The first edition of the Beccles Weekly, dated 2 February 1857 (here) reported the population of Beccles to be "upwards of 4,000 inhabitants". Ben Brown would have been 18 years old and had probably been working as a harness maker apprentice for James Brewer for a few years.
24 Apr
1867
THE CHARACTER
of BECCLES: Leading
Article
For some years past
Beccles has been an improving town, & the gloom & inactivity which at
one time were our most prominent characteristics have given way to increasing
cheerfulness & prosperity. The number of unoccupied shops & untended
houses a new years since told too loudly of the Depression under which we were
then laboring. The general cry was, “The Railway has ruined us, & Beccles
will never again be what it once was.” Happily these fears were groundless.
Public improvements: [1] the new road leading to the railway station, almost
entirely built up on either side with modern & neat dwellings – [2] the
widening of what was formerly Blowers Lane, so as to make a convenient approach
from the station to the very heart of the town – [3] the erection of the large
Maltings near the Railway Station – [4] the new National School rooms lately
commenced – [5] private enterprise & the care & attention of the town
council have alike benefited us. It is with pleasure that we now notice the
avenue leading to the Common – a work of great expense. The opening day is
Wednesday 1st of May.
11 June 1867 Ten years
ago: The railway had been but recently introduced amongst us, &, although
the public voice had welcomed its appearance, only a few months passed before
it was discovered that by affording easy access to large towns, our own town
was so brought into competition with them, as materially to affect the then
existing system of business. In large towns the tradesmen made greater returns
than those in smaller ones, and were therefore enabled to sell at a less rate
of profit. This soon became known, & numbers resorted by the excursion to
Norwich or Yarmouth, to lay out in purchases the ready money which ought to
have been paid to those tradesmen at home who had supplied already many of
those very persons with goods up on credit. There were also other circumstance
which caused the Depression.
Beccles had been for a
long course of years almost entirely dependent upon its own resources. Its fine
navigable river had, indeed, added much to its commerce, by affording a cheap
& easy conveyance of corn to the ports of Yarmouth & Lowestoft, the
same ferries bringing back coal, timber, & other commodities. But the
surrounding neighbourhood consisting to a very large extent of marsh land the
main trade of the town was confined to its own inhabitants; among these were a
goodly number of families who lived upon independent means & who, by their
liberal support of the tradesmen, greatly obviated the drawback caused by a
thinly populated neighbourhood.
The Quarter Sessions
brought periodically numbers of persons from a distance. The yearly races thronged
the town for some two or three days with visitors; the horticultural &
other societies were also means of considerable attraction. But all this was to
pass away. Those families who had been the mainstay of the trade died, or left
us from various causes. The races had for some years been discontinues &
although subsequently an attempt was made in two successive years to revive
them, it failed. The horticultural & other social gatherings were given up
for want of means; and lastly the result of railway centralization, the Quarter
Sessions were removed to Ispwich, and our County jail was converted into a
Police Station.
The ill effect upon trade was almost universally
felt. Shops were closed, & many houses untended. The townsmen deprecated
the railway, which took away their customers, & sighed in vain for their
former Patrons. “Beccles is Ruined” was the cry and will never be again what it
once was!” But these fears were groundless. The railway which had effected
their profits, they found out also gave them means of seeking better markets
and by finding their establishments to the altered state of things, they placed
themselves in a position to compete with larger towns & thus again to
secure their own legitimate trade. We are no longer taunted with being “dear”.
Our prices for clothing, groceries, meat etc will now bear comparison with
those very towns which, at one time, were our great competitors; and the result
has been the general resuscitation of trade. A spirit of enterprise has been
created, and large works have been erected which find employment for mechanics,
whose earnings – entirely spent in the town – far, very far exceed the incomes
of the former local gentry, and large numbers of the poor & their children
find constant work. It is:
a Healthy Town
a Peaceful Town
a Charitable Town
a Social Town “an almost entire absence of
bitter class-feeling”
an Educational Town (1)
Fauconberge School (2) Sir John Leman School: “The Middle Classes are fortunate
in having access to it; the new Headmaster, whose exertions have already
greatly raised the general character & tone of the School”
a Moral Town
a Corporate Town. The corporation income largely increased through
the perseverance & intelligence of the Town Surveyor {George Fenn}, who for
nearly ten years, unaided & in spite of almost overwhelming opposition
persisted in his favourite scheme of applying steam power to the drainage of
the marshes.
an Improving Town.
This was the Beccles Ben Brown and his family experienced and knew. And even today, comparatively speaking, things haven't changed all that much.
Beccles is located about 130 miles northeast of London and about 20 miles from the eastern coast of the UK. The River Waveney connects Beccles to the North Sea and adds such beauty and ambiance to such a quaint and historic English town.
Today about 10,000 people call Beccles home. I know this blog, entitled "Rootstrek", implies that the places referenced are places I have been. I have not visited Beccles - yet. But it's high on my bucket list. Here's some beautiful images of Beccles today:
This was the Beccles Ben Brown and his family experienced and knew. And even today, comparatively speaking, things haven't changed all that much.
Beccles is located about 130 miles northeast of London and about 20 miles from the eastern coast of the UK. The River Waveney connects Beccles to the North Sea and adds such beauty and ambiance to such a quaint and historic English town.
Today about 10,000 people call Beccles home. I know this blog, entitled "Rootstrek", implies that the places referenced are places I have been. I have not visited Beccles - yet. But it's high on my bucket list. Here's some beautiful images of Beccles today:
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