The collaborative and volunteer-led process of researching and writing the VCH short Southend, Victorian Town and Resort 

In this blog post, Ken Crowe, Chairman of the Essex Victoria County History Trust and editor of the newest VCH Short ‘Southend, Victorian Town and Resort’, reflects on the collaborative volunteer-led process of researching and writing this book. 

How did it all start? Soon after being invited to join the Essex Victoria County History (VCH) Trust as a new trustee (8 -9 years ago), I was asked to set up a team to work on a Southend project. An attempt had been made by the Trust to launch a ‘Red Book’ project on the town, but it stalled through lack of resources. Therefore, something less ambitious was envisaged, on the lines of the VCH Shorts series. Importantly, this was to be collaboratively researched and written by local volunteers. Having fairly recently retired from Southend Museum, I had many contacts in the world of local history, and it was not long before a group of about 20 keen local historians was gathered together. After a few months, once the nature and scope of the project and its requirements for original research became clear, the team settled down to a core of six. 

The differing experiences, backgrounds (museum curator, archivist, teacher, for example), and interests of the members of the volunteer team determined the themes covered in the book. With so many histories of Southend having been produced over the years (many by members of the volunteer team), and many still in print, the aim of the VCH Southend team had to be the writing of a ‘new’ history of Southend. Using primary sources, we produced an account of the town’s and resort’s history that had not been told before. In part this was helped by the varied backgrounds and interests of the contributors and in part by the VCH format. We felt, however, given the constraints of space, and in order to do justice to the account we wished to present, it would not be appropriate to follow the traditional VCH format throughout. And so, this book is not divided into ‘Economic History’, ‘Social History’, and ‘Local Government’ etc., like most VCH publications; instead these themes are covered throughout the book in chapters that reflect the volunteers’ research interests.   

The scene is set in the Introduction, with background on local government, landscape, transport, communications, and population; there is a specific section on the estates of the Scratton family who, as lords of the manor and major landowners, were key to the development of town and resort from the late Georgian to the end of the Victorian periods. This is then followed by an account of the historic parishes that make up the town, and the story of land ownership from the mid–16th century onwards, which both provide essential background to the development of the town and resort in the Victorian period and into the early years of the 20th century. 

The book then focuses on specific aspects of Southend’s history, which are particularly important to its development as a seaside resort. Firstly, there is a chapter about the development of Cliff Town, one of the town’s housing estates, which includes information about the part played by the major landowners, developers, and speculators, who were responsible for the building of much of Southend, Westcliff, Leigh and Southchurch, and whose names are familiar to many—Scratton, Dowsett, Ramuz, Ingram, Burges. There is then a chapter on the initial development of the Victorian resort. This includes reflections on the role of transport—train links to London and, locally, trams, which not only played a key role in the development and expansion of the town, but also enabled East End ‘trippers’ and others from the metropolis to spend a day or more at their nearest seaside resort. Many of these would make the town their home, and some would be among the town’s first commuters. Others, from various parts of the country, and even from Europe, would establish businesses in the town. 

Later chapters look at the expansion of Southend in the second half of the 19th century. This necessitates discussion of the establishment and growth of the financial and other business, professional, and retail sectors, together with the various trades and industries which supported them. Accommodating and catering for visitors (hotels and lodging houses) provided at first largely seasonal income for many residents while the expansion of the number of building societies and banks, together with associated professions, such as land and estate agents, are all linked to the growing town and the needs of both residents and visitors. The only major industry in the area—brickmaking—was integral to the expansion of the town, and attracted the associated trades and crafts, such as bricklayers, carpenters, glaziers, and plumbers, may working on a seasonal basis.  

The response of the local authority and private enterprise to the needs of the growing seasonal and permanent population of the town and resort in the later Victorian period is also a fascinating aspect of the town’s history, explored in some depth in this volume. The local authority purchased and redeveloped the pier, improved the main seafront road, laid out the cliffs, developed the esplanades, and invested in a major tram system. Private enterprise was responsible for the provision of seaside amusements and the establishment of the wealth of clubs and societies that flourished here throughout the later Victorian and into the Edwardian era. The ambition of the local authority to attract a ‘better class of excursionist’ and confine the tripper to the east side of the seafront determined the character of the resort (and the town) that is still evident to an extent today. 

In conclusion, what have been the experiences and lessons learnt from this project? Southend, Victorian Town and Resort demonstrates both the advantages and challenges of collaborative volunteer-led approaches to producing VCH publications. In hindsight, a much more focussed idea of what we wanted to cover or achieve at the outset would almost certainly have shortened the process. Getting to grips with the VCH style guide at an earlier stage would also have been beneficial—this was certainly a steep learning curve for all of us. Most of all, the benefits of working under the guidance and encouragement of our County Editor cannot be over stressed. However, it must also be recognised that the innovative shape and identity of this volume is fundamentally the result of using a collaborative volunteer-led process and allowing its content to be shaped by the interests and passions of the local volunteers who worked on it. And, ultimately, this characteristically thorough and authoritative VCH volume has only been made possible because of these volunteers’ hard work and enthusiasm. There is much the VCH can gain from collaborative volunteer-led approaches to making history.  

Ken Crowe (Chairman of Essex VCH Trust)  

More information about the Victoria County History and its publications can be found here. Specific information about the VCH Essex Trust, its research, publications, and how you could get involved or contribute can be found here. Southend: Victorian Town and Resort is published by University of London Press and can be purchased here.  

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