Bands of Hope

In my recent feature on youth organizations for Who Do You Think You Are? magazine I looked at the societies and organizations for children and young people which grew up during the nineteenth and early twentieth societies: Scouts and Guides, Bands of Hope, the Boys' Brigade, Church Lads' Brigade, etc.

The misuse of alcohol has caused many social evils down the ages, and in the 1830s several temperance societies like the Independent Order of Rechabites sprang up in the UK. Joseph Livesey of Preston was perhaps the greatest spokesman of the movement.‘Seven men of Preston’, including Livesey, signed the pledge (not to drink intoxicating liquors) at Preston on 1 September 1832. 

Preacher Jabez Tunnicliff  founded a temperance society for children and the first Band of Hope meeting was held at the South Parade Baptist Church, Leeds In 1847.  Members signed a pledge book promising to abstain from alcohol, and were given a certificate in return. Bands of Hope provided activities such as games, sports and outings for their child members.

You can use the records of societies like these to research your ancestors' childhood, and there's more in-depth guidance on the location of their archives, and the types of records available, in my latest book for Pen & Sword.

To get you started, the University of Central Lancashire has put digitised images of its temperance collections online here.  
Images from author's collection:
Procession of juvenile abstainers passing the Scott monument at Edinburgh, Illustrated London News, 19 July 1851.
Titles of temperance tracts 1910.
A book review (image below and left) mentions the Lancashire and Cheshire Band of Hope Union's concerts, with music by William Hoyle, at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester.