The following text has been transcribed (with permission) from the book A BRIEF HISTORY 1890 - 2002

compiled by Gwen & Bernard Palmer

1890 was a year of much jubilation and celebration for Bournemouth.  In January, the Prince of Wales and his son Prince George came to open the Royal Victoria Hospital in Poole Road, later to become the Westbourne Eye Hospital, while in the late summer the be-flagged streets were once more crowded with excited spectators who had come to watch the grand spectacle of marching bands and colourful floats preceding open carriages bearing dignitaries from Bournemouth and towns around on their way to the Pier Approach for the reading of the Charter establishing Bournemouth as a borough.

Developments came thick and fast throughout the year with all sorts of new clubs being established and, somewhere in the town, a small group of men decided to enhance their hobby of bird keeping by founding a club of their own - The Bournemouth & District Cage Bird Association.

But who were these pioneers of the Bournemouth Association?  Mr. G. Gerry of Gladstone Road, Boscombe was mentioned in later years as being a "Founder Member" and he was certainly winning prizes with his Norwich canaries at the first Annual Bournemouth Exhibition of Poultry, Pigeons, Rabbits, Cage Birds, Cats and Cavies in 1891.  Other local winners at this event and officers of the B. D. C. B. A. in 1892 were:- Chairman J. Marley, Hon. Sec. Mr. A. Green, Committee Members, Messrs. J. Meadowcroft, H. Neal, G. Jaques and G. Green.  It is reasonable therefore to assume that they were also Founder Members.

It is interesting to note that many ladies were keen exhibitors at local cage bird shows.  Consistent winners included Baroness de Bussy (AOV), Miss Longham  (Norwich), Miss F Green and Miss Popham (Foreign Birds).

Mrs Corbin always did well in the Members Only Shows with her "Collection of Canaries", a peculiar class of those days in which exhibitors benched 6 - 8 canaries in one cage!  But perhaps the most successful local lady of this era was Mrs. M. A. Jackson of Parkstone, always amongst the winners and in 1896 B.D.C.B.A. Annual Open Show, scooped most of the foreign bird prozes with her Bohemian Waxwing, Indian Rock Mynahs, Golden Crowned Conures, Port Lincoln Parakeets, a pair of Budgerigars and a cock Orange Bishop.  Her African Long Tailed Glossy Starling was reported as "the best exhibit in the collection".

However, although ladies were very evident in exhibiting birds and were greatly valued members of the club, there seems to be no record of any lady judge visiting Bournemouth & District Cage Bird Association at that time.  This branch of the fancy appeared to have been the prerogative of gentlemen and they thought nothing of travelling great distances to carry out their duties.

With motorcars in their primitive infancy and only capable of travelling very short distances, trains were the most common form of transport.  On more than one occasion Mr. House undertook the journey from Yorkshire to Bournemouth, Mr. Jospeh Beason came from Derby and Mr. Payne travelled from Gloucester, to name but a few.  Perhaps the most consistent judge at our local shows was Mr. C. E. Silk who also regularly exhibited Yorkshire canaries here.

Annual Nest Feather (then termed "First Feather") Shows were held in a variety of interesting places within the town.  The very first event , 1891, in conjunction with the Poultry, Pigeon, Rabbits, Cats & Cavies Show took place in the covered tennis courts of the Hotel Mont Dore (our present Town Hall).

The Bijou Hall in Albert Road was a popular venue for many years; whilst meetings as well as shows were held inside the magnificent and imposing Central Hotel at the bottom of Richmond Hill.  Sadly, this lovely old building ended its days during a bombing raid on the town in May 1943 and today the site is occupied by the Central Bars.

Other venues throughout the latter years included the Winter Gardens, The Auction Mart, Selwyn and Temperance Halls at Boscombe, St. Andrews Church Hall in Wolverton Road, The Landsdowne Drill Hall and the Bournemouth Borough Council Social Club in Maxwell Road.  One show even took place in the confines of Beales Department Store.  Yet the most spectacular setting for a bird show was undoubtedly the one held in Lady Shelly's Park in 1897 as part of a Grand Carnival Pageant to celebrate Queen Victoria's Jubilee year.  The price of admission to this four day spectacular of decorated cycles and riders, artillery competitions, gymkhanas, polo, tableau's, battles of flowers and fusillades of confetti was the princely sum of 2/6d, with 5/- for the grandstand, dropping to one shilling after 4pm.  The following three days, you could get in for a "Bob" and after 6pm a "Tanner"could get you a good night out!  Cage birds were only on display for the first two days - which must have been a great relief to them and their owners with all those military tattoos crashing noisily around.

 In those days members took great pride in making a colourful background to the shows.  They decorated each hall with flags and banners, floral arrangements and multi-coloured drapes and all these together with the display of a good variety of beautiful foreign birds was an added delight to the visiting public, guests of honour and civic dignitaries who willingly attended these events.

The very first Mayor of Bournemouth, Thomas James Hankinson, presided over the 1891 Combined Show mentioned above and for many years subsequently every show was opened by a senior civic figure.  In 1897, ex-Mayor, Alderman J. A. Hosker was supported in the opening ceremony by the new Mayor, Councillor W. Mattocks, Lady Shelly, Lady Wills and the Countess of Malmesbury!!  The full list of notables, who were interested in the hobby, is far too long to include in this short extract.

And so, in this first ten years of the "Golden Age" of the fancy, Bournemouth & Counties Cage Bird Association continued to flourish.  The Committee was mostly unchanged during this period and all the officials worked extremely hard to ensure that the club was put on a firm footing.  Could they ever have imagined that their efforts would result in such a long success as 113 years?

But what about the birds at that time?  Records show thatthe schedules included classes for Norwich and Border Canaries, Crests Yorkshires, Scotch Fancies, Mules, Hybrids and all the varieties of British Birds benched today, with even the odd Skylark or Kingfisher staged beside a large contingent of foreign birds.

 Incredibly, the show reports which were published in the local press the next day, or write-ups in magazines of the time, generally included detailed critiques of the first three or four birds in every class.  Judges comments were often quoted, for example:- "Buff, 8, Baker - full size, good colour, just missed special for best by crossing it's wings" or "Clear Yellow, Baker - better colour but too long and browy, too long and feathery".  No details were left unprinted.

In these early shows, entries were restricted to a 12 mile radius and numbers were accordingly limited.  This was extended in 1895 to encompass Hants, Wilts and Dorset, but the numbers swelled dramatically when in 1899, Bournemouth & Counties C.B.A. shows were finally opened to the whole of England, a decision which some decades later resulted in 1000 plus entries.

Yet how did exhibitors from those far-flung corners of the country get their birds to the show?  Trains were the answer.

In those days, birds could be put on a train virtually anywhere in Britain and were promptly delivered to the station nearest the show venue.  Stewards from the club collected the birds, booked them in and benched them.  After the show the process would be repeated in reverse.  This system was extremely efficient and reasonably priced at first, but then complaints began to appear in the bird magazines from irate exhibitors about the ever-increasing charges imposed by the railways.  This consequently had an adverse effect upon other than local birds and for a time the numbers of show entries began to fall.  The transporting of birds by rail ceased altogether a few years after the 1939-45 war as a result of British Rail policy.

These were the dedicated and delightful years of the fancy a hobby that stretched right across the span of the social classes.

Those with very little money to spare somehow found bird keeping possible.  Whilst businessmen and trades people were keen to keep and show off their various species of cage birds, Lords and Ladies, Dukes and Earls all contributed to the nationwide pastime, all mixing together at shows and meetings throughout the country in avid competition with each other.

Aviculture was also a favourite recreation with royalty as a relaxation from the formality of their official duties.  King Edward VII could often be found in his private aviaries enjoying his large stock of bedgerigars.  King George V was a patron of the Budgerigars Society and a keen fancier of parrots and parakeets.  It was Princess Victoria who broke the Royal passion for Budgerigars with her preference for the Border Fancy Canary.  Our present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II inherited her Grandfather's love of birds.  Her aviaries in the Royal Lodge at Windsor have for many years housed a wonderful collection of Budgerigars.

Throughout it's existence, Bournemouth & Counties Cage Bird Association has enjoyed various connections with the aristocracy.  The Earl of Malmesbury, who then lived at Hurn Court House in Bournemouth, was the club's President for close on thirty years.  He frequently attended the shows in the town with the Countess and his family.  His mother-in-law, Lady Calthorpe, sometimes "stood-in" for the Earl when he was engaged in other more official duties.

Lady Abinger, Lady Shelly and Lady Willis were all local "V.I.P.s" who exhibited their birds at club's open shows.  So, with all this wealth and nobility interested in aviculture one wonders how on earth the hobby ever became branded with a "cloth-cap" image.

Throughout it's long history, the club has gone through three major wars with each in turn having a substantial, adverse effect upon club life.

 Responding to the call to arms, patriotic young men rushed off in their thousands to serve the colours in the Boer War.  Tragically, huge numbers of them were killed or wounded in action and even more died of disease.  Official monetary help at the time was virtually non-existent, so it fell to voluntary organisations and the general public to aid these unfortunate men and their families most in need.

The fancier's magazine of that time, "Feathered World" set up the "F.W.War Fund" and the response from bird clubs up and down the country was heart warming.  Cage birds and equipment were donated to be sold for the cause and numerous collections from meetings and shows poured in as generous people dug deep into their pockets.

The story was much the same in the 1914 and 1939 World Wars.  Somehow bird societies managed to struggle on during these dark days, but as more and more men were called up for military service it became necessary for the female members to take on the task of keeping the clubs alive.  During the difficult times of 1914-1918, Bournemouth and Counties C.B.A. was fortunate to have the services of such ladies.  Among them were two outstanding officials Miss Penrice and Miss V Onslow.  It was mainly due to their hard working efforts, that in spite of our open shows having to be cancelled, the members shows and bi-monthly meetings continued.

When hostilities were over, the ladies were able to hand over a well-run club to their returning men folk and fellow-members.  One of the lucky ones to survive the holocaust of those dreadful years was Mr Leslie Bousefield.  For many years this well respected member had given excellent service in just about every post in the club.  From Hon. Treasurer to Hon. Secretary and for a long time, Show Manager.  On his return from the front, the officials and members gave a splendid dinner in his honour and presented him with an engraved leather briefcase.  The Bousefield family seem to have been heavily involved with the club as frequent references are made in club reports to Mr E. Bousefield and Miss M. Bousefield winning prizes.  Indeed, Miss M. Bousefield, who we have learned was Leslie Bousefield's sister, was featured on the front of "Cage Birds" on 19th December 1914, with a picture of her Lesser Redpoll which scooped First Prize at the prestigous show held at the Horticultural Hall in London.

A few years before the outbreak of the First World War, a second bird club was established in the town, it was called The Boscombe Fancier's Association.  A number of its members appear to have also belonged to Bournemouth & Counties C.B.A. and exhibited at the Bournemouth club's shows.

The new club flourished for about nine years, changing it's name to Boscombe C.B.A. during the war and almalgamated with the Bournemouth club in 1920.

During the 1920's there seemed to be a

 more from the book to follow soon ... 

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