A Glimpse of Christmas Past in Wallingford, by Judy Dewey

CHRISTMAS 2016, with all its rush to buy and give, is already passing into memory, becoming a part of our history.

We've the Victorians to thank for the beginnings of the 'commercial' Christmas: here’s just a taste of how the season was celebrated then in Wallingford.

Good food was essential for all, including an obligation to ensure that the poor were not forgotten.

The early December Fat Stock show in the Cattlemarket (now the car park in Wood Street) provided a parade of fine animals destined for the Christmas table.

Local butchers came to bid, while ordinary folk just enjoyed the spectacle.

Chief exhibit in 1893 was Mr King’s '24 score' pig (well over 200 kilos)! The local Berks and Oxon Advertiser (‘B&O’) newspaper reported: "There never was a better display in Wallingford, and we hope everybody will be fortunate enough to share in the very excellent fare provided."

For many, such a hope relied on the charity and goodwill of wealthy townspeople and farmers: at Christmas 1864, Henry Cleeve Esq. of Cholsey, a local employer of agricultural workers gave out 'to each adult one gallon of flour and three pounds of meat' - a very special treat for the labourers and their families; in 1873 Edward Wells, owner of the Wallingford Brewery, distributed 2,000 pounds of beef amongst 330 'poor persons' in the town.

By 1900 traditionally the Mayor of Wallingford distributed 'seasonal gifts to the poor of the town'. That year 140 families received 'presents of tea and, in some instances tobacco'.

Shopkeepers were keen to promote Christmas, not always, however, with total success: in 1883 Mr Bourne, a seller of 'dresses, silks, satins, millinery, feathers, blankets' and much else, decorated his window with a Christmas display, lighting it with a gas lamp.

One evening, 'a portion of the taper fell on to some of the goods and set alight all that was in the window'!

Sadly Mr Bourne lost £20 worth of goods and was uninsured (Wallingford Times).

Nor did he learn from his mistakes: the following year 'a flame from one of the gas jets appears to have caught some light decorations and the whole of the goods were soon on fire'! Perhaps after that he moderated his lighting effects.

Let's end with a thought for the really needy of the past: those who spent Christmas Day in the Union Workhouse on Wantage Road.

Despite a usually frugal existence, in 1899 the B&O reported that the 166 inmates were treated to a festive occasion, with decorations of evergreens round the walls, and a dinner of steaming hot roast beef (134 pounds weight in all, cooked on the premises) followed by plum pudding, served to them by the Master and Matron, with the Labour Master and the Porter as 'waiters'. Oranges, sweets, tobacco and snuff were then handed out as 'little luxuries' (B&O).

Happy New Year to you all!

NB. When Wallingford Museum opens again on March 1, 2017, one of its new exhibitions will feature the long and fascinating history of Pettit’s in the town.