CHRISTMAS in and around Worcester a century ago appears to have been a bleak and depressing time with widespread hardship, poverty and unemployment in the wake of the Boer War.

Even the city's magistrates of 1902 added to the gloom by adamantly refusing to allow Worcester's pubs any extension of licensing hours on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve.

Berrow's Journal, in its leader column, gave an insight into the local Christmastime of 100 years ago:

"On the eve of Christmas there is much opening of hearts and purses. Love and friendship account for much, and there is also the cause of charity which, at this time, appeals with special force.

"The mild weather has limited the extent of acute distress, but poverty and suffering are always in the midst of the city population. There is abundant room for benevolence which need not be so strictly discriminating as at other seasons. The aged and the young claim first consideration."

"Crowquill", in his comment column in the same Journal edition, stated that no fewer than a thousand "young folks" of Worcester were to be shown that Christmas time was one of festivity as well as of religious importance.

"Mr W. Kilbourne Kay" (he gave his name to Kays, the mail order giants of Worcester) "has sent invitations to 500 of the city's very poorest children to partake of a good dinner at the Guildhall on Christmas Day, and a similar number on Boxing Day.

"In order to reach the lowest strata of juvenile life the generous donor of the feast has sought the co-operation of Mr Spackman, Clerk to the Worcester Schools Board, and the local chiefs of the Salvation Army. It is needless to say that they experience no difficulty in finding sufficient guests of the class intended to be benefited.

"The repast will be served in the evening on each occasion, and will consist of time-honoured roast beef, with vegetables and bread, followed by plum pudding and a cinematograph entertainment to afford further enjoyment to the little ones. Young Worcester of the poorest class will consequently have good cause to remember the wind-up of Coronation Year."

Not so, however, pub patrons in Worcester at Christmas 1902. The Journal reported that the city licensing magistrates had firmly rejected an application for an extension of hours in the city's pubs on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve. Mr Byrne, Worcester's Chief Constable, told the JPs that the police objected to the proposed extended hours as these would not be for "the good order of the city".

"Crowquill" had this to say: "An excess of magisterial virtue has perhaps been imposed. Probably the justices were right respecting Christmas Eve and Boxing Day when there are facilities enough until 11 p.m., but they might, without very grave submission of their increasing concern for the morals of their fellow citizens, have allowed the hotels and inns to remain open later on New Year's Eve.

"Even elderly magistrates, who normally see the wisdom of taking early rest, will perhaps give or attend parties, at which the pleasure will be prolonged until the midnight hour calls for interchange of cordial wishes for a happy New Year. There are also many citizens who cannot conveniently accommodate friends at home. Had the Bench granted a New Year's Eve extension, I would not have expected such an amount of abuse as would severely shock magisterial propriety or greatly tax the responsibility for good order resting on those who administer the law."

Another sign of the times 100 years ago was that Worcester Workhouse was full to overcrowding. The Journal explained: "The Master of our workhouse reports that the institution is overcrowded for the Christmas and New Year period."