The Cobett family (courtesy Margaret Wakefield)
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The Way We Were -
Late Victorian & Edwardian Box The Story of Box and its People 1870 - 1920s November 2014 What was everyday life in mid Victorian Box? This series of articles uses village photographs and contemporary reports to describe the village at that time. |
It give a flavour of life in Box through the words and images of residents of that time. But this isn't always easy because many things were very different then. The
map below dated 1848 appears like modern Box at first glance: the boundaries are the same, the main roads largely identical. But on closer inspection there are very many differences.
Map courtesy Wiltshire History Centre
We can see houses on the High Street (A4) but there are many properties missing because they hadn't yet been built including: Mead Villas, High Street south side, Devizes Road, The Ley, both sides of London Road, Box School, The Bassets, Bargates, and Box Hill.
Box was small compared to the modern village but it was gradually expanding. The population of Box increased 7% in the period, from 1,987 in 1851 to 2,120 in 1921, despite the losses in the Great War and the emigration of many unemployed people to the United States, Canada, and Australia.[1]
Box was small compared to the modern village but it was gradually expanding. The population of Box increased 7% in the period, from 1,987 in 1851 to 2,120 in 1921, despite the losses in the Great War and the emigration of many unemployed people to the United States, Canada, and Australia.[1]
As well as the population increase, the period between 1870 and 1920 was one of the most formative times in the development of our modern society. It shaped our views of democracy, family, fashion and much of our culture. Social change was wide-ranging, irreversible and long-lasting. We are all children of that revolution and this series of articles is the story of the
ordinary folk of Box in the period from about 1870 to about 1920.
We welcome all contributions from Box residents,
especially of photos in your family albums of what life was like in the village
then.
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Articles
1899 - A Year of Festivities Valens Terrace Village Outings Local Pubs Timeline in Victorian Period Box House Parish Magazine Celebrations Postcards of Box Skeate, Speck and Ponting Steam Mill Cottages Class Divisions Grove Inn, Ashley Farming Depression Ashley Leigh George Reeves, Quarryman Ganger Dipsomania Establishment New Box Schools, 1875 Methodist Church Box Fete & Friendly Societies End of Era - Northey Sale Golden Jubilee 1887 |
Author
Jane Browning Hugh Sawyer Alan Payne David Ibberson Patty Baldwin David Ibberson Brian Hatton Alan Payne Rose Ledbury Ralph Herbert Ponting Val Wilson Alan Payne Peter Ford Alan Payne Robert Alderman Graham Matthews David Ibberson Alan Payne Alan Payne Alan Payne Claire Botcherby Vaughan Hill |
Issue Number
5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 15 |
Date
Winter 2014-5 Winter 2014-5 Winter 2014-5 Winter 2014-5 Winter 2014-5 Spring 2015 Spring 2015 Spring 2015 Spring 2015 Spring 2015 Summer 2015 Summer 2015 Summer 2015 Late Summer 2015 Late Summer 2015 Autumn 2015 Autumn 2015 Autumn 2015 Winter 2015-6 Winter 2015-6 Winter 2015-6 Spring 2017 |
References
[1] Wiltshire History Centre, Summary of Census Results
[1] Wiltshire History Centre, Summary of Census Results