Growth of Popular Leisure Activities during the Period 1860-1910
Leisure may be viewed as an important aspect of human life as it gives an individual the privilege of relaxing after putting a lot of effort and time into work. In simple terms, leisure may be described as the spare time spent on recreation other than on work and other obligations. The Victorian period coincided with the industrial revolution and it is during this time that working hours were adjusted to cater for leisure activities following protests for the same. Leisure activities included socialization in clubs although later in the 1870s, sports such as golf, tennis, football, and cycling were developed to take care of leisure time.
Although people still enjoyed leisure activities even before the 1870s, the time was quite limited as working hours were many and there were no guaranteed leave days from work. However, 1971 became the turning point for leisure as the Bank Holiday Act was enacted which enforced employers to provide their workers with leave days. This marked the beginning of the officially recognized holiday legislation and allowed people to enjoy their leisure time without the interference of work or other official duties.
This paper will discuss the development of leisure during the 1860-1910 periods. Specifically, the paper will highlight the changing of working hours during the Victorian era and the impact of such changes to leisure, and the enactment of the Bank Holiday Act in 1871 that became the genesis of designated holiday in Britain. Moreover, the paper will discuss the emergence and development of leisure activities in the 1870s such as football and cycling which resulted from the changes in working hours.
History of Leisure in Victoria Britain
Leisure can be explained as the time which is left over after work and other obligations have been completed (Thompson, 1993, p. 279). Initially, in Victoria Britain, some jobs permitted some forms of leisure in which people could relax; such jobs included workshop trades of printing whereby people could get time to drink (Thompson, 1993, pp 279). Further, with the development of the shipping industry, the amount of work involved did not stop the playing of the cards at work. In addition, the seasonality of agriculture permitted much time for the people to find time for some sort of leisure engagement, and again, most of the activities in the shambas were done by women, and therefore men had a lot of time to spend on leisure (Thompson, 1993, pp 280).
Towards the mid of 19th century, much of the free time that people had was taken up by domestic duties, while others used the time to attend church. In the mid of eighteen century, a normal working day started at 6 a.m to 6 p.m with only two hours for meals (Thompson,1993, pp 280). In the early nineteenth century, the working hour’s pattern changed whereby, the work started from 6 a.m to around 8 p.m, with only one hour allowed for meals.
The period of the early 1870s saw a reduction in working hours to nine hours a day. In the 1850s, a campaign for the nine-hour day of work started but its success was not realized until during the economic boom of the early 1870s (Thompson,1993, p. 281). At this stage, the trade organizations managed to secure a fifty-four-hour week for working. From the 1890s, agitations for further reduction in the number of hours continued until 1919 when some success was realized. That is, the working hours reduced to fifty-four a week. Therefore, this brief history of the changes in the number of working hours introduces us to the beginning of leisure time and activities in Victoria Britain.
Development of Leisure Activities in Victoria Britain
With such changes taking place in the working life of many people such as reduction in the number of working hours, getting paid leaves and holidays, many people found themselves embracing new leisure activities. Before this period, leisure time was very limited while income for many people was too little to allow for enough spending on leisure (McCord, Purdue, and Purdue, 2007, p.388). Drinking became a popular recreation activity since it provided an escape from work to the majority of town workers, Moreover, the church or chapel became other alternatives where one could spend away from one’s own house (Bailey, 1987, p. 22).
The pub provided an opportunity for other leisure activities such as bowling, glee clubs, and free and easies, flower shows, and vegetable shows (Bailey, 1987, p. 22). Therefore, to many, the pub became a center of warmness, light, and friendliness to the lower-class earners and the jobless.
The Bank Holiday Act of 1871
Leisure during the Victorian period can be understood from the backdrop of the urban, industrial, and demographic changes, most importantly in the changing conditions of life (Wrigley, 2003, p. 456). The Bank Holiday Act of 1871, together with the Factory Act, brought profound changes in housing, health, communication, technology, and legislation that saw the emergence of modern leisure which allowed people to decide what to do in their free time.
Leisure did not only involve the traditional leisure class but also incorporated the less fortunate who had the opportunity to embrace an idea of having a worthwhile life different from the world of work. Indeed, many people were developing an urge for leisure life. The Act became the genesis of officially recognized holidays, with Boxing Day and Easter Monday being included as holidays These days thus increased the time that people could have leisure, more so when combined with the traditionally recognized holidays such as Good Friday and Christmas.
This act formed a moderately partial bridge between the old leisure world and the new; the free time it defined had long existed in tradition. The act resulted in Monday becoming a break that added strength to the already growing weekend recreation. The Holiday’s Bank’s act of 1871had a lot of benefits as it guaranteed modest annual holidays for the bank’s workers and also the dispensation spread to other groups. In 1860, the bank’s clerks received up to a maximum of three weeks off while the railwaymen with the Great Northern in 1872 were the first working men to receive regular holidays with pay.
The improved communication also broadened working-class life. In addition, in the 1870s many working-class people were visiting exhibitions to see the (Bailey, 1987, p. 92), and during this period, many lavish parks were provided, pleasure grounds, baths, and also free libraries. In places like Boston, the authorities increased the number of parks, indoor places, a new town hall, clubrooms, institutes, and coffee taverns were developed (Bailey, 1987, pp 93). Therefore, the act led to growth in leisure time where workers were able to take a continuous break of several days extending to a full week’s holiday (Brailsford, 1991, p. 128).
History of Sport
History suggests that modern sports trace their origin to Victorian Britain and that almost all organized sports have a genealogy that goes back beyond this period (Polley, 2004, p. 1). Some of the notable games that started in the eighteenth century include; golf, cricket, and horse racing. The modern sport in its organized way, commercialized nature, and extensiveness is purely an invention of the Victorian and Edwardian age (Polley, 2004, pp 1).
Historians hold divergent views on the factors that prompted the emergence of sports. But a broader agreement suggests that sports might have developed as a result of the changing socio-economic nature of the people following the industrialization and urbanization processes. Also, the growth of the railway, to an extent, contributed to the growth of sports since the circulation of newspapers helped to spread sports (Polley, 2004, p. 1).
Mid-Nineteenth Century Leisure Activities
This period was characterized by the transformation in the Britain sporting culture, as well as the revolution of leisure activities such as music and cinema (Beaven, 2005, p.180). Sports such as football, cricket, and prize-fighting spread so fast, and also watching and playing sport became popular among all social classes (Tranter, 1998, pp 13). Sports were more attractive to people since they not only provided entertainment and enjoyment, but they required no patronage from companies or institutions where people worked (Walton, 1983, pp. 119-120).
During this period, sports such as bowling, curling, cycling, golf, lawn tennis, quoiting, and rugby attracted less than 5 percent of participants. Sports like Highland Games gatherings, horserace meetings, and regattas drew excess crowds while soccer only attracted 10-20per cent in attendance (Tranter, 1998, pp 14). At the same time, sports such as athletics, the Scottish sport of shinty, and rowing decreased in popularity.
Leisure Activities as From 1870
During this period, notable sports developed including swimming and fishing. In the 1880s, swimming and angling clubs were formed for major competitions. By 1895, there were seven clubs whereby members took morning dips for health reasons (Metcalfe, 2006, p. 117), with the support of ministers and doctors. The swimming in turn was joined by five angling clubs and the clubs were devoted to fly fishing.
Golf, tennis, and lawn bowling were formed basically for competition, and the garden became an extensive area for social life. Golf was started in 1880 by the landowners, ministers, doctors, and business people (Metcalfe, 2006, p. 118); lawn tennis developed much like golf but spread much far than golf and women became part of it and they graced the paying courts. However, participation in the two games was limited in that there were fewer facilities to support the sports.
Cycling may have begun in 1876 when James Bowman cycled 119 miles through pot-holed roads. This was the beginning of a new era of cycling as a sport. Thereafter, the bicycle was used for sporting and leisure purposes (Metcalfe, 2006, p. 120). This sport developed into a competitive sport with the invention of the safety bicycle. Therefore, racing became the focal point of cycling and racing.
Football was greatly changed as a rural leisure activity such that, the sport became more codified, to engender the values of obedience to the given rules, discipline, and teamwork. The sport gathered people together and the playing ground was provided by the local industries and the middle-class associations. With time the sport became commercialized and also more playing fields were developed.
In 1872, the Bolton Corporation Improvement Act, put pressure on the magistrates to withhold singing and dancing licenses which were becoming popular among the working people; the act also made sports such as racing, susceptible. Other notable sports and recreation activities during this period included gambling, cheap concerts, penny reading for the intellectuals, and church entertainment. Another notable thing during this period is that the commercialization of most of the leisure activities began whereby, admission charges were introduced and more programs were devised to attract spectators to pay. During the same period, drinking in Victoria Britain reached its highest level, became unique and attractive to the public (Bailey, 1987, pp 99).
Conclusion
Therefore, it is during the mid-eighteenth century that the Britain economy experienced numerous structural transformations. This process had a profound effect on sports and more so the leisure life of the people since working patterns changed. The people’s enthusiasm for sports increased and thereby leading to the commercialization of sports. The factory legislation and the efforts of the trade unions helped to secure more leisure time and also paid leaves and holidays for the people, which in turn led to increased leisure activities. Also, due to increasing interest in sporting and other leisure activities, many regions and municipalities adopted legislation that was meant to improve, acquire, expand or commercialize the leisure facilities.
Also as a result of these developments, the leisure economy grew fast as the demand for leisure opportunities and services increased. Therefore during this period, there was wide development and improvement of leisure activities. This activity included; the libraries, the cinema halls, the historic buildings, recreational parks, art galleries, and various sports. During the Victorian period, the people were bombarded with a wide range of attractive alternatives to occupy their free time.
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