HUNCOAT LADIES CLUB

JENNI Cook came to speak to us about the Temperance Movement.

It began first in the USA then it took Britain by storm.

In 1700 gin was the standard drink, it was cheap and at that time there were no licencing laws. The water was poor. There was no welfare state and many people weren’t educated.

It was quite the norm for a family to have a loom in their living room where cotton would be woven.

It was at this time that drinking alcohol became an epidemic.

In 1736 it was said that drunkenness and lawlessness was the detriment of the working classes.

The government decided to tax it, which caused riots, so the tax was abolished.

In 1830 the government decided to try to get everyone drinking beer because it was better for you.

At this time the government didn’t know the gravity of what drinking alcohol in the long term could do to people.

For a small fee, you could make your own beer and sell it.

The Industrial Revolution saw new manufacturing processes in the period approximately 1760-1820.

At that time terraced houses were being built for workers, but due to the alcohol, there was a fear that there could be a breakdown of family life and industry – no-one wanted accidents happening with looms etc.

In 1835, temperance was started in Preston by John Livsey, who was a methodist and a mill owner.

He set up the abstinence (teetotal) movement and signed the pledge. The Church was very powerful in those days and abstinence was promoted by its leaders and the mill owners alike.

There were also temperance dance halls and they became very fashionable.

By the time WW2 started, there was a decline and gradually they all began to disappear.

Our chairlady Phyllis Spooner gave a vote of thanks on the ladies’ behalf.

Everyone enjoyed it immensely as it encompassed so much history.

Light refreshments followed.