At the end of the Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century John Latimer imagined a Bristolian who had lived at the start of the century returning to the city in 1900 and he listed a number of important changes that this ‘ghostly visitor’ would be most likely to notice. These included some that have been discussed in previous chapters of this book – population growth, housing, water supply, public health and transport – but he also mentioned the improved lighting of the streets and, as a journalist, he highlighted wider literacy and the popularity of local newspapers. Latimer was an annalist, not much concerned with the long view, and he devoted only a couple of pages to the subject, but his implicit conclusion was that change had been for the better. This chapter presents a more extended and nuanced approach to the task of reviewing the Victorian period in Bristol, differing from Latimer's approach in three ways: first, the ghostly visitor device works well enough in relation to comparisons across the whole period but does not reveal when changes occurred in the interim. Second, Latimer highlighted the degree of change that the visitor would notice, but paid less attention to the many continuities that would have been evident. Third, his assumption that change was beneficial needs to be challenged, and the question needs to be asked, was Bristol a better place to live in 1901? Latimer himself worked in Bristol for more than forty years, from 1858, and on the basis of that experience was surely entitled to a positive view of change, but the twenty-first-century historian is also entitled to seek a more balanced scorecard than the one presented by the annalist.

The first part of the chapter reflects on the uneven development of Bristol during the Victorian period, highlighting the contrast between the slow growth before about 1860 and the much more active phase thereafter. This is followed by a discussion of continuity as well as change. The third part considers the extent to which Bristol had become a modern city by 1901, and the final section widens the historical perspective, locating Victorian Bristol in relation to both what came before and what has happened since.