St Ives Literary Institute

Foreword

Early in the year 2000 A.D. at a committee meeting of the St. Ives Literary Institute, the officers  decided it would be a fitting mark of such an historic occasion if a short history of the Institute’s first hundred-odd years were to be written. The initial suggestion for the project was made by Mr. Clive Burgoyne, as a suitable venture to mark the Millennium year.

In reality they had arrived at this decision about 10 years too late. All the club’s “old hands” had passed on to pastures new and were no longer available as a source of witness to what had been customary practice in the club’s rooms in bygone days. Left was an array of incomplete, indecipherable and sometimes incomprehensible written records mainly in the form of minutes, programmes, newspaper cuttings and the like with which to try to bring the Institute of earlier times back to life.

What follows is an attempt to do justice to the record as accurately as possible but with a view to identifying the themes which recur in the Institute’s affairs and which are relevant to its activities today. The most problematic phase to unravel, being least well documented, was prior to 1880. Thanks are due to Don Mayle for taking on the task of trying to elucidate this period of development. Most of this history is based on the minutes of 1881 to 1896, which are normally kept by the club secretary, should anyone be interested in examining them more closely.

The task of writing this account has fallen to me at the request of Brian Wilkin CFIOSH, MIIRSM, RSP, a long-time member of the committee and former secretary during the critical years of the Institute’s resurrection in the 1970s. Author’s licence has been exercised where it seemed reasonable to draw conclusions, make inferences or comparisons relevant to the Institute’s affairs, using insights gained from my own previous experience of serving both as an officer and committee member over an 18 year period in the late 20th century.

It is my hope that the effort involved proves worthwhile and meets the expectations of the Committee by capturing the life and times of the Institute at its inception. This is for the benefit of posterity in general, and the specific benefit of the existing and future members who may otherwise be less aware of the origins of the Institute.

R A Young B.A. (hons.) Cert. Ed. Dip. Ed. (London)

Uncertain origins and varying locations

The present location of the Institute in Free Church Passage may not have been the original home of the St. Ives Literary Institute. Some historical references seem to indicate otherwise. In M. Wagner’s Not an Easy Church a map extract from E. Pettis’s work of 1728 is included which indicates that only houses were situated on the forerunner of Free Church Passage, known then as Meeting Lane. Hearsay has it that some of the premises were used to conduct businesses,  such as butchery which it is believed may have been the case at the cottages which subsequently became part of the Institute.

The earliest reference to a book club in St. Ives is found in H. E. Norris’s The History of St. Ives, which attributes its origins in the town to 1813. There is also some evidence to link the early years with meetings at the YMCA premises, but precise details are unknown for the period. Tenuous connections with these origins may be reflected in the committee’s regular employ of speakers from Christian churches and a continuing interest in matters spiritual. Fortunately for us all now, one early member was a Rev. T. Lloyd whose support in the 1880s for the introduction of billiards proved invaluable in shaping the modern Institute.

The records are not clear on the particular point, but it appears that the members must have decided to go their own way and acquire separate premises as a reading room for the Literary Institute sometime between 1860 (just after the building of the Free Church and the opening of the new cattle market in St Ives on 4th October 1886) and the 1880s when our minutes commence.

There is a reference to an initial loan being arranged with Fosters’ Bank for the original purchase of the premises immediately to the south of the Church, but the details are not recorded anywhere in the surviving papers. The first available concrete records of the Institute date from an A.G.M. of 14th December 1881, and the first piece of business was the voting-in of some new members. These appeared as shown below, revealing even then that the wider cohort of membership existed beyond the immediate boundaries of St Ives.

The record of the meeting also mentions names associated with the club and town for more than a century, including the then President, Mr. W. W. Warner, and Mr. Copley and Mr. Goodman, who proposed that a “hearty vote of thanks be accorded to the retiring President and committee/secretaries”. Evidently the role of President was an active one, conducting the business from the chair, whereas since the 1970s revival it has been largely an honorary position. 

As usual, the new committee and officers were elected for the ensuing year and a very carefully written list for 1882 is shown below.

The following year's committee & officers is shown below.

Some aspects of roles, offices, positions and duties

Surprisingly, one of the more important roles was that of caretaker/librarian cum general factotum, as without such a functionary the Institute could not operate efficiently. At the beginning of the year in question the committee was having difficulty filling this lowly but vital position and resorted to stop gap measures by appointing one Master W. Fuller on a trial basis for a three-month period. The reason for this appointment lay in the very nature of the club and its premises at the time, since its rooms included a reading room where daily newspapers and various periodicals were available to members.

It was the duty of the librarian to keep track of the papers and magazines as it was the custom then to sell off the newspapers in the evening. Later, this practice was modified with the sale of the second hand news being deferred until the evening of the following day to minimise problems for local traders. Even this was done on a preferential basis initially to what were termed “senior members” prior to the disposal of the residue to the “junior” ranked members. The basis for this class division is nowhere made explicit in the record.

The need for a librarian extended beyond these monitoring functions as the Institute’s members were the town’s leading lights and they took it upon themselves to organise cultural and educational activities for their own improvement and for the general public. The record of 6 January 1882 shows them trying to obtain an important collection of books and papers for an “industrial exhibition” as the main focus of what they called a “Soiree”. This was a collection of note to be borrowed from the South Kensington Museum of Science and Arts. The “Soiree” was to be fleshed out with musical accompaniment and, of course, a buffet.

It was perhaps just as well that the collection proved to be unobtainable and that the nature of the entertainment had to be changed. The minutes show it was not long before young master Fuller encountered problems in keeping track of the various books and papers borrowed by the seniors. Later minutes reveal a plea from the President to members to return the Institute’s valuable collection items. Although the size of the library is unknown in absolute number of volumes, regular reference is made to significant donations of books, usually from former officers, and even to the purchase of specific items such as atlases, the following being a typical entry.

Plans for the soiree were swiftly remade by the rapidly created sub-committee as this was the way things were done. By 16 February 1882 the event had been successfully held and accounted for with even the 3s 0d for insurance listed, as arranged by one Mr R. M. Copley. The actual evening’s entertainment involved a “laughable farce” and a selection of music. The delegation of the various roles to sub-committees caused some considerable discussion about who then became eligible for “free passes” as a result of their endeavours.

The soiree was something of a bargain, as for 1s 6d one could enjoy a high tea, followed by an oration, which in turn was topped off with song and dance as well as music recitals. The whole soiree lasted from 5.30pm until late into the evening with carriages being ordered for 10.30pm.

The state of the library books came into question again at a special meeting, of which there were many called in the later part of the 19th century, and it was decided to obtain quotes for the books to be rebound. The minutes of May 1882 indicate that Mr. Goodman had donated a noteworthy collection of books “stamped with gold letters”. This detail is unusual as the record of such meetings is often minimal.

Fortunately, one entry actually refers to the reading room as being the “top room”, conveniently clarifying the layout and usage for us. In any event there was ample work for the young librarian to do as is evidenced by the lengthy list of papers and periodicals provided in the records for 1885.

Inevitably the young master Fuller grew up and left the job, at which point difficulty finding a replacement led to the appointment of a salaried incumbent in 1884.

The changing nature and role of the Institute

The question of functioning as other than a meeting place for the self-informing elite of St. Ives did not arise overtly until 10 January 1883. Then a first reference to conducting French and Drama classes for the members was suggested, along with less taxing activities such as chess and draughts, for which funds were forthcoming to purchase the necessary boards. Earlier efforts to organise a lecture series on “Science” had proved unsuccessful, though the minutes show that as early as January 1883, 30 people had attended a talk by a Mr. Rodgers of the Normal College of Christian Education of Amritsar, entitled Sights and Scenes of a City in India. 

In this much the Institute was probably following the liberal trend of providing opportunities for self improvement, such as had been made available in the larger centres of the populace since the 1830s under the auspices of the Mechanic Institutes or similar bodies. However, it was still on the “Soiree” front that most success was to be had, a typical programme being that of 22 February 1882.

Origins of the Institute as a billiard and snooker club

With the numerous soirees, educational classes, concerts, essay competitions and water parties, it is surprising that members could find the time to play chess or draughts, let alone consider playing billiards! It was a momentous occasion in the Institute’s history when on the 8 October 1884 a motion was put by R. M. Copley and W. Minson that:

“This committee deems it desirable to acquire a billiard table for the use of the members and refer the question to the notice of members in Special General Meeting assembled.”

Perhaps, fortunately, it attracted the support of the Rev. T. Lloyd as follows:

“Rev. T. Lloyd supported the motion on the basis of Billiards in itself being a harmless game, but one that was greatly attracting the attention of the young men, who to play it, as a rule, & especially in St. Ives had to recourse to an Inn or Public House where morality & its component virtues were kept in the background but who if they could get to a table in a place like the Institute would have no necessity to attend such places, but could enjoy the game in its harmlessness.”

This was the beginning of a series of moves to secure a table for the first time. On December 5th 1884, a special committee meeting of W. W. Warner, H. Goodman, G. D. Day, G. A. Smith, R. M. Copley, J. B. Childs and E. O. Childs presented the rules it had formed in readiness for the “playing of billiards” as a table had been acquired.

There is some lack of clarity about the table's origins, with one entry in the minutes attributing it to the Unicorn Hotel in the Broadway and later entries seeming to favour the selection of a table from the White Horse (formerly opposite the Dolphin Hotel). Certainly, the committee had been most diligent in considering the competing claims of a variety of tables, embracing these two, and another two of a London supplier (Bennett and Thurston). By 12th November 1884 a decision had been reached and it was proposed that the “purchase money be raised in 50 One Pound shares” - this in a club with nearly 200 members!

Evidently this was a financial challenge and became a business proposition. It was decided that the subscribers were to be repaid by annual dividends (pro rata) “from surplus income till the whole is repaid”. Originally the committee had reckoned on making an offer “not exceeding 20 Pounds” for the White Horse’s table with the fittings to be included.

The final outcome was that the Unicorn had wanted £30 but the White Horse had settled for £25, although the fixtures and fittings were said not to be in such good condition. The £50 raised in shares allowed for the changes in the Institute that were needed to accommodate the table upstairs and transform the downstairs into the new reading room.

At the A.G.M of December 10th 1884 the billiard table “was that evening opened for the amusement of the members in the upper room”. The retiring President said he “trusted it would be a source of enjoyment to all who would use it and trusted no harm would come to any through partaking of the amusement it would afford”. How true that expressed wish was, and yet how far from 21st century reality it now is, in a time when billiards has been virtually eclipsed by the new god - snooker!

To provide a better perspective on the investment in billiards, the £25 for the second-hand table was a sizeable sum to find for a club that was barely solvent. The end of year balance regularly hovered at just over £1, being only £1 18s 2d at that time. Only the end of year sale of periodical collections served to enhance the reserves, usually by about £5 or £6.

For those interested in billiards per se, the first World Championship was held as early as 1870, although snooker had been derived from both billiards and black pool by British army officers serving in 1875 with the Devonshire regiment at Jubbulpore (Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh State, India). It was not until 1927, after the game had been popularised by the great Joe Davis, that the first World Snooker Championship was inaugurated.

Perception of roles and functions

The role of the officers of the committee was evidently seen by themselves as being very different from the management approach of today. Following the success of the soiree of February 1884, for which the programme reveals that it was largely a show provided by importing expertise from the Metropolis, the feeling shifted to one of increasing self-belief.

The minutes of 22 December 1884 refer to organising an event to “include entertainment and an address etc to be solicited from local friends”. This was an indication that the committee was in charge of affairs and knew that the talent existed locally to put on such a performance which would, if a success, generate even more useful revenue. Later records refer to the success of the venture.

Positive management was also shown by President W. Minson in what was a smart piece of publicity for the early Institute in a local newspaper. His references to “remodelling the rooms” or providing better access to facilities which might be “freer and easier, more home like” and that it might “require an additional building” all give insight to the new vigour and expansive view of its role that prevailed in a totally different St. Ives. It reflected the Institute's growing confidence in organising matters of this import for the benefit of the townsfolk of St. Ives, in an age before the advent of radio, cinema and TV.

Unfortunately, several people had apologised for failing to supply their services - as ever, the burden fell upon the willing and able few! But the St. Ives Amateur Glee Party had scored a considerable success in 1885.

Co-operation in the community

The influence of key figures in the local community is best reflected in the summer or water parties organised jointly with the Rowing Club. For example, Dr. Groves served as an officer in both clubs, even at Presidential level, at different times in the 1880s. These parties seem to have been an extension of the idea of the soiree cum buffet. The Church Institute had initiated these water parties, which were usually held in September, whereas the regatta was held in June. The Rowing Club honoured Dr. Groves by so naming a boat in the Millennium year.

The advent of billiards opened the possibility of playing competitive friendly games and the first mention of such is in February 1887. The outcome of the encounter is not recorded, so whether Huntingdon Institute scored the victory is not known but only suspected, as a first win for St Ives would perhaps have attracted more attention.

Fluctuating finances

1885 proved a hard year financially as a new game, billiards, brought new costs with it. These were increased when, after a Mr. Wanderfield had neglected his duties for three days as librarian, it was decided to appoint a Mr. Burdett as billiard room caretaker and librarian combined, at a salary of £14 per annum. Perhaps not before time, as an amnesty on “overdue books” was called. Later, a system of fines was introduced to discourage members from keeping books too long.

The earlier calls for a better environment were meeting with some success. In various minutes, details of related expenditure are alluded to, including an 18 inch box ventilator, oil lamps for the billiards room, the cleaning and re-colouring of walls and an outside light for the reading room, at that time thought to be the entrance.

The ventilator was obtained eventually as a gift from a member, Mr. Day. Things were done surprisingly quickly in those days and the oil lamps were rapidly acquired. But the price of these improvements was a warning from Mr. Tysoe (Treasurer) that a £30 shortfall was anticipated by the year end.

Billiards brought an unexpected boost to finances despite the associated overheads. A running surplus of £19 2s 5d had been identified by January 1886. Following on from this the billiard table committee secretary (Mr. Copley) identified that the funds were so great that he reported all the shares raised previously could be repaid. This was a very rapid return of the investment and reflected the popularity of the game, which must have occasioned the table to be in virtually constant use.

Early mishaps and necessary powers

The game was not only subject to expected costs but also to the unexpected. Mr. H. E. Norris “having damaged the billiard cloth” was fined 10s 6d plus the cost of repairing the cloth on the table. He was not alone, as a Mr. Nash soon joined him in infamy and was similarly dealt with.

Numerous such incidents occurred in the early years and this may reflect the poor lighting. Some cases seem to have been down to poor sportsmanship and related altercations. Precise details are not given, though a subsequent case of the committee being required to act involved youthful high spirits inflamed by alcohol when “graffiti” appeared on the walls of the billiard room! At this time there was probably no gas lighting, and the librarian had been instructed not “to let any games of billiards commence after 10.00pm”, this in May when natural light would have been nearly at its optimum. The committee always appeared to be equal to circumstances and created a working constitution from the precedents that arose.

Despite the adoption of such powers and the introduction of such curfews, the game of billiards moved from strength to strength. By the 1890s matches with the old foe, Huntingdon, had been extended from 8 frames of 200 to 8 frames of 300 points. How long would that take today’s non-billiard-playing members?

The business-like Mr. Burdett saw his opportunity to exploit this popularity by seeking permission to sell “non-intoxicating drinks”. Even this measure was insufficient for his needs, and in 1886 he asked the committee to increase his salary to £35 per annum. Shortly afterwards the committee advertised the post of caretaker/librarian at £25 per annum, somewhat parsimoniously, since the role was ever being expanded.

When no one was available to play a frame with a member it was the custom for the librarian to supply the opposition. However, to avoid any cost to him it was decided that all his games should be at the expense of the member requesting the frame.

Reading habits

At the beginning of each year after the A.G.M. it was the usual practice to review the subscriptions to the various newspapers and magazines. In 1887 the approach to this was a little more structured, and written up in such a way as to throw light on the detail of when and how the deliveries were made. Apparently, the following were received as morning deliveries: The Times, Telegraph, Standard, Daily News, Daily Chronicle and The Sporting Life. Evening papers included The Echo, Pall Mall, St. James Gazette and Globe.

Weekly deliveries included such unusual bed fellows as The Spectator, Funny Folks, Christian World, Fun, Graphic, Illustrated London News, Punch, Field, Farmer & Stock-keeper, Exchange & Mart, Hunts Guardian, Stamford Mercury, Cambridge Independent and Hunts County News. Mr. Tysoe undertook to supply the Temperance Record. Periodicals taken numbered about 21 in total plus Bradshaw’s Railway Guide and Whittaker’s Almanac. Some serious reading was being pursued in those more leisurely times by the privileged few. The demand for news in an age before the extensive development of mass media was enough to ensure there was no problem disposing of the great weight of paper generated by the Institute in those days.

Expansion plans

At the meeting of February 1887, the subject of buying the adjoining cottages to facilitate the expansion of the Institute was raised in committee. It decided this was a complicated issue which needed much careful and sensitive investigation, best left to the President Mr. W. Warner to handle. It soon transpired that the owners were not disposed to sell, so a sub-committee was formed “to find the best scheme for enlarging the Institute and making enquiries” vis-à-vis obtaining “more commodious premises”.

In the meanwhile, various minor problems beset the club, as it needed new billiard balls (not surprisingly), gas burners, and cocoa matting on the billiard room floor, and there were signs of rot affecting the downstairs floor. New chess men and window blinds were also needed. Worse still was the parlous state of the book collection, which was said to be “unfit for circulation” or “incomplete”. This led to yet another appeal to the members to subscribe to a new collection. That of 1882 had not been significantly increased even though recruitment had sustained membership at circa 170 members in a problematic time.

Victorian morality and censorship

Some of the texts were evidently of questionable content according to the strict moral standards applicable in late Victorian society, necessitating the exclusion of two volumes as being of “immoral tendency”! Today the titles in question, Under Two Flags and Friends by Ouida would probably not raise many eyebrows, if any. Oddly enough it was Exchange & Mart that caused most distress, being most often removed or “purloined” by members if it was not guarded closely.

The purchasing of the cottages

There were many things needing the attention of the officers at this time. The creation of a wooden partition in the reading room to segregate the traffic on the stairs (leading up to the billiards’ room) from people intent on perusing the pages of the many magazines. New gas lights were needed for the billiards’ room. The billiards’ table required a special light fitting to reduce the smoking-up of the ceiling. New chess and draughts tables were sought to appease people waiting for a frame. It is hardly surprising that it was not until September 1888 that the sub-committee responsible for looking into the question of buying property actually reported back.

The details of two schemes presented for consideration are shown below.

Fire threatens plans

As the committee had been able to pay off at least part of its original loan outstanding to Fosters’ Bank, it felt the time was right to proceed with  plans for expansion. As ever, it was not a smooth course, being punctuated by the retirement of Dr. Groves and more unexpectedly by the fire of 28 April 1890. 

Apparently, soot became ignited in the chimney upstairs and was fortunately noticed by the tenants in the adjoining cottages. They raised the alarm late on the Sunday night, when it would otherwise have gone undetected. The secretary was called in the early hours of Monday morning. He arranged for a Mr. Gidding to come to the rescue, cutting away part of the brickwork and extinguishing the fire. Ironically the cottage tenants had saved the building for those who were about to initiate major changes.

Later the secretary contacted the County fire service, with whom the building was insured. He arranged for restoration to be undertaken, with modifications to the fireplace, which was only hazardous by virtue of soot dropping from another part of the chimney system.

Meanwhile the Free Church had indicated it was unwilling to sell any of its land to the Institute for enlargement purposes. This stiffened the resolve of the Institute to buy the pair of cottages in such a way as to be acceptable to the then owner, a Mrs. Field.

On September 3rd 1890 two schemes, A and B, were presented to the Institute. Unfortunately the plans are missing from the records, but the following correspondence throws some light on the matter. Part of the minutes from 10th September 1890 reads as follows.

The matter was then held over for a fortnight to facilitate discussion of the plans relative merits. Plan B, relating to Mrs. Field’s cottages, appeared to have reached full fruition and received the committee’s blessing on 8th October 1890, leading to the present shape of the club. As plan B put it, “to provide a library/committee room and closets on the ground floor and a billiard room over communicating with present buildings but we do not recommend any alteration in the present Institute”. The whole cost was a mere £80 plus a lifetime’s annuity to Mrs. Field of £3. Some shrewd bargaining behind the scenes had led her to reduce her demands from an original request of £7 per annum.

The business was sanctioned by the members at the end-of-year A. G. M. when the committee was empowered by one and all to purchase the cottages as detailed in Mr. Weatherley’s (solicitor for Mrs. Field) letter of 11th November 1890.

A letter of 11th March 1891, shown below, shows a technical hitch occurred. It is also interesting for its curious layout, reflecting a very different attitude to the use of paper in the matter of avoiding wastefulness.

A diversion into drains

In the ensuing period it was also decided that such a busy club needed its own convenience, so a sub-committee was appointed to oversee the provision of a urinal. It was recommended that it be located at the top of the stairs, although it was recognised that it would then affect the sky light to the reading room downstairs. The cost was put at £8 on 4 November 1891. By August 1892 it was recorded that the urinal was causing “a smell”. Even worse followed in 1893 when a drought meant there was no water available for flushing as the town pump on Market Hill had run dry. This prompted a decision to ask the waterworks to supply a piped water system to the Institute.

Minor matters

1894 started with the usual “small beer” as the AGM had seen The Sporting Life voted out of the regular deliveries, leading to considerable protestations. Gambling was clearly of some interest to members, but oddly enough the only card games allowed were cribbage and whist. A new board game had arrived to rival chess and draughts. Halma is a famous old Victorian game in which the objective is not to capture your opponent’s pieces but instead to hop over them in an effort to get to the opposite side first. It is similar to Chinese checkers, but with more depth and added complexity as there are 8 directions of movement instead of 6. This game appears to have been forgotten since the 1950s.

The normal business of organising a soiree was covered at the start of the year with a view to making “a few pounds”. Money for a new set of cards for whist was not forthcoming as priority was given to obtaining “new cushions and cloth” for the billiards table from Messrs. Burroughs & Watts at an estimated cost of £17.10s 0d.

The money for the cloth was raised by sundry subscriptions of 5s 0d and by increasing the charges for a frame by an extra 2d per 100 for billiards. Non-subscribing players were paying 8d per 100, but subscribers continued to pay only 6d per 100. This was a high rate if considered pro rata with today’s cost of only 40p per hour. Inevitably the caretaker had great difficulty collecting the right amount of money in the days before meters.

Ingenuity knew no bounds when it came to raising funds. It was proposed that a Promenade Concert be given by a band with the “gate money” being shared by the Institute and the band. This yielded the princely sum of 15s 0d. Yet the President, Mr. W. W. Warner, readily found £1 from his own pocket for a billiard handicap tournament. Effort seemed very much out of proportion to outcome.

Smoking had been banned as early as 1885 because of damage to the cloth. Shortly after the new cloth was fitted, it is recorded that a Mr. Holloway had accidentally burnt a small hole in the cloth through smoking whilst playing. He was fined by the committee accordingly. The committee was forced to reconsider its policy on smoking, which had not been permitted in the upper room when it had been the reading room. The committee decided that smoking should be banned in the reading room on the ground floor, but senior members were permitted to smoke after 7.00pm in the billiard room.

The matter of smoking still exercised the members more than a little. Rules prohibited smoking in the reading room at the outset of the Institute’s formation. A notice to this effect had been put up but somehow it had “clandestinely” been removed. This caused the committee to replace it with a framed notice (as far as the author is aware this same notice has surreptitiously been removed - although some members may know of its whereabouts?). This issue was of some import as the cost was more than the club wanted to incur. Despite all the attempts to balance the books, the annual deficit had grown to circa £17 with an additional £13 owing on the billiard table cloth.

Economy measures and new initiatives

1895 saw the creation of yet another sub-committee, this time charged with pruning the paper and magazine subscriptions. A short list of eight was drawn up and to appease all tastes it included both The Telegraph and Titbits. Economies on the use of gas burners, plus a proposed cut in the caretaker’s wages, were yet again considered. The Institute had previously introduced a category of casual membership. This was elaborated upon with the idea of issuing “visitor’s cards” to newcomers to St. Ives, though this measure was not to be very successful at a time when the town’s population was either static or in decline.

Apart from cost cutting measures, new ideas were needed throughout 1895 and 1896. It was then that two new activities were introduced. A dance was held on the night following the soiree (proposed by Mr. C. A. Stiles), repeated in 1896. Then a first-ever “rummage sale” was tried. These additional funds were evidently needed to balance the books because of a falling membership. A decline to 130 members was recorded in 1895, with only slight improvement to 137 in 1896 being noted at the A. G. M, reported in the Hunts Post.

Problems affecting the committee

Apart from the pressures of a falling membership it seems that times were hard enough to lead to a situation where the officers were having problems fulfilling their various roles. Subscriptions were proving difficult to collect for the second year running and the secretary resigned in mid year, leading to the sharing of the post by two members of committee instead of the usual one. Even the librarian was instructed to check the newspapers every day at 2.00pm and then to report any missing items to the Secretary.

The 19th-century accountants were in control and even the gas mantles that were broken had to be paid for by offending members. Worst of all, someone had broken into the cupboard containing the billiard balls, which caused the committee to decide reluctantly that it and the room would have to be locked. The free access enjoyed by present-day members was not the norm, as the records for the 19th century close at the end of 1896.

These matters were all presided over by a committee much larger than the present day requires. In the 1890s there would have been 6 officers, if the stationery officer is counted, and 12 committee members, giving a total of 18.

This was probably not excessive in 19th century St. Ives given the number of diverse activities emanating from this pro-active body. To keep costs down it held committee meetings in its own rooms on a monthly basis in order to keep its finger on the slower pulse of this forgotten age.

Some conclusions

The range of business exercising the committee and members, as the record for this period comes to its end, is certainly a reminder of how much simpler the affairs of the Institute are today. No newspapers and magazines to be accounted for, no need for a caretaker to collect playing fees or stoke up boilers, no library books to be chased up, no regular painting due to discolouration from gas lamps, few new light bulbs compared to the easily broken gas mantles and fortunately no problems with the latrines.

What does the committee find to discuss now that it doesn’t have to organise “Soirees”, water parties, promenade concerts, chess matches, friendly billiard matches or the like?

There may be gains in the late 20th and early 21st century but there are losses too, since despite the smaller membership now, the intimacy, friendliness and range of social interaction of those 15 years recorded for us to savour have been steadily lost. Now only the annual Christmas get together and the AGM bring just a token hint of cohesion to the modern Institute.

Presidents 1881 to 1896

The President was elected in the December of the outgoing year to preside over business along with a Vice-President and the usual officers. The committee frequently numbered about 18 in total, including the officers.

1881 W. W. Warner

1882 Dr. W. R. Grove

1883 W. Minson 

1884 Thomas King

1885 C. P. Tebbutt

1886 Mr. Henry Goodman

1887 Mr. William W. Warner

1888 Mr. G. N. Day

1889 Dr. W. R. Grove

1890 Mr. F. Warren

1891 Mr. Robert Warner

1892 Mr. G. N. Day

1893 Mr. Thomas King

1894 Mr. Henry Goodman

1895 Mr. G. E. D. Brown

1896 Mr. Sydney H. Moreton

Titles from the Literary Institute’s Norris Museum collection

Cassell’s Natural History in 4 volumes

Morris’s British Birds in 4 volumes

Morris’s Nests and Eggs in 3 volumes

Newman’s Illustrated History of British Moths

Newman’s British Butterflies

Bell’s History of British Quadrupeds

Bentham’s British Flora

Nicholson’s Manual of Palaeontology in 2 volumes

Rye’s British Beetles

Staveley’s British Spiders

Shuckard’s British Bees

Woodward’s Manual of the Mollusca

Loudon’s Encyclopaedia of Gardening

The Times Atlas 1895

Morning Post Souvenir Edition: Gt. Britain Her Finance and Commerce in 1901

1851: Exhibitions of the Works of Industry of all the Nations

Lake Victoria: Speke and Grant Search for the Source of the Nile

Hibbard’s Field Flowers

Kingston’s The Wilds of Florida

Life of Milton

Life of Bunyan

Also a variety of fiction titles is held.

Institute’s librarian bye-law

Early maps of location

Typical letter confirming membership in 1880s

References

Minutes of the St. Ives Literary Institute 1881 to 1896

M. Wagner: Not an easy church

H. E. Norris: The History of St. Ives

Bob Burn Murdoch: The Pubs of St. Ives

B. Little & H. Werba: St. Ives in Huntingdonshire

Acknowledgements

The work on this paper would probably not have been completed without the loan of PC equipment from my son Stephen Young, the help of Dr. G. Brooke in using the PC and subsequently in proof-reading, editing and formatting the document and other material, and the production of photocopies of early maps by D. Ward. Also the on-going support of B. G. Wilkin whose enthusiasm, advice and assistance in photocopying, scanning documents, linking up computers and organising the final printing and production was invaluable. It would be remiss of me not to mention the support and assistance of Mr. Bob Burn Murdoch, who gave freely of his time and facilitated access to some references. All combined to motivate me to undertake and pursue the task even when my own problems of production or research may have inclined me otherwise. 

R. A. Young

Copyright R. A. Young. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the copyright owner to whom enquiries should be addressed.