Thank you for including my request for
information in the June Historian and thank you
also to those who wrote to me: Mrs. Mary Martin
for revealing that she had sent the certificate
to me in the first place and that James and Sarah
Goddard were her ancestors; Mrs. Patricia
Gilbert, who tells me that one of her ancestors
received a certificate; Mr. Ronald Boyle of
Windsor for kindly searching the local newspapers
of the 1850s and 1860s; and Mrs. Margaret Goddard
who wrote to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle
and the Prince of Wales in a quest for
information. The Royal Archives say that this is
one of their most frequently asked enquiries. The
following is a summary of what we discovered:
The Association was founded by Prince Albert
in 1850 'for the encouragement of the labouring
classes on or about the Royal demesne'. It was
originally called 'Windsor Royal Association',
but was changed after Prince Albert's death in
1861 to 'Prince Consort's Windsor Association'.
The association was run by a Committee under the
Chairmanship of the Deputy Ranger of Windsor Park
and supported by subscriptions of local residents.
To begin with there was an annual award, but
after 1883 it became every two years and a member
of the Royal Family always attended award
ceremonies. The award ceremony took place at a
big flower and vegetable show in Windsor Home
Park where there were competitions for the best
of each class, and also, it appears, competitions
in 'the people's industrial exhibition'- a
hobbies section perhaps.
From newspapers of the time it can be seen
that prizes originally were given to 'encourage
the labourers and their families and domestic and
other servants, habits of morality and good
order, providence and industry'. Prizes would be
given 'to the labourer who has brought up his
family in honest, sober and industrious habits
and without parish relief except in case of
sickness; to the widow of a labourer who has done
the same; to families distinguished for
cleanliness in house and person; to well
conducted servants; to servants, male or female,
who have lived for the longest period of service
in the same situation; to young persons, male or
female, who have done as above; to the best
cultivators of gardens or allotments, being also
persons of honest, sober, and good moral
character; to the winner of the best vegetable
collection produced from his or her own garden;
best ploughman, in various classes.' Not all the
prizes, or medals, were awarded every year;
sometimes no one was felt good enough.
By 1852 the Prince Consort appears to have
enlarged the scope or his association and wished
to encourage 'Better Domestic Accommodation for
the Industrial Classes.' He designed, or had
designed model cottages for families, model
lodging houses for the single working man, and
communal baths and washing houses. The model
cottages for families appear to have been a great
success and in advance of their time. No doubt
some BFHS members live in them still. However,
the lodging houses for single men met with mixed
fortunes, were not entirely successful and were
eventually made into family houses.
In 1875 the then Chairman suggested that the
association should be wound up but Queen Victoria
wished it to continue and it did so, until 1904
when Edward VII decided that it had served its
purpose. The balance of money was handed to
Windsor Royal Infirmary.
