In our Learn and Discover journey into Working Men’s Clubs we’ve established what they are and the role that they can play for its members and their community, but how did there get to be so many Working Men’s Clubs in the first place? The history of WMCs and their subsequent growth reflects the evolution of white, working class, male Britain and the slow steps it has taken towards diversification. Whilst WMCs may be born from prejudice against male workers of a lower social status, it has a history that affects drinkers across the class spectrum, and provides a valued insight into the drinking culture of today.
Before clubs there were pubs and the leisurely activity of drinking in a tavern or public/ale house was popular throughout Great Britain. Although pubs were frequented by people across the class divide, much of the writing about drinking in public houses carried a patronising tone in regards to working class drinkers, implying they were less civilised and more inclined to succumb to the temptations of alcohol than those deemed socially superior to them.
From the mid nineteenth century, inspired by the popularity of ‘Gentlemen’s Clubs’ and in an attempt to curtail and control the leisure activities of the working class, the Working Men’s Club was born.
The Club and Institute Union (CIU) formed shortly after in 1862 and was “for the purpose of helping Working Men to establish Clubs or Institutes where they can meet for conversation, business and mental improvement, with the means of recreation and refreshment” according to T G Ashplant in Popular Culture and Class Conflict, 1590-1914.
Ruth Cherrington’s excellent book Not Just Beer and Bingo! A Social History of Working Men’s Clubs sums up the motives of club formation as follows: “With a moral panic about drink and the genuine desire of working men to have their own leisure spaces, WMCs appeared as a good compromise… Temperance campaigners wanted to eliminate intoxicating liquor.”
The liquor in question was seen as paving the way for ruin and was to be avoided at all costs. An important player in the formation of the CIU was the Reverend Henry Solly and it’s important to note that amongst many character traits Solly was teetotal and this very much influenced his drive to grow separate spaces for the working classes. The idea for clubs was supported (and funded!) by aristocrats and clergymen who saw the potential of clubs in removing working men into clubs with controlled leisure facilities. Queen Victoria herself even made a donation to the cause.
“The Brighton Working Men’s institute, opened in 1849, was seen by Solly as an early example for others to follow. In Hertfordshire a club opened in 1855 and sold beer in ‘limited qualities’ which, he gleefully noted, helped to close down the local pub” Ruth writes, making Solly’s motives when it came to club growth clear.
After just a year of formation the CIU had helped 13 clubs to begin, growing to 55 by its second. But if this growth was to continue then their stance against alcohol consumption was in need of interrogation.
The CIU’s motto was “recreation hand in hand with education and temperance”, the aim of these spaces to provide improvement facilities without the temptation of alcohol. This didn’t always sit well with club members and was to provide much debate.
Katie Mather
Rachel Hendry
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