{"id":2026,"date":"2021-12-20T20:24:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T20:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=2026"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:24:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:24:22","slug":"christmas-1854-in-carlisle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/20\/christmas-1854-in-carlisle\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 1854 in Carlisle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas 1854 was the starting point for my research simply because I looked at Christmas in Penrith in 1853 previously<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What quickly \u2018jumped out at me\u2019 was a reminder that poverty and desperation in Victorian Britain weren\u2019t confined to the \u2018big cities\u2019 like London and Liverpool. Along with the thought that sadly, some things haven\u2019t changed for the better. Today, we have bright lights and TV advertisers encouraging us to spend, spend, spend. And collection points in supermarkets for food banks.<\/p>\n

The \u2018bright lights\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n

The shop windows of Carlisle at Christmas 1854 must have presented a jolly and enticing sight.<\/p>\n

T Holstead\u2019s advert may lack the gloss of present marketing, but we can still imagine. His \u2018confection manufactory,\u2019 (50 Scotch Street and 69 English Street), offered \u2018a large assortment of articles, suitable for Christmas trees and presents\u2019.<\/p>\n

The 1861 census shows William Holstead, 24, confectioner employing nine men and 13 boys, with a wife, child, brother Thomas, 16, confectioner, and two servants \u2013 one of them a pastry cook. It looks as though \u2019T Holstead\u2019 of 1854 was their father.<\/p>\n

Other adverts in the Carlisle press include:<\/p>\n

Thurnam\u2019s Library, Carlisle. Selected works adapted for festive and birthday presents\u2026 Christmas with the Poets, a collection relating to the festival of Christmas. 25 shillings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s the equivalent of about \u00a3140 today.<\/p>\n

A report on Carlisle Fat Cattle Market talks of \u2018the roast beef of old England\u2019 being much in request at this \u201crighte merrie time\u201d (their punctuation). And says tables will \u2018not lack their usual plentiful supply of Christmas cheer\u2019.<\/p>\n

There are reports of festive teas, annual balls, and \u2018soir\u00e9es\u2019.<\/p>\n

While adverts for Woolley\u2019s Vegetable Pills \u2013 \u2018at this season of the year, the stomach is very subject to become deranged\u2019 \u2013 hint at \u2018too much figgy pudding\u2019!<\/p>\n

A timely name<\/b><\/h2>\n

I digress, to mention a death notice in December 1854 records the passing of Ann Christmas, aged 76, widow of Jonathan. The 1841 census shows them together in Annetwell Street. Jonathan Christmas died on December 8, 1847, aged 66. His death notice records that he was the sexton for the parish of St Mary\u2019s, Carlisle. And that he had been a sergeant in the Grenadier Guards, serving under the \u2018late Duke of York\u2019. He\u2019d married Ann Thompson in 1815. The 1851 census shows Ann Christmas a widow, and pauper, in Annetwell Street, \u2018former servant\u2019.<\/p>\n

The other side of Christmas 1854<\/b><\/h2>\n

A letter in both the Carlisle Journal and its rival the Carlisle Patriot, a few weeks before Christmas 1854, has a grim heading:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

STARVATION IN THE CITY<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was written by Dr Henry Lonsdale, and starts by saying he knows the newpapers and readers are focussed on matters such as the Crimean War, and squabbles between church denominations. But:<\/p>\n

let conformity and non-conformity cease their squabbling about the sepulchral rites of the dead, and look for moment to the living, who, at starvation point with labour, are dying daily.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Henry Lonsdale\u2019s concern was with the plight of handloom weavers.<\/p>\n

As that is a top in itself, that stretches well beyond Christmas 1854, I shall come back to it in my next post<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas 1854 was the starting point for my research simply because I looked at Christmas in Penrith in 1853 previously. What quickly \u2018jumped out at me\u2019 was a reminder that poverty and desperation in Victorian Britain weren\u2019t confined to the \u2018big cities\u2019 like London and Liverpool. Along with the thought that sadly, some things haven\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cumbria-history"],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas 1854 in Carlisle - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christmas 1854 in Carlisle was a time of contrast. 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