In the early 19th century, the industrial boom across Britain’s North West region brought with it a wave of alcohol consumption, prompting the rise of the temperance movement. Led by figures like Joseph Livesey, the movement advocated for abstinence, warning of the “demon drink’s” perils. Its echoes have now resurfaced, as modern sobriety trends gain momentum.
The temperance movement first took root in Preston, a market town whose population surged sixfold in the early 1800s as people flocked from rural areas to find factory work. Similar population explosions occurred in cities like Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds, all of which became strongholds of the movement.
“So you’ve got people who traditionally worked in the fields all rushing into these cities and they’re taken away from family, taken away from tradition,” said Annemarie McAllister, an honorary research fellow at the University of Lancashire. “They’re often living five or six families to a room and working in very difficult conditions. So what have they got to do other than drink?”
Temperance campaigners sought to offer an alternative, focusing on the financial and moral benefits of sobriety. Posters, pamphlets and newspapers spread messages about alcohol’s impact on home life, while some targeted children, selling them small glasses of gin for a halfpenny.
The movement also spawned a thriving entertainment industry, with temperance music halls, coffee houses and other venues where pledged individuals could socialise without temptation. One such establishment, Mr Fitzpatrick’s in Rawtenstall, remains Britain’s last original temperance bar, serving tonics made to historic recipes.
While the temperance movement declined after World War II, sobriety trends have been steadily resurfacing since the turn of the century. Annemarie McAllister notes a rise in modern sobriety groups, many of them online and female-led, driven by concerns over health, finances and the culture of binge drinking.
“Some of them are in recovery from alcohol problems but some of them are just doing it for health reasons or even for financial reasons,” she said. “Especially if they’re young, some of them think ‘why should we spend money on something that basically doesn’t do anything for us and makes us feel rubbish the next day?’ It’s become a sort of dawning wellness movement.”