An extremely rare work including very early views of Bournemouth. Indeed, there is no recorded example in Library Hub which includes the holdings of 208 UK institutions and libraries. The Abbey example is now at the Mellon Centre for British Art, at Yale University. The artist identified simply as ‘H. D.’ on the title is Harriet Daniell (1783-1849) who was a landscape artist from Staffordshire. She was the daughter of John Daniell and Harriet Willis, the latter the purported niece of Reverend Dr. Francis Willis (1718-1807) who famously treated King George III for his mental health.

The prints were sold to raise funds for the local schools and schoolhouses of St. Peter’s Church. The title includes the statement ‘The Profits will be in aid of the Funds for Schools and School-houses at Bournemouth.’ She became one of the first people buried in the churchyard when she died in 1849. The four views are entitled:

South West View of Bournemouth
South East of Bournemouth
West View of Bournemouth
South View of Bournemouth

“In 1800 the Bournemouth area was largely a remote and barren heathland. No one lived at the mouth of the Bourne River and the only regular visitors were a few fishermen, turf cutters and gangs of smugglers until the 16th century. During the Tudor period the area was used as a hunting estate, ‘Stourfield Chase’, but by the late 18th century only a few small parts of it were maintained, including several fields around the Bourne Stream and a cottage known as Decoy Pond House, which stood near where the Square is today.

With the exception of the estate, until 1802 most of the Bournemouth area was common land. The Christchurch Inclosures Act 1802 and the Inclosure Commissioners’ Award of 1805 transferred hundreds of acres into private ownership for the first time. In 1809, the Tapps Arms public house appeared on the heath. A few years later, in 1812, the first residents, retired army officer Lewis Tregonwell and his wife, moved into their new home built on land he had purchased from Sir George Ivison Tapps. Tregonwell began developing his land for holiday letting by building a series of sea villas. In association with Tapps, he planted hundreds of pine trees, providing a sheltered walk to the beach (later to become known as the ‘Invalids walk’). The town would ultimately grow up around its scattered pines. In 1832 when Tregonwell died, Bournemouth had grown into small community with a scattering of houses, villas and cottages.

In 1835, after the death of Sir George Ivison Tapps, his son Sir George William Tapps-Gervis inherited his father’s estate. Bournemouth started to grow at a faster rate as George William started developing the seaside village into a resort similar to those that had already grown up along the south coast such as Weymouth and Brighton. In 1841, the town was visited by the physician and writer Augustus Granville. Granville was the author of The Spas of England, which described health resorts around the country. As a result of his visit, Dr Granville included a chapter on Bournemouth in the second edition of his book. The publication of the book, as well as the growth of visitors to the seaside seeking the medicinal use of the seawater and the fresh air of the pines, helped the town to grow and establish itself as an early tourist destination” (www.visitbournemouth.com). Provenance: Laurence Oxley c.1985; private English collection. Abbey Scenery (1972) 51; not in Anderson (1966); Bobins 1426; not in Upcott (1978).