The Leisure Activities of the Rural Working Classes with Special
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The leisure activities of the rural working classes with special reference to Norfolk 1840-1940 Carole King, M.A. School of History University of East Anglia A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy / Doctor of Philosophy May, 2015 “This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution.” Table of contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….v Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………..vi Abbreviations…………………………………………...…………………………...vii Chapter 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………1 Leisure and work ................................................................................................... 1 Social structure ...................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 6 Agriculture .......................................................................................................... 11 Religion ............................................................................................................... 13 Time for leisure? ................................................................................................. 15 Social change ...................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2. Historiography of rural working class leisure…………………….…….20 Chapter 3. Traditional leisure and its critics………………………………….…….28 Rural recreations before and during the Victorian era. ....................................... 28 Early opportunities for sport ............................................................................... 31 Boxing and prize-fighting ............................................................................... 35 Horse racing .................................................................................................... 38 Opposition to workers’ choice of leisure ............................................................ 42 Rise and development of fairs ............................................................................. 52 Decline of fairs .................................................................................................... 63 Circuses and menageries ..................................................................................... 74 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 4. Broadening horizons: transport and technology………………………..78 Public transport ................................................................................................... 80 Railways.......................................................................................................... 80 Motor transport – Buses .................................................................................. 82 Transport improvements and holidays ................................................................ 85 Personal transport ................................................................................................ 87 Bicycles ........................................................................................................... 87 Motor transport – Cars and motorcycles......................................................... 90 The open air movement....................................................................................... 92 i Cinema, including the magic lantern and dissolving views ................................ 95 The modernisation of the fairground ................................................................ 101 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 103 Chapter 5. New venues: reading rooms and village halls in Norfolk…………….105 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 105 Nature of the evidence and methodology ......................................................... 105 Why and how were reading rooms founded? .................................................... 113 The development of reading rooms .................................................................. 121 The geographical distribution of reading rooms ............................................... 130 Membership profile ........................................................................................... 133 Day-to-day running of the reading room – finance........................................... 136 Architectural styles of reading rooms ............................................................... 139 The decline of reading rooms............................................................................ 142 Village halls ...................................................................................................... 144 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 153 Chapter 6. The changing character of rural sport…………………………………155 ‘Muscular Christianity’ ..................................................................................... 155 Cricket ............................................................................................................... 157 Football ............................................................................................................. 169 Amateur/professional ethos............................................................................... 173 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 174 Chapter 7. Rural working women’s leisure……………………………………….176 Female societies ................................................................................................ 184 The Mothers’ Union ...................................................................................... 189 Girls’ Friendly Society .................................................................................. 200 Nonconformist women’s organisations ........................................................ 202 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 206 Chapter 8. The Women’s Institute movement…………………………………….208 Historiography .................................................................................................. 209 Structure and early history ................................................................................ 216 Contrast between the WI and alternative leisure possibilities .......................... 217 Explaining the WI movement ........................................................................... 218 The WI’s international roots ............................................................................. 220 The foundation of the British WI movement .................................................... 222 ii The WI in Norfolk............................................................................................. 224 Training, competitions, resolutions, libraries – empowerment. ........................ 234 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...……..241 Chapter 9. Conclusion…………………………………………………………….243 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….246 A] Primary sources………………………………………………………………..246 i. Unpublished archives .................................................................................... 246 a) The National Archives, Kew ................................................................... 246 b) Norfolk Record Office, Norwich ............................................................ 247 c) Norfolk Federation of Women’s Institutes ............................................. 250 d) Holkham archives ................................................................................... 250 e) Newspapers ............................................................................................. 250 ii. Parliamentary Papers ................................................................................... 251 iii. Printed material ........................................................................................... 252 a) Norfolk ..................................................................................................... 252 b) General .................................................................................................... 254 B] Secondary sources…………………………………………………………….. 256 a) Books – Norfolk ........................................................................................ 256 b) Books – general ......................................................................................... 258 c) Articles ...................................................................................................... 267 d) Dissertations and theses ............................................................................. 271 e) Websites (All retrieved 16.5.15) ............................................................... 272 Tables Table 1: Norfolk fairs in 1883 .................................................................................... 55 Table 2: Trading in Norfolk fairs in 1883 .................................................................