," for every visitor is struck
with its appearance of modernity — with all the advantage
which that implies— and everyone who makes the least inquiry
finds himself equally impressed with its " old-world " sur-
roundings. In one instance there is a strange perversion of
this order, for Bournemouth possesses a local institution
which is older than itself. We refer to the Masonic Lodge of
Hengist, No. 195, which was established at Christchurch as
far back as 1770— or forty years before the memorable visit
of the " Founder of Bournemouth." It was transferred to
Bournemouth in 1851, and has now three companion Lodges
associated with the craft : Lodge Boscombe, No. 2158
(established 1886) ; Lodge Horsa, No. 2208 (established
1887); and Lodge Rowena, No. 3180 (established 1907),
together with other branches of Masonic Art, as duly
chronicled by Mr. C. J. Whitting in his " History of the
Lodge of Hengist."

From the small beginnings of 1810, when Mr Tregonwell
found it necessary to build a house for his occupation before

272 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810—1910.

he could attempt to settle here, Bournemouth has grown,
as these pages have revealed, till to-day it is a Great Town,
including nearly fifteen thousand houses. Its resident popu-
lation is large, and there is a continual stream of visitors
all the year round. Included among its guests have been
many royal and distinguished personages — some of whom
have come again and again, testifying to their great apprecia-
tion of the town's climatic and other attractions. It is
impossible to give an exhaustive list. Mention has already
been made of the visits paid by his late Majesty King
Edward VII. in 1856 and in 1900 ; by our present King,
George V., in 1890 ; and by H.R.H. the Princess Louise,
Duchess of Argyll, in 1863 and 1903. Others associated
with the Royal House of this country have included H.R.H.
the Duke of Connaught, H.R.H. the Princess Beatrice in
1902, T.R.H. the Duke and Duchess of Coburg (formerly
the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh), H.R.H. the Duchess
of Albany, H.R.H. Prince Henry of Battenberg, H.R.H.
Princess Christian, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and
Duchess of Teck, and H.R.H. Princess Alexandra of Teck.
Other royal visitors have included H.IM. the Emperor of
Germany, the Empress of Austria, the late King of the
Belgians, two Ex-Queens of France (Queen Amelie and the
Empress Eugenie)— and we must not forget the very note-
worthy visits of the late King and Queen of Sweden and
Norway and the " royal wedding " which took place in
St. Stephen's Church in 1888, when Prince Oscar married
Miss Ebba Munck, one of the ladies of her Majesty's Court.
King Oscar's speech on the occasion of the laying of the
foundation stone of the Hotel Mont Dore, with its fine
testimony to the Bournemouth climate, and to that " charm-
ing evergreen which to northern eyes has so great a value,"
is still remembered, and the hope of Bournemouth is that
all its visitors, like his Majesty and his Royal Consort, may,
when they come, have a " happy time," and leave it, as
they did, with the declaration that " never will we forget
this place, but ever will we with the greatest interest hear
of its prosperity and welfare."

Mrs. M. Ware, of Boscombe, has the distinction of being
the oldest native still resident in the Borough. She was

The JFayok (Couxcillor (;. E. Bridge).

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 273

■born in 1827, and has lived here ever since. On the country's
roll of fame appears the names of two other natives : the
late Sir Charles Parker Butt and Sir Hubert Parry, the
former eminent in Law, the latter one of the most popular
musical composers of the present day.

The long series of interesting events Avhich it has been
our pleasure to chronicle are to culminate shortly in a grand
Centenary Celebration, under the arrangement of an influen-
tial and representative Committee, with the Right Worshipful
the Mayor (Councillor G. E. Bridge, J.P.) as President. We
cannot anticipate the result of that effort, but writing on
the eve of the Celebration we should be lacking in our duty
did we not put on record the fact that a guarantee fund of
nearly £30,000 attests the determination of the townspeople
to make the celebration worthy of the occasion. The Com-
mittee presided over by Councillor Bell is an unofficial body ;
but it is representative, nevertheless, and the personal
enthusiasm of the Mayor may, we hope, be taken as an
index of the feeling of the whole Corporation—" Mayor,
Aldermen, and burgesses " of every degree.

What yet remains to be accomplished ? We have seen
how Bournemouth has passed through various metamor-
phoses ; how it has grown from village to town, how it became
a municipal borough, and how, at length, it attained to its
present position as a County and Quarter Sessions Borough,
with the highest privileges given to any of the local governing
authorities in this country. But there is one step yet to be
taken. We hope to see Bournemouth become a City.
It was denominated a " City of Pines " years ago ; that
designation we hope will some day— and at no very distant
day either— secure official recognition and Bournemouth be in
fact as well as in popular designation a City. Bournemouth,
we are confident, has not yet reached the zenith of its fame :
not yet attained to the full measure of its potential develop-
ment. It has nearly three miles of sea frontage not yet built
upon, and north and east of the borough there are still large
tracts of heathland and pinewood which sooner or later will
hecome incorporated in the City of Pines !

274 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

APPENDIX A.

CHAIRMEN OF COMMISSIONERS FROM 1856 TO 1890.

Owing to an oversight at the General Meeting a regular Chairman was
not appointed for the year 1857-8. Of the fifteen Meetings held during that
year, the Board were presided over by Mr. G. Ledgard on three occasions ;
by Mr. C. W. Packe a similar number of times ; by Mr. Henry Dickinson eight
times (he died in 1859) ; and by Sir George Gervis once.

Cassels, John, 1875-6.

Cox, Matthew Henry, 1867-8.

Fisher, William, 1888-9, 1889-90.

Haggard, James, 1870-1.

Hankinson, Thomas J., 1876-7.

Hartley, Captain James, September, 1883, to April, 1884, 1884-5.

Jennings, Edward, 1881-2, 1882-3.

Kerley, Robert, 1865-6, 1866-7.

Ledgard, George, 1856-7, 1858-9, 1859-60, 1860-1.

McWilliam, James, 1874-5.

Monro, Hector, 1871-2.

Newlyn, Henry, 1885-6, 1886-7.

Pretyman, Bev. J. R., AprU to September, 1883.

Rebbeck, Edward W., 1878-9, 1887-8.

Bebbbck, William E., 1872-3.

Rogers, Willlam B., 1868-9.

Sandahs, Edmund I., 1877-8.

Shettle, Thomas, 1861-2, 1862-3, 1863-4, 1864-5.

Tuck, Peter, 1869-70.

Walker, Captain Edgar, 1879-80, 1880-1.

Webb, Matthew, 1873-4.

APPENDIX B.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FROM 1856 TO 1890.

The Lord of the Manor, Sir G. E. M. T. Geevis ; also his nominee, Dbcimus

Burton, 30th July, 1856, to 2nd August, 1870 ; and Charlbb

T. Arnold, August, 1870, to 7th November, 1890.
Archdale, Frederick, 21st January, 1873, to 1st September, 1874 (resigned}.
Bazalgbtte, Henry, April, 1888, to 6th November, 1888 (resigned).
*Bayly, Samuel, 30th July, 1856, to December, 1856.
Beechby, Thomas, April, 1878, to April, 1881. April, 1882, to 7th November,

1890.
Bill, William M., 2nd June, 1863, to January, 1869 (died).
Blacklock, Henry, 4th February, 1868, to 4th May, 1869 (resigned).
*Bounsall, John T., 7th AprO, 1857.
Briggs, Joseph, 1st February, 1870, to 14th January, 1873 (resigned). April,

1876, to April, 1879.
Burrows, General Arthur G., April, 1879, to March, 1883 (died).
Cassels, John, September, 1872, to April, 1875. 4th to 25th AprU, 1876

(resigned).
CoATES, Dr. Frederick W., 6th November, 1866, to 21st January, 1868

(resigned).
COLMAN, Robert, AprU, 1878, to 3rd June, 1879 (resigned).
Cotes, M. B. (now Sir Merton Russell Cotes), April, 1883, to 2l3t October,

1884 (resigned).
Cox, Matthew H., 5th April, 1859, to 1st August, 1882. April, 1884, to April,

1887.
Crebkb, Christopher C, April, 1883, to June, 1886 (died).
CuNNDJGTON, JoHN, 10th October, 1876, to AprU, 1884.
Cutler, Joseph, AprU, 1881, to AprU, 1884. AprU, 1886, to 7th November,

1890.

* Disqualified by non-attendance.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 275

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FROM 1856 TO 1880 COnllnued.

*Dban, WnxiAM ClAPCOTT, 30th July, 1856, to March, 1857.
Dickinson, Henry, 7th April, 1857, to December, 1859 {died).
Eloie, Dr. BiCHARD, 2nd December, 1856, to 2ud June, 1862 (resigned).
Elwes, Captain G. R.., April, 1883, to 1st August, 1884 (resigned).
Evans, W. Scott, April, 1878, to April, 1883. 15th August, 1884, to April,

1886.
Pauls, Dr. Wilioam S., 10th March, 1857, to 18th February, 1862 (resigned)
PiSHER, William, 4th September, 1883, to 7th November, 1890.
George, C. A. D., 2nd December, 1884, to April, 1888. April, 1889, to

7th November, 1890.
GOLTON, Robert, AprU, 1876, to 5th June, 1877 (resigned).
Haggard, James, September, 1866, to 2nd May, 1876. 3rd July, 1877, to

April, 1879.
Hankinson, Thomas J., September, 1873, to April, 1877 ; April, 1887, to

7th November, 1890.
Hartley, Captain James, AprU, 1883, to April, 1886. April, 1887, to April,

1888 (resigned).
Harvey, John C, 19th September, 1882, to April, 1883.
Hibidaqe, John, 7th September, 1858 (declined to qualify). 18th February,

1862, to 16th February, 1875 (resigned).
HntoNs, Dr. George M., April, 1889, to 7th November, 1890.
HuTCHiNGS, Charles R., 6th AprU, 1883, to AprU, 1888.
Jenkins, Henry N., AprU, 1889, to 7th November, 1890.
Jenkins, Henby W., AprU, 1884, to 7th November, 1890.
Jennings, Edward, 6th AprU, 1877, to December, 1887 (died).
Joy, Henry, 10th October, 1876, to AprU, 1878. AprU, 1880, to AprU, 1883.
*Kerley, Robert, 30th July, 1856, to 1st August, 1871.
Laidlaw, Henry, 1st December, 1874, to AprU, 1880.
*Ledgabd, George, 30th July, 1856, to 6th May, 1862.
Logan, Rev. Logan, 2ud March, 1875, to 6th July, 1875.
LOWTH, George T., 2nd December, 1873, to AprU, 1878 (resigned).
Maoey, John, 6th October, 1857, to November, 1866 (died).
McWnxiAM, James, 18th February, 1862, to 17th January 1867 (resigned).

4th May, 1869, to 20th March, 1877 (resigned). 5th November,

1878, to AprU, 1882.

Miles, John, September, 1869, to September, 1872.

Monro, Hector, 7th May, 1867, to September, 1873.

MOOBE, James H., 5th April, 1888, to 7th November, 1890.

Newiyn, Henry, April, 1883, to 7th November, 1890.

NrxoN, Charles J., 2nd May, 1876, to 1st October, 1878 (resigned). AprU,

1879, to 6th March, 1883 (resigned).

Packe, Charles W., 30th July, 1856, to September, 1858.

Paget, Captain George R., 15th August, 1882, to 5th September, 1882 (resigned).

Paget, Charles H. M., AprU, 1880, to April, 1883.

Pketyman, Rev. J. B., AprU, 1882, to 7th August, 1883 (resigned). April,

1886, to April, 1889.
Radcliffe, John, AprU, 1879, to AprU, 1882.
Rebbeck, Edward W., AprU, 1878, to 7th November, 1890.
Rebbeck, William B., 21st April, 1868, to 3rd November, 1874 (resigned).
Ridley, John B., April, 1885, to 7th November, 1890.
*Bobson, WnxiAM, 30th July, 1856, to 7th April, 1857. 4th November, 1873

(declined to qualify).
Rogers, William B., 4th September, 1860, to AprU, 1880. June, 1886, ito

AprU, 1889.
Sandars, Edmund I., 13th October, 1874, to April, 1878.
Sanderson, Thomas J., 3rd January, 1860, to 4th February, 1862 (resigned).
Sharp, Henry, 4th November, 1884, to AprU, 1886.
*Shbttle, Thomas, 30th July, 1856, to 5th June, 1866.
*Smith, Dr. William Allis, 5th June, 1866, to 7th April, 1868.
Soptlaw, Joseph, 3rd August, 1875, to April, 1876.
♦Stephens, Richard, 4th October, 1859, to 7th May, 1861.
Stone, Charles ,T., 6th May, 1862, to September, 1866.
Sworn, Robert, 1st May, 1877, to April, 1887. AprU, 1888, to 7th November,

1890.

•Disqualified by non-attendance.

276 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FROM 1856 TO 1S30.— Continued.

•Thompson, Samtjel, 30th July, 1856,^to September. 1857.

ToooooD, William, 10th October, 1876, to April, 1878. 1st July, 1879, to

August, 1880 (died).
TiREGorrwEix, John, 30th July, 1856, to 16th April, 1867 (resigned).
Trevanion, Henry T., AprU, 1888, to 7th November, 1890.
Tuck, David, 30th July, 1856, to June, 1860 (died).
Tuck, Petbe, 4th June, 1861, to 17th AprU, 1877 (resigned).
Walkek, Captain Bdgae, April, 1879, to 7th August, 1883 (resigned).
*Watton, Wrr.T.TAM, September, 1868, to 1st February, 1870.
Wat, L. a., 17th August, 1880, to April, 1881.
Webb, Matthew, 5th February, 1867, to September, 1868. 1st February,

1869, to September, 1874.
Webeek, John C, April, 1890, to 7th November, 1890.
Welch, Edwin B. Kemp-, 1st August, 1871, to 14th October, 187.^ (resigned).
White, Enoch, April, 1881, to January, 1890 (died).
♦Winter, William E., 30th July, 1856, to 7th April, 1857.
Wollaston, Captain, 4th September, 1883, to 17th November, 1884 (resigned).

'Disqualified by non-attendance.

APPENDIX C

MAYORS OF BOURNEMOUTH FROM 1890 TO 1910.

Beale, John Elmes .. 1902-3, 1903-4, 1904-5
Beidge, Geoege Edward 1907-8, 1908-9, 1909-10
Cotes, P.B.G.S., Meeton Bussell (Knighted

1909) 1894-5.

Frost, De. Geoege
Hankinson, Thomas James
Herons, Dr. Geoege Merriman
HoARB, William . .
HosKBE, De. Jambs Atkinson
Lawson, Geoege Joseph
Mattocks, William
Newltn, Heney . .
Paesons, John Aldeidge
Eebbeck, Edwakd Wise
Webber, John Clark . .

.. 1901-2

. . 1890 1

. . 1893-4

. . 1898-9

. . 1896-7

. . 1900-1

. . 1897-8

1892-3, 1895-6

1905-6, 1906-7

. . 1891-2

1899-1900

APPENDIX D.
TOWN COUNCILLORS AND ALDERMEN FROM 1890 TO 1910.

Abbott, Alexander J., 1st November, 1899, to 9th November, 1904. Alderman,

9th November, 1904, to 9th November, 1907.
Allday, Frederick W., 14th February, 1910, to 1st November (1910).
Allen, James, 27th November, 1899, to 1st November, 1901. 20th November,

1901, to 9th November, 1904. Alderman, 9th November, 1904,

to (1910).
Banks, Egbert Y., 1st November, 1901, to 25th May, 1908. Alderman, 25th

May, 1908 to (1910).
Beale, John E., 25th April, 1900, to 1st November, 1901. Alderman, 9th

November, 1901, to (1913). Mayor, 1902-3, 1903-4, 1904-5.

Hon. Freedom conferred July 26th, 1906.
Beaton, William J., 8th March, 1909 to (1911).

Beckett, Archibald, 2nd November, 1891, to 29th January, 1904 (died).
Beechey, Thomas, 9th November, 1890, to July, 1894, Alderman, (died).
Belbin, Charles H., 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1903.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910. 277

TOWN COUNCILLORS AND ALDERMEN FROM 18«0 TO 1910— Continued.

Beix, Francis J., 1st November, 1902, to 1st November, 1907 [resigned)

20th October, 1908, to (1912).
Bolton, Wiucjam, 1st November, 1901. Alderman, 9th November, 1901,

to 9th November, 1907.
Bridge, George E., 1st November, 1906, to (1912). Mayor, 1907-8, 1908-9,

1909-1910.
Brown, Sydney, 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1891.
Burden, Henry, 20th November, 1901, to 9th November, 1904. Alderman,

9th November, 1904, to 4th April, 1908 (resigned).
Chamberlain, Dr. Charles B. d'E., 1st November, 1902, to 1st November,

1905.
Cory, Dr. Frederick W., 1st November, 1899, to 1st November, 1902;
Cotes, Herbert V. M., 1st November. 1906, to 1st February, 1910 (resigned).
Crooke, John W. Parry-, 20th November, 1901, to 1st November, 1904.
Cutler, Joseph, 30th November, 1893, to 12th Augvist, 1896. Alderman,

12th August, 1896, to 1st November, 1899.
D'Angibau, William, 16th July, 1894, to 1st November, 1896.
Davidson, Dr. Richard H., 1st November, 1902, to 1st November, 1905.
Davis, Albert, 1st November, 1890, to 9th November, 1899. Alderman

9th November, 1899, to 1st November, 1904. Councillor, 24th

November, 1904, to (1912).
Deller, Sydney R. C, 1st November, 1906, to 20th October, 1908 (resigned).
DONEiN, John, 1st November, 1905, to 1st November, 1908.
Drake, Albert, 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1906. 18th March,

1909, to (1912).
Dhuitt, James, 1st November, 1904, to 9th November, 1907. Alderman, 9th

November, 1907, to (1913). Clerk and Town Clerk, 4th September,

1877, to July, 1902.
DuELL, William H., 2nd November, 1908, to (1911).
Dyke, Edward, 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1892.
Ebben, Henry, 1st November, 1909, to (1912).
Edwards, David, 24th November, 1904, to (1912).
Elcock, Francis, 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1902. 2nd November,

1903, to 1st November, 1906.
Ellison, Herbert, 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1891.
Evans, Walter J., 1st November, 1904, to 1st November (1910).
Fisher, William, 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1893. Chairman

of the Commissioners, 1888-9, 1889-1890.
Pox, Charles, 1st November, 1907, to Ist November (1910).
Prampton, Charles, 1st November, 1901. Alderman, 9th November, 1901,

to (1910).
Frost, Dr. George, 1st November, 1899, to 19th February, 1903 (resigned).

6th March, 1903, to 1st November, 1904. Mayor, 1901-2.
Fylbr, John H., 1st November, 1890, to 24th February, 1895 (resigned).
Gardner, Dr. William T., 25th May, 1908, to (1911).
George, Charles A. D., 9th November, 1890, to 1st November, 1893, Alderman.

1st November, 1905, to (1911).
Giles, Alfred, 24th November, 1904, to 1st November, 1909.
Gunning, John, 1st November, 1894, to 1st November, 1906.
Hankikson, Thomas J., 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1893. Chairman

of the Commissioners, 1876-7. Mayor, 1890-1.
Harris, Corbin, 20th November, 1901, to 1st November, 1904.
Harris, William, 22nd November, 1907, to (1912).
Hawker, Charles P., 1st November, 1893, to 1st November, 1899.
Hawker, Harry E., 1st November, 1897, to 1st November, 1900.
Hawkes, Charles G., 20th November, 1901, to 1st November, 1906 (resigned).

1st November, 1906, to 3rd December, 1907 (reaxgned).
Haydon, Clement J., 1st November, 1893, to 1st November, 1899.
Hill, S. McCalmont, 1st November, 1907, to (1910).

HiRONS, Dr. George M., 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1901, Alderman.
1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1902, Councillor.

Mayor, 1893-4. „ ,„„„ „

HoARE, William, 1st November, 1890. to 1st November, 1899. Mayor, 1898-9.
Hodges, Richard, 8th November, 1895, to 1st November, 1897. 22nd Novem-
ber, 1907, to (1910).

278 BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1910.

TOWN COUNCILLORS AND ALDERMEN FROM 1890 TO ISIO^Contlnued.

HosKEE, Dk. James A., 1st November, 1890, to 3rd July, 1894. Alderman,
3rd July, 1894, to 1st November, 1901. Councillor, 1st November,
1901, to 1st November, 1902 {resigned). Mayor, 1896-7.

HouNSELL, Frederick; A. K., 1st November, 1906, to 18th March, 1909
(resigned).

Hunt, Charles, 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1905. 1st November,
1907, to (1902).

Hunter, Henry J., 20th November, 1901, to 1st November, 1904.

HuTCHiNGS, Charues B.., 1st November, 1902, to 1st November, 1907.

HUTCHTNGS, William; E., 20th November, 1901, to 1st November, 1907.

Jenkins, Henry N., 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1895.

Jenkins, Henry W., 9th November, 1890, to 1st November, 1893, Alderman.

Jolliffe, Albert H., 1st November, 1893, to 1st November, 1907 {resigned).

Jones, William E., 20th November, 1901, to (1910).

Lane, Ernest L., 27th November, 1899, to 9th November, 1901. Alderman,
9th November, 1901, to 9th November, 1904.

IiAvrsoN, George .T., 1st November, 1890, to 9th November, 1901. Alderman,
9th November, 190], to 9th November, 1907. Mayor, 1900-1.

LiCKPOLD, Alfred, 20th November, 1901, to (1910).

MaoGillicuddy, Dr. Neil, 1st November, 1909, to (1912).

Mackenzie, Benjamin D., 2nd November, 1908, to (1911).

Mate, Charles H., 1st November, 1897, to 9th November, 1901. Alderman,
9th November, 1901, to (1913).

Mattocks, William;, 1st November, 1892, to 9th November, 1899. Alderman,
9th November, 1899, to 9th November, 1904. Mayor, 1897-8.

Moore, James H., 2iid November, 1891, to 9th November, 1893. AldermMn,
9th November, 1893, to 29th July, 1896 (died).

Moore, Thomas C. Tunnakd-, 22nd November, 1907, to (1910).

Miles, Charles T., 1st November, 1896, to 1st November, 1899.

MiNTY, Samuel, 20th November, 1901, to June 11th, 1907 {died).

Mitchell, George, 22nd November, 1890, to 2nd November, 1891. 1st Novem-
ber, 1902, to (1911).

Morgan, Dr. A. Kinsey-, 1st November, 1902, to 5th April (resigned). Medical
Officer of Health, 21st September, 1886, to 23rd February, 1891.

Newltn, Henry, 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1901, Alderman.
1st November, 1907, to (1911), Councillor. Mayor, 1892-3,
1895-6.

Newman, George, 15th February, 1904, to (1911).

Nethercoate, John A., 1st November, 1907, to (1910).

Offer, Edward, 22nd November, 1890, to 9th November, 1893. Alderman,
9th November, 1893, to 18th April, 1901 (resigned).

Parsons, John A., 1st November, 1897, to 9th November, 1901. Aldermati,
9th November, 1901, to August 28th, 1908 (died). Mayor,
1905-6, 1906-7.

Parsons, Robert S., 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1903.

Philpots, Dr. Edward P., 1st November, 1900, to 1st November, 1906.

Preston, Donald W., 24th November, 1904, to (1912).

Bebbbck, Edward W., 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1893. Chair-
man of the Commissioners, 1878-9, 1887-8. Mayor, 1891-2.

ElDLBT, John B., 9th November, 1890, to 1st November, 1893, Alderman.

Roberts, William, 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1905. »J

Robson, Henry, 1st August, 1900, to 6th October, 1908. Alderman,
6th October, 1908, to (1913).

ROKEK, MiTCHEL J., 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1892. 1st Novem-
ber, 1893, to 1st November, 1901.

Rolls, George H., Ist November, 1901, to 1st November, 1904.

Saunders, William H., 1st November, 1905, to (1911).

Scarth, Leveson, 30th November, 1893, to 1st November, 1894.

Shbppard, William, 1st November, 1901, to (1912).

Slade, Thomas, 1st November, 1904, to 9th November, 1907. Alderman,
9th November, 1907, to (1913).

Smith, Sii^vester, 1st November, 1905, to 1st November, 1908.

Smyth, Dr. William .T., 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1905.

Smythe, John H. R., 2nd November, 1891, to 9th November, 1893. Aldermxin,
9th November, 1893, to 1st November, 1899.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1810. 279

TOWN COUNCILLORS AND ALDERMEN FROM 1890 TO 1910.— Continued.

Sparkbs, Henry, lat November, 1907, to (1911).

Stockley, Henry C, Ist November, 1890, to 9th November, 1901. Alderman,

9th November, 1901, to 2ath October, 1904 (dind).
Street, Frederick, 1st November, 1901, to 9th November, 1904. Alderman,

9th November, 1904, to (1910).
Tame, Thomas, 1st November, 1904, to (1910).

Trantum, Henhy, 30th November, 1893, to 8th November, 1895 (resigned).
Trevanion, Henry T., 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1895.
Trowbridge, James, 1st November, 1901, to 1st November, 1902. 1st Novem-
* 1 ber, 1904, to (1910).

TusoN, Henry J., 1st November, 1895, to 1st November, 1898.
Vye, Wilijam n., 24th February, 1895, to 1st August, 1900 (resigned).
Webber, John C, 1st November, 1890, to 1st November, 1897. 1st November,

1898, to 9th November, 1901. Alderman, 9th November, 1901,

to (1910). Maynr, 1899-1900.
Webster, Arthur H., 1st November, 1905, to 2nd November, 1908.
Wilson, James A., 2nd November, 1903, to 15th October, 1907 (resigned).

2nd November, 1908, to (1911).
TouNGMAN, Alfred, 12th August, 1896, to 1st November, 1897. 1st November,

1901, to 9th November, 1907. Alderman, 9th November, 1907,

to (1913).

APPENDIX E.

HONORARY FREEMEN.

FIELD-MABSHAL LORD ROBERTS.
ALDERMAN J. E. BEALE, J.P.
SIR MBRTON RUSSELL COTES, J.P., F.R.G.S.
LADY RUSSELL COTES.

APPENDIX F.

BOROUGH JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

KINGLAKE, ROBERT A., Recorder.

THE MAYOR AND THE EX-MAYOR (Ex-offlcio.)

Appointed. Appointed.

Abbott, Alexander J. . . 1908 Hirons, Dr. George M. . . 1899

Allen, John J. . . . . 1899 Hodges, Charles . . . . 1905

Beale, John B 1899 Hosker, Dr. James A. . . 1899

Bolton, William . . . . 1905 Lane, Ernest L. . . . . 1906

Bulger, Edwin T. . . . . 1906 Lawson, George J. . . 1906

Buhbidge, Captain John P. 1899 Mate, Charles H. . . . . 1905

Castle, Vice-Admiral . . 1905 Mattocks, William . . 1899

Cotes, Sir Merton Russell 1908 Maude, William C. .. 1905

Crooke, John W. Parry- . . 1905 Maunsell, Major R. G. S. 1899

Dean, Jambs E. Cooper . . 1899 Newlyn, Henry . . . . 1899

Dickie, Dr. James S. . . 1908 Rebbeck, Edward W. . . 1899

ELVfES, Captain George R. 1899 Rolls, George H. . . . . 1906

Frampton, Charles . . 1905 S.^nderson, Aymor H. . . 1905

Frost, Dr. George . . . . 1905 Smythe, John H. Ralph . . 1899

George, Charles A. D. . . 1899 Thomson, Db. J. Roberts . . 1899
Gipford, Charles . . . . 1899 .Judge of the County Court —

Hankinson, Charles J. . . 1908 His Honour Judge Phh.brick, K.C.

APPENDIX G.

LOCAL ACTS OF PARLIAMENT, PROVISIONAL ORDERS, &C.

1802. 42 Geo. III. Chrisichurch Inclosure Act. Dividing certain Commonable
Lands, etc., in Christchurch and Holdenhurst.

280 BOURNEMOUTH : 1810-1910.

LOCAL ACTS OF PARLIAMENT, PROVISIONAL ORDERS, &C.— Continued.

1856. July lilh. The Bournemouth Improvement Act, 1856 (19 and 20 Vict.,
Cap. XV.). An Act lor the Improvement of Part of the District of
St. Peter, and for providing a Pier there.
1869. July 2eth. Local Government Supplemental Act, 1869 {32 and 33 Vict.,
Cap. cxxiv.).

This Act confirms the Provisional Order of 9th April, 1869,
amending the Bournemouth Improvement Act, 1856.
1873. June ISth. Bournemouth Gas and Water Ad, 1873 (36 Vict., Cap. Ixxiii.).

An Act for re-incorporating, etc., the Company.
1876. August 11th. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation
(Bilborougti) Act, 1876 (39 and 40 Vict., Cap. cciii.).
Extension of District.
1878. July 22nd. Bournemouth Gas and Water Act, 1878 (41 and 42 Vict.,

Cap. ccii.).
1878. July 22nd. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation

(Bournemouth, &c.) Act, 1878 (41 and 42 Vict., Cap. clxii.). (Pier.)
1880. July 19th. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation
(Ashford, &c.) Act, 1880 (43 and 44 Vict., Cap. Ixii.).
(Site for Sanitary Hospital.)

1884. August 1th. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation

(No. 6) Ad, 1884 (47 and 48 Vict., Cap. ccxii.).

Extension of District, Bathing Bye-Laws, Pier, Shelters,
Band Stands, Bands, etc.

1885. July 22nd. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation

(No. 7) Act, 1885 (48 and 49 Vict., Cap. cvii.).

Adjustment of Rates, etc., on Extension of District.
1887. August Sth. The Pier and Harbour Order Confirmation (No. 2) Act, 1887

(50 and 51 Vict., Cap. clviii.). Boscombe Pier Order.
1887. August 23rd. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation
(No. 7) Act, 1887 (50 and 51 Vict., Cap. clxxx.).
Hackney Carriages, Omnibus, Bye-Laws.

1889. August 12th. Bournemouth Park Lands Act, 1889 (52 and 53 Vict.,

Cap. clxi.). Parks and Open Spaces.

1890. August ith. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation

(No. 10) Act, 1890 (53 and 54 Vict., Cap. clxxix.). Beach Bye-Laws.
1890. August ith. Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 5) Ad, 1890
(53 and 54 Vict., Cap. cxc).

Bournemouth Electric Supply (House to House) Order, 1890.

1890. August Hih. Electric Lighting Orders Coiifirmation (No. 10) Ad, 3890

(5:? and 54 Vict., Cap. cxcvi.).

Bournemouth Electric Supply (Brush) Order, 1890.

1891. July 28th. Bourneinouth East Cemetery Act, 1891 (54 and 55 Vict.,

Cap. clxxli.).

1892. June 21th. Bournemouth Improvement Ad, 1892 (55 and 56 Vict.,

Cap. clxiii.).
1892. June 21th. Pier and Harbour Order Confirmation (No. 5) Act, 1892

(55 and 56 Vict., Cap. ccvi.). Bourneaiouth Pier.
1891. April lath. The Bournemouth (PiMic Purposes) Electric Lighting

License, 1894. Electric Tjghtin;; for Pu'ilic Purposes.

1895. September 5th. Local Govermncnt Board's Provisiotml Orders Confirmation

(No. 16) Alt, 1S95, Session 2 (59 Vict., Cap. x.). Borough Eitension.

1896. July 20th. Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation

(No. 10) Ad. 3896 (59 VJct., Cap. ev.). B.iilding? and I,and, South-
cote Road, Dean Park Horse Shoe. etc.

1896. Bournemouth Gas and Water Act, 1896 (59 and 60 Vict., Cap. cxcvi.).

New Works, Additional Capital, etc.

1897. South Western Railu-ay (Various Potvers) Ad, 1897 (60 and 61 Vict.,

Cap. clxvii.).

Authorising Corporation to sell land to the Company, etc.
1897. July 15th. Bournemouth Corporation Act, 1897 (60 and 61 Vict., Cap.

xcii.). Dean Park Horse-Shoe.
1899. July ISth. Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 19) Act, 1899
(62 and 63 Vict., Cap. cxxvi.).

The Order confirmed is an Order granted by the Board of
Trade under the Electric Lighting Acts, 1882 and 1888, to
the Corporation of Bournemouth, to ena^ble the Corporation
to supply energy for public purposes.

BOURNEMOUTH: 1810-1810. 281

LOCAL ACTS OF PARLIAMENT, PROVISIONAL ORDERS, &c Coatinued.

1899. The Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation (No. 12)
Act, 1899 (62 and 63 Vict., Cap. cxiix.).

Constituting Bournemouth » County Borough.

1899. Augttst nth. The Poole and District Light Railway Order, 1899, made

by the Light Railway Commissioners, and modified and confirmed by

the Board of Trade on the above dale.

This Order authorises the Poole and District Electric Traction
Company, Limited, to form and maintain Light Railways in
Poole, and to the County Gates.

1900. August 6th. Bournemouth Corporation Act, 1900 (63 and 64 Vict.,

Cap. cclxxxvi.).

(n) Commons (part 59 and whole of 60).
(6) Power is given to the Corporation to erect a Crematorium
in the Bast Cemetery.

(c) Payment of subscriptions to Associations of Municipal
Corporations, etc. ; Deputations to Conferences ; Provision
of Entertainment to Distingviished Persons, etc. ; Subscrip-
tions to Hospitals and Volunteer Corps and Brigades, etc.
1900. Augitst 6i}i. The Chrisichurch and Bournemouth Tramways Act, 1900.

Empowering the Poole and District Electric Traction Com-
pany, Ltd., to construct Tramways from Christchurch to
Bournemouth, etc.

The Act gives the Company and the Bournemouth
Corporation reciprocal running powers over their respective
systems.

1900. August 16th. The Tramways Order Confirmation (No. 5) AH, 1900 (63

and 64 Vict., Cap. ccviii.).

An Act confirming the Bournemouth Corporation Tramways
Order, 1900, authorising the construction of Tramways within
the Borough.

1901. August 9th. The Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirma-

tion (No. 7) Act, 1901, confirming the Bournemouth (Extension) Order,
1901.

1901. August Qth. Bournemouth Corporation Act, 1901 (1 Edwd. VII., Ch.
ccix.). This Act deals with the following matters — (a) Tramways;
(6) Street Improvements ; (c) Acquisition of lands and other
matters connected with the above.

1903. August 11th. Bournemouih Corporation Tramways Act, 1903.

Empowering the Corporation to maintain and use the Tram-
ways authorised by the Bournemouth Corporation Tramways
Order, 1900, and to make provision for the transfer of the
undertaking of the Poole and District Electric Traction
Company, Ltd., and for other purposes.

1903. August 11th. The Christchurch and Bournemouth Tramways Act, 1903.
To extend the time Umited for the completion of and purchase
of lands for the works authorised by the Christchurch and
Bournemouth Tramways Act, 1900, and for other purposes.

1903. Au,gust 11th. Boscombe and Bournemouth Piers Order, 1903.

For transfer of Boscombe Pier to the Corporation of Bourne-
mouth, confirmed by the Pier and Harbour Provisional
Orders (No. 5) Act, 1903.

1903. August 11th. Bournemouth Gas and Water Act, 1903.

To authorise the Company to acquire additional land to
construct works and for other purposes.

1904. August 1st. Bournemouth Corporation Act, 1904.

An Act (a) Empowering the Corporation to construct further
tramways, and to acquire the undertaking of the Tuckton
Bridge Company ; (b) Conferring further powers as to Meyrick
Park, King's Park, and Queen's Park ; and (c) For other
purposes.
1906. April Srrf. Museums and Gymnasiums Act, 1891.
To come into operation May 10th, 1906.

GENERAL INDEX.

Abinger, Lord— 35, 262.
Abbott, A. J.— 236, 238.
Acts of Parliament— 33, 46, 62, 68, 90,

106, 107, 157, 192, 193, 197, 219,

236, 254, 256.
Aish, .Tohn — 114.
Aitken, Dr. — 85.
Aldridge, G. O.— 248.
Aldridge, Henry — 93.
Aldridge, Henry Mooring — 128.
Aldridge, Mr. — 117.
Alexander, Sergt. — IIS.
Alfred, King — 4, 5.
Allen, A. Acland— 257.
Allen, James— 88, 254.
Allen, Ralph— 27.
AEom Chine Copperas House — 8.
Allom House — 9.
Alum Chine- 9, 97, 155, 104.
Alum, Manufacture of— 8, 9, 10, 11.
Anderson Manor — 42, 45, 46, 47.
Andrews, G. R.— 166.
Angus, Orme — 265.
Antle, James — 254.
Arcade, Gervis— 137, 188.
Archery — 142.
Arderne. Major D. D. — 205.
Area— 2, 107, 149-159, 192, 267, 270.
Argyll, Duchess of— 133, 229.
ArgyU, Djike of— 98, 133, 152, 153,

154, 229.
Argyll Pleasure Gardens — 164.
Arms of the Borough— 189, 190.
Art Gallery and Museum — 201.
Artillery Corps — See Volunteer Force.
Ashley Cottages — 137.
Assessment — 112, 113.
Athletics and Sports— 216-225.
Attewell, W.— 104.
Award Commissioners — 34.
Award Map and Roads — 35, 36, 38,

95, 96, 115, 150, 156.
Award, Prices Paid for Land — 35, 36.

B.A.D.S.— 210, 211.
B.A.M.S.— 210, 213.
Balcer, James — 266.
Bailey, George AViUiam- 109, 198.
Balfour, Major Kenneth R.— 257.
Banekes, Jacob — 44, 45.
Banckes, Sir Jacob— 44, 45, 253.
Baptist Churches— 230, 250, 251.
Barnes, E.— 183, 184.
Barrows — See Prehistoric Remains.
Bascomb Copperas House — 8.
Baskaw — 9.

Bastowe (Boscombe) — 6.
Bath Hotel— 67, 68, 70, 78, 79, 88,
89,98,99, 104, 121, 128, 133, 153.

Baths, Bathing, etc.— 26-31, 58, 70,

79, 88, 89, 128, 141, 167, 222, 223,

238.
Bayley & Sons— 185.
Bayley, Rev. E. G.— 254.
Bayly, Samuel— 88, 95, 99, 100, 131.
Bazalgette, Sir Joseph — 166.
Beach, The— 7, 12, 102, 115.
Beach, Thomas— 49, 50.
Beacon Bunny — 17.
Beacon Lodge — 30.
Beaconsfleld, Earl of— 12, 258, 26S.
Beale, .John Elmes— 200, 201, 222, 242.
Beale, Mi-s.— 200.

Beckett, Archibald— 155, 166, 169, 212.
Beckford Estate— 140.
Beechey, Thomas — 131.
Bell, P. J.— 179, 273.
Bell, J.— 254.

BeD, Miss, Postmistress — 139.
Bell, William— 114.
Belle Vue Hotel, etc.— 67, 88, 94,' 97,

98, 111, 112, 119, 121, 130, 131,

142, 162, 213, 227, 245.
Bennett Memorial — 243.
Bennett, Mr.— 180.
Bennett, Rev. A. M.— 99, 149,'L240-

243, 254.
Beimett, Rev. A. S.— 213, 244.
Berkeley, Grantley— 15, 29, 30, 52,

131-133, 208-210.
Berry and Tuck, Messrs. — 88.
Berry, George — 88.
Bertini, Signor E.— 212.
Besant, Walter, and James Rice — 76,

77, 145, 265.
Best, John— 88.
Best, Robert, jun. — 254.
Bevis, Walter— 212.
Bicker, Edward — 148.
Bicycle Club— 225.
Bill, Mr., of the Belle Vue— 131.
Bingham, Rev. George — 45.
Birch, Eugenius— 123, 180, 166,';i67.
Birkman, John — 44. j>f.i >;*?(

Blackcock on Site of St. Peter's — 64.
Blackmore, R. D.— 265.
Blomfield, Sir A. W.— 227.
Blount, James — 8.
Blundell, Thomas Weld— 245.
Blunt, Rev. A. S. V.— 244.
Board of Guardians — 104, 193.
Boothby, Guy— 266.
Bornemouthe — 6.
Boscombe— 8, 9, 11, 80, 101, 137, 150-

152, 155.
Boscombe and West Hants Hospital,

Royal— 229, 230.
Boscombe Arcade — 155.

GENERAL INDEX.

283

Boseombe Bunny — 38.

Boscombe Chine— 64, 90, 150.

Boseombe Cottage — 38, 150.

Boscombe Lodge — 130.

Boscombe Manor— 35, 38, 101, 150,

155, 207-210, 226, 260, 262.
Boscombe Mouth — 70.
Boscombe Spa — 150.
Bott, Edmund— 39.
Bourn — 55.

Bourn Mouth— 12, 16.
Bourne— 6, 38, 41, 47, 54, 56, 58, 59,

68-71, 78-80, 83-86, 89, 98, 142.
Bourne Bottom — 17.
Bourne Chine — 49, 53, 54.
Bourne Cliff— 57.
Bourne, Pali of the — 8.
Bourne Mouth— 17, 18, 34, 35, 70, 71.
Bourne Elver- 2, 5, 8, 56, 64, 70, 84,

90, 94, 101, 115, 154, 159.
Bourne, Sturges — 253.
" Bourne Style " of Architecture — 92.
Bourne Tregonwell— 64, 92, 240.
Bourne Valley Pottery. — 97.
BjOURNBMOUTH — Names given to the

town : " City of Pines "—273,

274. " City of VUla Residences "

— 161. " Evergreen Valley " —

47, 62, 266. " Forest City by

the Southern Sea "—2, 65, 133.

" Garden City " — 1. " Garden

City of the South" — 161.

" Invalids' Paradise " — 86.

" MontpeUier on the South Coast "

— 81. " Paradise of Pines " — 1.

" Pleasure City of Detached

Mansions "—53, 186, 265. "State-
' ly Pleasure Dome " — 1, 78.

'"^ Temple of Hygiea," — 1, 78.

" Town in a Pine Forest " — 2.

" Dnreclaimed SoUtude " — 54.
Bournemouth a City — 273.
Bournemouth and District Electric

lighting Company — 184.
Bournemouth and Poole Electricity

Supply Company — 184.
Bournemouth Bay — 20, 21.
Bournemouth Commissioners — See

Commissioners.
Bournemouth Corporation Act — 219.
Bournemouth East Cemetery Act,

1891—193.
" Bournemouth Fishery " — 154.
Bournemouth Gas Company — 180,

181, 182.
Bournemouth in 1841 — 78.
Bournemouth in 1842—71, 72.
Bournemouth in 1858 — 78.
Bournemouth in 1910 — 267.
Bournemouth Park — 81, 82.
" Bournemouth Reform Bill " — 256.
Bournemouth School — 198.
" Bournemouth Visitors' Directory "

—19, 77, 104, 120, 121, 128, 130,

169, 203.
Bowyer, William — 6.
Bowls and Bowhng— 219, 220, 224,

225.

Boyd, General — 99.
Boyd, M.— 254.
Branksea — 9, 133.
Branksome Chine — 15, 96.
Branksome Dene — 130, 155.
" Branksome Dene " — 15, 18.
" Branksome Estate " — 97-99.
Branksome Pine Woods — 2.
Branksome Tower — 96, 130.
Brannon, PhiUp — 8.
Brassey, Hon. T. A. — 257.
Bridge, George B., Mayor — 273.
Bridge, The— 35, 91, 94, 95, 117.
Brighton— 36, 27, 28.
Brinson, Robert — 254.
British Electric Traction Co. —

175-178.
Brown, A. McEwan — 114.
Browne, Sir J. Crichton — 78.
Brownen, Robert — 11.
BrownbiU, Father— 246.
Brownsea — 9.
Bruce, Miss — 96.
Buckingham, Duke of— 20, 21.
Bucknill, Sir John— 206.
Building of the Mansion — 52-63.
Biirke, Edmund H.— 255.
Burial Board— 193, 196.
Burial Ground — 92.
Burleigh, Lord — 11.
Burn — 7.
Burnemoutbe — 7.
Biu-slem, Dr. and Mrs.— 122, 127,

216, 227.
Bcu-t, George — 145.
Burton, Decimus— 68, 88, 90, 92,

94, 95, 98, 163.
Burton, T. A.— 213.
Butt, Sir Charles Parker— 273.

Cairns, Earl— 231, 258.
Cairns Memorial Hall — 258.
Camden's " Britannia " — 7.
Canie House Library — 50, 51.
Canford— 7, 8, 34.
" Canford Enclosure Act " — 33.
Cantini, Signer — 214.
Carabineers, Hants — 206.
Carewe, Thomas — 6.
Carlow, Lord — 50.
Carnegie, Andrew — 237.
Cari', Miss Alice— 236.
Castleman, Edward — 88.
Castleman, William — 254.
Catholic Churches— 98, 140, 245, 247.
Cemeteries— 193, 195, 196.
Cenotaph, SheUey— 261.
Cenotaph, Tregonwell — 57.
Centre of the Town, Geographical — 94.
Chained Library at Milton — 44.
Chaloner, Sir Thomas — 8.
Chambers, David — 3.
Charlton Forest — 14.
Charter of Incorporation — 187, 188.
Chichester — 6.
Children's Corner— 115.
Christchurch— 4, 6, 7, 14, 17, 23, 25, 28,
39, 44, 65, 102, 118, 135, 193, 252.

284

GENERAL INDEX.

Christcliurch Artillery Barracks — 21.

Christchurch Bay — 29.

" Christchurch Enclosure Act " — 33,

34, 65.
Christchurch Fishermen — 12.
Christchurch Head— 2, 7, 13, 15.
Christchurch Priory Church — 24, 38,

77, 261.
Christchurch Volunteers— 21-25, 29.
Church Glen— 138.
Church House— 138.
Church suggested by Granville —

81, 82, 84.
Churches— 239-251.
Churchill, Lord Bandolph— 229.
Ci-rtc BegaUa— 191, 192.
Clapcott, Wilham— 34, 165.
Clarendon, Earl of — 65.
Clark, Rev. W. B.— 5.
Clark, Su? James— 86, 133.
Clark, Walter Child— 225, 230, 238.
Clerke Family — See Gervis.
Coaches— 70, 102.

Coach House of the TregouweUs — 57.
Coast Defence— 19-25, 48.
Coastguard Station — 55, 133.
Coe, Bev. C. C— 251.
Collins, Wilkie— 227.
Colony of Invalids — 78, 81.
Commercial Boad in 1851 — 97.
Commissioners, Board of — 50, 62, 107,
156, 186, 187. See also Appendix.

Financial Difficulties— 111, 113.

Furst Meeting— 108.

Members of last Board — 188.

Powers and Duties — 107.

Where Meetings were held — 111.

Workmen in 1857—117.
Committees of the Council— 197, 198.
Commons and Common Land — 32-34.
Oompton, Dr. — 159.
Conferences of Societies — 271.
Congregational Churches — 248, 249,

251.
Connaught, Duke of— 155, 229, 272.
Conservatives at TregonweU Arms —

71.
Consumption — See under Granville,

National Sanatorium.
Convent of the Cross— 230, 247.
Cooney, S.J., Rev. B.— 246.
Corbet, Eev. A.— 250.
Corporation Stock — 269.
Cosens & Co., Steamboat Owners —

147.
Cotes, Sir Merton and Lady Bussell —

171, 172, 201, 237.
Cottages, Early— 96, 98.
Council Chamber Portraits — 200, 201.
Councillors, First Election of — 188,

189.
County Borough— 157, 194, 195.
County Council — 193.
County Councillors, First Election of
^g2 193

Cowley, William— 112.
Cox, T.— 3.

Coxon, Mrs. — 247.

Coypond — See Decoy Pond.

Cranborne- 5, 50, 58, 60.

Cranborne Gardens— 57, 62, 133, 142.

Cranborne Lodge — 47.

Cranston, George — 70.

Crawley, Mr.— 90, 92.

Oreeke, Christopher Crabbe— 100, 108,
109, 110, 115, 117, 121, 165, 166,
196, 199, 201, 204, 213, 228,
249, 250.

Creeke and GiEEord- 228.

Crichel- 60, 61.

Crichel Down — 15.

Crichel, Boyal Italian Band at — 214.

Cricket— 219-221.

Croft, Hem'y Page, M.P.,— 257.

Croquet— 219.

Cumberland, Duke of— 22-24.

Cunnington, John — 142, 201.

Cupid's Grove — 96.

Cutler, Joseph— 166, 201.

Cycling and Athletics — 225.

Daldy, Rev. A. E.— 236, 242.

Dale, Mr., of Tuckton— 37.

Dale, Bichard— 254.

Darner, Colonel Dawson — 50.

Dames de la Croix— 230, 247.

Danes — 4, 5.

" Dangerous Landing Places " — 6, 7.

Dannell, Bishop of Southwark — 246.

Darwin, Professor — 208.

Davey, Horace— 252, 256, 257.

Davies, E.— 238.

Davies, Bev. Ossian — 249.

Dawes, Mrs. Albert — ^141.

Day, Captain — 205.

Dean, Clapcott and Castleman — 165.

Dean, Cooper— 156, 164, 168.

Dean Drove Gate — 34.

Dean Estate and Ancestry — 165, 166,

220.
Dean Park Cricket Ground — 110. See

also Cricket.
Dean, William- 35, 36.
Dean, William Clapcott— 64, 110,

117, 118, 163, 168, 195, 203, 220,

228, 229, 231.
Decoy Pond— 16, 38, 55.
Decoy Pond Cottage — 34, 55.
Decoy Pond House — 16.
Decoy Pond Meadow— 88. 89, 218.
Denham, Capt.— 100, 119.
Dickens, Charles— 227.
Dickens, Miss— 227.
Dickinson, Henry — 114, 119.
Dignam, 9.J., Fr.— 246.
Dispensary, Public— 228.
Disraeli — See Beaconsfield, Earl of.
Dixon, Dr.— 238.

" Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde "—263.
Dodsworth, Sir Matthew— 238.
Domone, J. — 254.
Dorset Field Club— 42.
Dorset Maps — See Maps of Dorset.
Dorset Bangers — 49-51.
Double Dykes — 4.
Dover, James — 38.

GENERAL INDEX.

285

Doyle, Conan— 265.

Drax, J. S. W. Erie— 55, 88, 254.

Drayton's " Poly Olbion " — 7.

" Dream of Gerontlus " at Winter
Gardens — 314.

DriU Hall, Lansdowne Boad — 205.

Driver, WUliam — 35.

Drives, Cost of — 173. See also Over-
cliff Drive, UnderolifE Drive.

Druitt, James — 109.

Druitt, James, jun.— 109, 188, 189.

Dudsbury — 4.

Dunn, William, Postmaster — 139.

Durlev Chine— 80, 164.

Durrant Estate— 96, 111.

Durrant, George— 89, 118, 217-219,
227, 248.

Eaford— 88.

East Cemetery — 196.

East Cliff Estate— 92.

East Cliff Hall Presented— 201.

Eccles, Father- 246.

Edgcmnbe, Lord Mount — 227.

Edmoudshkm — 47.

Education and Education Committee

—194, 197, 198, 233-236, 268.
Edward the Elder and Ethelwald— 38.
Edward VII.— 86, 133, 201, 214, 227.
Egg, Augustus — 227.
Eggardun Hill — 15.
Electorate, Municipal — 268.
Electorate, Parliamentary — 254, 257.
Electricity Supply Company — 97, 177,

269.
Electric Light Exhibition — 183.
Electric Lighting Introduced — 183.
Electrophone at Winter Gardens — 185.
Elgie, Richard— 99, 254.
EUot. Canon P. P.— 50, 244.
Eliot, Canon W.— 236, 238.
Elizabeth, Queen— 6, 9, 10, 26.
Enclosure Acts — 32-34.
Enclosure and Tree-Planting — 32-40.
Encroachment in Old Christchurch

Boad— 116.
Entrenchments — See Prehistoric Ee-

mains.
" Esplanade on the Cliff "—90, 163.
Extensions of Area — 149-159, 195,

196.
Ettricke, Anthony— 253.
Exeter Hotel, Eoyal— 57, 234.
Exeter House— 220.
Exeter, Marchioness of — 57.
Exeter Park- 55-56, 220.
Evans, ilr.. Architect of Symes'

Cottage — 56.

Palls, Dr. W. S.— 127.

Parr, Dr. W. D.— 36, 39.

Pearon and Clabon, Messrs. — 114.

Penn, Sir Eobert— 43.

Penwick, Dr. E.— 234.

Perrey, B.— 38, 65, 68, 84, 89, 90.

Flennes, Mistress Celia — 9.

Fire Brigade— 183.

Firs Home— 231.

Fisher, Canon 0. E. — 242.
Fishermen and Pishing — 12, 17,'"54,

62, 154, 159.
Fletcher, Charles— 213.
Fletcher, Loundes & Co. — 143.
" Plying Squadron " — 170.
Football- 219, 233.
Forest House and Little Forest House

—96.
Pounder and his Family — 41-51.
" Pounder of Bournemouth " — See

Tregouwell, L.D.G.
" Fourth Party "—255.
Fox, George— 71, 116, 138-141, 255.
Fraser, Rev. Donald — 250.
Freeman, Professor — 4.
Freemantle — 155.
Freemen — See Honorary Freemen.
French Fleet- 25.
French Forces — 7, 20.
French Invasion — 25.
Friends' Meeting House — 250.
Frost, Dr. George— 164, 192.
PuUerton, A. J.— 230.
Pullerton, Lady G.— 230, 234.
Fungus the Cause of Shortness of

Life— 38.
" Furnished and Papered ViUas " — 71.

Galpin, G.— 238.

Galton, John — 254.

Games in Parks — 219.

Garnett, Dr. Bichard- 261.

Gas Company's Works— 97, 101,269.

Gas Established— 181.

Gas Supply— 180, 181, 182.

GasUghting— 102.

Geikie, Dr. Cunningham — 266.

Geikie, Su- A.— 2.

George III.— 27-29. 49.

George IV.— 60.

George V.— 229.

George A. Durance — 200.

George, Dr.— 238.

George, C. A. D.— 205.

Germany, Emperor of, at Highcliffe —

86.
Gervis Ancestry — 64-75.
Gervis Estate, Trustees, Family — 65,

88-103, 105, 108, 112, 118,3121,

127, 128, 216, 239, 240, 254.
Gifford, C— 193.
GUpin, Rev. W.— 39, 40.
Gladstone, Right-Hon. W. E.— 96,

258, 259.
Glenesk, Lord — 151.
Glouce.ster, Duke of — 27.
Godfrey, Dan— 144, 199, 214.
Godwin, Mary WoUstonecraft —

260-262.
Godwin, WiUiam— 260, 262.
Golf— 156, 219, 222.
Gordon Grove — 96.
Gordon, William— 90, 96.
Gordon's Estate— 88, 93.
Grand Hotel— 138.

Granville, Dr. A. B.— 78-84, 86, 102.
Grain, Corney — 212.

286

GENERAL INDEX.

Gravel Pits— 117.

Great Dean Common — 34.

Great Dean, near nddenhurst — 34.

" Great Hotel "—78, 79, 80.

Greatheed, Samuel — 88.

Grosvenor, Mrs. Drax— 58.

Guise, Sir John— 99.

Haggard, Captain J. — 204.

Hahnemann Home — 231.

Hale, George, Captain of the Heather

Bell— li6.
Haley, Charles R.— 200.
HaU, Charles Stacey— 198.
" Hampshire Advertiser " — 70.
Hampshire County Council — -192.
Hampshire Territorial .Association —

198.
Hankinson, T. J.— 143, 218.
Hardy, Thomas— 3, 42, 70, 145, 264,

265.
Harkness, Mrs.- 43, 47, 50.
Harland, Prebendary^242.
Harleian Collection — 7.
Harnett, Mr. and Mrs. ^245.
Harris — See Malmesbury.
Harris, Hon. C— 64.
Harrison & Co. — 171.
Hartley University College — 198.
Hawker, C. P.— 204.
Hayden, S. .T., Bev. P.J.— 247.
Haydon, C. J.— 200.
Hayter, H., Bourne Cliff— 57.
Health Resorts— 26-31.
Heather Bell— li5, 146. See also

Steamers.
Hellyer, H. T.— 249.
Hengist and Horsa — 4.
Hengistbury Head— 2, 3, 4, 6, 14,

29, 159.
Henry VIII. and Catherine of Arragon

—42.
Herbert Convalescent Home — 155,

231.
Hertz, Doctor, of Panama fame — 151.
Hibbert, Mrs. Washington — 245.
Hibbs, WiUiam— 58.
Hibidage, John— 88, 92, 94, 255.
Highcliffe— 85, 86.
HiU, C. W.— 179, 199.
Hill, Mr., of Gosport— 123.
Hillier, D. E.— 236.
Hinton Admiral — 65, 73.
Hippodrome, Boscombe — 212.
Hiscock, William — 254.
Hoare and Walden — 95.
Hockey— 219.

Holdenhurst, Chapelry of — 34.
Holenest — 7.

Holland, CUve (C. J. Hankinson)— 266.
Holloway, Henry — 93.
Holmesley— 29, 129, 135, 136.
Holy Trinity Church— 244.
Honorary E^eemen — 200.
Hooper, Edward — 253.
Hooper, Rev. G. D.— 236.
Horseshoe Common — 166.
Horseye, Edward — 6.

Hosker, Dr. J. A.— 185, 193.

Hospitals and Charities— 226-232.

Hotels in 1850—98.

" House Beautiful "—232.

Howard, Lord Edward Pitzalan — 245.

Hudson, Mr. 91.

Hughes, Thomas — 24.

Hvu'ste Castell — 7.

Hutchins, the Dorset Historian — 42,

44-47, 253.
Huts on Promenades — 172.
Huxley, Prof.— 266.
" Hyena in Petticoats " — 280.

Ibbett, Prank W.— 199, 236.
Iford— 16, 38, 135.
Iford Bridge— 102.
Iford House— 36, 38, 39.
Ilchester, Earl of — 141.
Improvement Act of 1856—62, 102,

104-118.
Incorporation — 187, 188.
Incorporation Association — 187, 188.
Independent Chapel — 92.
Ingram, James — 93.
Ingram, Samuel — 100.
Invalids' Walk— 86, 216.
Invasion— 6, 7, 19-25, 48.
Isle of Wight— 10, 29, 40.
Italian Band — See Royal Italian Band.
Iverbridge — 7.

Jefferies, Ensign John — 204.

Jennings, Herbert — 211.

Jetty— 99, 100, 119.

Jones, Rev. J. D.— 238, 249.

Joy, Henry— 137, 138, 155.

" Joy's Polly "—137, 138.

Jubilee of Local Volunteers — 202.

Keats-Shelley Exhibition— 262.
Keble, John— 242, 265.
Kemp-Welch, Martin— 128.
Kemp-Welch and Pinder— 212.
Kennedv, Rev. E. J.— 238.
Kerley, ■ Robert— 97, 100, 111, 119,

228, 244.
Kerr, S.J., Rev. H. S.— 246.
" Kidnapped," by R. L. .Stevenson —

263.
Kidner, William— 140.
King, C. A.— 121, 130, 203, 204.
Kingdon, Thomas— 108, 114.
King's Park— 36.
Kinson — 14.
Kintore, Earl of— 250.
Knowles, W. J. A.— 143.
Kopp, S.J., Rev. A.— 247.

Labourers' Wages in 1857 — 117.
Lacey, P. W.— 166, 169, 171, 177, 19»

198, 199.
Lacey, Clirehugh & Sillar— 178.
Lainston Villa — 111.
Lampard, .Tames — 88, 254.
Land, Prices Paid for— 35, 36, 55, 56,

89, 141, 151, 247, 250.
Land, Transfers of— 96, 156.

GENERAL INDEX.

287

Land for Sale — 71.

Landing vStage, Temporary — 123.

Lane, E. L.— 183.

Lapasture, S.J., Bev. C. de — 246.

Lawn Tennis — 219.

Lawson, G. J.— 192, 237.

Lawson & DonMn — 212.

Lawson * Reynolds — 166.

Leach, Mr., First Stationmaster — 136.

Ledgard, George— 108, 119, 255.

Ledgard, Richard — 108.

Ijedgard's Bank Failure — 120.

T*at, Mr.— 94.

Lemon, Mark— 227.

Leonard, Rev. H. C— 230, 250.

Leven and Melville, Earl of— 158, 238.

Leverett & Prye's — 70.

Liabilities — 114.

Liberty of the West Stour— 35, 65.

Libraries — See Public Libraries.

Library, Sydenham's — 67.

Lickfold, A.— 197.

Lifts Erected— 172.

Light, George — 112.

Light Railwavs Commissioners — 175.

Lighting the Pier— 125.

LiUiput— 9.

Lister, Michael — 46.

Littledown, the Home of the Deans—
165.

Llewellyn, W.— 200.

Loans— 112, 114, 123.

" Local Act for Bournemouth is Re-
quired " — 92.

Local Government Act, 1888 — 192.

Local Government Act, 1894 — 193.

Locke, Harold— 268.

Lodge, James — 254.

" London and Commercial Inn " — 98,
220.

Long, Thomas — 245.

Lord of the Manor — See Gervis, Mey-
rick.

Lord Mayor of London — 161.

Louise, H.R.H. Princess— 133, 229.

Lowry, Rev. S. C— 265.

Lowth, Rev. Robert — 47.

Lowth, D.D., Rt. Rev.— 47.

Luttrell, Col. Francis — 44.

Lyell, Sir C— 5.

Lyons, Capt.— 21, 22.

Lyric Club— 211.

Lytchett— 33, 37.

Lytton, Lord and Lady Bulwer — 98.

Macdonald, Dr. George — 260.

Mace, Mayoral Chain, and Other

BegaUa— 191, 192.
Macey, Mr., of the Belle Vue— 131.
Macey, WUliam— 112.
MoGUI, Rev. James— 250.
MacGregor, " Rob Roy "—266.
McGuire, Rev. J.— 227.
McMiUau, Rev. H.— 249, 250.
McWilliam, J.— 94, 113, 127, 146, 183,

188, 192, 204.
Mainwaring, Dr. — 92.

Malmesbury, Earls of — 5, 12, 35, 55,
64, 91, 156, 202, 229, 253, 254,
255, 264, 266.
Malmesbury Park— 155, 156, 159.
Mann, S.J., Fr.— 246.
Manor of Christchm-ch and Liberty of

Westover — 65.
Mansion, The— 1. 52-63, 71, 104, 186.
" Man.5ion for Sale " (1839)— 71.
Manuel, William — 16.
Map of the District — 110.
Maps of Dorset— 7, 8, 9, 49.
Markland, Capt. John Duffl — 46.
Marklaud, Miss Sophia — 46.
Markland, Mrs. Helen Ellery — 46, 47.
Marie-Anielie, Ex-Queen of Prance —

96.
" Marine Village of Bourne " — 64-75,

84, 88-103, 186.
Marriages.Celebration of, in 1858 — 104.
Masonry— 271, 272.
" Master of Ballantrae " — 264.
Matcham, Mr., of the Belle Vue — 94,

95, 131.
Mate, C. H.— 191, 236.
Mate, William— 128, 172.
Mate & Sons, Telephone between

Bournemouth and Poole — 185.
Mayor and Aldermen, First Appoint-
ment— 189.
Mayor's Parlour, Portraits of Mayors —

201.
Medical and Philanthropic — 226-232.
Medical Officer of Health— 182, 199.
Medley— 10, 11.
Methodist Churches — 251.
" Metropolis of Bath Chairs " — 78.
Mews, Sir Peter— 44, 65, 73, 253.
Mews Road, East Cliff- 94.
Meyrick Ancestry — 64-75.
Me3T?ick, Lady — 172.
Meyrick, Sir George— 34, 36, 88, 168,
170, 204, 219, 222. See also Gervis
Ancestry and Gervis Estate.
Meyrick and Queen's Park Club — 222.
Meyrick Park— 36, 155, 222.
Middle Chine— 164.
Miles, C. T.— 151, 238.
Millard, Mr.- 139.
Milledge, A. H.— 184, 222.
Milton Abbey and Estates — 42-44, 46,

50.
Milton, John— 44, 50.
Milton, Lord— 48.
Mitchel, Miss, Donor of Drill Hall —

206.
Mochler, S.J., Pr.— 245.
Monro, E. A.— 243.
Monro, Henrietta Lewlna — 243. ]
Monro, Hector — 47, 62.
Monro, Hector Bdmond — 47, 56.
Monro, Hector Wm. Bower — 47.
Monro, Lieut. -General — 47, 243.
Moncrieff. Rev. W.— 236.
Monmouth, Duke of — 5.
Montagu of Beaulieu, Lord — 205.
" Montpellier on the South Coast " —
81.

288

GENERAL INDEX.

Montrose, Duke and Duchess — 98.
Moordown — 3, 195.
Moore, W. W.— 192, 193.
Mootham, O. C-— 183, 184.
Morden's Map — 8.
MoreU and MouUlot— 212.
Morley, Prof. Henry — 260.
Mountjoy, Dowager Lady — 10.
Mountjoy, Lord — 8-11.
Mudeford— 28-31, 41, 53, 101.
Mulberry Trees at Boscombe Manor —

150.
Municipal Corporations Association—

198.
Municipal Debt— 289.
Municipal Government — 186-201.
Municipal Offices — 111.
Municipal Orchestra — 144, 214, 215.
Municipal Tramways — See Tramways.
Music and the Drama — 207-215.
" Musters and Surveys " — 6.
Mynes, The— 7, 8, 9, 11.

Napoleon Buonaparte — 19, 25, 202.
Napoleon, Louis — 202.
Nash, Harry— 210, 212, 213.
National Provincial Bank — 121.
National Sanatorium— 86, 92, 97, 100,

226, 227.
National Telephone Co.— 185, 269.
Nethercoate, John A. — 184.
Nethercoate, John K. — 95.
New Forest— 5, 12, 13, 15.
" New World within an old one " — 3,

4, 38.
Newling, Madame— 213, 214.
Newlyn, H.— 237.
Newlyn, 8., of the Belle Vue— 131.
Nightingale, Miss Florence — 231.
Norris, Philip— 35, 38.
Northbrook, Earl of— 234.
Norton, Mrs. J. J.— 236.
Nunn, Dr. P. W. G.— 182, 199, 265.
Nurse or Nurses' Hill— 88, 96.

Oakley, Crown Inn at — 58.
O'Connell, Maurice— 112, 245.
OdUng, H. H.— 238.
Officials— 108-114, 144, 177, 179, 182,

188, 189, 198-200, 268.
Old Age Pensions Act, 1908—197.
" Old Gulliver "—15, 16.
" Open Access " at Public Libraries —

238.
Open Spaces — See Parks and Pleasure

Grounds.
Oratorio at the Winter Gardens — 213,

214.
Orchard, The — 57.
Orchard Lane — 57, 92.
Orchard Street— 57, 92.
Ordination Service at St. Peter's — 242.
Oscar, King of Sweden and Norway —

266.
Oval Block— 111, 112.
Overchff Drives— 163, 164, 170.
Overhead TroUey System — 174-179.
Overton's Map — 8.

Oxenham, .John — 266.

Packe, C. W.— 92, 96, 121, 130, 227.

Pagett, Jan\es — 6.

Palmerston Arms — 150.

Palmerston Gardens — 142.

Pannel, Charles Lavington — 227.

Parish Councils Act, 1894—193.

Park, Proposed Pulilic (1848)— 95.

Park Villas— 81.

Parken, liieut. A. H.— 204.

Parks and Pleasm-e Gardens — 2, 216-

225.
Parkstone— 3, 7, 8, 9, 11.
Parliamentary Representation — 252-

259.
Parry, Sir Hubert— 273.
Parsonage House — 243.
Parsons, J. A. — 171.
Parsons, Lieut.— 101, 127.
" Passenger and Traffic Transit " —

116.
Pavilion Schemes — 69.
Payn, James — 265.
PecheU, Sir Brooke— 205.
" Peep into Futurity " — 58, 59.
Pembroke, Earl of— 231.
Pentin, Rev. H.— 42.
Peto, Sir Morton— 250.
Petre, Lady Catherine — 245.
Philharmonic Society — 213.
Phillips, F. J.— 114.
Phillips, James— 114, 136.
Pier Approach Raised — 101.
Pier Clock— 257.

Pier Company, Promenade — 124, 160.
Pier Lessees and Toll Collectors — 125,

126.
Piers— 69, 99, 100, 101, 105, 108,

113 ; Wooden— 119-132, 144 ;

Boscombe — 152-155 ; Present —

156, 160-173 ; Extension— 161.
Pilkington, A. J.— 246.
Pine Tree Planting — 37.
Pipe Clay in CMffs— 80.
Piper, ,T., Nurseryman — 93.
Pitt, William Morton— 27.
Pleasure Gardens — 156, 165.
Pleasure Gardens, Lower — 55, 67,

68, 84, 91, 101, 108, 112, 114,

216-225.
Pleasure Gardens, Upper — 89, 216-

225.
" Pleasure Gardens Pagoda" — 69.
Pokesdown— 3, 137, 157, 158, 193, 195.
Polhill, Mr.— 88.
Police Force — 117.
Poole— 2, 4, 7-10, 12-14, 16-18, 20,

33, 39, 58, 145.
Poole and Bournemouth Waterworks

Company— 180, 182.
Poole and South Coast Telegraph

Company — 129.
Poole Bay — 29.
Poole Cornopean Band — 104.
Poole Custom House — 14.
Poole Fishermen — 12, 62.
Poole Heath — 8.

GENERAL INDEX.

289

"Poole Herald"— 25, 98, 102, 106,

128, 129, 261.
Poole Lane — 34.

Population— 2, 98, 134, 157, 162.
Portarlington, Third Earl of— 50.
Portman, H. W., of Bryanstone — 46.
Portman, Lord — 140.
Portman Lodge — 50, 56.
" Post-boy," Oldest Living— 58.
Post Offices— 08, 104, 138, 139, 140.
Poulet, Lord Thomas — 6.
Prehistoric Kemains — 2, 3, 4.
Press Gang— 16, 17.
Presbyterian Churches — See St. An-
drew's.
Preventive Station House — 88.
Primitive Methodist Churches — 251.
Primrose League — 256.
Prince Regent at Cranborne — 60.
Promenades and OvercUfE Drives — 172.

" Prophecy " by Mrs. Drax Grosvenor
—58, 59.

Proudley, Mr.— 112, 217.

Provident Medical Association — 85.

PubUc Libraries— 2, 4, 235, 236-238.

Public Libraries Committee — 197, 198.

Pubhc Reading Rooms — 127.

" Pulchritudo et Salubritas "—40, 189.

Punch, Miss— 236.

Punshon Memorial — 248.

Punshon, William Morley — 248.

Queen Victoria — 100.
Queen's Park— 36, 156, 222.
Quoits— 219. .

" Ragged Cat," Boscombe — 150.
Railwavs— 102, 110, 135-137, 153,

20i, 269, 270.
Ram, Rev. G. S.— 242.
Ramsay, David — 91, 93.
Ranjitsinghi, Prince — 221.
Rate Collectors— 113-114.
Rates and Rateable Value — 2, 108,

112-114, 162, 267, 268.
Rebbeck, E. W.— 142, 203, 204, 220.
Rebbeck, Captain— 203.
Rebbeck, W. E.— 100, 114, 141, 203.
Rebbeck's Estate Office— 129.
Redbreast HiU— 3.
Redd Cliff— 6.
Redhill— 3.

Reed, Dr. Martin— 236.
Reed, Mr. and Mrs. German — 212.
Reeves, Sims, at Assembly Rooms —

213.
Regatta Ball at Belle Vue— 97.
Regattas, Early — 97.
Reid, Sir Wemyss— 258.
Religious Life of Bournemouth —

239-251.
" Rendezvous " as name of Winter

Gardens — 144.
Rennie, Mr. — 120.
Revel, Mark— 112.
Rejrnolds, Sir Joshua — 49.
Reynolds, T.— 249.
Eibblesdale, Lord — 46.

Richards, Prank — 200.
Riohards,?Lieutenant-Colonel — 204.
Richardson, R. — 34.
Richmond, Henry, Earl of — 20, 21.
Richmond HUl Congregational Church
—248, 249.

Richmond Park — 158.

Riddett, S. W.— 211.

Riddle, Charles— 200, 237.

Ridley, J. R.— 237.

Rifle Corps — See Volunteers.

Rifle Drill Hall— 206.

Rifle Ranges— 219, 225.

Ringwood— 12, 136.

Ringwood Petty Sessional Division —
118, 194.

" Rita " (Mrs. Humphreys) — 266.

Roads on Award Map — 35, 36.

Bobbins, Miss, of the Belle Vue— 131.

Roberts, A., and Bathing Rights — 127.

Roberts, George— 15, 26, 29, 31.

Roberts, Lord— 200, 205.

Roberts, Mr.- 53.

Roberts and Archer's Dramatic Com-
pany — 146.

Robinson, Edward — 109.

Robinson, Rev. W. Venis — 238.

Robson, Henry — 183.

Rodger, Rev. Hugh— 250.

Rodger,Rev. J. W.— 250.

Rogers, Slippery — 15.

Rogers, W. B.— 183, 204.

Roller Skating— 219, 225.

Rose, George, of Moredown — 254.

Rose, Ijieutenant Colonel G. H. — 24.

Rose, Right Hon. George Henry — 253,
254.

Rose, Sir George— 30, 65, 253.

Rose, W. Stewart— 28, 253, 266.

Rowden, Henry — 71.

Rowing — 224.

Royal Italian Band— 59, 146, 214,
215.

Royal Marine Library — 128.

Royal Oak, Order of the— 48.

Royal Visits— 272.

Rufus, King — 5.

Rural District of Christchurch — 155.

Russell, Dr. Richard— 27.

Russell's Cottage — 88.

Russian Colony at Tuckton — 266.

Rustic Bridge on Approach — 101.

Riistic Bridge on Arcade Site — 137,
138.

Ryan, Bishop— 242.

St. Andrew's Churches— 56, 84, 116,

249, 250.
St. Joseph's Home— 230, 234.
St. Mark's Church— 250.
St. Mary's Home— 232.
St. Maur, Lord— 98.
St. Michael's Church— 244.
St. Peter's Church— 1, 61, 62, 64,

70, 141, 227, 239-242, 260, 261,

265.
St. Stephen's Church— 243, 244.
St. Vincent de Paul Society— 231.

U

290

GENERAL IJNDEX.

Salisbury Hotel, Boscombe — 35.

" Salisbury and Winchester Journal "

—16, 21, 70, 86.
Salmon, Remarkable Draught of —

159.
Salter, Clavell— 85.
Salter, Dr., o£ Poole— 85.
Sanderson, A. H. — 185.
Sanatorium — See National Sanatorium.
Saxon Chronicler — 38.
Saxon Period — i.
Scacchi, Signor — 214.
Scarlett, B. B. S.— 219.
Scarth, Leveson— 237, 238.
Schools, Public, Private and Technical

—233-236.
Scotch Churches — See St. Andrew's.
Scots Greys at Mudeford — 29.
Scott, Dr. T. B.—
Scott, GUbert— 247.
Scott, Sir Walter— 28, 53, 253, 281.
Seal of the Commissioners — 108.
Seats on the Pier — 125.
SeUey, J.— 200.
Sergeant, Adeline — 266.
Shaftesbury, Earl of— 13, 64, 229, 257,
t«s;?258. '-■

Shah of Persia's Visit to England —

'^ 145.

Shakespeare {" Eichard III.") — 21.
Sham Fights in the Meadows — 204.
Shelley, Mary WoUstouecraft— 260-

262.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe— 260-262.
Shelley, Sir Percy and Lady — 101,

130, 150, 152, 207-210, 260, 261,

263, 264.
Sheriffs of Dorset— 43, Sir John

Tregonweh ; 43, John Tregon-

well ; 47, Hector Monro ; 47,

Hector Edmond Monro ; 53,

L. D. G. TregonweU.
Simraonds, Colonel — 113.
Skating— 219, 225.
Skating Rinks— 142, 143.
Shettle, Thomas— 121, 122, 138.
Skittle Alley at the " TregonweU " —

141.
.■ilidle, Mrs., of the Belle Vue— 67, 131.
Sloman, John— 35, 39, 254.
Smith, Ahel Henry— 257.
Smith, Captain S. G.— 205.
Smith, Dr. W. AUis— 121, 203.
Smith, H. Gorringe- 198.
Smith, Bight Hon. W. H.— 258.
Smith, Sir Thomas— 10. :'r:rr''^''
Smuggling and Smugglers — 8, 12-18,

54, 59.
" Sorial History of the Southern

Counties "—26.
South African War— 205.
South Hants Cavalry — 24.
Southampton, County of — 6.
Southampton, Earl of — 6.
Southampton as a Watering Place —

27, 28.
Southbourne — 157, 158, 195.
Southbourne Terrace Site — 141.

Southbourne UnderoUff Esplanade —
159.

Southern Sea Fisheries — 198.

" Spas of England " — See Granville.

Speed's " History of Southampton " —
27.

Sports, Municipal and Other— 216-225.

Spriugbourne — 150.

Square, The— 55, 56, 94, 95.

State Papers, Calendar of Domestic — 6.

Steamers, Local— 122, 145-148.

Stears', Messrs., Scheme for Gas — 180.

Stephen, King — 5.

Stevens, General — 21.

Stevenson, Bobert Louis— 262-264.

Stewart, Rev. A. Morris — 250.

Stilhngfleet, Mrs.— 60-61.

Stour— 2-5, 13, 39.

Stour as a Borough Boundary — 159.

Stourfield House— 38, 39.

Strappini, S.J., Bev. W.— 236.

Strahan, Mr. — 45.

Stratbmore, Countess of — 39.

Street, G. E.— 241.

Streets ; Only one street in Bourne-
mouth— 92.

Sturfeld Heathe— 7.

Submerged Pine Forest — 5.

SuHvan, Admiral Sir James B. — 206.

Suspension Bridge, Alum Chine — 164.

Swanage — 27.

Strangways, Miss Prances — 141.

Sweden, King and Queen of — 272.

Sweetman, J. — 255.

Swimming— 222, 223.

Sydenham, David— 128, 145, 147.

Sydenham, J., " Guide to Bourne-
mouth " — 85.

Sydenham, John — 254, 255.

Sydenham, John, jun. — 128.

Sydenham, Mr. — 67.

Sydenham, St. Barbe — 46.

Sydenham's " History of Poole " — 4,
7, 20.

Symea' Cottage — 50.

Synagogue at Assembly Rooms — 213.

Talbot, Miss— 158.

Talbot VUlage— 158.

Talbot Woods— 2, 4, 90, 157.

Tapps, Sir George Ivison— 23, 34-36,

55, 56, 64, 65-75.
Tapps, George Wilham — 65.
Tapps Arms— 38, 54, 56.
Taxidermy on the Pier — 126.
Taylor, Sir Henry- 264.
Taylor, J. H., Golf Champion— 222.
Tchertkoff, M. Vladimir— 266.
Technical Instruction Committee —

196, 197.
Telegraph, The Poole, etc.— 129.
Telegraph Office— 122.
Telephone Exchange — 185.
Telephony— 185.

Tennant, C. E., Postmaster— 139.
Terrace Cottage— 56, 57, 141.
" Tess of the D'XJrbervilles " — 42.

GENERA.L INDEX.

291

" The Founder " — See Tregonwell,

L. D. G.
" The Owl "—151.
Theatre, Bournemouth — 211, ^12.
Theatre at Boscombe Manor — 207-210,

262.
Thickpenny, T. E.— 220.
Thomson, Dr. J. Roberts— 192, 193,

205, 234, 236.
Thomson, Lieut. — 205.
Thorubury, David — 120.
" Through England on a Side-Saddle "
"*'■ i— 9.
Tice, W.— 254.
Timson, Rev. W.— 92, 240.
Tinling, Rev. G. D.— 229.
Toomer, Miss, of the Bath Hotel and

BeUe Vue— 67, 71, 131.
Toone, J. A.— 238.
Torrington, Lord — 20.
Town Hall and Avenue— 111, 137, 142,

213.
Town Planning Act— 199.
Toyne, Canon P. E.— 244.
Tramways, Municipal — 159, 174-179,

268.
Tree-Planting— 32-40, 52, 271.
Tregonwell, John— 59, 62, 63, 244.
Tregonwell, L. D. G.— 1, 2, 8, 16, 28,

31, 32, 39-64, 72, 80, 94, 95, 104,

142, 186, 202, 267, 272.
Tregonwell, Miss Henrietta L. — 47, 63.
Tregonwell, Mrs.— 53, 54, 61, 63, 82,

84, 90, 140.
Tregonwell, Mrs. J.— 50, 51, 63, 244.
Tregonwell, St. Barbe— 46, 62, 63.
Tregonwell Arms— 38, 71, 104, 117,

138, 140, 141, 247.
TregonweUs, The, Ancestry — 41-51.
Trehearne, W. J., Trustees of — 219.
TresgweU's Map — 8.
Tribbett, James— 128.
Trotman, Robert — 14, 15.
Trotting Ground — 156.
Trout in the Brook— 101.
Truscott, Sir P. W.— 161.
Truscott, Sir G. W.— 161.
Tuck, David— 67, 88, 92-95, 254, 255.
Tuck, Peter— 94, 100, 111, 220, 255.
Tuck and Cumber, Messrs. — 143.
Tucker, Alderman — 24.
Tucker, Sergt.-Major — 24.
Tuckton Bridge — 4, 159.
TweUa, Canon— 265.
Tyrrell, Sir Walter— 5, 13.

TJnderclifi Drive Schemes— 164-173,

201.
Undercliii Promenade, West — 5.
" Underwoods," by R. L. Stevenson —

263.
Unemployed Workmen Act, 1905 —

197.
Unitarian Church — ^251.
" Unreclaimed Solitude " — 32, 54.
Urn at Cranbome Gardens — 57.

VanTRaalte, Charles — 9.

Vandeleur, Col. J. O.— 205.

Varley, Rev. T.— 41.

Victoria Home for Cripples— 232.

Victoria Hospital, Royal — 228, 229.

Victoria, Queen— 201, 227, 230.

Villas Designed by Perrey— 68, 89.

Villas for Sale (1838)— 70, 71.

ViUas on the Cliff— 83, 84.

Vipan, Miss Dora — 236.

" Visitor's Guide to Bournemouth " —

66, 85.
Volunteer Porce and Territorials — 21-

23, 25, 48, 112, 121, 202-206, 231.

Waddelow, Rev. S. R.— 231.

Walcott, Admiral— 135, 255, 266.

Walcott, Colonel— 21, 23, 24, 29.

Walcott, Rev. M.— 5, 7, 72, 266.

Walmesley, Colonel H. M.— 15.

Walpole, Horace — 260.

Wanklyn, Rev. E.— 220, 244.

Wanklyn, Rev. J. H.— 220, 234.

Wansbrooht, Mr. — 180.

Ware, Mrs. M. (oldest native)— 273.

Wareham— 4, 33.

Warner, Rev. Richard— 13, 15, 266.

Water Polo— 222.

Water Supply— 180, 181.

Waterford, Marchioness of — 25.

Webber, J. C— 192.

Welch, C. R.— 183.

Wesleyan Churches— 141, 247, 248,

251.
West, Jane — 30.
West, Rev. G. H.— 236.
West Cliff Drive- 156.
Westbourne— 96, 130, 155, 156.
Westminster, Marquis and Marchioness

of— 98.
Westover — 35.
Westover Hundred — 6.
Westover Pleasure Gardens — 68, 69,

91, 93, 112, 127.
Westover Viilas— 67, 68, 88, 98.
Weymouth— 26-29.
Wheeler, Ethel Rolt— 260.
Whitting, C. J.— 236, 237, 238, 272.
Wick— 37.

Wick House— 35, 38, 39.
Wickins, J. — 34.

Wills, Sir P. and Lady— 230, 238.
Wilme, Mr.— 93.
Wilson, Thomas— 23.
Wimborne— 33, 38.
Wimborne, Lady — 229.
Wimborne, Lord — 130, 155.
Wimborne Minster — 4, 16.
Windsor Cottages — 140.
Winter Garden Company — 142, 143.
Winter Garden in Westover Gardens —

127.
Winter Garden on East Cliff — 128.
Winter Garden, Southbourne — 159.
Winter Gardens— 57, 142, 144, 213-

215, 270.
Winter, Mr., Sen.— 91, 92.
Winton— 2, 157, 193, 195.
Winton Recreation Ground — 156.

292

GENERAL INDEX.

Wolff, Sir Henry D.— 143, 150, 151,

219, 255, 256.
WoodhaU, H. W.— 182.
Woodward's " History of Hants " —

86.
Worth, W. J.— 183, 240.
Wreckage, Recovery of — 123, 124.
Wrecks— 101.
Wyatt, C. W.— 114.

Wyndhain, Rev. Hugh— 240.

Y.M.C.A.— 222, 258.
Yattingaford — 38.
Yeomanry— 22, 29, 48,49.
Young, C. E. Baring— 257.

Zanetti, Signer — 214.

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