Local history: How word got around in Victorian times

But in the Victorian period it was completely different. Radio, television and the internet were all inventions of the next century and the news came solely from newspapers, both national and local – all pretty sober affairs with no illustrations.

The front page was fully taken up with regular trade advertisements and although headlines were in a bigger, bold type, they had none of the ‘splash’ with which we are so familiar today.

There were many weekly or monthly periodicals, such as The Sphere, The Graphic and The Illustrated London News, all of which might have published a special number for royal occasions but whether many of these found their way to Andover is doubtful, being primarily London-based and comparatively expensive.

Of course, everyone was aware of the news - the ebb and flow of party politics, the disasters, the innovations, movements in fashion, the latest royal stories and the fortunes of the country’s military forces with regard to the empire. National pride was almost universal but the lives and exploits of others were more remote than they would be today - that said, local gossip could fly across the town quicker than a racehorse! But in the case of national events, what was of primary importance to the hard-pressed populations of small towns, was the prospect of a day off and a chance for a procession, maybe a free dinner and a general party.

And indeed, in July 1893 there was to be a royal wedding. It was a rather curious affair, whereby Prince George and Princess Mary (May) of Teck, cousins of sorts, were to marry. The princess, a granddaughter of George III, had been selected by Queen Victoria (rather than the prospective bridegroom) as eminently suitable; she was studious, reserved, well versed in royal etiquette and of impeccable reputation, an ideal consort to the Queen’s grandson who would eventually inherit the throne. But the heir for whom she was intended was Prince Albert Victor (Eddy), not his younger brother, George. Prince Eddy was not very bright and reputed to have led a somewhat dissolute life (he was even thought to be Jack the Ripper, a story that has persisted to the present day) and needed to be set on the right road. An engagement was announced and the wedding day set, but it was all overturned by the death of Prince Eddy on 14 January 1892. This left the prospective bride in limbo but perhaps court circles thought Princess May was too good to lose, for after a customary period of mourning it was announced that she would now marry Prince George instead. As King George V and Queen Mary, the couple reigned from 1910 to 1936.

Thursday 6 July 1893 was to be celebrated as a public holiday and all over the country the town mayors assumed the role of organiser for their own civic events. In Andover, it was John W Chuter, a professor and teacher of music at 3 Union Street, who was mayor that year and he put together a programme of events for the day, after gathering subscriptions of £100 to help pay for it. There was no open-air public dinner in the High Street like there had been six years before at the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria but there was an elaborate procession. It was in the middle of a heatwave and although some rain had fallen earlier in the week, Thursday morning was dry and bright and the weather had returned to tropical conditions. Decorations were put up all over the town with G and M in large letters attached to the front of the Guildhall.

The starting point for the public procession was at the Vigo Road Recreation Ground but the mayor had invited the town’s civic leaders, the clergy, the Andover Volunteers and the Town Band to meet him at the Guildhall first. From there, they would process to the formal entrance of the recreation ground next to Vigo Road. Here, a new pair of iron gates had been presented by Mr R A Routh of Amport, to be unlocked with a ceremonial golden key from builder H A Annetts. The mayor said a few words before opening the gates and starting the procession.

A whole host of local organisations formed part of the march through the town, including the brass bands, the friendly societies and the various schools. The cycling, football and cricket clubs showed some ingenuity with their respective themes, while the volunteer fire brigade brought its modern fire-fighting equipment as well as the old 1774 model, described as the ‘hand squirts of ye saide period’.

The real novelty was provided by the trades procession. This was the idea of Frank Beale who provided three separate floats, giving some first-class advertising not just for his building firm but all the others who took part. These included floats from the three main brewers, Poore, Hammans and Nutley; the grocers, Henry Edwards and William Clark; bakers Robert Tarrant and Philip Ponting; butchers Clark and Webb, seed merchant William Taplin and builder Charles Simkins.

Leading this part of the procession was a float manned by the Andover Advertiser. Considering Friday was publication day, it must have been very hectic that week. Not only were three employees on the float itself but an extensive report appeared in the issue of the following day. The display included a hand-cranked printing machine and a compositor setting up type. The horse and waggon itself is reputed to belong to my great-grandfather, John T Clark, who is holding the reins.

At the other end of the procession was a waggon on which the old stocks were displayed with two prisoners and a comic policeman to guard them. The Advertiser’s report names the man as ‘Spud’ Yates, the last person to occupy the stocks, sentenced by magistrate William Bracher, a few years before. The ‘woman’ is not named but the inverted commas suggest the ‘she’ is a ‘he’. A photograph of the float has been published in both Derek Tempero’s Andover, A Pictorial History and Cyril Berry’s Old Andover – though the latter names the man as ‘Squeaker’ Piper.

The route of the procession was down East Street, London Street, into Bridge Street and up the High Street, left into West Street, up Chantry Street and back down the High Street to the Guildhall. Here, the mayor and the corporation, together with the representatives of the friendly societies and many others who had helped on the day sat down to a dinner for 175 people during which there were many toasts to congratulate each other on the work done to organise the event.

In the afternoon, there was a programme of events in the Walled Meadow which included fireman’s drills, children’s sports and then a children’s tea for 1,600 served by the adults. In the evening, there was a torchlight procession from the sheep fairground, followed by the lighting of a bonfire on Bere Hill, the culmination of a very long day but a very successful one, enjoyed by all.

If you are interested in local history, why not join Andover History and Archaeology Society? Details can be found at www.andoverlocalhistoryarchaeology.uk