Temperance Society.

In 1874 The Rev Wilberforce petitioned the Abingdon magistrates not to renew the pub licenses in Steventon. He argued that there were too many of them (about one for every 36 houses) and that they were ‘a most fruitful source of evil in many ways’.

He argued that the skittle alley was a source of gambling and that fathers of many families spent all their money on beer – so that the families then had to turn to the Church for charity – and that he saw many people in a drunken state, especially on a Friday and Saturday night.

Luckily the magistrates took the view that it was the duty of the landlords to ‘refuse to draw beer when they saw that the customer had had sufficient’ and as no complaint had been made against a specific house all of the licenses were renewed.

In 1891 the vicar was reminding local employers that the ‘Truck Act’ forbid including intoxicating drink as part of wages and for the next 15 years he also made several appeal for villagers to ‘sign the pledge’ for either moderation or total abstinence.